Flying in the face of the popular wisdom that good fences make good neighbors, the East Austin Stories video project makes prying its modus operandi. On June 25, the organization will celebrate three years of turning its lens on East Austin residents, as well as the launch of its new Web site, on which more than 70 videos will be available for download at idg.communication.utexas.edu/eas. (DVDs of the films will also be donated to the Austin History Center and to the George Washington Carver Museum and Cultural Center.)
East Austin Stories began as – and continues to be – an undergraduate documentary class taught by UT professor Andy Garrison; it has since expanded to include collaborations with students from Reagan High School. The goal of the project is to give the Eastside community the chance to share its many stories – stories as far-ranging as that of Charlie Machado, known in the motorcycle-racing world as “the world’s fastest Mexican” (as documented in “The World’s Fastest Mexican,” directed by Daniel del Favero), and of Ann Wolfe, a renowned female boxer who uses her sport to productively channel her rage at an unlucky life (“Laying the Foundation,” directed by Amy Khoshbin, Matthew Carey, and Aaron Castillo). Or of Regina Johnson, a glass artist who belts out Janis Joplin while she works and tosses off endearing catchphrases like “that’s a hot pookie!” (“Graphic Glass,” directed by John Johnson). Or of the rabble-rousing boys who frequent the Rosewood Pool, giving each other tittie-twisters in between pointing out the neighborhoods where they are most likely to be jumped (“Pool Rats,” directed by Sean Cunningham, Ryan Jarrell, and Sam Shaffer).
The stories of Charlie Machado and Ann Wolfe, Regina Thomas and the Rosewood pool rats, among others, will be screened at the June 25 event, to be held at the Oswaldo A.B. Cantu Pan American Recreation Center’s outdoor amphitheatre. In addition to the East Austin Stories to be shown, the evening will also include music from cumbia band Conjunto Aztlan and several short films from the Camacho Center’s Student Filmmaker Summer Camp.
East Austin Stories: An Evening Under the Stars will take place Friday, June 25, 7:30pm, at the Oswaldo A.B. Cantu Pan American Recreation Center (2100 E. Third). The event is free.
This article appears in June 25 • 2004.
