Two San Antonio filmmakers are hoping to distill cinematic storytelling to its most essential form. Valerie Garza and Robb Garcia will launch the Elemental Film Festival on June 12 and 13, a new movie showcase inspired by air, earth, fire, and water.

“(Garcia) and I had the first initial brainstorming meeting, and we just thought about fire representing passion, earth is the foundation, water is the emotion, air is vision and imagination,” Garza explains. “All of these elements are actually genres for the films. So, if a film is a tear-jerker, we'll put it in with water.”

The duo, along with programming director James Borrego and nonprofit partner Cine Studio San Antonio, wanted to feature movies that challenge all involved — not just the viewers, but the creatives behind and in front of the camera.

“This was just an idea that came to us — let's do something where we can highlight the filmmaker as well, not just the film,” says Garza. “Let’s find out more about the filmmaker – who are they, what are they trying to say?”

More than 20 submitted and juried films will be screened at the festival and entered into an awards competition, the majority from San Antonio and Texas. Highlights include:

• First Blood: War & Womanhood, an intro to a documentary series exploring a young woman's first period
• The Legacy of Del Bravo Record Shop, a chronicle of the beloved West Side record store
• Los Dos Hermanos, a tale of two taquero brothers whose encounter with a wealthy stranger changes the course of their dreams
• True Self, a haunting story about a troubled teenager
• Garden Valley, a thriller inspired by a real-life South Side tragedy
• Saluté, a look back at a legendary St. Mary’s Strip music venue

In addition to the screenings, the Elemental Film Festival will also host mixers, Q&As, and a closing party and awards ceremony. All of the programming is free and open to the public.“We just want to make sure that everyone knows about us and that they have a good time,” Garza says. “We were actually shocked with the amount of films that we had submitted because this is our first year, and we started promoting this on very short notice. We were really, really shocked, but also grateful for that.”