by Jen Scoville
South by Southwest is officially only one week away, with the SXSW Film
Festival and Conference kicking off a week from this Friday and the
Multimedia/Interactive Festival following right on its heels. It’s not too late
to register for the conference portions of the event; walk-up registration
takes place at the Convention Center the weekend SXSW begins. The SXSW Film
Festival is screening more than 60 programs over the course of nine days,
including some regional and world premiere films. One film making its world
premiere is Traveller, starring Texan Bill Paxton (Apollo 13,
Twister), Julianna Margulies (“E.R.”), and Mark Wahlberg (The
Basketball Diaries), the story of which centers around an enclave of
“travellers” ruled by Gypsy ways in the backwoods of the rural South who
survive by pulling off scams and cons. A first directing credit for Academy
Award-winning cinematographer Jack Green (Unforgiven), Traveller also has an impressive soundtrack, including songs by local musicians Jimmie
Dale Gilmore and LouAnn Barton. Paxton, Margulies, Green, and others from the
film will attend the screenings and conference. Passes for Film Festival
screenings are $35 (including tax and service charge) and can still be
purchased through Star Tickets (469-SHOW)… The Austin Cinemaker Coop is
presenting their Reel of Fortune Super-8 film festival on Monday, March 3 at
the Ritz Lounge on Sixth St. All films have a loose theme of “fortune” and
utilize only in-camera edits. Admission is $3… The second of 11 films in the
free Austin Film Society series Cinema Fist: The Films of Samuel Fuller, will
show at 9pm on Tuesday, March 4, at the Texas Union Theatre. Shockproof (1949), written by Fuller and directed by Douglas Sirk, is a film noir that
follows a parole officer who is seduced into a dangerous love affair with a
paroled femme fatale… In celebration of International Women’s Day, Austin’s
community media has organized the second annual International Women’s Day
Community Media Festival, which will broadcast 24 hours of women’s programming
on Saturday, March 8, featuring independently produced news, public affairs,
and music. Listen in at KAZI-FM (88.7), or KOOP-FM (91.7); watch at Austin
Community Access Center’s cable channel 10; or log on to the Internet at
Monsterbit Media’s website (http://www.monsterbit.com/iwd/) for an all-day
earful of women’s voices. WATER (Women’s Access to Electronic Resources), will
be hosting an open house on the day of the festival for those who are
interested in viewing via cable or the Internet. For hours, contact WATER at
444-1672… The Newton Boys, Richard Linklater’s feature
film-in-progress is casting “unique faces” as extras — no acting experience
necessary. The film is based on a true story of Texas bank robbers in the
1920s, so a short-haired look apropos of the era will do well to get you
noticed. Send photos to: Newton Boys Casting,
PO Box 12607, Austin, TX 78711.
This article appears in February 28 • 1997 and February 28 • 1997 (Cover).