Austin Film Festival: getting closer

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Have you checked out the Austin Film Festival film schedule? The lineup includes a bunch of marquee films (Tenacious D!), some super-secret sneak previews, and an interesting variety of independent narrative and documentary shorts and features. Filmmakers/actors from some of the movies are scheduled to do Q&As, such as Sydney Pollack, Shane Black, Janine Turner, and Kevin Smith. (Imagine them all involved with the same film.) The AFF News blog has the most current details on last-minute changes and additions.

I haven't yet decided which films I'm going to see and/or review -- I keep changing my mind every time I look at the schedule. Being from Louisiana, I'm drawn towards anything shot or set there, like Little Chenier and A Place to Dance. Whatever I pick, I will be covering AFF both here and at Cinematical, just like Fantastic Fest.

The film festival takes place from Oct. 19-26, and venues include The Hideout, Dobie, Paramount, IMAX ... and outside of downtown, the Arbor and Alamo Lake Creek. I'm hoping I don't have to find out how long it takes to drive from Dobie to Alamo Lake Creek. Yeesh. Film passes are only $35 for eight days of movies.

Little Chenier

Price Savoie Lake Charles, Louisiana Little Chenier could be the only movie to ever realistically capture the intricate beauty of Cajun life. The film brings the viewer into a previously unexplored world of floating houses, rustic bayou occupations, dangerous reptiles, and captivating Cajun accents. Being a Southwest Louisiana Cajun myself, I feel the accuracy in which Little Chenier portrays Cajun life is impeccable. The characters are multifaceted and uniquely riveting. I feel this film will supplant the reign of Belizaire the Cajun as the best Cajun film of all time. As if the deliverance of a never before seen culture was not enough, the film manages to generate a story line that could hold its own in any setting. Be it a small Cajun bayou town or New York City. The actors deliver. They are commanding, fluid, and potent. The main character Beauxregard (Johnathan Schaech), is a young Cajun man raising his mentally handicapped and mischievously jocose younger brother, Pemon (Fred Koehler). The love shared between the two main characters is poignant, pungent, and at times precarious, as a labyrinth of complex feelings is woven. The elements of corrupt law enforcement officers, a model sheriff (Chris Mulkey), unfortunate events, a broken father (Marshall Bell), a lost mother, a loyal friend (Clifton Collins Jr.), a nemesis (Jeremy Davidson), and a girl in the middle (Tamara Braun), intertwine and culminate with a surprise ending. I was on the edge of my seat the whole time, running through a gamut of emotions that included suspense, awe, empathy, sadness, laughter, anger, romance, and pride. This is a must see film.

agree, agree

Little Chenier will capture your heart. The next screening is Tuesday. Take the time and enjoy this great movie. I'm proud of my fellow Louisianians. They worked hard to make this film. Hollywood thought it couldn't be done. But, a bunch of crazy Cajuns proved them wrong.

magic in a bottle

I just stumbled across this film at Sundance last weekend. I cannot express enough how beautiful and well done this film is. They nailed it on every level. I feel fortunate to have experienced the glimpse into cajun life on the bayou. The casting, acting, soundtrack, story and cinematography were excellent. I'm gushing over this movie. LOVE IT!!!!