Cinematexas 9
September 22-26
By Shawn Badgley, Fri., Sept. 17, 2004

Don't be scared. Be awed, and act on it somehow. With great power comes great responsibility, and the Cinematexas International Short Film Festival, the "nation's bravest festival," takes that responsibility quite seriously. The challenges faced at the forefront of the avant-garde are many: It's carrying the flag into battle. Lacking money, access, recognition, and construed relevance, the hundreds upon thousands of artists whom Cinematexas advocates, encourages, and invites down to Austin for a handful of action-packed days in September are responsible themselves to overcome those challenges and, in turn, challenge the audience. Shouldn't we respond?
Granted, the schedule is a daunting one, dense with a score of both UT and international competition screenings, 61/2 hours of Ken Jacobs' Star Spangled to Death, retrospectives, attending filmmakers, the exhilarating but exhausting political daredevilry of the Parallax View program, and the aural atmospherics of the Eye + Ear sidebar. Terry Riley, the minimalist composer, is a coup this year, collaborating here with Jem Cohen. The great Chantal Akerman will show her Sud, a mournful examination of Jasper in the wake of resident James Byrd Jr.'s tragic and horrendous modern lynching. Yes, much to see. Much to experience. So much multimedia, so little time.

But Cinematexas has always managed to match its intelligent programming with intelligent programming methods, and so what you see to the right is divided mainly in chunks. That's to say, with some exceptions, the listed entries include several shorts, International Competition 1, for instance, or Face/Off: India. Some programs are titled with the title of a short film screening within; others are not. If a title to the right is in italics, it means that it is a feature-length film or video that might include a short, as well, but is limited mainly to the stand-alone feature. Example: Star Spangled to Death parts 1 and 2. If you see a name or names, it can indicate an attending filmmaker, a collaboration, or a retrospective. This year, that retrospective is centered around the work of Satyajit Ray.
Don't worry: Once you get into it, you're in. The screenings and shows take place at sufficiently familiar and convenient venues. For further clarification on all of this, as well as to purchase festival passes, visit www.cinematexas.org or call 471-2548. In the meantime, familiarize yourself with this and check back here next week for an extended preview.
Wednesday, Sept. 22

7:15pm
Alamo Drafthouse Downtown International Competition 1
7:15pm
Arthouse at the Jones Center Face|Off: India
7:30pm
Hideout UT Competition 4
9pm
Hideout International Competition 5
9:15pm
Alamo Drafthouse Downtown Chain
9:15pm
Hideout UT Competition 1
9:30pm
Arthouse at the Jones Center La Mesa del Capitan
Thursday, Sept. 23
4pm
Hideout UT Competition 3
4:15pm
Hideout International Competition 8
5:45pm
Hideout International Competition 2
6pm
Alamo Drafthouse Downtown Satyajit Ray 2
6pm
Hideout International Competition 5
7:15pm
Hideout International Competition 6
7:30pm
Hideout UT Competition 2
7:45pm
Arthouse at the Jones Center Sud
8:15pm
Alamo Drafthouse Downtown Star Spangled to Death Part 1
9:15pm
Hideout International Competition 3
9:30pm
Hideout Jem Cohen 2
9:45pm
Arthouse at the Jones Center Face|Off: Belgium
12mid
Arthouse at the Jones Center Eye + Ear: Odd Nosdam & Dosh
12mid
Alamo Drafthouse Downtown International Competition Midnite Show
Friday, Sept. 24
2pm
Alamo Drafthouse Downtown International Competition 8
3:45pm
Hideout Matt McCormick
4pm
Hideout International Competition 4
4pm
Alamo Drafthouse Downtown International Competition 1
5:45pm
Hideout International Competition 9
6:30pm
American Youthworks Parallax View/Up Shit Creek
7pm
Hideout UT Competition 3
8pm
First United Methodist Church Eye + Ear/Terry Riley & Jem Cohen
8pm
Hideout UT Competition 5
9pm
Hideout UT Competition 1
10:15pm
Arthouse at the Jones Center The Will of Dean Snider
10:15pm
Hideout International Competition 2
10:30pm
Hideout Jim Trainor
12mid
Alamo Drafthouse Downtown Certain Women
Saturday, Sept. 25
Noon
Hideout UT Competition 6
1pm
American Youthworks Parallax View/Guilty Until Proven
2pm
Hideout International Competition 7
2pm
Arthouse at the Jones Center The Birdpeople
4pm
Arthouse at the Jones Center Satyajit Ray 3
4pm
Hideout Face|Off: Belgium
4pm
American Youthworks Parallax View/Social Engineering and Social Hacking
6pm
Hideout International Competition 3
8:15pm
Club de Ville Awards Ceremony
10:15pm
Hideout UT Competition 2
10:30pm
Hideout Eye + Ear/Seeing Is Believing
Sunday, Sept. 26
Noon
Hideout Jem Cohen 1
Noon
Alamo Drafthouse Downtown International Competition 6
Noon
Texas Union Theatre UT Competition 5
12:15pm
Hideout International Competition 9
1pm
American Youthworks Parallax View/ "Breakfast in Baghdad"
1:45pm
Hideout Chain
2pm
Texas Union Theatre Satyajit Ray 1
2pm
American Youthworks Parallax View/"War"
2:15pm
Alamo Drafthouse Downtown Star Spangled to Death Part 2
2:15pm
Hideout UT Competition 4
3pm
American Youthworks Parallax View/"None of the Above"
4pm
Texas Union Theatre Sud
4:15pm
Hideout International Competition 4
4:15pm
Hideout Face|Off: India
6pm
Arthouse at the Jones Center 2004 Award Winners
6pm
Texas Union Theatre I Was Born But ... (Roddy Bogawa)
6pm
Hideout La Mesa del Capitan
6:15pm
Hideout International Competition 7
6:30pm
Alamo Drafthouse Downtown Jeanne Dielman
7:30pm
Arthouse at the Jones Center 2004 Award Winners
8pm
Hideout "Get Rid of Yourself" and "Saute Ma Ville"
8:15pm
Hideout UT Competition 6
8:30pm
Texas Union Theatre Eye + Ear/
I Was Born But ... (Ozu) with Anthony Coleman
Venues
Alamo Drafthouse Downtown
(409 Colorado)
American Youthworks
(216 E. Fourth)
Arthouse Jones Center
(700 Congress)

Club de Ville
(900 Red River)
First United Methodist Church
(1201 Lavaca)
Hideout
(617 Congress)
Texas Union Theatre
(24th & Guadalupe)