Screening Process

The Austin Film Society has announced its Texas Filmmakers' Production Fund 2004 panelists and will be screening their films – well, those of two of them, as one practices his art as a programmer – at the Alamo Drafthouse Village (2700 W. Anderson) on Sunday, Aug. 15, 9:45pm. The panelists are delving into the nearly 200 applications that the TFPF received this year, and on Sunday you'll see where they get off judging others. Winners, who should be "emerging film and video artists in the state of Texas," will be announced next week and then awarded grants that since 1996 have totaled about $403,000 to upward of 140 projects. More info at www.austinfilm.org.

Joan C. Gratz

An Academy Award-winning animator – for the short "Mona Lisa Descending a Staircase," which The New York Times said "compresses the history of modern art into eight minutes" – Gratz revolutionized the form in the 1970s with "claypainting." Who knew that little blobs of clay could be used like oil paints, smeared strategically to create a tidal wave of vibrant, synapse-shocking moving images? Maybe you did, but I didn't. Watching "Mona Lisa," as well as "The Dowager's Feast," "Pro and Con" (a collaboration with the great Joanna Priestly), and "The Dowager's Idyll" is a sort of soulful Rorschach: It'd be tough for anyone with a creative bone in his body to not conjure up ideas – and then be moved to action. Gratz, who lives in Portland, has also worked on such films as Return to Oz, The Creation, and "Rip Van Winkle," while contributing her expertise to Peter Gabriel's "Digging in the Dirt" video. She established her own studio, Gratzfilm, in 1987, and has worked extensively with 2003 TFPF panelist Chel White.

Trevor Groth

While not a filmmaker, one could say with some certainty that Groth has made many. He has worked at the Sundance Film Festival since 1993 and is currently senior programmer, handling both narrative and documentary features while heading the short-film section. "I am looking forward to participating as a judge in the TFPF process because it's a way of being connected to the vibrant film community in and around Austin," says Groth, who in his downtime brought CineVegas to the big time as director of programming. "It's a great way to be made aware of the next wave of interesting films from the area." Finding emerging directors and promising work is Groth's day job, and TFPF aspirants should be buoyed by his steady, guiding hand in hundreds of careers, most recently Jared Hess', whose Napoleon Dynamite has exploded after its Sundance run in January. "The most crucial element that I am looking for in the projects is originality," Hess says. "Finding a fresh voice, whether it is in script form or a completed film, is exhilarating to me."

Katja Esson

A five-minute conversation with the German-born, New York-residing Esson is indicative of the challenges a TFPF panelist faces. "It's very time-consuming," she says, less in complaint than in awe. "I'm staring at the box right now, and I'm almost finished. It's tough, because we're giving a lot of money to some people and none to others. I have to be fair, and I can't let my own taste get in the way." Esson's 2003 documentary "Ferry Tales" – a fascinating vérité study of the subculture bubbling up in the Staten Island Ferry women's restroom during the morning commute – was nominated for an Academy Award, and her prospects since (for documentary and fiction work) are many. She's in post-production on her Siegfried and Roy documentary – while currently working on others – and is reading narrative scripts when she can. "Just telling you about it," she laughs, "I'm getting dizzy." "Ferry Tales" is an earthy, unpretentious work hinging more on human interaction than artful effect, so it should come as no surprise that Esson's criteria – despite her objectivity – tend toward substance over style. "Of course we're looking for originality and creativity, but what is working for me the most are the ones with some kind of spirit or love or motivation to get the story on film," she admits. "Some are very eloquent, witty, others intellectual, but they just don't get me."