Dallas Film Now.

Richard Linklater, Alex Stapleton and Iliana Sosa direct tales of Texas.

Using their personal experiences as a fulcrum, three filmmakers explore big issues affecting communities throughout Texas.

First published in 2018, Lawrence Wright’s God Save Texas: A Journey Into the Soul of the Lone Star State draws upon the author’s own longtime residency in the state — he was born in Oklahoma but graduated from high school in Dallas and lives in Austin — as well as his experiences as a staff writer for Texas Monthly and The New Yorker.  Inspired by the book, three filmmakers returned to three cities that forged their artistic identities in order to grapple with the biggest issues facing each of those communities. 

Wright helps to set the tone for each documentary in the non-sequential anthology by talking with the director. In Richard Linklater’s God Save Texas: Hometown Prison, the director returns to Huntsville, where he spent his adolescence and attended college, directly inspiring his own films Dazed and Confused (1993) and Everybody Wants Some!! (2016). (His East Texas background also informed Bernie, 2011, and Apollo 10 1/2 : A Space Age Childhood, 2022).

Like many Huntsville residents, however, Linklater rarely discussed the seven prisons that loom over the town, where one-quarter of its 45,000 residents are incarcerated. One of Linklater’s stepfathers was a prison guard; another was an inmate. 

Without ever sounding harsh or judgmental, Linklater speaks about the town’s residents with warmth and kindness, a gentle approach that also marks his interviews with longtime employees of the judicial system, who all now question or oppose the capital punishment that has made Huntsville notorious; family members of the incarcerated, who speak of their loved ones with compassion amid their cries of injustice and outspoken protests; and with longtime fighters for legal justice, 

It’s an appealing, quickly absorbing film that beseeches viewers to consider their own views, especially on capital punishment, in light of the weight of evidence and bevy of sincere witnesses. A similar tone marks the other two documentaries. 

Directed by Alex Stapleton, God Save Texas: The Price of Oil digs into what many outside Texas think of as the state’s flagship industry. Stapleton was raised in a non-traditional household in Pleasantville, a largely Black neighborhood in Houston, that has been deeply affected by the oil industry, a vital employer but also a viral polluter. 

Stapleton documents her family’s roots in Houston, which date back to their arrival as freed slaves in the 1830s. That long, rich history has gained them little favor in their fight against environmental pollution, which continues to infect and devastate residents, who struggle against discrimination in employment and in equitable pay. 

Finally, God Save Texas: La Frontera goes deep on director Iliana Sosa and relationship with her hometown, El Paso, known as a sister city to Juarez, Mexico. Really, though, as Sosa shows, it’s just one large city, divided by an international border that divides families and promotes disunity and division. 

As with the other two filmmakers, Sosa talks about her family’s experiences. Immigrating from Mexico in their youth, they raised their family in El Paso, which has long cultivated a dual-citizenship personality. As economics and the political climate has changed, the dual city’s survival as a hotbed for personal growth is up for debate. 

The trilogy of films is essential viewing for every resident of the state, no matter your background. Born in California, I lived in New York for some years before moving to Fort Wort for a few years, then back to California for a spell, before returning to Dallas in 2006. 

These films reflect many of my own contradictory feelings about the state, while also capturing something about the spirit of the people that offers a measure of hope for the future. 

God Save Texas: Hometown Prison debuts Tuesday, February 27 on HBO, with the other two films debuting February 28. All three parts of the trilogy stream February 28 on MAX.  For more information about the films, visit the official site.