See 'Chalk' at Alamo South Lamar this week

I'm always so happy when a movie I liked at a film festival finds distribution and plays in Austin, so I can nudge ­all my friends and acquaintances to go see it. And if the film was shot in Austin, that's even better. Last year at Austin Film Festival, I saw the locally produced film ­Chalk, a mockumentary that focused on a school year from the point of view of teachers and administration. I reviewed the film for Cinematical.­ Chalk won AFF's narrative jury prize as well as the audience award. The film landed a distribution deal this year through Morgan Spurlock's ne­w distribution label. And now you can see it here during a weeklong run at Alamo Drafthouse on South Lamar, starting tomorrow, May 18.

For the next week, Chalk has a screen all to itself, with multiple showings per day. Director Mike Akel and co-writer/actor Chris Mass will attend the evening shows on Friday and Saturday along with other cast members and will hold Q&As afterwards. However, the Friday night showings have already sold out (!), as well as the early evening show on Saturday, so you might want to get your ticket now for the late Saturday screening if you want to catch the filmmakers in person.

If you're a teacher, you can show your school ID and get the student discount when you buy a ticket for Chalk at Alamo. If you're not a teacher, I strongly recommend you find one and bring him/her with you to see Chalk. I watched the movie with an audience of Austin teachers who laughed until they cried at school-related in-jokes. So find as many teachers as you can. If you attend an evening show on Thursday, May 24, the filmmakers will be giving away shirts and other stuff to honor Teacher Appreciation Day. Alamo often offers themed menu items to go along with special screenings, but I'm glad that's not happening for Chalk -- would anyone really want to order school cafeteria food? Be glad you can drink a beer and eat pizza while watching these teachers.