AFF

This is the first year that I've attended panels during the conference portion of Austin Film Festival (AFF). Overall I'd say that I was not disappointed, other than the disadvantage of having to miss some screenings I'd really wanted to see such as the screening of Texas Weather at the Texas Spirit Theater.

I thoroughly enjoyed the honest and informative "Texas Film Incentives" panel with Paul Alvarado-Dykstra, Central Texas Representative of the Texas Motion Picture Alliance (TXMPA), along with filmmakers James Crowley (The Rookie, Hidalgo) and Dominic Cancilla (Hope Floats, A Scanner Darkly).

James talked about the high quality of production crews in Texas, with Dominic pointing out that Dicky Deats is the only key grip ever to win an Academy Award, for Hope Floats. During the discussion it was also confirmed that Whip It, which shot primarily in Michigan, is still waiting for incentives because funds are depleted in some other states' incentive programs.

Monday was Arbor Day for me. That is, I watched two Austin Film Festival films up at the Arbor Cinema. The best anyone can do is three features a day from this point on, but I was too busy watching a screener to make it any earlier (and more on that later).

I don't know how much of it was rainy Monday, post-conference, or just being out of downtown, but the AFF movies at the Arbor were not crowded. That's not to say it was empty -- there was a respectable sized crowd for both films I saw -- but no one was forced for sit in the front row. Keep that in mind for all venues for the next three days; unless you're late, you're likely to get into everything now. If it's at the Paramount, you'll get in.

First up for me was How I Got Lost (pictured at right), directed by Joe Leonard and starring Aaron Stanford, Jacob Fishel, and Rosemarie DeWitt (Rachel Getting Married). I swear having Stanford in a film is a guarantee of getting it into an Austin festival. In the five years the films Flakes, Rick, Spartan, and The Cake Eaters have all played at an Austin festival. How I Got Lost is based on a short by Leonard, and the story revolves around two New York friends in the post-9/11 world.  Unfortunately, Leonard wasn't at the screening for a Q&A.

Now that we're in the second half of Austin Film Festival's 8 day run, it's a lot easier for those without a badge to get into the smaller venues.  So now is a good time to point out the remaining that should be on your radar. Astericks indicate films with an Austin connection.  The full schedule is available on the Austin Film Festival website. 

Monday, October 26th
7:00pm Lake Creek Little Fish, Strange Pond (Callum Blue in attendance)
9:30pm Arbor Happy Ending (Chris Holland highly recommends)

Tuesday, October 27th
7:00pm  Lake Creek Creek *Stoner
7:00pm Hideout Shorts 2 Reel (first two shorts are Austin shorts)
7:30pm Independent at 501 Herpes Boy (cast and crew may still be in town)
10:00pm Independent at 501 Thor At The Bus Stop  (Narrative Feature WINNER)

Three of us from Slackerwood are at Austin Film Festival this year, watching a lot of movies and attending panels and trying not to stay too late at parties. But we're not your only source for fun stories, photos and reviews during AFF. Here are a few of the online news sites and blogs that we'd recommend you visit. If I missed any good blogs or news sites, please mention them in the comments.

• Hopefully now that the conference is over, out-of-towners with AFF badges are returning home and it will be easier to see movies in the smaller AFF venues. Passholders have not been able to get into many of these screenings, but things may improve for the rest of the fest. Keep an eye on our Twitter feed for updates.
• If you haven't been reading Austinist for your AFF news and coverage, you're missing some good stuff. They're all over AFF, and we know because we keep sitting near them at movies. They've got daily previews, and they're also updating the AustinistFilm Twitter feed like mad.
• Film School Rejects is also covering AFF this year (sometimes we sit by them too). Check out their AFF 2009 category for the latest entries, including Bethany Perryman's entertaining daily festival diary entries.

Today is as much about what I didn't do at the fest, as the screenings itself. I overslept and miss the Hair of the Dog brunch and the TXMPA Incentives panel. I believe Debbie made it to the panel, so hopefully she'll be doing a writeup later. I did make it over the Driskill 1886 cafe for some lemony eggs benedict before heading to a screening that I ended up switching with Alabama Moon, so I had a lot of time on my hands today.

Alabama Moon, directed by Austin's Tim McCanlies, harkens back to the vintage Wonderful World of Disney films I used to watch on Sunday nights. Kid in trouble, the requisite mean and inept adults, the bully with a change of heart, and a few good and kind adults to bring about a happy ending. Austin favorite Clint Howard plays the constable who makes Moon's life really difficult after Moon's father dies. Alabama Moon is family fare, and will make some adults nostalgic.

The Paramount seats aren't kind to aching knees, so I left before the Q&A, and I'm glad I did. I got out just in time to catch the tail end of the annual Zombie Lurch to the Capitol, an event the Alamo Drafthouse Lake Creek puts on every year. I wished they'd organized it better so there were people in line at the Paramount at the time. It's such a fun thing to see lumbering up the street, and I doubt many festivalgoers caught it.  The video I took is being stubborn about being embedded, so it's linked above.

Please welcome guest contributor Linda Ball, who caught a special Austin Film Festival screening of the 1963 film The Ugly American, which included a discussion with the film's screenwriter, Stewart Stern.

I was curious to see the The Ugly American because when it was released (1963) and when the book was published (1959) I was quite young. However, I remember the phrase "the ugly American" being synonymous with new ideas about the face of colonialism and of the Cold War anti-Communist era. I may have even read the book in college. Certainly, this material was the part of the underpinning of the protests and new ways of looking at our place in the world that came along when I was in college and made me start to question the certainty of the 1950s culture of my childhood, basking in victory from what was considered a right and just war.

I was not prepared for the power of the movie The Ugly American and its relevance today or for the cogent and emotional remarks of Stewart Stern who, at 87, has witnessed so much of history. Describing traveling the world in the 1950s to see the work of Non-Governmental Organizations, he told a story that resonates today about how to help people around the world effectively. These lessons made their way into the movie. For example, the training of people to use sterile knives for cutting the umbilical cord (instead of contaminated sharpened bamboo sticks) was something he actually encountered in his research. He tested the script on people in Southeast Asia and discarded ideas that were clever but unworkable for helping people.

Calvin Marshall director Gary Lundgren and several of the film's stars, including Diedrich Bader and Andrew Wilson, came to town to support the film's debut during AFF at the Paramount Friday night. I had a chance to interview them on Friday. They talked a lot about the state of the movie industry, independent film, and music -- and of course, Calvin Marshall. If you missed a chance to see their movie at the Paramount on Friday, stay tuned for our review, distribution and release news. We will have the full interview available soon as a podcast here.

[Photo credit: Diedrich Bader, Gary Lundgren, and Andrew Wilson, by Debbie Cerda on Flickr]

If the screenwriters for Harold and Kumar Go to White Castle hadn't had studio backing for their comedy, and ended up shooting the movie in their hometown with a cast of acquaintances and a budget of maybe $300, the resulting film might have ended up a lot like Simmons on Vinyl. Both movies hang a lot of comedy on the premise of a crazy night in pursuit of something that sounds very silly when first mentioned, but has value to the characters involved.

Director/co-writer Mark Potts plays Zeek, a college kid who is dying to go out on a date with the lovely Holly. We can tell Holly's not interested, but Zeek is so much in denial that he agrees to run an errand for her -- to go to her boss's house and pick up a record she needs for a party, even though she isn't inviting Zeek to the party. Zeek's friends Dwayne (William Brand Rackley) and Dwight (co-writer Cole Selix) agree that Zeek's just being used by Holly, but agree to help him out. However, it's not as simple as merely picking up the vinyl from one house. The errand balloons into an all-night adventure.

This is the stair-iest festival. My knees are killing me.  I seem destined to be climbing lots of stairs, to the point my poor knees can't take. or close to it.  Stairs at the Driskill. Stairs at the Ritz. Stairs at all the party venues.  Owwie.  I may have to put in a worker's comp claim (just kidding, Jette). 

I missed the morning panels, because not having alarms set meant I woke up when I was good and ready, and that was far too late for panels before lunch. So I was very envious when Rich Vázquez tweeted about a very personal panel up on the Capital lawn with Tom Skerritt and some teachers (aka the "Teaching Storytelling Through Screenwriting" panel).

It also meant I missed the An Education screening, which has caused an uproar among some because it was booked at a small venue.  I'm rather surprised, because at least one badge holder I know got there less than a half hour before it was scheduled to start, and there was even room for me.  Remember folks, the TBAs are locked into specific time slots and venues, and the festival has to accommodate certain restrictions and demands when playing films, too many to name here. This is a festival and conference, emphasis on the conference in the first few days. Having films that early in the day is relatively new for the fest.  And the film is opening in Austin in less than three weeks. And the two TBAs filling the Paramount slots are bigger films.

To me, it's a non-issue. Of the things to be frustrated with, a wide-release film coming out in a few weeks is very low. Besides, the emphasis needed to be on the Awards luncheon, which, of course, I missed.  While I'm a little sad my friend and fellow Austinite Patrick Sullivan did not win in his category, he beat out nearly 4,000 people to get to the finalist round.  And from what I've seen on twitter today, Sitcom Teleplay winner Benjamin Healy is an Austinite. 

The awards luncheon for Austin Film Festival was held today, with the following winners announced for the film, screenplay and teleplay competitions:

Film Competitions

• Documentary Feature Jury Award: Grown in Detroit - Directors: Manfred Poppenk, Mascha Poppenk
• Documentary Feature Special Jury Mention: Downtown Calling - Director: Shan Nicholson
• Animated Short Jury Award: Lost and Found - Director: Philip Hunt
• Narrative Student Short Jury Award: Welgunzer - Writer: Bradford Schmidt
• Narrative Student Special Jury Mention: Adelaide - Writer: Liliana Greenfield-Sanders
• Narrative Short Jury Award: Nice Shootin' Cowboy - Writer: Ben Phelps
• Narrative Short Special Jury Mention: The Taxidermist - Writers: Bert & Bertie; Washdays - Writer: Graham Lester George
• Narrative Feature Jury Award: Tobruk - Writer: Vaclav Marhoul
• Narrative Feature Special Jury Recognition for Acting: Myna Se Va
• Narrative Feature Special Jury Recognition for Independent Filmmaking: Thor at the Bus Stop