https://www.austinchronicle.com/daily/screens/2010-08-24/from-doug-to-dax/

From Doug to Dax

By Kimberley Jones, August 24, 2010, 3:22pm, Picture in Picture

The Austin Film Festival announced ten titles for its 2010 fest today, with the regional premiere of Doug Liman's Fair Game**, based on the autobiography of famously exposed undercover CIA agent Valerie Plame and starring Naomi Watts and Sean Penn.

The other nine make a motley crew. You've got a documentary about teen magicians competing for a world title in Make Believe. You've got British female auto workers protesting equal rights in the narrative feature Made in Dagenham. And you've got Dax Shepard (Punk'd) writing, directing, and starring as himself in Brother's Justice – which probably would have sent us running for the door, had we not already warmed to his grinning goofball on NBC's Parenthood and the appropriately moronic Frito in Idiocracy. All in all, not a bad-looking bunch.

Press release, including all ten titles, below. And a very special treat, if you keep scrolling …

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THE 2010 AUSTIN FILM FESTIVAL ANNOUNCES THE FIRST 10 FILMS CONFIRMED TO SCREEN THIS YEAR

AUSTIN, TX (August 24, 2010) – The Austin Film Festival (AFF), the premiere Film Festival recognizing writers’ and filmmakers’ contributions to film, television and new media, announced the first 10 films included in this year’s lineup of Festival film screenings held October 21 - 28. This year, AFF will host over 190 film screenings and special events, and produce more than 90 panels and roundtable discussions.

This year’s film lineup will include everything from the obscure indie film to the big-budget, Oscar-bound production. Among the world, U.S. and regional premieres spanning all genres from documentary to horror at AFF this year will be a great selection of Austin-made films showcasing the amazing talent of Texas filmmakers, including Eric Heuber’s Rainbow’s End, Bradley Scott Sullivan’s I Didn’t Come Here to Die, and Steven Belyeu’s Dig, which are all part of this year’s Early 10. Also just announced are screenings for the new Doug Liman film, Fair Game starring Sean Penn, The Space Between starring Melissa Leo, and Dog Sweat, which is about the lives of twenty-somethings in Iran.

The complete list of films screening at AFF this year including short films and competition titles will be announced in mid-September.

AFF’S EARLY 10 FILMS ARE:

Brother’s Justice
Directors: David Palmer, Dax Shepard
Writer: Dax Shepard
Cast: Dax Shepard, Nate Tuck, Tom Arnold, Bradley Cooper, David Koechner
Regional Premiere

Motivated by Box Office statistics, Dax Shepard, with the help of his buddy Nate, has made a decision to leave comedy to pursue his dream of becoming an international Martial Arts action star.

Dig
Writer/Director: Stephen Belyeu
Cast: Jordan Jones, Theo Gutierrez, Richard C. Jones, Mary Harder, Emily Baker
World Premiere

Set in the midst of a small town, against the agricultural landscape of South Texas, "Dig" tracks 23-year-old Mike in his search for answers following the untimely death of his father.

Dog Sweat
Writer: Maryam Azadi
Director: Hossein Keshavarz
Cast: Ahmad Akbarzadeh, Tahereh Esfahani, Bagher Forohar Regional Premiere

Both dramatic and funny, Dog Sweat intertwines the lives of six young Iranians as they struggle to satisfy their private and personal desires in the face of conservative Islamic society.

Fair Game
Writer: Jez Butterworth, John-Henry Butterworth
Director: Doug Liman
Cast: Naomi Watts, Sean Penn, Bruce McGill, Sam Shepard Regional Premiere

A suspense-filled glimpse into the dark corridors of political power, a riveting action-thriller based on the autobiography of real-life undercover CIA operative Valerie Plame (Naomi Watts), whose career was destroyed and marriage strained to its limits when her covert identity was exposed by a politically motivated press leak.

I Didn’t Come Here to Die
Writer/Director: Bradley Scott Sullivan
Cast: Kurt Cole, Madi Goff, Niko Red Star, Emmy Robbin, Indiana Adams
World Premiere

The story of six young volunteers working on a humanitarian project in the woods. Horrific accidents, rash decisions and the unpredictability of human nature lead them all to the same disturbing conclusion: volunteer work can be a killer.

Made in Dagenham
Writer: Bill Ivory
Director: Nigel Cole
Cast: Sally Hawkins, Bob Hoskins, Richard Schiff, Miranda Richardson Regional Premiere

The story of the 1968 strike at the Ford Dagenham car plant in England, where female workers walked out in protest against sexual discrimination and the woman, Rita O’Grady, who lead the fight (Sally Hawkins)

Make Believe
Director: J. Clay Twell
Regional Premiere

A coming of age journey set in the quirky subculture of magic, this documentary follows six of the world's best young magicians as they battle for the title of Teen World Champion. From the producers behind The King of Kong.

Rainbows End
Director: Eric Hueber
World Premiere

An invitation to record with The Legendary Stardust Cowboy prompts Country Willie Edwards and his band ‘The Cosmic Debris’ to launch their first west coast tour. Having never broken the gravitational pull of Deep East Texas, six men and two roosters embark on a journey to the other side of a dream.

Rubble Kings
Director: Shan Nicholson
World Premiere

Through archival footage Nicholson tells the story of the real Warriors that walked the streets of New York City in the 1970s and the harsh reality of gang life in a city that seemed to be falling apart.

The Space Between
Writer/Director: Travis Fine
Cast: Melissa Leo, Anthony Keyvan, Brad William Henke, AnnaSophia Robb, Phillip Rhys
Regional Premiere

A world-weary flight attendant and a prematurely wise 10-year-old Pakastani-American boy connect with one another amidst the chaos of September 11, 2001. When Montine discovers the boy's direct personal link to the terrorist attacks, she instinctively embarks on an unsanctioned cross-country road trip to help Omar discover his uncertain future.

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** Yeah, different Fair Game. But who's up for a stroll down memory lane?