Short Cuts
By Marjorie Baumgarten, Fri., March 27, 1998
The general monthly meeting of the Film Alliance of Austin is scheduled for Saturday, March 28, 10am-noon, at the Austin History Center (810 Guadalupe). The speaker will be Geneva Fowler, the writer/director/producer of Sanity, a dark, noir comedy that was world premiered at this month's SXSW Film Festival...
Claude Stanush, author of The Newton Boys, the book upon which the new movie is based, will appear at Barnes & Noble Arboretum on Monday, March 30 at 7:30pm. Richard Linklater and members of the production crew will also be attendance. A panel discussion of the film and book will be followed by a booksigning. Free Newton Boys cigars (while supplies last) will be available with book purchases...
Charles Ramirez Berg, an associate professor in the UT Department of RTF, will present a talk on the recent book Poster Art From the Golden Age of Mexican Cinema Wednesday, April 1, 4-5pm, in the Governors' Room 3.116 of the on-campus Texas Union. Written in Spanish and English, the book beautifully reproduces more than 200 full-color posters from Mexico's Golden Age of Cinema (1936-1957). The posters were curated by Rogelio Agrasánchez, Jr. and Ramirez Berg wrote the text. At 5pm, Ramirez Berg will head across the street to the Guadalupe Barnes & Noble where he will continue discussion of the book. The event is sponsored by the UT Center for Mexican-American Studies...
Look for several new film series that are starting up this week. The Austin Film Society is presenting a series titled "Women of Pre-Code Cinema" that will screen every Tuesday over the next eight weeks at 6:30 and 9pm at the Alamo Drafthouse. Admission is free. The series looks at Hollywood's portrayal of sensitive subjects like sexuality in the years before the Hays Production Code of 1934. First up is Mae West's She Done Him Wrong...
Old friend Bill Daniel is also back this week with his Funhouse Cinema series at the Ritz, screening every Monday night at 8 & 10:30pm. Armed with a new slogan for the new season - "Testing the limits of film saturation in Austin" - Daniel's underground film and video series kicks off with Bones of the Forest, a environmental documentary, plus some shorts...
Some rare screening opportunities are available among the passel of films being shown in conjunction with the African Literature Association conference at the Omni Hotel this weekend. All screenings are free to the public. The entire schedule is listed at http://www.cwrl.utexas.edu/~ala...
Beginning Thursday April 2 and continuing through April 6 is the Human Rights Watch Global Showcase sponsored by the University Film Society in cooperation with the UT chapter of Amnesty International. Among other highlights is the appearance of producer Dan Gifford with his film Waco: The Rules of Engagement, which screens Thursday at 6pm. All screenings are in the Union Theatre on campus and admission is free. For the complete schedule see http://www.utexas.edu/coc/rtf/projects/hrff/main.html...
Couldn't help but notice as the credits rolled during that gala world premiere of The Newton Boys at the Paramount, that Linklater dedicates his film to the memory of Denise Montgomery, signing off with these words: "We miss you, d." My sentiments, exactly. Whether or not you were fortunate enough to have been touched by this shining light of the Austin film scene, if you're looking for a way to say, "Attaboy, Linklater!" you might consider making a contribution to the d. Montgomery Award that's administered by the Austin Film Society as a fund to support interdisciplinary artists. Call 322-0145 for more info or write: 3109 N. I-35, Austin, TX, 78722.
