Slackery News Tidbits, September 19

[Editor's Note: Please welcome our newest contributor, Jordan Gass-Poore'!]

Here's the latest in Austin film news:

• On the heels of its world premiere, the 10th anniversary reimagining of Richard Linklater's cult classic Slacker, Slacker 2011, joins Harris County native Robbie Pickering's Natural Selection and three other films at the 2011 Lone Star International Film Festival Nov. 9-13 in Fort Worth. Natural Selection, which premiered at SXSW 2011, is about a woman (Rachael Harris) who goes in search of her recently deceased husband's eldest biological son. Read Debbie Cerda's SXSW review for more details.
• Austin filmmaker Richard Linklater is set to direct the 1970s Karl Rove biopic, College Republicans. Paul Dano (Little Miss Sunshine) will star as a young Rove as he navigates his way to the top of the College Republican National Committee, under the guidance of Lee Atwater. According to TheWrap, filming begins in November in Austin.
• Fantastic Fest badgeholders can stop by the Alamo Drafthouse Ritz at 7 pm tonight (Sept. 19) to catch a free Hideo Gosha classic, Bandits vs. Samurai Squadron. The 1978 Japanese action epic is about a vengeful ex-samurai who becomes the leader of a gang of outlaws, and sets out to destroy his former master. The movie is making its appearance at the Ritz in rare 35 mm form, thanks to The Criterion Collection and Janus Films.
• The Austin Film Society's Documentary Series kicks off the fall season with Granito: How to Nail a Dictator at 7 pm on Wednesday, Sept. 21 at the Alamo Drafthouse Ritz. Activist filmmaker Pamela Yates takes the viewer into early 1980s Guatemala and exposes the genocide against the indigenous Mayan people.
• The Texas Independent Film Network (TIFN) will sponsor the 2010 comedy, The Happy Poet, at 7 pm on Wednesday, Sept. 28 at the Texas Music Theater in San Marcos. The film, shot on location in Austin, revolves around Bill, an out-of-work poet who spends the last of his money on an organic, mostly-vegetarian food stand. The film has garnered rave reviews from Entertainment Weekly and IndieWIRE -- not to mention our own Jenn Brown -- and will be featured in multiple cities across the state of Texas this month.
• "Days and Nights of Being Wild: Hong Kong New Wave Cinema", the Austin Film Society's new Essential Cinema series, continues this week with the 1990 drama Song of the Exile. The film is about a young woman who returns to Hong Kong for her sister's wedding from London, only to experience alienation and isolation from her family and within herself.