AFF 2010 Guide: Film Festival Venues
Austin Film Festival offers a variety of theaters for its 2010 movie screenings, from south of the river to the borders of Cedar Park. Some are an easy walk from the Driskill (conference HQ), like the Paramount, Hideout, ACC and Alamo Ritz; a couple might be considered walking distance if you are fond of hiking, like the Texas Spirit Theater and the Rollins Studio Theatre at the Long Center; and some absolutely necessitate using a vehicle of some sort, like the Arbor and Alamo Lake Creek.
We don't know much about one new theater: the Cinemin Swivel Theater at Austin Convention Center. This isn't the same theater space used for SXSW -- it's on the second floor. Still, we can tell you all about ACC itself and where to eat and how to get there and where to park. As we get more information on the theater, we'll update this venue guide. Feel free to post comments on the ACC venue or any of the theaters if you have advice.
The Paramount is the biggest theater of the bunch, with seating for nearly 1200 people, and you'll find red carpets and the occasional surprise celebrity at the marquee screenings held there. ACC is the second-biggest venue, we're told, although we don't have an exact seat count yet. AFF's many and varied shorts programs screen at The Hideout, which is also hosting a few conference panels and also can brew you a mighty fine cup of coffee. At Alamo Ritz, AFF primarily uses the smaller theater for screenings, although a few movies will play the larger theater during the first part of the fest. Alamo Lake Creek is the main venue for the Dark Matters series.
Bear in mind that AFF discourages audiences from taking photos during screenings and panels, so when you're visiting these venues during the festival, you may want to leave your camera at home (or stash it away carefully). This is an especially smart idea for big screenings of studio-distributed movies that haven't yet been released, where sometimes security guards may prohibit cameras entirely.
Click the theater names below for more information, including bus routes and nearby places to grab a bite to eat or a drink. Again, if we've left out anything helpful about these venues, please leave a comment.