Finding Austin at Sundance 2011

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Fantastic Fest 2010: Those Wacky Zellners

The Sundance Film Festival has been announcing its 2011 competition features and shorts over the past few days. Sifting through the lists, I found a few Austin-related movies in the mix. If I missed any, let me know. I hope we'll see some of these films in Austin next year, perhaps at SXSW.

  • Local filmmaker Jeff Nichols, whose previous film Shotgun Stories won a lot of awards and acclaim, will be going to Park City with the feature Take Shelter. The cast includes Michael Shannon and Kathy Baker, and the movie was filmed in Ohio.
  • Nathan and David Zellner will be returning to Sundance with their latest short film, Sasquatch Birth Journal 2. The photo above is from the film's premiere at Fantastic Fest this year. I have to say, it is probably best enjoyed with the Zellner brothers actually introducing it in person, so you can hear their scholarly explanation of what you are about to see.
  • Dallas (and formerly Austin) filmmaker David Lowery (St. Nick) also has a short at Sundance: Pioneer. The description: "A father tells his little boy the most epic bedtime story ever." Lowery has posted a teaser trailer for the film.
  • A slight Austin connection: The feature film Benavides Born will screen in competition at the festival. The film is about a South Texas high-school senior who wants to go to The University of Texas for college, but she has to raise the money to go. The film was shot in San Antonio, Benavides, Corpus Christi and here in Austin. 
  • Finally, the Canadian short film The Legend of Beaver Dam played Fantastic Fest last year and is also going to Sundance in January. If you get a chance to see this, check it out. It's a horror-musical ... sort of. Very funny.

 

Attenberg

Hey Jette, you forgot Attenberg, by Athina Rachel Tsangari which will screen in the Spotlight section, she's an Austinite.