South by Southwest is upon us. This week's "Screens" section focuses on aspects of the
SXSW Interactive Festival, while next week's section is devoted to coverage of the
Film Festival. And if you open the new March 5th issue of
Entertainment Weekly you'll find even more coverage of SXSW. In an article titled "Making the Fest of It," SXSW is singled out as one of the five most prominent entertainment festivals in the country. Of course, they include the
Toronto Film Festival in that group, and last I checked Canada was not one of our 50 states -- but still, it's mighty fine company. The other three festivals cited are
Sundance, the
Telluride Film Festival, and the
U.S. Comedy Arts Festival. In some late-breaking news, the participation of
Billy Bob Thornton at the SXSW conference has just been confirmed. He will be appearing on a
Screen Actors Guild panel with
Mary Stuart Masterson and guild president
Richard Masur (though outstanding in many, many movie parts, Masur is probably most recognizable from his TV work as Bonnie Franklin's boyfriend on One Day at a Time and the accordion-playing paramour Nick Lobo on Rhoda). Thornton's panel is at 3pm on Saturday, and is open to all conference attendees. For conference registration info, see the Web site at
http://www.sxsw.com or call 467-7979.The conference runs Friday, March 12 - Tuesday, March 16. Passes for just the Film Festival are already on sale at Waterloo Records ($45 including tax). The festival runs for nine days -- March 12 - March 20. On Friday, March 12, 11am, free tickets to the outdoor screening of two
Jack Hill movies,
Spider Baby and
Switchblade Sisters, will be available at Waterloo Video. The screening -- which is part of the Jack Hill tribute hosted by
Quentin Tarantino -- will take place on the rooftop of the GSD&M parking garage. Tickets will be available until they run out...
SXSW is also presenting with the Austin Film Society, Universal Pictures, and Imagine Entertainment the Austin premiere of Ron Howard's new movie EDtv on Wednesday, March 17 at the Paramount Theatre. The screening is a benefit for the Texas Filmmakers' Production Fund. Attending the screening will be Howard and producer Brian Grazer, and stars Matthew McConaughey, Woody Harrelson, Ellen DeGeneres (and traveling companion Anne Heche), Martin Landau, Sally Kirkland, and Clint Howard. Tickets, which include admittance to an after-party hosted by Universal Pictures, are $150 and $200 and are available by calling the Film Society (322-0145). A limited number of tickets that do not include the party will be available to AFS members for $25 beginning at noon on March 8 by calling the AFS office. Film conference registrants will have access to a limited number of tickets on the day of the show...
Also upcoming is the Paramount Theatre's presentation of the Austin premiere of Wing Commander, the movie version of the popular game directed by Chris Roberts with special effects by Digital Anvil, on Thursday, March 11. Tickets range between $15 - $22.50 and are available at the Paramount box office and through Star Tickets. The evening includes a Q & A with director Chris Roberts afterward...
Anyone interested in developing a community post-production facility and equipment co-operative might be interested in joining Michael Bazan at an exploratory meeting of Austin Community Film & Digital Video on Sunday, March 7, 7pm, at Spider House (2908 Fruth). Call him for more info at 326-4004.
