Next Fest: Head to AFI Dallas

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 Rian Johnson

I attended AFI Dallas in its first year and had a great time. I'd love to go back this year, but it starts Thursday night and I'm still recuperating from SXSW.

This year's opening-night film is Rian Johnson's The Brothers Bloom, which played during Fantastic Fest as a sneak preview last year. Johnson was at the Austin screening, as you can see from the above photo. Johnson and Reiko Kikuchi are scheduled to attend the AFI Dallas event. Kikuchi nearly steals the movie, which is a comedy about con men, in the tradition of The Lady Eve.

The Brothers Bloom isn't the only film from Fantastic Fest 2008 to play at AFI Dallas this year. Zombie Girl, the documentary about Austin teenager Emily Hagins directing a horror film, is screening in competition. And a favorite short from the fest, The Horribly Slow Murderer with the Extremely Inefficient Weapon, is in the shorts competition.

Two Texas films that played SXSW last week will have encore screenings at AFI Dallas: the beautiful and sweet St. Nick, directed by David Lowery; and Tim McCanlies's silly gamer comedy The 2 Bobs, which is practically a love letter to Austin.

If you want more Austin in Dallas next week, Bryan Poyser of Austin Film Society created this excellent list of AFS alumni at AFI Dallas.

Other SXSW movies playing AFI Dallas include RIP: A Remix Manifesto, Say My Name, Soul Power, Dungeon Masters, Grace, The Hurt Locker, (500) Days of Summer, and Moon. So if you missed them, you've got another chance.

If you know about any other Austin-related films playing at AFI Dallas this year, feel free to post the info in the comments.