It’s time to sit back, relax and watch a lot of great stories at the 2019 Deep in the Heart Film Festival.

This year sounds like another engaging line up of shorts, feature films and festival functions.

This year, the slate features 111 films over four days, including seven feature films. As always, the shorts are curated into different blocks by various themes, a grouping endeavor that is as artful as the art it corrals. Some of the block themes this year include “No easy answer,” “Our twisted world” and “It had to be you” to name a few. Within each block, you’ll find multiple genres, but each short will share a certain thread.

Louis Hunter, one of the festival founders and organizers, said finding that common thread that runs through the films is part of the fun of organizing the festival.

“I liken it to Christmas,” Hunter said. “Our programming sessions are always a lot of fun.” He said it’s like going Christmas shopping and finding the good stuff, wrapping it up and then waiting for people to come see the presents you brought them.

(Fun fact: Deep in the Heart Film Festival is what made us fall in love with short films)

When choosing films, the organizers are ultimately seeking good stories but there’s also some good diversity within those stories this year. This includes shorts with LGBTQ representation and tackling less often discussed topics such as elder care. There’s also a family block that kids should enjoy and a film about the rodeo.

“Anyone who comes is going to enjoy what they see and occasionally be challenged in what they think,” Hunter said.

There’s also a film education element that Hunter said he’s especially excited about this year. With the help of Kodak, they are bringing in an accomplished filmmaker for a master class in Super 8 film making. Kodak is also bringing a film/digital hybrid camera. There’s also an Acting in Texas panel and a tour of Waco as a prospective filming site.

“It’s an opportunity to show off what Waco can do. That’s part of our mission to promote film making in Central Texas,” Hunter said.

The education sessions are open to the public. The majority of the festival events are located downtown.

Buy tickets for individual blocks or films, ticket six-packs or tickets for the entire festival on the film festival website, http://www.deepintheheartff.com/