Austin Film Festival Announces 2020 Lineup
Dave Not Coming Back, Golden Arm this year's headliners
By Richard Whittaker, 10:00AM, Thu. Oct. 1, 2020
The marquee may be virtual, but that's not stopping the online version of the Austin Film Festival from adding two marquee features - diving documentary Dave Not Coming Back and women's arm wrestling drama Golden Arm - as they announce the full lineup this morning.
The fest, which runs online Oct. 22-29, gave a sneak peek recently with the announcement of a slew of titles, including the U.S. premiere of Jason Neulander's Fugitive Dreams, and the world premiere of Anne Rapp's carefully-crafted documentary about playwright Horton Foote, The Road Home (both Austin-made movies).
Today's full feature line-up is headlined by the marquee features, including the U.S. premiere Dave Not Coming Back, Jonah Malak's recounting of how a record-breaking cave diving expedition turned into a horrible tragedy; and the Texas premiere of Golden Arm, the raucous arm wrestling comedy which was supposed to get its world premiere at SXSW, but finally makes it to Austin after being acquired by distributor Utopia.
That's just scraping the surface, with AFF including films under all its traditional banners: The sinister Dark Matters (including Carl Marot's intriguing SF drama The Blue Orchid); Comedy Vanguard ((such as including Marshall Cook's look at the world of indie filmmaking desperation in Film Fest, and Michael Lovan's directorial debut, a new twist on the deadliest game in Murder Bury Win); and of course narratives, documentaries, and the Texas Independent Features, which adds in Cassie Hay and Amy Winston's portrait of the Gotham Girls Roller Derby league, Queens of Pain. That's a grand total of 22 World, North American and US Premieres, all available to watch from the comfort of your own home.
Plus, AFF being the writers' film conference, they've added more names to the online panels running the first six days of the fest (Oct. 22-26) including Gillian Flynn (Utopia, Widows, Sharp Objects, Gone Girl); Oscar wuinner John Logan (Penny Dreadful, Skyfall, Hugo, The Aviator); Alec Berg and Bill Hader (Barry); and Oscar winner Kevin Willmott (BlacKkKlansman, Da 5 Bloods) joining previously announced talents including Paul Feig, Prentice Penny, Scott Frank, Tracey Scott Wilson, Ed Solomon, Leslye Headland, Rolin Jones, and Emily V. Gordon.
Find full details at www.austinfilmfestival.com. Now here's that film line-up:
Marquee Features
Dave Not Coming Back
D: Jonah Malak (US Premiere)
Golden Arm
D: Maureen Bharoocha
Writer: Ann Marie Allison, Jenna Milly (Texas Premiere)
Narrative Features
The Badger
D: Kazem Mollaie (North American Premiere)
The Catch
D:Matthew Ya-Hsiung Balzer (World Premiere)
Good
D: Justin Etheredge (World Premiere)
Hard Luck Love Song
D: Justin Corsbie
Writer: Craig Ugoretz, Justin Corsbie (World Premiere)
Paper Tiger
D: Paul Kowalski (World Premiere)
Two Deaths of Henry Baker
D: Felipe Mucci
Writer: Sebastian Pigott (World Premiere)
Vagabondes
D: Philippe Dajoux
Writer: Philippe Dajoux, Rebecca Bitan (Texas Premiere)
Wake Show
D: Aldo Miyashiro
Writer: Aldo Miyashiro, Érika Villalobos, Abril Cárdenas (World Premiere)
Comedy Vanguard Features
Death of a Telemarketer
D: Khaled Ridgeway (Texas Premiere)
Film Fest
D: Marshall Cook
Writer: Marshall Cook, Paul Alan Cope (World Premiere)
Murder Bury Win
D: Michael Lovan (Texas Premiere)
Reboot Camp
D: Ivo Raza (World Premiere)
Standard
D: Fernando González Gómez (North American Premiere)
Time for Love
D: Miguel Velez (World Premiere)
Dark Matters Features
The Arbors
D: Clayton Witmer
Writer: Clayton Witmer, Chelsey Cummings (Texas Premiere)
Blinders
D: Tyler Savage
Writer: Tyler Savage, Dash Hawkins (North American Premiere)
The Blue Orchid
D: Carl Marott
Writer: Carl Marott, Hans Frederik Jacobsen (North American Premiere)
The Eagle's Nest
D: Olivier Assoua (US Premiere)
Documentary Feature
Ale (Buergi)
D: O'Neil Bürgi (World Premiere)
Baato
D: Lucas Millard (Texas Premiere)
The Book Keepers
D: Phil Wall (World Premiere)
Kusasa
D: Shane Vermooten (Texas Premiere)
Open Field
D: Kathy Kuras (World Premiere)
Re-Inventing The Wheel
D: Chelsea McEvoy (Texas Premiere)
Wildflower
D: Matt Smukler (Texas Premiere)
Texas Independent Features
Fugitive Dreams
D: Jason Neulander
Writer: Jason Neulander, Caridad Svich (US Premiere)
The Get Together
D: Will Bakke
Writer: Will Bakke, Michael B. Allen (World Premiere)
Horton Foote: The Road To Home
D: Anne Rapp (World Premiere)
Queens of Pain
D: Cassie Hay, Amy Winston (World Premiere)
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Austin Film Festival, Austin Film Festival 2020