By Carl Hoover for Waco Tribune-Herald | Original Article Here
Tyrha Lindsey-Warren already is thinking about the fifth anniversary of the Waco Family & Faith International Film Festival, which the Baylor University marketing professor founded and produces, but the fourth arrives next week and it’s not one to overlook.
This year’s festival features an opening concert for the first time, star power that includes Disney+’s “The Proud Family: Louder and Prouder” creators Bruce Smith and Ralph Farquhar, a celebrity golf tournament, a New York-style fashion show, a film pitch session for prospective writers and directors, and two days of family and inspirational films. Among the latter is “What Remains,” the last film starring actress Anne Heche, who died Aug. 11, 2022.
Movie screenings will take place at the Waco Hippodrome Theatre and Regal Jewel 16, with a nearly three-hour-long “Family Day at the Movies,” featuring a “The Proud Family” marathon, planned for midday Feb. 4.
This year’s edition is the first to start with a concert, with Los Angeles world music band Ozomatli performing at 7 p.m. Wednesday at the Carleen Bright Arboretum’s Pavilion Event Center. The Grammy Award-winning group, one of this year’s Champions Award winners, has a 27-year career that has included family-oriented projects. Those include songs for the animated feature “Happy Feet 2,” cuts on the “PBS Kids Rock” album, serving as house band for comic Gabriel Iglesias’ “Stand Up Revolution” series on Comedy Central, and the music for a “Sesame Street” video game.
Joining them as festival Champions, the festival’s annual honor, are Bruce Smith, creator of the animated Disney+ series “The Proud Family: Louder and Prouder”; Ralph Farquhar, the series’ executive producer; and KWTX-TV morning anchors Pete Sousa and Ke’Sha Lopez. The award recognizes people in entertainment, media and the arts who are “exemplars of innovation and disruption” in their industry.