Austin Film Festival Announces First Wave of Titles for 2024

Cannes prize-winners and world premieres are part of the first round of films announced for this year's Austin Film Festival.

AFF (running Oct. 24-31) has already announced big names for the Writers Conference programming, including Star Wars head honcho Kathleen Kennedy, Battlestar Galactica reviver Ronald D. Moore, Justin Marks and Rachel Kondo (best known as the creative duo behind Shōgun) and Craig Mazin (famous as the showrunner for The Last of Us and as Ted Cruz’s unfortunate college roommate). Now the film side of the fest fills out with some big-name additions.

That starts with the local premiere of the winner of this year’s Un Certain Regard prize at Cannes, Beijing-born director Guan Hu's The Black Dog. That’s not the only award it picked up, as star Xin won the Palm Dog Woopets Grand Jury Prize – an award given by critics to the festival’s best canine performance. The drama, set in a remote part of the Gobi desert, focuses on a formerly incarcerated man (Eddie Peng) who returns home to find that nature is taking over the town he grew up in.

AFF will also have its share of world, North American, and U.S. premieres. This includes the debut of Shaman, the new chiller from the Negret brothers, director Antonio (The Lincoln Lawyer, Chilling Adventures of Sabrina) and first-time scriptwriter Daniel, who proved his horror credentials as producer of Possessor and Talk to Me.

The festival will also give audiences a chance to catch movies on the big screen before they head to their permanent streaming home. That includes a special showing of The Piano Lesson, Netflix’s adaptation of August Wilson’s 1987 Pulitzer-winning play, starring Samuel L. Jackson, John David Washington, Ray Fisher, Erykah Badu, and Corey Hawkins.

Expect the rest of this year's 100 films to be announced in late September, but for now here's those first 10 movies.

ARTIFACT WAR

D: Evan Michael Carpenter
Written by: Jacob Ingalls Schwarz
U.S., 2024, World Premiere
A team of archaeologists-turned-spies brave Syria’s civil war and infiltrate the ranks of ISIS to uncover the greatest art theft since WW2 and unravel a conspiracy that implicates Western museums and one of the world’s most powerful companies.

THE BELDHAM

D: Angela Gulner
Written by: Angela Gulner
Cast: Patricia Heaton, Katie Parker, Emma Fitzpatrick, Corbin Bernsen
U.S., 2024, North American Premiere
A struggling new mother fights a generations-old presence lurking within her family home, threatening her safety, her sanity, and the life of her infant child.

BLACK DOG

D: Guan Hu
Written by: Guan Hu, Ge Rui, Wu Bing
Cast: Eddie Peng, Liya Tong, Zhangke Jia, Zhang Yi, Zhou You
China, 2024
On the edge of the Gobi desert in Northwest China, Lang returns to his hometown after being released from jail. While working for the local dog patrol team to clear the town of stray dogs before the Olympic Games, he strikes up an unlikely connection with a black dog. These two lonely souls embark on a journey together.

THE EGO DEATH OF QUEEN CECILIA

D: Chris Beier
Written by: Chris Beier, Daniel Wolfman
Cast: Jo Schaeffer, Sam Stinson, Holt Boggs
U.S., 2024, World Premiere
A washed-up YouTube star blackmails an old rival in an attempt to reclaim her fame. But when things go awry, she finds herself ensnared by a drug trafficking ring. As Cecilia spirals out of control, she's forced to confront her true place in society.

PARTY PEOPLE

D: Joey LePage
Written by: Lindsey Robertson
Cast: Matthew Daddario, George Basil, Elisha Henig, Samuel Davis
U.S., 2024, World Premiere
One night. One party. And 15 people who are just trying to get there.

THE PIANO LESSON

D: Malcolm Washington
Written by: Malcolm Washington, Virgil Williams
Cast: Samuel L. Jackson, John David Washington, Danielle Deadwyler, Michael Potts, Ray Fisher, Corey Hawkins, Erykah Badu
U.S., 2024
A family clash over an heirloom piano explodes. The battle between brother and sister - one hopes to sell it, the other refuses to give it up - unleashes haunting truths about how the past is perceived and who defines a family legacy. In attendance: Writer Virgil Williams

RAVENS

D: Mark Gill
Written by: Mark Gill
France/Japan/Belgium/Spain, 2024, World Premiere
Cast: Tadanobu Asano, Kumi Takiuchi, Sôsuke Ikematsu, Kanji Furutachi
The dark fantasy love story of legendary Japanese photographer Masahisa Fukase and his wife Yoko. In attendance: Writer/Director Mark Gill

SHAMAN

D: Antonio Negret
Written by: Daniel Negret
Cast: Sara Canning, Daniel Gillies, Jett Klyne, Humberto Morales
Ecuador, 2024, World Premiere
A missionary converting an indigenous community in a remote Ecuadorian volcano must come to terms with her own faith when her son is possessed by dark forces older than her own religion.

SILENT NOTES

D: Toni Comas
Written by: Jason Furlani, Anna Franquesa-Solano, Toni Comas
Cast: Daniel Durant, Matt Riker, Ruth Aguilar
U.S., 2024
After finding out he is going deaf, Bruce is stuck at a crossroads: He needs a surgical intervention that he can't afford. In his attempt to find a solution that will get him the money, he meets Ethan, a lonely man who needs, above all, someone to talk to. The unlikely pair will embark on a journey of no return, where Ethan can't stop talking to Bruce, who is unable to hear.

SISTERS

D: Susie Yankou
Written by: Susie Yankou Cast: Susie Yankou, Sarah Khasrovi, Kausar Mohammed, Anna Garcia
U.S., 2024, U.S. Premiere
Shithead best friends Lou and Esther share everything — raunchy inside jokes, flailing careers, and a mutual wish to have grown up with a sister. But when Lou finds out she has a very real, very chic long-lost half-sister, her and Esther’s codependent bliss is rudely interrupted.

The 31st annual Austin Film Festival runs Oct. 24-31. Tickets and passes at austinfilmfestival.com.
Follow all our coverage at austinchronicle.com/austin-film-festival.