Local Indies

The 2012 Austin Film Festival will take place October 18-25, and some of us are waiting with bated breath for the full film schedule to be released. Until then, we have this week's announcement to hold us over. The creator of The X-Files, Chris Carter, will receive the fest's Outstanding Television Writer Award, and episodes from The X-Files and Millennium will be shown at the festival. Carter will also serve, along with director Paul Feig and screenwriter Brian Helgeland, as a guest programmer for AFF. Paul Feig has already chosen the films he will present: my favorite favorite film Bringing Up Baby and the 1976 blaxploitation flick The Human Tornado.

Robert Zemeckis's new drama, Flight, which includes a star-studded cast led by Denzel Washington, will serve as the Centerpiece film. Washington plays a pilot who averts disaster, only to be caught up in the resulting investigation (or so I infer from this nail-biter of a trailer). Now we know why John Goodman had a ponytail in a couple of his Community cameos last season!

The other AFF films announced early include a few with Lone Star connections. Having its world premiere at the fest will be Pictures of Superheroes (pictured above), an Austin-shot comedy about a woman who cleans house for two strange men. This movie is produced by Kelly Williams and directed by Don Swaynos, both hailing from our fair city.

The Texas Filmmakers' Production Fund grant winners for 2012 were just announced last night. This year, the TFPF has awarded $121,000 worth of cash grants for filmmaking projects, resources such as film stock, camera goods/services and post-production services, and travel grants for Lone Star filmmakers to attend festivals where their movies are screening.

Not only is it a pleasure to see Austin and Texas filmmakers receiving needed funds and other assistance for their projects, but the list of recipients provides a great sneak preview of shorts and features we might expect to see in another year or two (or more). One project received a $15,000 cash grant for production; others received grants ranging from $1,000 to $10,000. Some names were very familiar, but I enjoyed learning about some new-to-me filmmakers as well.

What I've done below is to rearrange the descriptions of grant recipients from Austin Film Society's press release to pull out the Austin films and highlight them first; then the films from elsewhere in Texas. I've also added brief notes about many of the filmmakers.

Austin-connected filmmakers receiving TFPF grants:

ABOVE ALL ELSE
John Fiege
The story of the Keystone XL pipeline project and of the landowners and activists who set out to stop it.
Documentary Feature
$7,000 in MPS Camera Austin services for production/post-production
Note: Fiege's previous documentary was the excellent Mississippi Chicken. He was cinematographer on The Least of These and Inside the Circle.

Well, this is a first. Slackerwood often publishes movie reviews from film-festival screenings. Even film conferences. But software conferences? Never been done -- until now.

chunky_bacon is a short documentary from Austin filmmaker Kevin Triplett. The film premiered earlier this month at the Lone Star Ruby Conference. Ruby is a programming language that's been the foundation for many of the so-called Web 2.0 sites that ushered in the age of the interactive and social web.

The doc recounts the work and ultimate death of the persona known as Why the Lucky Stiff, or just _why to his friends. _why was known throughout the Ruby community not only as a stunningly prolific programmer, but also an artist. His most famous creation was a free book called Why's (Poignant) Guide to Ruby. It's an odd, loopy software manual intertwined with strange narrative and punctuated by twisted Lynda Barry-like cartoons. It aims to teach Ruby programming to non-programmers -- you know, artsy types, not pocket-protecter-wearing, technical certification wielding, Microsoft-worshipping nerds.

Then one day, _why decided -- for reasons unknown -- to commit digital suicide. He removed all traces of his creations from the web: the posts, the code repositories, the wonderful book. And then he died.

By Amanda Natiello

When I heard about last month's screening of Agenda, a film meant to "pay homage to another era of storytelling, the film noir genre," I was thrilled. Film noir offers so much for consideration: the aesthetics, the complex plot structures, hard-boiled detective characters and the debate about what makes a film noir. I see noir as both an aesthetic and a narrative style that evokes a certain era of movies, specifically the period immediately following World War II, and a specific genre of film, usually of the mystery or detective varieties.

In channeling what I knew of film noir and what I had read in James M. Cain's novels, I began to play detective, listening to conversations as patrons trickled in, and piecing together what information I could gather about filmmaker Jonathan de la Luz in the cocktail hour before the screening. He had at least one friend in the audience, a man working the room who, like the rest of us, did not know much about the director's works. The audience, from what I gathered, also did not know much about film noir.

That is not to say that the director does not know his noir; rather, he knows it too well, but employs his knowledge on a shallow level. The film description reads, "Agenda is the story of a young man who comes into the life of a married couple and wreaks havoc." That sums up the movie in a nutshell, and immediately reminded me of the plot to The Postman Always Rings Twice and as one audience member reminded me, Body Heat. The basic plot structure was the first indication of de la Luz's source material.

Austin-based filmmaker Elizabeth Chatelain remembered the event that made her realize how detached she and her elder sister had become. Her documentary and University of Texas radio-TV-film graduate thesis, My Sister, Sarah, explores their relationship and her sister's battle with drug addiction. 

Chatelain had returned home to Fargo in 2007 after graduating from Middlebury College in Vermont. The 22-year-old's homecoming was cut short when she, her mother and brother stopped by her estranged sister's apartment to persuade her to go to the hospital. When her sister Sarah Chatelain-Gress finally opened the door for her brother, after refusing her mother, her physical appearance was astounding. After combating drug addiction for years, Chatelain-Gress had relapsed. 

"I saw her and it was like seeing this other person," Chatelain said. "It's not the person you have grown up with; it's not the person that you just had a conversation with on the phone. She was like a shell of a person. She was just out of her mind."

Ready, Set, Fund is a column about crowdfunding and related fundraising endeavors for Austin and Texas independent film projects.

This month is full of worthy film projects that are fundraising for all stages of production, with last month's Ready, Set, Fund spotlight project and documentary Merch Girl exceeding its goal of $30K before it ends on Thursday. A couple other upcoming film productions also portray Austin's diverse musical culture, including Thank You A Lot, which was featured in a recent Slackerwood photo essay. This film, which is funding through Wednesday, August 29, features local and legendary artists including James "Slim" Hand in the tale of a two-bit music agent whose job depends on being able to sign his reclusive, legendary father.

Another film project that embraces music is Dance Like No One's Watching from former Austin filmmaker Jenn Garrison (Prize Whores, Greg). While writing a feature script (Quick Quick Slow) that's set in a gay country western bar in Texas, Garrision discovered The International Association of Gay/Lesbian Country Western Dance Clubs (IAGLCWDC, or "Iggle Wiggle" as they call themselves). Garrison traveled back to Austin from Los Angeles to film research footage for her feature at the annual International Dance Competition. Her extra footage is the basis for this documentary portraying the dynamic and enthusiastic community that participates in same-sex dance competitions, and the freedom and independence this culture evokes.

Check out the teaser for Dance Like No One's Watching after the jump.

With so many independent film projects in Austin, it can sometimes be challenging to stay up to date on local production news. Promotions usually don't occur until after a film has been completed, but now and then filmmakers offer the unique opportunity of a set visit. These behind-the-scenes experiences reveal that the "magic" of moviemaking is really about the blood, sweat and tears a filmmaking team will sacrifice for their project. Specifically, the dedication and passion behind bringing a story to the screen, the physical conditions endured, and the frustration of funding dissolving at critical moments.

An upcoming film project that had hit my radar while researching for my monthly "Ready, Set, Fund" column is the feature Thank You A Lot.  I was intrigued that Texas singer/songwriter James "Slim" Hand was prominently featured in this film, as well as local Austin musicians.

Set in Austin as well as nearby Marble Falls, Texas, Thank You A Lot is about Jack Hand (Blake DeLong), a small-time music agent, who is forced by his management company to sign his reclusive and legendary musician father (James Hand) from who he is estranged. Jack hustles his way through a vibrant and diverse Austin music scene, trying to protect his current clients while discovering the real person behind his musician father. In addition to DeLong and local favorite Sonny Carl Davis (Bernie, Thelma and Louise), real musicians portray many of the supporting cast including hip-hop artist Da'Shade Moonbeam, members of the Austin band Hundred Visions, and jazz vocalist Keri Johnsrud.

The eighth annual Traverse City Film Festival will be held July 31 through August 5 in Michigan. The festival was founded by filmmaker/activist Michael Moore in his hometown. Moore recently wrote about his decision to restore the theatre in Traverse City and start a film festival there. Unlike other film festivals that tend to be pricey, Moore says, "Tickets are cheap, and many events -- like the nightly outdoor films we show on a 100-foot screen by the water --– are free."

Of the 91 shorts and features scheduled during the 2012 fest, six have Texas connections. Bob Byington's Somebody Up There Likes Me (SXSW review), Richard Linklater's Bernie (SXSW review), Jeff Nichols' Take Shelter (review), Alex Karpovsky's Red Flag (LAFF review), and Dallas native Terence Nance's An Oversimplification of Her Beauty will be screened at the Michigan festival. Kat Candler's short film Hellion (SXSW review) will be shown as a midnight short.

Byington, who was awarded the Stanley Kubrick Award for Innovative Filmmaking at the 2009 fest, will appear on a panel about comedy in film with Larry Charles.

By Tyler Draker

July 8 marked the third installment of this year’s Cinema East summer movie series. True to its reputation, it showed off two great films by local filmmakers.

Hellion is the short by Kat Candler that has been playing at many of the largest film festivals in the country, including Sundance and SXSW. I am currently a film student at The University of Texas and had Kat as a professor last year for the Advanced Narrative Production class. I’ve been trying to see Hellion since it was announced that it would be playing at Sundance. So, when I heard that it would be screening at Cinema East, I was set on going.

Hellion tells the story of three brothers who wreak havoc and the consequences when their father finds out. In the interest of not giving anything away, I’ll leave the rest of it a mystery and tell you to check it out the next chance you get. It’s very well acted and directed and overall it was really great to finally get to see it.

Kid-Thing by Nathan and David Zellner was the featured screening for the night, and it definitely didn't disappoint.

Kid-Thing also screened at Sundance and SXSW this past year, as well as several other festivals. The movie tells the story of a young girl, Annie (Sydney Aguirre), who is effectively on her own. Her father is pretty clueless and often a bad influence on her, holding all the authority over her that a little brother would have; that is to say, not much. This leaves Annie with complete freedom to do whatever morally questionable things she wants to, such as making prank calls or destroying a handicapped girl's birthday cake. Through her near constant solitary adventures in the woods, she discovers a woman (the late Susan Tyrrell) who has fallen into a well and become trapped. Annie refuses to get help for her or to help her get rescued but she visits almost daily to bring her sandwiches.

The story is slow and dark but it’s also captivating from beginning to end. It really makes the viewer work to keep up with the story and develop their own understanding of Annie. But, it’s worth it and the film is a must-see.

One of the great things about Cinema East is that they always manage to have somebody from the film, often directors and producers, there to answer questions and talk about the experience of making it. After both films had screened, they brought up Kat Candler and the Zellner brothers, along with several other people who were involved in various key positions, to do a quick Q&A. Some of the questions stumbled or left the filmmakers themselves wondering what was being asked. But for the most part they were all great questions from an audience that was engaged and wanted to know more about the filmmakers themselves and what inspired them to make the films that they did.

One question that got asked of both filmmakers was if they were like the main character or characters in their films when they were young. Neither Kat nor the Zellner Brothers based their characters off themselves but inspiration for certain aspects of them came from events that did happen in their lives. Kat’s character was loosely based on a family member setting fire to their grandfather’s Jeep. Parts of Annie’s character were based on David and Nathan Zellner’s childhood.  As they described it, they certainly had a happier childhood, also growing up on the outskirts of Austin, with much less mischief. But, the sense of constant exploration in the woods around their homes inspired much of Annie’s character. 

The event was fun from start to finish with two excellent movies. Even the weather decided to cooperate. It looked like it might rain at first, and most people brought umbrellas along just in case. But, as Hellion (the first of the two to screen) started, the rain stopped and instead a cool breeze came through.  It reminded me of why I love summer nights in Austin. Add to that a few friends, some blankets to lay out on (pro tip: bring pillows for when you inevitably lie down) and a BYOB policy and you have a recipe for an event that’s guaranteed to be a good time. There are a few Cinema East screenings left this summer at Yellow Jacket Stadium in east Austin (1156 Hargrave St.). Three dollars is all it takes to get in, and they’re all worth checking out!

Tyler Draker is an apprentice at the Austin Film Society.

The 48 Hour Film Project competition happens this summer, and there will be a meet-and-greet on Thursday, July 19 for folks interested in taking part. Thursday's free get-together [RSVP here] will be held at Vuka Coop from 7-10 pm with music provided by DJ kidGorilla. Registration for August's project will be held at the event -- it's $140 until July 30 (when the registration price increases).

The project gives participants 48 hours (August 24-26) to complete a short film; more than 4,000 films are expected to be created through this year's international competitions. Screenings of the Austin-made films will be held on August 28-30, when the shorts will be scored by the audience and a special panel. The film that wins Austin's competition will then show at Filmapalooza, the annual awards put on by the 48 Hour Film Project, and could make its way to the screens at Cannes 2013.