Fort Worth is set to welcome a cinematic journey this fall as the Lone Star Film Festival opens its 2025 edition with “Train Dreams.” The film, Netflix’s highly anticipated new feature starring Joel Edgerton, screens on Thursday, Oct. 30, at the Modern Art Museum of Fort Worth, with a post-film Q&A featuring Texas-born writer and director Clint Bentley, according to a release.
Based on Denis Johnson’s acclaimed novella, “Train Dreams” traces the life of Robert Grainier (Edgerton), a man whose story unfolds alongside the sweeping changes of early 20th-century America. Orphaned young, Robert grows up in the vast forests of the Pacific Northwest, laboring on the nation’s expanding railroads. Marriage to Gladys (Felicity Jones) and the start of a family bring new hopes — until an unexpected turn pushes him into a journey of hardship, beauty, and self-discovery, reconnecting with the forests he once helped to fell.
Bentley and co-writer Greg Kwedar, both Texas natives and the creative team behind the Academy Award®-nominated “Sing Sing,” craft a film that celebrates the extraordinary within the ordinary. The cast also features William H. Macy and Kerry Condon, adding depth to a story steeped in quiet resilience and vanishing ways of life.
Produced by Marissa McMahon, Teddy Schwarzman, William Janowitz, Ashley Schlaifer, and Michael Heimler, with Edgerton among the executive producers, “Train Dreams” highlights Texas talent making waves in Hollywood. Bentley and Kwedar brought “Sing Sing” to last year’s Lone Star Film Festival, earning three Oscar nominations, including Best Adapted Screenplay. Bentley even presented Kwedar with the Maverick Award, a nod to Texas filmmakers leaving their mark on the national stage.
The Lone Star Film Festival runs Oct. 30 through Nov. 5. Individual tickets for Opening Night are available at lsff25.eventive.org, while All-Access Passes cover every screening, Film Talk, and networking event throughout the week.
Founded in 2015, the Fort Worth Film Commission has cemented the city as a hub for film and television production, generating over $700 million in economic impact and 50,000 local jobs. The festival, produced by the Lone Star Film Society, continues to spotlight independent filmmaking while showcasing Fort Worth’s growing role in the creative world.
“It means a lot to our festival to recognize Texas filmmakers who are making a name for themselves and producing incredible films,” said Chad Mathews, executive director of the Lone Star Film Festival. “We’re grateful to Netflix for giving us the opportunity to celebrate Clint Bentley and Greg Kwedar with this special screening.”