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The July 15 deadline has almost arrived for submitting works to the CinemaTexas 1997 Short Film+Video+New Media Festival to be held Sept. 25-28 at the University of Texas at Austin. The organizers encourage submissions that "explore short cinema as a free genre" and are not simply "industry calling cards." Eligible for the juried competition are short narratives, documentaries, animation, experiments, CD-ROMS, and WWW pages. For more info and entry forms contact fest directors Rachel Tsangari and Kyle Henry by phone at 471-6657 or by e-mail at kylehn@mail.utexas.edu...

The topic for the monthly meeting of Reel Women is "Works in Progress," an opportunity for participants to discuss current or future projects. The meeting is set for Wed. July 16, 7:30pm, at Movements Gallery (211 E. Sixth). Call 280-8706 for more info...

Bull riding may be one of those activities akin to climbing Everest -- what on earth possesses people to do it? Well, that's one of the questions explored by filmmakers Harry Lynch and Jeff Fraley in their fascinating new documentary Chasing the Dream: A Bull Riding Adventure. In the course of the film, they talk with dozens of bull-riding champions and hopefuls and come up with an insightful and entertaining portrait of modern cowboy culture. Exciting action footage is combined with interviews that reveal the riders to be a diverse lot -- from humble country-boy personalities to swaggering rodeo kings. Helping to shape the film are the contributions of editor Don Howard (whose similarly-toned Letter from Waco won the best documentary award at this year's SXSW Film Fest) and music supervisor John Riedie (who recruited such artists as Don Walser, the Derailers, Stop the Truck, Chris Wall, Paul Russel, Mary Cutrufello, Jack Ingram, ThaMuseMeant, and others to perform songs for the soundtrack)...

The Austin Film Society (AFS) is presenting the local premiere of Chasing the Dream on Thurs. July 17, 7:30pm at the Dobie Theatre. The filmmakers will be on hand for a Q&A at the theatre following the screening. Afterwards, there will be a party at Donn's Depot (1600 W. Fifth) with entertainment provided by Mary Cutrufello, Stop the Truck and other soundtrack musicians...

Should you happen to be up Dallas way this weekend, you might want to stop in at the screening of frequent "Scanlines" contributor Christopher Null's short film Pressurecooker on Sat. July 12, 7pm, at the Richardson Square Barnes & Noble. Christopher wrote, produced, and stars in this 13-minute-long film, which tells the story of two brothers dealing with the murder of their mother and the insanity that affects them both; brother Bradley Null directed. The brothers will also be on hand for a Q&A. Christopher Null also maintains a website called Movie Emporium (http://www.filmcritic.com) which contains scads and scads of film and video reviews by this prolific guy, as well as up-to-date info regarding the current and future projects of Null Set Productions...

This week's free screening in the AFS Summer Free-for-All is a new 35mm print of Budd Boetticher's Buchanan Rides Alone. The modestly made but narratively complex Randolph Scott Western screens Tues. July 15, 7pm, at the Union Theatre.