In its third year, Austin's Capital City Black Film Festival drew talent from around the country and hosted its first world premiere.
Rival bounty hunters and a computer hacker's plot to cripple the nation economy brings urgency to "Blackhats." The four-year project from from filmmaker LeRon Austin bowed as one of the festival's feature screenings.
"We like to call it cyber thriller indie mini blockbuster. That's a lot of words, but that's what were calling it and I think it's unique," Austin said.
Festival organizers hope premieres like this are the start of trend.
"It's our first world premiere, we're still learning, but I think we're going to do a very good job in supporting them," festival executive director Winston Williams said.
Over the span of three days, the festival's panels, parties, screenings and awards aim to fill a gap in the Austin film scene.
"Austin is flush with independent films and we just haven't seen a representation of black film and so its really good to have that presence in a city where you see a lot of independent films," filmmaker Julius Tennon said.
While the festival takes place for short time during the summer, the celebration of diversity is something the founders hope catches on year round.
"Even though it says Capital City Black Film Festival, they have all kinds of diversity with the films shown here," Austin said. "That's what separates it."