Austin Film Society

Now that we're in mid-April, the deadline for the Texas Filmmaker's Production Fund is getting closer and closer. But that doesn't mean we've stopped hitting the road for more workshops. This past Tuesday (April 10), I made my first foray into the workshop world by presenting one in San Antonio in the Longwith Radio-Television-Film building at San Antonio College.

San Antonio College lives just a few blocks off of I-35 near the heart of downtown San Antonio. San Antonio Film Festival director Adam Rocha met me at the RTF building and took me on a tour. After checking out the luxurious lecture hall, we went to see the rest of the building. Adam showed off the school's radio station, KSYM 90.1 FM, where their Hot Mustard morning radio show goes on. Just within the past few years, the RTF department moved out of a nearby house into the Longwith RTF building, which also houses two TV studios and a music production facility.

In The Salt of Life (with an Italian title better translated as Gianni and the Women), Gianni (Gianni Di Gregorio) is a sweet sadsack of a man, nearing 60 but already "retired" for nearly a decade. He is lonely but not alone, since he has a lovely wife, college-age daughter, concerned friend Alfonso (Alfonso Santagata), a sweet dog, and a nonagenarian mother. But it is the latter, played by Valeria de Franciscis, whose imperious manner and spendthrift ways are increasing the size of the Gucci bags drooping under Gianni's tired eyes.

If she has any "problem," large or small, Mama calls her only child and complains that she isn't feeling well and that he must come over right away. Once he arrives at her beautiful estate with a lush garden and rooms full of valuable art, Gianni quickly discovers that she simply needs champagne and sandwiches served to her ancient friends playing poker. With no job, Gianni is the go-to man for family shopping, for walking the dog, for picking up the laundry, for buying curtains from Ikea, and for adjusting the picture on Mama's TV. Apron strings were never so long or unbreakable.

If you haven't yet read Alison Macor's book Chainsaws, Slackers, and Spy Kids: 30 Years of Filmmaking in Austin, Texas, you are missing out on the rich history of Austin's film community. I was excited when Ryan Darbonne, executive director of Cinema41 -- a volunteer group of cinephiles producing twice-monthly screenings at The Salvage Vanguard Theater -- told me that the group's namesake was Cinema 40 Film Society, a student-run volunteer effort at The University of Texas that he'd read about in Macor's book.

The year was 1965 and much like the Austin Film Society, Cinema 40 started out as a way to showcase art films presented by the directors. The group enjoyed highlights with Jean Luc Godard and Andy Warhol presenting work ... a pedigree worthy of reincarnation by a recent college grad looking for black independent films and indies of the 80s and 90s on Austin screens and coming up short.

Darbonne put out the call on Craigslist to identify other film enthusiasts to work with, and he got exactly two responses: Heather Cain and her partner Chris Popkoff. As the former manager of the Dobie Theatre, Cain helped channel Darbonne's DIY spirit into professional presentations (read: paying screening fees, working with press, the fine art of flyering). Cain and Popkoff have since moved out of Austin but Cinema41 has enlisted additional volunteers and are celebrating the group's one-year anniversary on Thursday with a free public screening of Living In Oblivion at Austin Studios.

By Viral Bhakta

Thursday, March 8, 2012 will definitely be a night to remember. The event: Texas Film Hall of Fame. The location: ACL Live at the Moody Theater. This was my first time hearing about this event, so I wasn't sure what exactly to expect, but thrilled to be part of the process.

The event was hosted by the beautiful and charming Anjelah Johnson, currently the face of the Taco Cabana ad campaign, and honored four Texas oriented-individuals for their dedication and successful careers in the film industry: Meat Loaf, Douglas McGrath, Barry Corbin and Danny Trejo. The film Rio Bravo was also given the Star of Texas Award and was accepted by the inspirational and lovely Angie Dickinson.

Previously held at Austin Studios, this was the first time that the Austin Film Society hosted the event at the Moody Theater. I have to say the new venue was quite a change. The three floors each were unique in their own way, by that I mean each included veteran filmmakers and well-known Hollywood figures.

Fortunately, I was able to work indoors on the second floor, mezzanine floor, out of the freezing cold weather (all the VIP suites were conveniently located on this floor as well). Even though I was in eyesight of some well-known Austin filmmakers, I wanted to introduce myself but did not want to impose, as they seemed to be enjoying themselves. So I simply told myself, "Maybe next time."

Many members of the local film community converged during SXSW at the Austin Film Society (AFS) ShortCase screening on Saturday, March 10. Seen above are several of the AFS filmmakers in attendance including (clockwise from lower left): Chithra Jeyaram (Mijo), Nicholas Cormier III (Smile), James and Ryan Barlow (Huntered), Bob Ray (Sacked), Allison R. Smith and Justin Corsbie (Hot Dogs & Hand Grenades), Stephen Gamache (Mustachio), Joshua Flanagan (Mustachio), Will Shipley (Mentiroso), Brady Dial (Apogee of Fear proxy for Richard Garriott de Cayeux).

As one of the curators for the SXSW Community Screenings: AFS ShortCase program I was pleased to hear the audience reactions to all the selections. Afterwards, the filmmakers offered their advice during the Q&A session, ranging from the advantages and disadvantages of filming in a remote location to the challenges of animation.

Check out more photos from this special screening:

Hundreds of people braved the chilly wet weather on Thursday night to attend the Austin Film Society's annual Texas Film Hall of Fame Awards ceremony. This year was the first time the event was held downtown at ACL Live at Moody Theatre, but it seemed a perfect venue for the celebration. It was a bit of a crush outside the floor level as my friend and I wove our way to the stairs up to the balcony. We spotted Austin filmmaker Turk Pipkin, who started up a chat with a photographer about his equipment, and I ran into Matthew Odam, formerly of Austinist and currently with Austin360.

We sat in an angled section of the balcony, and struck up a conversation with a pleasant woman who works as a lawyer but works on adoption videos for Austin Pets Alive as a hobby. Then Matthew McConaughey walked on stage to kick off the festivities. The actor, sporting a new haircut, spent a few minutes asking folks on the floor to take their seats. He then ruminated on what makes Austin a special place. He mentioned his run-in with the law in town years ago, and announced that he is moving back to Austin, saying it is an "identity town" versus the industry town that is Los Angeles. The actor introduced John Paul Dejoria, co-chair of the ceremony, and then it was auction time.

This year's SXSW Community Screening: Austin Film Society ShortCase will be held Saturday, March 10 at 11 am in the Canon Screening Room (aka Rollins) at the Long Center, and will feature short films by Central Texas filmmakers ranging from Richard Garriott to Bob Ray.

I was pleased to be invited to curate the ShortCase -- I've said for years that I'd love to help host a short-film festival. The response from AFS filmmakers was overwhelming, with over 100 short films submitted in a two-week timeframe. I cried, laughed, and screamed -- and even hit the Rewind button a few times to savor certain scenes. AFS Interim Artist Services Manager Austin Culp, intern Reid Connell and I worked together to select the 10 best films to fill the 90-minute screening time. It was a daunting task with so much wonderful content representing the talent of AFS filmmakers, but we somehow agreed on the final slate. 

For filmmakers who didn't make the cut, we hope that you'll submit films for future ShortCase events -- I'm already formulating a cunning plan to get some of the content into a screening later this year. Feedback will be provided to filmmakers who requested it, and we encourage everyone to take advantage of the programs available to the AFS filmmaker members.

Without further ado, here are this year's SXSW ShortCase films.

Jenn Brown and I often say we could write volumes on two topics: How to have the best film-festival experience, and how filmmakers can effectively promote their films. However, we're looking at these topics from the point of view of the press and people who like to watch movies. We're not filmmakers, so we can't speak from that point of view about film festivals.

Fortunately, Austin Film Society has a Moviemaker Dialogue next week just for filmmakers, in which a panel of experienced local writers/directors will offer their advice about how you can get the most out of a film festival, whether your film is screening at that fest or not. The "Maximizing Your Film Festival Experience" panel is moderated by me, and includes Kat Candler, Clay Liford, and Geoff Marslett. (That's Candler and Liford in the above photo.)

These filmmakers have taken their indie shorts and features around the country (and possibly out of the country; did you go to Sitges with Mars, Geoff?) to film festivals of all sizes. They've also all had films at SXSW, so they're certain to have advice specifically related to next month's film fest. They're a lively bunch and I think this is going to be an excellent session.

The panel takes place next Wednesday, February 29 at 7 pm at the Austin Studios screening room. If you have a Filmmaker-level AFS membership, admission is free, otherwise it's $5. You can get tickets online in advance -- it's not a huge space so I recommend buying (or reserving) now. Bring your best questions.

Actor Danny Trejo has made so many movies at Troublemaker Studios that he already feels like an honorary Texan. Austin Film Society plans to make this title legit, though. Trejo will receive the Patrón Honorary Texan Award at the Texas Film Hall of Fame Awards ceremony on Thursday, March 8, along with other previously announced honorees.

It should be entirely unsurprising that Austin filmmaker Robert Rodriguez will present the award to Trejo that evening. Trejo has played Machete in Rodriguez's films starting with Spy Kids in 1999 through the then-fake Machete trailer in Grindhouse in 2006 and of course in the actual Machete movie in 2010. The photo above is from the Austin premiere of Machete, which AFS hosted at the Paramount in September 2010. Rodriguez recently announced a second Machete movie, Machete Kills, and while I honestly feel a sequel is unnecessary, I do enjoy watching Trejo in action as the character.

Here's another photo from the Machete premiere, this time of Rodriguez and Trejo together with actor Daryl Sabara.

The Austin Film Society is providing a chance for AFS member filmmakers to get their short films screened during the SXSW Film Festival next month. ShortCase, a 70- to 90-minute special screening of short films, is confirmed for Saturday, March 10, 11 am, at the Canon Screening Room at the Long Center (aka the Rollins).

I am especially excited this year as I am officially curating the ShortCase film series on behalf of AFS. Our long-term goal is to expand the frequency of the ShortCase screening events, as well as provide constructive feedback to filmmakers whose work is not accepted into the screening lineup. We sincerely hope AFS filmmakers take advantage of the wealth of resources provided through AFS Artists Services, including the Texas Filmmaker Production Fund and Moviemaker Dialogues. AFS members interested in film-festival information should consider attending the upcoming "Maximizing Your Film Festival Experience" on February 29 with Kat Candler, Clay Liford and Geoff Marslett (and moderated by Slackerwood editor Jette Kernion).

To be considered for the AFS ShortCase screening at SXSW Film Festival, entries are due into the AFS offices no later than Wednesday, February 22, at 6 pm -- that's today, yes, and note that it's not the postmark-by date. They must be in DVD or Blu-ray format and should be clearly labeled . Films can be documentary, narrative, experimental, animation, music videos, etc. as long as they are under 30 minutes and completed -- no works-in-progress. Films should have been completed in the last 2 - 3 years (2010 to 2012). Older films can be submitted, but newer films will have preference. This will be a showcase for work that is not already playing at SXSW this year or has played in previous years. Find out more details here.