Shortcuts

The frigid weather this week has tempered my envy of the cine-heads who get to spend a string of days (Jan 16-26) watching independent films and discussing them at the Sundance Film Festival. At least Austin filmmakers George Langworthy and Paige Martinez -- both heading north to present their works -- have had some recent practice bundling up to stay warm. Langworthy's short BREEZEWAY will be shown before Colin Fitz, a feature competing in the dramatic competition. Paige Martinez's Words of our Ancients, the story of the Hopi struggle to retain cultural and religious freedom, is being shown as part of a program titled View from the Center: Native Vision in Cinema that this year features a pleasingly disproportionate number of works by women. If you're stuck getting your updates from the wire, there are a number of websites providing great coverage. I have mentioned iLine Ltd.'s The Road to Park City site () before; Starwave's Mr. Showbiz site (http://www.MrShowbiz.com/) is also worth a visit for behind-the-scenes reports including a distribution scorecard, a daily news column, movie clips, and lots of substantial inter-views starting with our own Richard Linklater whose most recent film, subUrbia, will open the festival on Friday. Stay tuned for news from Sun-dance, Slamdance (http://www.slamdance.com), and the latest offshoot Slumdance (http://www.slumdance.com) when our film editor Marjorie Baumgarten returns from Park City in two weeks...

According to the Hollywood Reporter, Matthew McConaughey is finalizing negotiations for a role in Steven Spielberg's next picture, Amistad, a period flick about a mutiny in 1839 on the ship of the same name, to start filming in February. McConaughey also has the lead role in Linklater's The Newton Boys, and his involvement in Speilberg's project would again delay the film's April 1 start date, but apparently only just a bit...

The Ritz Lounge on Sixth Street has started an Austin Film Series on Tuesday nights dedicated to showing the work of local independent filmmakers. This Tuesday, Jan. 21, they'll screen Tara Veneruso's Janis Joplin Slept Here, a filmic love letter to Joplin that explores the influence of her legend on the Austin music scene. The projector rolls at 8pm; admission is free. Also, series organizers are on the lookout for local films to present, so if you have something for consideration call Jon Mitchell at 474-2270...

Other special screenings Tuesday night include the free Films by Russian Women series at the Union (7pm) continuing with Kira Muratova's Brief Encounters (1967), a film about the love of two women for the same man that was shelved by censors for 20 years; and The Austin Film Society's Satyajit Ray series (8pm, Union) which progresses with The Big City (1963), the light-hearted story of a woman who, much to the dismay of her husband and in-laws, takes up a job. AFS Gangsters & Outlaws series on Wed. (7:30pm, Dobie) features Dick Richards' The Culpepper Cattle Company (1972), a revisionist Western focusing on a teenager who falls in with a group of eccentric and unpredictable outlaws...

Artists' Legal & Accounting Assistance of Austin (ALAA) is presenting a free seminar on Art in Cyberspace on Sat, Jan 18,
1-4pm at the UT Law School Auditorium. Sessions will explore Internet usage for arts business including the legal aspects of copyright and censorship issues. Call 476-4458 to reserve a seat.