Austin Film Society

I've been hearing about a lot of interesting screenings and events around town this week, so I thought I'd share a list of the highlights. If I'm missing anything, feel free to promote your own movie-related event in the comments section.

• Tuesday night, Austin Film Festival kicks off their new seminar series, Conversations in Film, with a panel called "Script to Screen: Making the Short Film." Panelists include Steve Collins (who expanded his short Gretchen and the Night Danger into the LAFF-winning Gretchen), Jenn Garrison (Prizewhores), and Scott Rice (Perils in Nude Modeling and the very funny Script Cops shorts that preceded films at AFF last year). The seminar takes place at Coldtowne Theater at 6 pm, and you can buy tickets from the AFF site, or call the AFF office if you're eligible for the member discount. I'm amused that two of these three panelists have directed shorts that feature the acting talents of AFF Membership Director John Merriman. That's coincidence ... or is it?
• Also on Tuesday, if you are a Filmmaker-level or higher member of Austin Film Society, you can attend the Docs-in-Progress screening of Best Kept Secret, directed by PJ Raval and Jay Hodges. Reserve seats through AFS. Best Kept Secret is about the transformation of Trinidad, Colorado, into the "sex change capital of the world." You might know Raval primarily as a cinematographer, who's photographed a number of local films such as Room, The Cassidy Kids, and the aforementioned Gretchen. Hodges is a book editor who has also worked with the Cinematexas film festival. (I really wish these AFS and AFF events weren't competing with one another -- it would be fabulous to attend both.)

Austin Film Society has just announced an upcoming session in its Moviemaker Dialogues series called "Film Bloggers are Your Friends." And we are! I swear. The session is aimed at filmmakers who want to know more about using the web to promote their movies, whether they develop their own sites or provide material that online reviewers and film blogs can use.

The session will take place on Tuesday, April 10 at 7 pm in the AFS screening room. Matt Dentler of SXSW (who has his own blog) will moderate. Panelists include Aaron Hillis (Cinephiliac), Joel Heller (Docs that Inspire), Mike Curtis (HD for Indies), and Jette Kernion ... hey, that would be me. I haven't met all the other panelists in person but I do read their blogs and it sounds like it'll be a useful and fun evening.

You must be a Filmmaker-level AFS member to attend the session, and you have to register on the AFS site. The session is free. You know I have plenty of issuesto rant about on this topic, so if you're an Austin filmmaker, I hope you'll be there.

Boy, have I been neglecting poor Slackerwood! I'm surprised I remembered the password to login. I've missed telling you all kinds of news: that the locally filmed feature Chalk has found distribution from Morgan Spulock's new company; that Austin filmmaker Bryan Poyser is now working for Austin Film Society as the Director of Artist Services (that reminds me of the "artist" bit in Swimming to Cambodia and I imagine Bryan issuing directions in that same tone); that Idiocracy will be released on DVD in January; and that all kinds of cool film events have been occurring in Austin, nearly all of which I've missed.

Except one. I did manage, by using up all my good luck for the next year, to get in on standby to the Butt-Numb-a-Thon last weekend. You can read the story about how I got into the event on Celluloid Eyes. But if you want all the news on the movies and the fun during BNAT, go read the feature I wrote for Cinematical. I am now hopelessly behind on any type of holiday shopping, preparation, or giftmaking (not to mention posting to various websites like this one), but it was definitely worthwhile.

I missed the recent Austin Film Society series of Gene Tierney films. It was very sad. Every week, I said I was determined to see one, but something always happened. Admittedly, the movies I wanted to see were also available on DVD and I wasn't sure it was that much of a benefit to see them on the big screen. I promised myself I would rent the DVDs later and watch the movies, although if you've seen my inactive Netflix queue, you probably find that improbable.

However, the latest Austin Film Society series is going to look fabulous on the Alamo Downtown screen, and I intend to be there this time. The series is called "Subtle Lines: Japanese Anime". It starts tomorrow night -- Tuesday, Nov. 21 -- with a Hayao Miyazaki film I have long wanted to see, Porco Rosso. The following week's film is also courtesy of Miyazaki: Spirited Away. I've seen Spirited Away in a theater, but dubbed in English, whereas the AFS films are all in the original Japanese with subtitles. I don't know much about the rest of the films in the series but they look fascinating.

So don't try to persuade me to do anything else on a Tuesday night from now until the end of December. I'm going to Alamo Downtown as often as I can to catch some of these gorgeous animated films in a theater. The movies are free for AFS members, and a very affordable $4 for non-members, so feel free to join me.

Update: I can't believe Chris and I just posted about the same thing at the same time. That's beautiful.

Some great anime on display at the Alamo Drafthouse Downtown on Tuesday nights through December, including a couple of favorites from Hayao Miyazaki.

- Porco Rosso (Kurenai No Buta)
Tuesday, November 21 @ 7 p.m.

- Spirited Away (Sen To Chihiro No Kamikakushi)
Tuesday, November 28 @ 7 p.m.

- Millennium Actress (Sennen Joyu)
Tuesday, December 5 @ 7 p.m.

- Metropolis (Metoroporisu)
Tuesday, December 12 @ 7 p.m.

- Ghost in the Shell II: Innocence (Inosensu: Kokaku Kidotai)
Tuesday, December 19 @ 7 p.m.

Visit the AFS page for more info on the films and the series.

The Texas Filmmakers' Production Fund (TFPF) 2006 winners were announced this week. TFPF annually awards grants and materials to filmmakers who need the money to shoot, complete, or distribute their films: mostly short narratives and documentaries, but often feature-length films too.

If you're not a filmmaker, you may not feel very interested in the list. However, it's a helpful sneak peek at the films that you might hear about in the next year or two, whether they're shown in local venues or manage to make the leap to Sundance or other big festivals.

Many of the names are familiar to me: prolific cinematographer P.J. Raval (Gretchen, The Cassidy Kids) received a grant to finish his documentary Best Kept Secret, Jenn Garrison (Prizewhores) was awarded money for her short doc Greg, and Austin Chronicle film writer Toddy Burton got a grant to film a short The Aviatrix. I went to grad school with Sandra Guardado, although I haven't seen her since, so it was nice to see she received a grant for the documentary Two Trinities.

Local filmmaker Bryan Poyser (Dear Pillow, The Cassidy Kids) knows more about the Austin film scene than I do, so he provided even more details about the grant winners on his blog. Unfortunately, Poyser didn't get a grant for his short Best Birthday Ever, but I'm hoping he's able to finish and publicize it anyway ... and that it'll screen in Austin eventually. The short film stars local actor/filmmaker Rusty Kelley (who was one of the TFPF winners) and Chicago filmmaker Joe Swanberg (Kissing on the Mouth, LOL).

I've been covering film news for Cinematical for about a year now, and before that I wrote about film on Celluloid Eyes. And in my deep dark past (aka college days), I used to cover local and entertainment news for various publications.

One thing I hadn't ever done was to cover a red carpet event. I didn't know much about the red carpet world, apart from what I occasionally saw if I turned on the Oscars too early. We don't have cable and I rarely watch entertainment news on TV. "Red carpet" didn't seem like something a print reporter would benefit from attending, which is why I turned down a chance to cover a red-carpet event at Fantastic Fest last year for Zathura. (Also, I found out about it 10 minutes beforehand, and had no idea what I'd say to Jon Favreau.)

But Kevin Smith came to town for the Clerks II premiere a couple of weeks ago, and I wanted to cover the event. Natalie Schuessler, the media contact at Austin Film Society (which sponsored the premiere), told me that space was tight for the actual premiere screening, but I could attend a press screening earlier in the week and then participate in the red carpet session with Smith before the premiere. I thought this would be an excellent way to get a taste of the world of red carpet interviews.

The thriller Cavite opens in Austin this Friday as part of the ongoing AFS@Dobie collaboration, in which little-known films get a week-long (or longer) run at Dobie Theatre. Check the Austin Film Society site for more information about the film.

John Pierson, who wrote Spike, Mike, Slackers & Dykes and now teaches at UT, will be discussing the indie film's distribution before the Friday and Saturday night screenings. Pierson and his producing class at UT worked to get distribution for Cavite. Pierson is never a dull speaker and has excellent insights about independent film distribution and other aspects of the film industry. If you're planning to see Cavite, go when he'll be there.

Updated: This week's Austin Chronicle includes an essay by Brian Clark, a member of Pierson's class, describing the way the class worked on securing distribution for Cavite.

[via Austin Movie Blog]

Caveh Zahedi's film I Am a Sex Addict opens at Dobie this Friday as part of the ongoing AFS@Dobie collaboration. The director (and lead actor) himself will be in attendance at the 7:30 pm screenings on Friday and Saturday night. Zahedi will introduce the film and hold a Q&A session afterwards. Austin Film Society members get a discount on tickets, which you have to buy through the Dobie. (Happily, if you buy the tickets online you still get the AFS discount.) If you want to know more about the film, the AFS site has a good description.

Austin Movie Blog is reporting that tickets are selling fast for the local premiere of A Scanner Darkly on Wednesday 6/28 at The Paramount. (I guess the SXSW screening didn't count as a premiere ... the movie wasn't quite finished then.) So if you're planning to attend, buy tickets ASAP. The screening will be followed by a Q&A from director Richard Linklater and other cast/crew members.

Here's the difficulty, for me: Austin Film Society, one of the premiere's sponsors, isn't selling the tickets through its usual online service. You have to buy the tickets through The Paramount's box office, which means you have to drive downtown to The Paramount during its (limited) box-office hours. And park downtown to do it, too. The AFS online ticket service has had its problems over the years, particularly with large or in-demand event (most memorably, the server crashed during QT 6 sales), but right now I would really appreciate using it to buy tickets for this premiere. Even a phone option would be nice. The Paramount's usual ticket service may work well for theater and live performances, but many moviegoers are spoiled by the ease of online purchases for screenings. At least I am.

I've already seen A Scanner Darkly at SXSW and previewed it for Cinematical. I'd like to see the movie again, completed, outside of festival crunch mode. And I would certainly recommend the film, whether you catch it at the local premiere or after it releases on July 7. You may not actually like the movie, but it's fascinating.