Some of the biggest titles to come out of the recent Toronto and Venice film festivals will touch down locally at the 2011 Austin Film Festival, including Alexander Payne’s The Descendants and Steve McQueen’s Shame.
Big buzz movies from Sundance 2010 will also get their regional premiere at AFF, including Like Crazy, Martha Marcy May Marlene, and Pariah. They join previously announced films like the Duplass Brothers‘ Jeff Who Lives at Home and We Need to Talk About Kevin.
Also included in the lineup are special events like a tribute to the late Polly Platt, which will include a screening of Bottle Rocket (which she produced), presented by Luke Wilson and featuring a taped introduction by Wes Anderson. There will also be a screening of a restored print of Nicholas Ray‘s last film, accompanied by a doc made by his wife, in a copresentation with the Harry Ransom Center, which houses Ray’s archives.
The Austin Film Festival runs Oct. 20-27. See below for full lineup, including competition films.
MARQUEE SCREENINGS:
THE DESCENDANTS
Alexander Payne (Writer/Director), Nat Faxon, Jim Rash (Writers); stars George Clooney – Regional Premiere
THE ARTIST
Michael Hazanavicius (Writer/Director) – Regional Premiere
SHAME
Steve McQueen (Wrtier/Director), Abi Morgan (Writer); stars Michael Fassbender and Carey Mulligan – Regional Premiere
THE WOMAN IN THE FIFTH
Pawel Pawlikowski (Writer/Director), Douglas Kennedy (Writer); stars Ethan Hawke – Regional Premiere
SAL
James Franco (Wrtier/Director/Actor), Vince Jolivette, Stacey Miller (Writers) – Regional Premiere
JEFF, WHO LIVES AT HOME
Jay Duplass, Mark Duplass (Writer/Directors); stars Jason Segel, Ed Helms, and Susan Sarandon – Regional Premiere
CORIOLANUS
Ralph Fiennes (Director), John Logan (Writer); stars Ralph Fiennes, Gerard Butler, and Jessica Chastain – Regional Premiere
WE NEED TO TALK ABOUT KEVIN
Lynne Ramsey (Writer/Director), Rory Kinnear (Writer); stars John C. Reilly and Tilda Swinton – Regional Premiere
LIKE CRAZY
Drake Doremus (Writer/Director), Ben York Jones (Writer) – Regional Premiere
MARTHA MARCY MAY MARLENE
Sean Durkin (Writer/Director) – Regional Premiere
PARIAH
Dee Rees (Writer/Director) – Regional Premiere
ALBERT NOBBS
Rodrigo Garcia (Director), Glenn Close, John Banville (Writers)
CINEMA IS EVERYWHERE
Teal Greyhavens (Director) – U.S. Premiere
6 MONTH RULE
Blayne Weaver (Writer/Director) – World Premiere
AFTER FALL, WINTER
Eric Schaeffer (Writer/Director) – Regional Premiere
AGE OF CHAMPIONS
Chris Rufo (Director) – Regional Premiere
ALL I KNOW: THE CASTLE SESSIONS
Holly Bronko (Director) – World Premiere
AMERICAN TEACHER
Vanessa Roth, Brian McGinn (Directors) – Regional Premiere
THE BULLY PROJECT
Lee Hirsch (Director) – Regional Premiere
THE CONQUEST OF HIGH PASSES
Wout Conijn (Director) – Regional Premiere
HELL AND BACK AGAIN
Danfung Dennis (Director) – Regional Premiere
JIRO DREAMS OF SUSHI
David Gelb (Director) – Regional Premiere
LET GO
Brian Jett (Writer/Director) – World Premiere
MANENBERG
Christian Vium, Karen Waltorp (Directors) – U.S. Premiere
PUSH: MADISON VERSUS MADISON
Rudy Hypolite (Director) – Regional Premiere
SAWDUST CITY
David Nordstrom (Writer/Director) – Regional Premiere
SHAKESPEARE HIGH
Alex Rotaru (Director) – Regional Premiere
WISH ME AWAY
Bobbie Birleffi, Beverly Kopf (Directors) – Regional Premiere
YOU HURT MY FEELINGS
Steve Collins (Writer/Director) – Regional Premiere
ROADIE
Michael Cuesta (Writer/Director), Gerald Cuesta (Writer) – Regional Premiere
DESPICABLE DICK AND RIGHTEOUS RICHARD
Joshua Neale (Director) – Regional Premiere
AFF PRESENTS…
John Lasseter presents… TOY STORY
Caroline Thompson presents… EDWARD SCISSORHANDS
A Tribute to Polly Platt presented by Luke Wilson with special taped intro by Wes Anderson… BOTTLE ROCKET
An Afternoon of Nicholas Ray: DON’T EXPECT TOO MUCH & WE CAN’T GO HOME AGAIN presented with the Harry Ransom Center
COMEDY VANGUARD:
FREAK DANCE
Matt Besser (Writer/Director), Neil Mahoney (Director) – World Premiere
FRED & VINNIE
Fred Stoller (Writer), Steve Skrovan (Director) – Regional Premiere
HIGH ROAD
Matt Walsh (Writer/Director), Josh Weiner (Writer) – Regional Premiere
TREATMENT
Sean Nelson (Writer/Director), Steven Schardt (Director) – Regional Premiere
DARK MATTERS:
BELOW ZERO
Justin Thomas Ostensen (Director), Signe Olynyk (Writer) – U.S. Premiere
BENEATH THE DARKNESS
Martin Guigui (Director), Bruce Wilkinson (Writer) – World Premiere
DEADHEADS
Brett Pierce, Drew Pierce (Writers/Directors)
SOME GUY WHO KILLS PEOPLE
Jack Perez (Director), Ryan Levin (Writer)
FAMILY FILMS:
PUSS IN BOOTS
Chris Miller (Director), Brian Lynch, David H. Steinberg, Tom Wheeler, Jon Zack (Writers) – Regional Premiere
INUK
Mike Magidson (Writer/Director), Jean-Michel Huctin (Writer) – Regional Premiere
SMALL AND CREEPY FILMS
A collection of short films, curated by Distinguished Screenwriter Awardee Caroline Thompson, Steve Nicolaides and Micah Van Hove
TEXAS INDEPENDENTS:
AUSTIN HIGH
Alan Deutsch (Director), Will Elliott, Kirk C. Johnson (Writers) – World Premiere
DEEP IN THE HEART
Christopher Cain (Director), Josh Fasulo, Brian A. Hoffman (Writers) – World Premiere
AN ORDINARY FAMILY
Mike Akel (Writer/Director), Matt Patterson (Writers)
SEARCHING FOR SONNY
Andrew Disney (Writer/Director) – World Premiere
SIRONIA
Brandon Dickerson (Writer/Director), Thomas Ward, Wes Cunningham (Writers) – World Premiere
STRINGS
Mark Dennis (Writer/Director), Ben Foster (Director) – Regional Premiere
A SWINGIN’ TRIO
Kelvin Phillips (Writer/Director) – World Premiere
UNCERTAIN, TX
Eric Steele (Writer/Director), Hunter Wood (Writer) – World Premiere
NARRATIVE FEATURE COMPETITION:
THE DYNAMITER
Matthew Gordon (Director), Brad Ingelsby (Writer) – Regional Premiere
HAROLD’S GOING STIFF
Keith Wright (Writer/Director) – U.S. Premiere
LEILA
Lesley Manning (Writer/Director) – U.S. Premiere
OK, ENOUGH, GOODBYE
Rania Attieh, Daniel Garcia (Writers/Directors) – Regional Premiere
RESTIVE
Jeremiah Jones (Writer/Director) – Regional Premiere
SEAMONSTERS
Julian Kerridge (Writer/Director), Martin Sadofski (Writer) – U.S. Premiere
SOMEWHERE WEST
David Marek (Writer/Director), Adam Benn, Barrett Ogden, Judson Webb (Writers) – World Premiere
THE STAND UP
David Wexler (Writer/Director) – World Premiere
STUCK BETWEEN STATIONS
Brady Kiernan (Director), Nat Bennett, Sam Rosen (Writer) – Regional Premiere
DOCUMENTARY FEATURE COMPETITION:
ECSTASY OF ORDER: THE TETRIS MASTERS
Adam Cornelius (Director) – World Premiere
ONE NIGHT STAND
Elisabeth Sperling, Trish Dalton (Directors) – Regional Premiere
TOWNSHIP TO THE STAGE
David Meyer (Director) – World Premiere
THANK YOU FOR JUDGING
Michael Urie, Sean Fornara, Selma Al-Faqih, Travis Flournoy (Directors) – World Premiere
WHEN DREAMS TAKE FLIGHT
Sheona McDonald (Writer/Director) – World Premiere
DARWIN
Nick Brandestini (Director), Taylor Segrest (Writer) – Regional Premiere
STORIES FROM AN UNDECLARED WAR
Dennis Rice (Director) – Regional Premiere
GOOLD’S GOLD
Tucker Capps, Ryan Sevy (Directors) – Regional Premiere
This article appears in September 16 • 2011.
