Short Cuts

I'm not sure if it's the downright balmy weather we've been experiencing lately or just that time of year, but a veritable tsunami of film-related events looms on the horizon this week. Without further ado: The Guadalupe Cultural Arts Center's San Antonio Cinefestival 2000 had its official kickoff Wednesday, Jan. 19 and runs through Jan. 30. This is one of the only Chicano/Latino-oriented fests in the U.S. and highly recommended if you can spare the time. Just off the cuff, a few notable events at this year's fest include screenings of several Mexican Ariel Award recipients (that's the Mexican equivalent of the Oscar, folks), including Carlos Bolado's much-lauded Bajo California: The Limit of Time and Guillermo del Toro's 1994 smash Cronos with the director in attendance. There are also a number of free panels open to the public, including one on digital production and another covering indie filmmaker festival strategies. This fest is highly recommended, and though there's too much to go into here, any and all information you might need can be found at http://www.guadalupeculturalarts.org or by calling 210/271-3151... The Art School at the Austin Museum of Art has announced a group of film- and video-related classes at their downtown location beginning with former Chronicle film writer Alison Macor's "Cinema Eye: Film Appreciation," Jan. 24-Feb. 4, 6-8:30pm. Macor will also helm a "Film Theory Goes to the Movies" class beginning Mar. 20. Two video classes taught by Jay Needham are also scheduled: "Video Art," beginning Jan. 30, and "Stories on Video," beginning Mar. 25. All other necessary info is available by calling AMOA at 323-6380... The Austin Cinemaker Co-op has announced a call for entries for its upcoming 8 the Hard Way Super-8 festival. This is a 4x4 fest, which means no more than four splices allowed for a maximum of four minutes running time. Newfangled entry forms are available by calling 236-8877, as is all other information you might need... For a town as film-crazy as Austin, it's always struck me as odd that there are precious few retail outlets catering to that rampant cinemania (other than video outlets, natch). Local filmmaker/artists Barbara Haberecht (set decorator on John Waters' new Cecil B. Demented) and Randy Huke (Picnic, Tick Tock) have partially remedied this sad state of affairs with their new store Set-Up, 110 W. Elizabeth (behind Vulcan Video), which will feature "a select mix of movie props, art objects, and furniture." The public is invited to their grand opening, Fri, Jan. 21, 6-9pm, and is advised to "look for the purple door"... Barna Kantor's new Center for Young Cinema is holding an open house this Sun, Jan. 23, 2-4pm, at 906 E. Fifth. Call 469-0114 for more info... Finally, if you missed your chance to buy real live porno-theatre seating from Cinema West when they went under last summer, here's the next best thing: The Alamo Drafthouse Cinema is selling off their old, "ergonomically funkified" theatre seats at $20 a pop until Feb. 4. Own a piece of Austin history that may (or may not) have come into exceedingly close contact with the posteriors of such luminaries as Quentin Tarantino, Vin Diesel, or even -- gasp! -- Harry Knowles. Call Tim "Seats Are My Business, and Business Is Good" League at 476-1320 for more info.

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