Fantastic Fest may be winding down, but there's still a lot of life (or rather death, given its gruesome bent) left in it yet. The fest closes Thursday night with City of Ember, but before then you can still catch a few of the newly announced jury and audience award winners. Check out the FF website for remaining showtimes and after the jump for the award winners.

It's Sunday afternoon and we feel like we got punched by a donkey. On a boat. Teeming with beered-up Aussies and Spaniards and Chiléans and Brits and, yes, more than a few Yanks and locals. We blame Fantastic Fest sponsor Foster's "It's Australian for Goddam My Head Hurts" Lager®. Which just serves to prove our theory: Fantastic Fest is has come into its own a mere four years since Harry Knowles, Tim McCanlies, Paul Alvarado Dykstra, and Alamo Drafthouse founder/overlord Tim League dared to dream it. And it's not even half over as we type this. Good on ya, mate. Our Highlights Thus Far: There's good news for everyone who ever wished the Alamo would open up a permanent outdoor drive-in-esque location (other than the Rolling Roadshow, natch). During Friday's outdoor screening of Mad Max 2: The Road Warrior, League announced that the official fire lane which currently separates the Alamo South Lamar's front and rear parking areas will become, post-fest, a permanent outdoor venue, complete with -- presumably -- honest-to-goodness green-grass sod laid over the existing, butt-unfriendly blacktop. League has already set the plan in motion and met with representatives from the Austin Fire Department and City of Austin zoning officials, which means by this time next year you won't have to worry about getting gravel in your trousers because you forgot to bring a folding chair, or what that weird red stain on the pavement to your right is. Sweet.

Is it just us or does Austin now have more film festivals per capita than Smurfville had little blue not-so-meanies? Here we are with aGLIFF barely behind us, Fantastic Fest is currently, gloriously redefining the limits of our imaginations (and livers), and as of yesterday the Austin Film Festival, which this year runs Oct. 16-23, has just announced their initial lineup of films, filmmakers, and a handful of the many events that continue to make it one of best fests in the country. So who's coming and what will they be screening? Two words: Danny Boyle.

Leave it to the inimitable Kevin Smith to slip the word, if not an actual skin flick, into the grand lady of Austin theatrical venues: the Paramount Theatre. A screening of his new film Zack and Miri Make a Porno was the opening film at the fourth annual Fantastic Fest. Smith's simultaneously sweet and unsavory new comedy stars box-office king Seth Rogen and delightful Elizabeth Banks (who is soon to appear as Laura Bush in Oliver Stone's W.

China: Not a good place to take your car.

"Welcome to the official opening night of the Alamo South Lamar Drive-In," said Tim League, addressing an enthusiastic 100-plus crowd already primed on barbie-fied shrimp and liter upon liter of Fosters Lager (it's Australian for "Budweiser"). "I know that where you're sitting looks a lot like a fire lane, but trust me, this is all totally above board. And I also realize Hurricane Ike is threatening to show up and blow our beautiful Rolling Roadshow screen over, but please, Ike, just give us two hours to watch one of the greatest action movies of all time." And with that, the Alamo kicked off the first of several free-to-the-public events surrounding the now-monumentally awesome Fantastic Fest. Last Friday's Mad Max screening was just the first of a handful of films from down under being screened at Fantastic Fest 2008 but, along with its sequel The Road Warrior, which screens this coming Friday, it's one of the few that demands to be seen within the context of a drive-in-style outdoor venue. It worked, the crowd was psyched (especially Alamo co-founder Karrie League, who had never borne witness to the fuel-injected kickassery that is Mel Gibson's finest hour-and-a-half), and not even Ike's ominous westward rumblings could put a dent in the proceedings. Even cooler is the fact that, as League revealed to us post-Max, the former fire lane really and truly has been approved by the Austin Fire Department for use as a permanent, additional outdoor screening area. How cool is that? Cooler than a '73 Ford Falcon XB GT Coupe aka Max Rockatansky's V-8 Interceptor. Scorchingly so.

Holy free movies online, Batman! The Alamo Drafthouse and Fantastic Fest have announced that five feature films and six shorts will be streamed online via the BSide community, in their entirety, from Sept. 14-20. This is big news. Not only did badges for this years Fantastic Fest (Sept. 18-21) completely sell out ages ago, but we've seen five of the films they'll be streaming, and they rock. Hard. Like "Why are you stalking me, Mr. Famous French Gynecologist-in-a-motel room-from-hell?"-type rocking. Seriously, this is some mindwarping stuff they're coughing up for you here. As per the official press release, you'll need to sign up as a member of the BSide to view the carnage, and, of course, you don't get free popcorn or the chance to sit near Harry Knowles, but so what? This is free, baby! Here's a drool-worthy listing of what you'll be able to watch, for free, at home, totally in the nude if you so desire, for free: Dr. Infierno, I Think We're Alone Now, La Creme, Rule of Three, South of Heaven. More info. Did we mention this was free?

Without a doubt, it's a sucky time for a true indie film to get any kind of traditional distribution deal. There are a lot of people currently trying to rethink how to get those indies out into the world (and leading the vanguard is former South by Southwest director Matt Dentler). Also fighting the good fight? Filmmaking partners and SXSW regulars Ashley Sabin and David Redmon. Sabin and Redmon not too long ago founded Carnivalesque Films in order to continue producing and distributing their own films, but also to pick up and distribute other indie gems – what Sabin described in a recent e-mail as "great films that [are] usually RIP after the festival circuit." Carnivalesque first released Redmon's Mardi Gras: Made in China on July 29 in stores and at online rental sites, and now the company is distributing Orphans, a family drama which won the special jury award at SXSW 07 and is directed by Ry Russo-Young (she played Hannah's roommate in Hannah Takes the Stairs – and, honestly, who needs six degrees when you've got South By smack in the center?). Orphans will be released Sept. 30. In October, Carnivalesque will release Austinite Sam Douglas and Paul Lovelace's documentary The Holy Modal Rounders: Bound to Lose.

The Austin Film Festival hit another one out of the park -- they just announced this year's Outstanding Television Award Honoree, and it's Greg Daniels, a highly respected industry vet whose credits include SNL, Seinfeld, King of the Hill, and, most recently, The Office. Might we suggest Michael Scott emcée? And possibly do a PowerPoint demonstration, too? Daniels will join previously announced Distinguished Screenwriter Awardee Sam Shepard at this year's fest, which runs Oct. 16-23. For more info, visit www.austinfilmfestival.com.