One of these movie stars will be in Fort Worth tomorrow night

There’s a lot more to a film festival than movies. There’s also gawking and mingling. Half the fun happens at the red carpet arrivals and the after-parties, and this week’s Lone Star International Film Festival in Fort Worth has its share of both. It’s the moviegoer’s chance to glimpse a director or star, strike up a conversation with a producer and meet fellow film lovers.

FW Weekly is sponsoring the Lone Star parties, starting with tonight’s post-Sunshine Cleaning fete at Scat Jazz Lounge in Sundance Square. It’s preceded by an opening-night reception, which requires a ticket or festival pass. The other nightly after-parties are at the 8.0 (Thursday), Longhorn Saloon (Friday) and Club Embargo (Saturday). Admission is generally free for passholders, with cover charges for everyone else.

What doesn’t cost a thing is watching producers, directors and stars walk the red carpet. Lone Star will roll it out on Thursday and Saturday.

At 7 p.m. Thursday outside the AMC Palace 9, look for director Jaffar Mahmood and producer Mar Melvin of Centerpiece film Shades of Ray (screening at 8 p.m.), along with stars Sarah Shahi, a Euless native, and Fran Kranz; Mona Lisa on the Asphalt director Vladimir Naumov; and Dexter creator James Manos Jr. and star Laura Velez, who will appear on a panel Saturday with Dexter producer and festival director Dennis Bishop.

Sarah Shahi (left) of Shades of Ray and Euless walks the red carpet Thursday

At 7 p.m. Saturday, before the screening of Closing Night film Last Chance Harvey, the red carpet will be packed with talent: directors Cy Preston (A Quiet Little Marriage), Andrey Zvyaginsev (The Banishment) and Eric Bricker (Visual Acoustics: The Modernism of Julius Shulman); producers Jim Sampas and Orian Williams (One Fast Move or I’m Gone: Kerouac’s Big Sur), Lori Miller (They Came to Play) and P.J. Raval (Trinidad); screenwriter Dave Norman (Bloom); and actors Jonny White (How to Be) and Melonie Diaz (I’ll Come Running and winner of the festival’s Rising Star Award).

The festival begins winding down with an awards brunch at 10:30 a.m. Sunday at the Renaissance Worthington Hotel, with winners in documentary, feature and shorts categories. Tickets start at $75. VIP passholders get in free.