Local Film Fests

By Cameron Bergeron

If you were at Alamo Drafthouse on Slaughter Lane a couple of Saturdays ago, you might have noticed something special was going on inside the 400 Rabbits bar. Alamo Drafthouse and Dogfish Head Craft Brewery hosted the 6th annual Off-Centered Film Fest. The live DJ and purple t-shirts with high tops on them expressed this year's hip-hop festival theme. Fest events included a live rap battle featuring Austin's owner indie-rap sensation P-tek, a screening of 8 Mile, a reunion of Sam Calagione's craft brew inspired hip-hop act Pain Relievaz and much much more.

The fest kicked off Thursday and continued through the end of the week. Calagione, the founder of the Delaware based Dogfish Head Craft Brewery, brought the best his brewery had to offer, while the Drafthouse and Antonelli's Cheese Shop worked closely together to insure the menu and the beer selection paired perfectly witheach event. The fruits of this diligent work could be savored at the Saturday pre-show mixer at 400 Rabbits. Each available beer was paired with a cheese, or in the case of the Theobroma, a chocolate to complement.

Delaware-based Dogfish Head Craft Brewery and Alamo Drafthouse Cinema have teamed up again for the sixth annual Off-Centered Film Fest (Debbie's 2012 coverage). Beginning Thursday night, the three-day beer and food feast  -- with a hip-hop theme this year -- will feature a sing-along, rap battle competition, DJs and a short film competition. Most events are at Alamo Drafthouse on Slaughter Lane, and proceeds will benefit the nonprofit Texas Craft Brewers Guild. 

The homegrown festivities kick off with a 6 pm screening at Republic Square Park of Friday, a movie so ripe with wisdom and wit it'll make you say "daayymmnn!" The Ice Cube, Chris Tucker-fronted stoner comedy tells the day-long adventure of two neighborhood buddies in L.A. 

Sam Calagione, owner of Dogfish Head Craft Brewery (Debbie's interview with Calagione), and Tim League, Alamo Drafthouse co-founder, have added more hip to their hops with Friday's first ever Jiggy Crunk Sing-A-Long. Calagione and League will both be in attendance throughout the festival. 

Homegrown cinema will get its chance in the sun during Saturday's short film competition event. The competition's top films will be screened theatrically and the top three winners will receive their awards. 

The always-popular Austin Jewish Film Festival is back with a selection of stimulating films. The fest starts tomorrow night (Saturday, April 13) and runs through Friday, April 19 at Regal Arbor. Tickets and festival badges are still available, and some noon screenings are free.

Austin Film Society is co-sponsoring two of the fest's movies this year:

• The Other Son (pictured above) (Lorraine Levy, France/Israel, 2012) is a powerful, yet hopeful, portrait of two young men -- one Palestinian, one Israeli -- switched at birth. They learn to transcend cultural, national and religious boundaries after they meet. [screening info]
• Out in the Dark (Michael Mayer, Israel, 2012) joins the growing list of well-made Israeli films exploring gay life in Israel. In this film, we see the difficulties of love between a young Palestinian student and a slightly older Israeli lawyer. In a well-acted but tough role as a homophobic cop, new Austin resident Alon Pdut proves his ability to inhabit unflattering roles, just as he did in The Long Journey, which AFS and AJFF screened a few weeks ago. [screening info]
  
  Watch the Out in the Dark trailer below:

For info about tonight's films, read Part One of Chale's preview.

This weekend the Austin Polish Film Festival continues with a variety of events, starting Saturday with a selection of children's films (1-3 pm). Then a workshop led by Austin artist Mig Kokinda will celebrate world-famous Polish poster designs, followed by a return screening of Marcin Latałło's illuminating documentary The Other Side of the Poster (2010).

Saturday evening showcases three gems of contemporary Polish cinema. Jan Komasa's 2010 movie Suicide Room (Sala samobójców) is a brilliant, harrowing portrait of a teenager who descends into a dark world. Dominik seems happy enough in high school, but a suggestion that he may be gay leads to merciless cyber-bullying and the boy's withdrawal from society. His parents, wealthy, well connected, and both engaged in extramarital affairs, seem oblivious to the boy's growing depression.

Finding a website called The Suicide Room, Dominik becomes immersed in a world of equally depressed people. Through online avatars, gracefully depicted through animated sequences in the film, these loners interact, while romanticizing suicide. By the time his parents seek help for their son, it may be too late. Suicide Room is a cutting-edge film, both in style and through its theme of children lost in cyberspace. The film and its director have received various international awards.

80 Million (80 milionów, directed by Waldemar Krzystek, 2012) will fortunately be introduced by University of Texas professor Dr. Gilbert Rappaport. I say "fortunately" because as much as I was intrigued by this complex thriller, I was somewhat at a loss to understand the complex characters or their actions. On the eve of the imposition of martial law in 1981, five anti-government activists legally withdraw 80 million złoty (US $25,000,000) from various trade union bank accounts in Wrocław, a Solidarity stronghold. They had been tipped off by a shadowy character who warned them of the coming crackdown.

This is no Hollywood heist, committed by a gang to enrich themselves. Instead, it is a political act designed to fund the underground activities of Solidarity during the impending darkness. As in other political thrillers, the cast of characters is complexly motivated, and friends may turn out to be spies. All of this adds to the intrigue and tension of 80 Million, which is rightly a candidate for Poland's 2013 Oscar submission.

The seventh annual Austin Polish Film Festival starts tomorrow (11/1), and runs through Sunday. There are always plenty of wonderful films, discussions, Q&A sessions, posters and food, and this year will be no exception. All the fest's screenings and events will take place at The Marchesa Theatre in Lincoln Village.

Kicking off the festival's opening night is an (eventually) uplifting drama, Women's Day (Dzien kobiet), in which the Polish "solidarity" of the 1980s gains a feminist point-of-view in the 21st century. In the same vein as American cinematic characters Norma Rae, Karen Silkwood and Erin Brockovich, Halina Radwan reaches a point in her professional career where she won't "take it anymore."

What seems to be a great opportunity at first turns into a nightmare, as Halina is promoted from cashier to manager of a Butterfly grocery store, one in a nationwide chain of supermarkets in post-Communist Poland. As could be expected in any society, there is the inevitable jealousy on the part of some former colleagues, who now function as her employees. But Halina is told by her district boss that she has to be tough in dealing with them. He also makes it clear that she needs to do him favors of a sexual nature. She hasn't had a husband for four years, she hasn't dated because of long working hours and a daughter, so she eventually gives in to his demands, but without much feeling. What is harder for her to do is reprimand women who are late because of hangovers, absent with morning sickness or generally difficult.

After some managerial training exercises, which involve singing, running around outside in a circle and chanting "Productivity" as loudly as "Stalin" was yelled out 60 years before, Halina begins to accept her role as boss. After all, she is able to get a new apartment, buy a computer for her teenage daughter Misia, and pay some much needed attention to her own happiness. But then disaster strikes, and Halina sees that she is nothing more than a discardable tool in a very corrupt, inhumane business. Only when she succeeds in enlisting the aid of other women is she able to confront the powerful corporation.

Veteran actress Katarzyna Kwiatkowska, with over 30 films and TV shows to her credit since 1992, gives a flawless performance as Halina. Her face reveals a wide array of thoughts and emotions as she rises, falls, and rises ever higher (on her own terms) in this righteous film.

Austin genre showcase Scarlet Waters held its fifth iteration last weekend in Central Austin showcasing some great worldwide filmmaking and musical talent. The event served as the backdrop for the fifth birthday of Twitchy Dolphin Flix, Austin's prolific microbudget film company.

A few of the filmmakers, including Mike Donis from Toronto, spent part of the day talking to aspiring film students from a local middle school. Donis said he "loves talking to the kids." This was his second year visiting with Austin-area students. He enjoys the chance to let kids know that they can make movies, as long as they work hard.

Opening the weekend festivities, Twitchy Dolphin Flix held a music showcase of some of the talented artists who have helped make the Twitchy films so dynamic. Lauren Hayes, Clif Haley, Jon English and Brandon Whitlan took the Stompin' Ground Lounge's stage and entertained the energized crowd. The night featured more than just music however. A costume contest saw some great movie characters from the past (Quint, Pussy Galore and Tony Stark, to name a few). In addition, the cast of Twitchy Dolphin's new comedy about the adult film industry, XXXX, was revealed.

Starting early Saturday morning, the movies started screening and ran nonstop until 11:30 that night. Features, shorts and even a live performance delighted the audience. Filmmakers from around the world were in attendance, representing their films and enjoying the opportunity to interact with Austin filmgoers. Austin's reputation as a indie film-friendly town held true as all the screenings were well attended and the crowds enthusiastic.

by Stefan Gill

On September 14, at the Scottish Rite Theater, a few dozen film denizens gathered for the final night of the Lights. Camera. Help. film festival under a very inauspicious mood. The rain, ever rare in the dry Austin atmosphere, began its weekend-long parade, which only highlighted another strange occurrence -- an unrealized bomb threat at UT, which cleared the campus of its 50,000+ students. So on the final night of the 4th annual nonprofit-themed fest, which focuses on the good and triumph of humanity, there were many examples to counter such statements of good.

But any idea of giving into the negative was wiped away by the keynote address by Turk Pipkin, an actor who became a filmmaker with a heart for the humanitarian world. Noticeably tall and vocal, it is quickly obvious that he puts his passion for the good of humanity first, and his life as a filmmaker is motivated by that passion.

Pipkin highlighted his work with The Nobelity Project, the organization he founded to work with Nobel laureates and other humanitarian groups to promote their work with film and art and to create new opportunities. The YouTube page for Nobelity contains dozens of films, two of which Turk showed to the audience: 1000 Books for Hope - Join the Club, a about a donation drive to give books to five schools in Kenya; and Replant the Park, about the Bastrop fires and how Nobelity has fostered a youth tree-planting project in the area, which is embedded below for you to watch.

ATX Television Festival came to a close last Sunday afternoon with a music showcase at the Stephen F. Austin Hotel, capping off a weekend full of screenings, panel discussions and sneak peeks. The event's organizers managed to round up a pretty spectacular group of industry insiders for the inaugural event, bringing together writers, producers, actors and more from shows like Game of Thrones, True Blood, Friday Night Lights and Childrens Hospital.

The festival's low-key, very Austin vibe meant panelists could speak in a much more relaxed manner than you might see even at the city's more established film festivals, and there was a lot of interplay between those on stage and those in the audience. Cougartown creator Bill Lawrence remarked that the ATX Television Festival was awesome for all involved; after all, how often do those in the TV industry get to travel and talk to fans about their craft? Oh, and also, it's a great excuse to hang out in Austin for a weekend.

I started the Saturday morning of the at Alamo Drafthouse on South Lamar, where things were fairly quiet at that hour. First up was a sneak peek at the pilot episode of the Vince Vaughn-produced Sullivan & Son. The show, which will premiere on TBS July 19, should fit nicely into that channel's lineup given its old-school sitcom style and broad humor. Not AMC or HBO-quality stuff -- or even Cheers, the show's most obvious reference point -- this is TV comfort food in the vein of Two and a Half Men.

Alamo Drafthouse also hosted a screening of the latest episode of the KLRU-produced show On Story, now in its second season. Barbara Morgan and Maya Perez from Austin Film Festival were on hand to discuss how they put the show together, plumbing nearly two decades' worth of AFF panel footage, and the legal issues involved with piecing together this type of series. Hint: It's a whole lot of work.

The Alamo Drafthouse recently hosted the fifth annual Off-Centered Film Festival with Sam Calagione of Dogfish Head Craft Brewery, who once again brought along his filmmaker and actor pals Ken Marino and Joe Lo Truglio (seen above with Alamo Drafthouse founder Tim League). Several hundred craft beer and film fans filled Republic Park in downtown Austin to watch the classic Mel Brooks movie Blazing Saddles on the first night of the festival.

Calagione was extremely vocal about his support for the Texas Craft Brewers Guild and their growth and legislative efforts in Texas, both during the event by rallying folks to donate at the pie booth as well as part of a panel after the film. I accompanied Calagione as he tried various craft beers at the festival, and was impressed by his thoroughness in familiarizing himself with the new brewers and attentiveness to his devoted fans. By far, Calagione received more attention from attendees than Marino and Truglio who seemed quite content to relax with a craft beer and quote along with the film.

See more photos from the Rolling Roadshow event and find out who the winners were of the fifth annual film competition after the jump.

Submissions are now open for the fourth annual Lights. Camera. Help. Film Festival, which will take place September 12 - 15, 2012 at the Bob Bullock Texas History Museum. This cause-driven nonprofit film festival does not charge a fee to submit a film prior to June 15 -- after that a $20 fee applies, but note that all proceeds from ticket sales go directly to the prize winners.

Filmmakers and nonprofits have until June 30 to participate. This year the festival expects to award over $5,000 to the causes represented by the winning films in three categories: best PSA (up to 3 minutes), best short film (3-29 minutes) and best feature (30 minutes and up).

Any film that heavily features a cause is eligible to submit to the Lights. Camera. Help. Nonprofit Film Festival, including films by or about nonprofit, non-governmental and/or grassroots organizations. Dramatic, documentary, experimental and animation films are all welcome, and filmmakers are strongly encouraged to focus on storytelling rather than straight PSAs. Details on the submission process are available on the Lights. Camera. Help. Nonprofit Film Festival entry submission page. All films must be received in the Lights. Camera. Help. office by June 30, 2012.