Awards

The Texas Film Hall of Fame Awards event is just around the corner -- Thursday, March 8, the night before SXSW begins. Austin Film Society has recently announced some of the 2012 recipients as well as new innovations to the gala.

Three honorees have been named so far: actor Barry Corbin, orignally from Lamesa (between Midland and Lubbock); filmmaker Douglas McGrath (Infamous, Emma), who was born in Midland; and actor/musician Marvin Lee Aday, a native of Dallas. Wait, you don't know who Aday is? You've probably heard of him as Meat Loaf.

The Texas Film Hall of Fame Awards event moves downtown to the ACL Live Theater at the Moody Center this year, away from its traditional Austin Studios venue. The evening will include more live music than in previous years, with a lineup including Grupo Fantasma, Nakia, and Suzanna Choffel. Actor/comedian Wyatt Cenac (The Daily Show, Medicine for Melancholy) returns to emcee the evening.

The Film Independent Spirit Award nominations for 2011 were announced this week, and Austin fared very well on the list of hopefuls. Take Shelter, the feature from local filmmaker Jeff Nichols (pictured above), received a whopping five nominations: Best Feature, Best Director, Best Male Lead (Michael Shannon), Best Supporting Female (Jessica Chastain), and the Piaget Producers Award (Sophia Lin).

Take Shelter is still playing in Austin at Regal Arbor, although starting Friday it'll move to a late-show slot. Read Jenn's review to learn more about the film.

In addition, Austin documentary filmmaker Heather Courtney received a Spirit Award nomination in the Truer Than Fiction category for her film Where Soldiers Come From, which premiered at SXSW this year -- that's Courtney and the subjects of her film at a SXSW Q&A in the following photo.

Every year, Austin Film Society awards grants to emerging film and video artists in the Lone Star State through the Texas Filmmakers' Production Fund (TFPF). Since its inception in 1996, the AFS has awarded over 300 grants, totaling over $1 million in cash and over $100,000 in goods and services to almost 300 projects. In addition to grants for production, post-production and distribution, the TFPF has provided approximately $21,000 in stipends to Texas filmmakers traveling to prestigious film festivals.

Past TFPF grant recipients have screened their films at renowned festivals around the world including Sundance, Cannes, and Toronto as well as right here in Austin at SXSW. One such project is Katrina's Son (pictured right), which was awarded a TFPF grant in 2008, then premiered at AFF last year and at the Cannes International Festival's Short Film Corner this year. Several TFPF-funded movies have been released theatrically and in the cable and home video markets. 

This year AFS received 208 applications, and at least $90,000 will be awarded in cash, goods and services to emerging filmmakers in Texas. AFS invites three distinguishd filmmakers from outside of Texas to participate in grant applications review. Members of this year's panel were recently announced, and include Independent Spirit Award nominee Barry Jenkins (Medicine for Melancholy), Sundance Institute producer-in-residence Anne Lai, and Independent Spirit Award-winner Ian Olds (Fixer: The Taking of Ajmal Naqshbandi). During the panelists' visit to Austin for the review process, special screenings will be presented by Austin Film Society. Find out more and watch one of the featured short films after the jump.

When I originally wrote about Austin and Texas films playing at Cannes this year, I had no idea that two of them would walk away with major awards. It has been a great year for Texas movies at the French festival.

The biggest news is that Terrence Malick's film The Tree of Life took home the Palme D'Or, the grand prize of the entire festival. The Smithville-shot movie opens in Austin on June 3 -- however, if you want to see it earlier, Austin Film Society is hosting a special screening and benefit reception on Tuesday, May 31 at the Paramount.

In addition, Austin filmmaker Jeff Nichols' movie Take Shelter won the Grand Prize in the Critics' Week program ... and in that same category, Nichols also won the screenwriting award for his film. Take Shelter premiered at Cannes this year and will get a theatrical release in the fall from Sony Picture Classics ... no word yet on when we'll see it in Austin. Both Take Shelter and The Tree of Life star Jessica Chastain, who will be attending the AFS screening of Malick's film next week.

Other Cannes coverage and news:

• Charles Ealy at the Austin American-Statesman has a good round-up of all the Austin folks at Cannes this year. 
• Ealy also reminds us that even a Woody Allen movie can have Texas ties. Allen's latest film, Midnight in Paris, which played Cannes (and will open in Austin on June 10), stars UT alum and Dallas native Owen Wilson.

The Cine Las Americas International Film Festival, which has been going on all week, has announced its jury award winners and scheduled them for encore screenings tonight at Alamo Drafthouse on South Lamar. If you don't have a festival pass, you can buy tickets at the Alamo box office.

Portraits in a Sea of Lies (Retratos en un mar de mentiras) won the Best Narrative Feature award and will be shown at 6 pm. The Colombian movie is about a pair of cousins who travel to their hometown to try to recover land taken from them when younger. The Best Narrative Short, Lupano Leyva, will screen beforehand.

The Best Documentary Feature award went to Defiant Brasilia (Avenida Brasilia Formosa), which plays at 3 pm. The "experimental documentary" from Brazil is about a group of people moved to a fictional street and how they interact together. The Best Documentary Short, If We Stay Alive (Si seguimos vivos), will screen beforehand.

Cine Las Americas wraps up tonight with closing-night film The Life of Fish (La vida de los peces), at 9:45 pm at Alamo on Lamar, followed by an after-party at Club DeVille.

For more Cine Las Americas coverage, check out Austin Vida, which includes an interview with Go For It! filmmaker Carmen Marron and reviews of fest selections Habla Texas and Miss Tacuarembo. In addition, True View Reviews has set up a blog just for their Cine Las Americas reviews.

Last night, the SXSW Film Festival presented most of its awards, except for a few audience awards. It's a pleasure to see Austin-connected films all over the list. Natural Selection, shot in nearby Smithville, practically swept the Narrative Feature categories, including the Audience Award; while former/sometimes Austinites Kyle Henry and Heather Courtney won the Best Editing award in the Documentary Feature category for Where Soldiers Come From. (I agree that the editing in that film is absolutely amazing.) The Narrative Shorts jury award went to Pioneer from Dallas filmmaker David Lowery, a short that premiered at Sundance this year.

In the Texas-specific awards categories, Steve Mims and Joe Bailey's documentary Incendiary: The Willingham Case (pictured above) won the Louis Black Lone Star Award. The Texas Shorts jury award winner was 8, directed by Julie Gould and Daniel Laabs, which Don Clinchy says was "the most poignant and bittersweet film" in the Texas Shorts lineup this year. Look for his feature on the Texas Shorts collection soon.

The full list of awards from last night's ceremony is available after the jump. On Saturday, we'll find out the audience award winners in the Lone Star States, 24 Beats Per Second and Midnighters categories.

While visiting the set of The Man Who Never Cried last fall, I was amused by the t-shirt worn by director Bradley Jackson (above on the right, with lead Keir O'Donnell, left). The phrase across his chest read "Please Lord, Let me Prove to You That Winning The Lottery Won't Spoil Me."

Jackson will have to do just that, with the recent announcement that the $100,000 grand prize for the Doorpost Film Project went to The Man Who Never Cried. The local film that received tips and script edits from the likes of Austin filmmaker Richard Linklater and other industry veterans. In addition to winning first place, the film took several other awards at last week's awards ceremony, including the Audience Choice Award. Find out what other honors the local independent film received are after the jump:

aGLIFF knows how to party. I know from experience: the crowds are fun, witty and very welcoming. So just imagine their annual Red Carpet Gala complete with a live Academy Awards telecast this year, so big it's moving to Austin Studios. If anyone can create celebrity sensation, aGLIFF's party planners can.

On Sunday, February 27, paparazzi, a red carpet and a champagne reception await you as the hostess with the mostest, Rebecca Havermeyer, will be on hand to greet you like the Austin celebrity you are. When you get to your private table, your waiter will be ready with some Oscar-themed cocktails, starting at 5:30 pm. Above, you can see Miz Havermeyer chatting up then-Austin filmmaker Kyle Henry, whose Fourplay: San Francisco short played aGLIFF 2010 with overwhelmingly positive reactions. (Henry's in Chicago now, but we still can't stop thinking of him as belonging to Austin.)

Last year, the Austin connections at the Oscars were easy to spot: actress Sandra Bullock and musician Ryan Bingham, both of whom brought home the little gold guys. This year, Austin is a little less obvious in the Academy Award nominations, but you can still find local connections if you poke around a bit. Let's hope some of these folks walk away with awards next month:

• John Hawkes: Supporting Actor, Winter's Bone -- Hawkes (pictured at right) started his career in Austin before his role in this excellent movie, which played SXSW 2010. You can find him in a couple of Austin-shot movies, too: he's in Eve's Necklace and going back a few years, plays a liquor-store clerk in From Dusk Til Dawn.
• Dogtooth: Foreign Language Film, Greece -- One of the film's producers is Athina Rachel Tsangari, a filmmaker who divides her time between Greece and Austin. She was an executive producer on Bryan Poyser's film Lovers of Hate, and her 1997 film The Slow Business of Going won a Texas Filmmakers Production Fund grant in 1997. Dogtooth played SXSW in 2010.
• True Grit: 10 nominations including Best Picture and Directing -- This Western was partially shot in Austin, as well as in nearby Granger. In addition, co-director Joel Coen attended grad school at The University of Texas at Austin (after which he and Ethan Coen shot Blood Simple in Austin). (Mike's review)

The Austin Film Critics Association announced its 2010 awards on Wednesday. It's hard for me to write this up as a straight news story since I'm a voting member, and I got to pick some of these awards -- Jenn is a member too this year. I'm happy to say that the movie that won Best Film is currently my favorite of the year: Black Swan. The movie also was awarded Best Director (Darren Aronofsky), Best Actress for Natalie Portman, Best Original Screenplay and Best Cinematography.

Another pleasant surprise is that the Best Austin Film award went to an indie documentary: Winnebago Man, which first played Austin at SXSW 2009. Director Ben Steinbauer and producer Joel Heller are both Austinites. The doc about Jack Rebney won the award against some tough competition this year. I liked this film very much when I saw it at Alamo Drafthouse this summer; you can read more about it in Don's review. (It's now on DVD.)

The full list of awards is after the jump. AFCA also decided to give a special award this year to a TV show -- the Austin-shot series Friday Night Lights. True Grit was also partially shot in town as well as parts of Central Texas, and its star Hailee Steinfeld won Best Supporting Actress. I'm also pleased that overall, this year's award recipients are from a relatively eclectic list of movies, from The King's Speech to TRON: Legacy to Exit Through the Gift Shop. Now, can we get Banksy to show up at an awards ceremony?