Darren Aronofsky to be Honored by Austin Film Festival
By Richard Whittaker, September 29, 2022, 12:00pm, Picture in Picture
Darren Aronofsky, the visionary filmmaker who created such masterworks as Black Swan, The Wrestler and the upcoming The Whale, has just been announced as the recipient of this year's Austin Film Festival's Extraordinary Contribution to Filmmaking Award.
His new film, which is the opening night selection for this year's festival, stars Brendan Fraser as an obese man trying to find a path back to his family. In addition to receiving the award, Aronofsky and Samuel D. Hunter, who wrote the script for The Whale, will attend both the screening and participate in AFF’s Writers Conference.
The festival has also announbced the world premiere of Sam & Kate, an intergenerational experience starring not only Oscar-winners Sissy Spacek and Dustin Hoffman, but also Hoffman's son, Jake, and Spacek's daughter, Schuyler Fisk. This is the first time Jake and Schuyler (Sissy’s daughter) are working with their parents. SCreening ahead of its Nov. 11 release by Vertical Entertainment, the small town drama stars the older Hoffman as Bill, a father who comes to rely on his son, Sam (Jake), as his health fades: at the same time, Sam is falling for Kate (Fisk), while Bill turns his affections to Kate's mother, Tina (Spacek).
Family connections of a different kind are the center of another world premiere, Daniel's Gotta Die, the final film starring comedy legend Bob Saget. “Bob's passing came as a shock to the entire Daniel's Gotta Die team. He was a collaborator through and through and he really loved this film,” said director Jeremy LaLonde. “It's with great sadness that he never got to see it finished. I can't wait to see how audiences react to his final performance at Austin Film Festival with his final gift to all that loved him."
The festival has also added the latest documentary from Oscar-winner Laura Poitras, All the Beauty and the Bloodshed. The film puts into focus the life and career of photographer and activist Nan Goldin, whose own near-fatal overdose on Oxycontin lead her to create a pressure campaign on museums and art institutions that benefited from the philanthropic largesse of the Perdue family, whose Oxy-based wealth turned those donations into trickle-down blood money.
Austin Film Festival 2022 runs Oct. 27-Nov. 3. Tickets and passes at austinfilmfestival.com.
Follow all our coverage at austinchronicle.com/austin-film-festival.
Here's the complete lineup for selections for this year.
MARQUEE FEATURES
THE WHALE D: Darren Aronofsky
In attendance: Director Darren Aronofsky accepting Extraordinary Contribution to Filmmaking Award and Writer Samuel D. Hunter
SAM & KATE D: Darren Le Gallo (World Premiere)
In attendance: Director/Writer Darren Le Gallo and stars Dustin Hoffman, Sissy Spacek, Jake Hoffman, and Schuyler Fisk
WOMEN TALKING D Sarah Polley
In attendance: Producer Dede Gardner accepting AFF's Polly Platt Award for Producing and Director/Writer Sarah Polley
ARMAGEDDON TIME D: James Gray
In attendance: Director/Writer James Gray accepting AFF’s Bill Wittliff Award for Screenwriting
NANNY D: Nikyatu Jusu
In attendance: Director/Writer Nikyatu Jusu accepting AFF's New Voice Award
THE INSPECTION D: Elegance Bratton
In attendance: Elegance Bratton
THE BAKER D: Jonathan Sobol (World premiere)
GOOD NIGHT OPPY D: Ryan White
AFTER SUN D: Charlotte Wells
WHO INVITED CHARLIE? D: Xavier Manrique
SAVAGE WATERS D: Mikey Corker
1-800-HOT-NITE D: Nick Richey
CAUSEWAY D: Lila Neugebauer
TURN EVERY PAGE D: Lizzie Gottlieb
FOUR SAMOSAS D: Ravi Kapoor
MOON GARDEN D: Ryan Stevens Harris
ASHKAL D: Youseff Chebbi
ALL THE BEAUTY AND THE BLOODSHED D: Laura Poitras
THUG ROSE D: Marius Markevicius
NARRATIVE FEATURES
THE WILD MAN D: Riley Cusick (World premiere)
LITTLE JAR D: Dominic López (World premiere)
BLOW UP MY LIFE D: Abigail Horton & Ryan Dickie (World premiere)
GOLDEN DELICIOUS D: Jason Karman
SALMA’S HOME D: Hanadi Elyan
UNDER WATER D: Edgar Kapp & Kuba Szutkowski
QUICKSAND D: JohnPaul Morris
ABSENCE D: Ali Mosaffa
WELCOME, VIOLETA! D: Fernando Fraiha
MEDUSA D: Sophie Levy
DOCUMENTARY FEATURES
SONG OF THE CICADA D: Aaron Weiss & Robert Weiss (World premiere)
WITH THIS LIGHT D: Nicole Bernardi-Reis & Laura Bermudez (World premiere)
THE OTHER FELLOW D: Matthew Bauer
AMERICAN: AN ODYSSEY TO 1947 D: Danny Wu
FOR THE LOVE OF FRIENDS D: Cara Consilvio
THE FIRE THAT TOOK HER D: Patricia E. Gillespie
THE ‘VOUS D: Jack Porter Lofton & Jeffrey Dailey
THE BABY DADDY D: Yair Cymerman & Adi Rabinovici
FENOM D: Kayla Johnson
SHOWBIZ IS MY LIFE D: GB Shannon
DARK MATTERS
FIXATION D: Mercedes Bryce Morgan
THE DOMESTIC D: Brad Katzen
FOLLOW HER D: Sylvia Caminer
#BLUE_WHALE D: Anna Zaytseva
DO NOT DISTURB D: John Ainslie
COMEDY VANGUARD
DANIEL'S GOTTA DIE D: Jeremy LaLonde (World premiere)
THE BYSTANDERS D: Gabriel Foster Prior (World premiere)
CHECKOUT D: Jonathan Dekel (World premiere)
DANCE DADS D: Brock Harris (World premiere)
THE LIBRARY BOYS D: Zane Borg (World premiere)
WAKE UP, LEONARD D: Kat Mills Martin
LONG FLAT BALLS (BROKEN PROMISES) D: Harald Johan Zwart
TEXAS FEATURES
BEAUTY OF A BLANK SPACE D: Ryan Love (World Premiere)
PEPE SERNA: LIFE IS ART D: Luis Reyes
WHAT REMAINS D: Nathan Scroggins (World premiere)
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