[image id="9211" title="rockport film festival" class="size-medium wp-image-18470" width="300" height="196" ] An outdoor screening and Halloween party will be held Oct. 31 at the Rockport Center for the Arts, 902 Navigation Circle..

ROCKPORT FILM FESTIVAL BEGINS WITH HALLOWEEN-THEMED MOVIE — It's Halloween week, and the seventh annual Rockport Film Festival gets in the spooky spirit with its first showing. The festival begins on Thursday, Oct. 31 with a Red Carpet Halloween Party and Outdoor Screening of "The American Scream." The film documents three Halloween obsessed families as they build costumes, haunted houses and displays. It begins at 6 p.m. at the Rockport Center for the Arts, 902 Navigation Circle, Rockport. Cost for the party and screening is $25.

The event continues Nov. 1-2 with film blocks at 1, 1, 7:30 and 10 p.m. each day at Main Street Arts/BAF, 902 E. Main St., downtown Rockport. Cost for all three days is $50.

Screenings will include feature-length films as well as shorts. Happy hours are scheduled both Friday and Saturday nights from 5 to 7 p.m.

Friday's happy hour will be held at Estelle Stair Gallery. A historic Texas Landmark, Estelle Stair Gallery served as a general store and the first home of the Rockport Art Association. Today the venue, at 406 South Austin Street, puts on art shows and offers unique hand-made items.

On Saturday, happy hour will be held at the Wind Way Gallery, which is owned and operated by 10 local Rockport artists. The gallery regularly hosts and features different visiting artists throughout the year and is located at 203 South Austin Street.

"Art Car the Movie" headlines Friday's feature length screening at 7:30 p.m. at the Main Street Arts/BAF Building, 902 E Main Street. The documentary follows a high school teacher and her class as they prepare an entry for the Houston Art Car Parade. With almost 300 entries and more than 300,000 spectators, the Houston Art Car Parade is the biggest in the world.

Saturday's matinee features "16 Acres," the story of the rebuilding of the World Trade Center in New York City after the terrorist attacks of September 11, 2001.

For more information, visit the website at www.rockportfilmfest.com.