Directors Leave Lone Star Film Society (Updated)

Shock waves rumble across the Fort Worth cultural scene as Lone Star Film Society director Alec Jhangiani and marketing managing director Ramtin Nikzad resigned from their positions. So abrupt was the move that the society didn’t even announce it on its website or social media. Instead, the news reached Fort Worth Weekly through an e-mail from Jhangiani. Nikzad had been with the society since 2009, Jhangiani since the inception of the Lone Star Film Festival in 2007. Reportedly, the resignations were prompted by differences with the board over the future direction of the festival. Reached for comment, Jhangiani e-mailed, “I’m sad to leave but excited to pursue new opportunities in filmmaking and festivals.” (Attempts at further comment have so far not been answered.) In the meantime, attempts to get comments from LSFS personnel have so far been unsuccessful. There’s no word yet on who will replace the team responsible for giving Fort Worth audiences advance looks at Silver Linings Playbook, The Artist, Let the Right One In, Nebraska, It Follows, and various other Oscar contenders and art-house hits. Whoever does will have large shoes to fill and not much time to fill them, with the next festival due to begin on November 5.

Update: Now it’s my understanding that the entire staff has left. The festival’s got an even bigger hill to climb now.