by Jen Scoville
Of all the panel discussions planned for the upcoming South by Southwest
Multimedia/Interactive Festival, there’s one that’s sure to get its audience
hot under the collar. The Future of Sex, whose five speakers include
A Touch of Latex fanzine founder Lily Burana, co-founder of FutureSex
magazine Richard Kadrey, director of UT’s Interactive Media Lab and
trans-gender theory expert Sandy Stone, and co-founder of Mondo 2000 R.U. Sirius, will be moderated by Austin writer and online columnist Spike
Gillespie, who knows a little bit about the subject herself. Other panel topics
among the 40+ scheduled include The Future of Animation, Leisure
2000, Techno-Spirituality, and Online Publishing. An added
bonus this year is a new Trade Show policy that allows the general business
community and the non-registered public to browse the many booths displaying
cutting-edge and interactive technologies for $25 a day. Passes can be
purchased on site at the Austin Convention Center during the days of the event,
March 8-11. The SXSW Film Festival and Conference has just confirmed a special
world premiere screening for Saturday, March 15 of Still Breathing, a
dramatic romance directed by Jim Robinson, starring Brendan Fraser (Encino
Man) and Joanna Going (Wyatt Earp) who will also be in attendance.
Junior Brown gets his first screen credit here as well. For SXSW registration
information call 467-7979, or visit the official SXSW website at
http://www.sxsw.com… Hong Kong film fans take note: The Texas Union Theatre
is showing acclaimed director Tsui Hark’s The Blade, a reworking of the
1967 One Armed Swordsman in which a young man, adopted and raised by a
master saber maker, sets out to kill the bandit who brutally slew his father.
And at the Sunday, February 16 showing (7pm), Tsui himself will be in
attendance for a Q&A. Known for a prolific filmography of action-packed
movies with superb choreography, the famous director and UT graduate has been
in Texas shooting Once Upon a Time in China VI, the sixth feature
episode in a series began in 1990. Tsui Hark’s first American-made film,
Double Team, starring Jean-Claude Van Damme, Dennis Rodman, and Mickey
Rourke is due out in April… Here’s an online serial to which Austinites
should relate: the continuing saga of Chiphead Harry (that’s computer chip and tortilla chip), the recently deceased billionaire CEO of Ligent
Technology and beloved figurehead of the hacker community who croaked after
downing his usual double espresso. “Only two people really think Chip was
murdered,” the intro reads, “slacker espresso salesman Adam Avery, and YOU.”
Explore the motives of notorious bioengineering firm Helix, and ambitious real
estate baron Joe Bob Mayfield. And what is the Austin Times-Herald reporter digging up? Launched last week, a new episode appears daily at
http://www.chipheadharry.com/… The Austin Writers’ League (AWL) is
co-sponsoring an intensive weekend screen-writing seminar, Screenwriting for
Hollywood: From Concept to Sale, with Michael Hauge, February 22-23 at St.
Edward’s University. Hauge is an L.A.-based producer, script consultant, and
the author of Writing Screenplays That Sell. Tuition is $195 ($175 for
AWL members). To register, call 800/522-0772 x2448.
This article appears in February 14 • 1997 and February 14 • 1997 (Cover).