All aboard! Train Dreams, the new film by the creative pairing behind the Oscar-nominated Sing Sing, has just been announced as part of the first wave of films at this year’s Austin Film Festival (Oct. 23-30).
It’s the second film from Netflix playing at this year’s AFF, following the earlier announcement of the latest in Rian Johnson’s latest adventure of detective Benoit Blanc, Wake Up Dead Man: A Knives Out Mystery. Co-scripted by Greg Kwedar and Clint Bentley, and directed by Bentley, Train Dreams adapts Denis Johnson’s critically-acclaimed novella: first published in The Paris Review in 2002 and as a standalone work in 2011, it’s the story of a couple (Joel Edgerton and Felicity Jones) among the woods and rail lines of the Pacific Northwest during the early 20th century.
Kwedar and Bentley will also receive this year’s Writer’s Writer Award, celebrating a shared career connection to AFF that dates back to the premiere of their short film, “Dakota,” at the festival in 2015. AFF Executive Director Barbara Morgan said, “Ten years ago, their distinct voices stood out to us amongst thousands of submissions, and today, they continue to cut through the noise with their singular point of view and exceptional craft. We have been delighted to champion their careers throughout the last ten years, and to welcome them back to the Festival as this year’s incredibly deserving recipients of the Writer’s Writer Award.”
The duo will join previously announced recipients of this year’s awards, including Mission: Impossible director Christopher McQuarrie, legendary producer Christine Vachon, and Star Wars: The Last Jedi director Johnson.
Also eagerly awaited on the fall release schedule are two more of today’s additions. First is A24’s afterlife romance Eternity, in which the recently-deceased Joan (Elizabeth Olsen) must choose between the man with whom she spent most of her life, Larry (Miles Teller), and her first husband, Luke, (Callum Turner), who died young and has been waiting for her for decades. The festival also sees the return of Nia DaCosta: She filmed her debut feature, Little Woods, in Austin before screening it at AFF 2018. Now she reunites with that film’s star, Tessa Thompson, for Hedda, a reimagining of Henrik Ibsen’s powerful tale of a woman adrift in a misogynistic world, Hedda Gabler.
Austin Film Festival takes place Oct. 23-30, and the Writers Conference runs Oct. 23–26. Passes and info at austinfilmfestival.com. Now here’s the complete list of films announced so far, including seven world premieres:
TRAIN DREAMS
Texas Premiere
Directed by: Clint Bentley
Co-written by: Clint Bentley & Greg Kwedar
Cast: Joel Edgerton, Felicity Jones, Nathaniel Arcand, Clifton Collins Jr., John Diehl, Paul Schneider, with Kerry Condon and William H. Macy. Narrated by Will Patton.
Based on the beloved novella by Denis Johnson, Train Dreams is the moving portrait of Robert Grainier (Golden Globe-nominee Joel Edgerton), whose life unfolds during an era of unprecedented change in early 20th century America. Orphaned at a young age, Robert grows into adulthood among the towering forests of the Pacific Northwest, where he helps expand the nation’s railroad empire alongside men as unforgettable as the landscapes they inhabit. After a tender courtship, he marries Gladys (Academy Award-nominee Felicity Jones) and they build a home together, though his work often takes him far from her and their young daughter. When his life takes an unexpected turn, Robert finds beauty, brutality and newfound meaning for the forests and trees he has felled.
ETERNITY
Texas Premiere
Directed by: David Freyne
Co-written by: David Freyne & Pat Cunnane
Cast: Miles Teller, Elizabeth Olsen, Callum Turner, John Early, Olga Merediz, and Da’Vine Joy Randolph
In an afterlife where souls have one week to decide where to spend eternity, Joan (Elizabeth Olsen) is faced with the impossible choice between the man she spent her life with (Miles Teller) and her first love (Callum Turner), who died young and has waited decades for her to arrive.
HEDDA
Texas Premiere
Written/directed by: Nia DaCosta
Cast: Tessa Thompson, Imogen Poots, Nina Hoss, Nicholas Pinnock
From writer/director Nia DaCosta comes a provocative, modern reimagining of Henrik Ibsen’s classic play. Hedda (Tessa Thompson) finds herself torn between the lingering ache of a past love and the quiet suffocation of her present life. Over the course of one charged night, long-repressed desires and hidden tensions erupt – pulling her and everyone around her into a spiral of manipulation, passion, and betrayal.
WAKE UP DEAD MAN: A KNIVES OUT MYSTERY
Texas Premiere
Written/directed by: Rian Johnson
Cast: Josh O’Connor, Glenn Close, Josh Brolin, Mila Kunis, Jeremy Renner, Kerry Washington, Andrew Scott, Cailee Spaeny, Daryl McCormack, Thomas Haden Church
Benoit Blanc (Daniel Craig) faces his most dangerous mystery yet in the latest entry in Rian Johnson’s beloved Knives Out series.
THE BOY FROM ST. CROIX
World Premiere
Directed by: Scott Duncan
Cast: Tim Duncan
After keeping the world at arm’s length for decades, basketball legend Tim Duncan reveals himself in an intimate portrait directed by his brother Scott, reflecting on the game, his career, and his enduring connection to his native island of St. Croix.
CRYSTAL CROSS
World Premiere
Written/Directed by: Richie James Follin
Cast: Rubyrose Hill, Richie James Follin, Lukas Haas, Luke Baines, Missi Pyle, Samantha Robinson
Crystal Cross is the story of Dotty, a Christian singer in trouble, intent on reversing her fate. When she eyes James, who looks a whole lot like Jesus, that’s her sign from God — her ride out of town. Only James is no Jesus. After a string of failed suicides to stop the pain of losing his daughter, he’s driving cross-country to California to get the last one right. This is the odd-couple love story of Dotty and James: two desperate people with opposite personalities, on opposite journeys, traveling down the same road.
MILES AWAY
World Premiere
Written/Directed by: Jackie Quinones
Cast: Jackie Quinones, Luis Guzman, Andre Royo, Salina EsTitties, Jessica Pacheco, Jennifer Bartels, Alberto Frezza, Henri Esteve, Jessica Sarah Flaum, Eddie Martinez, Cass Clark
A dreamer making ends meet as a rideshare driver is on a collision course with reality as she struggles with the hardships of poverty, bad decisions and a difficult family.
RHYTHM IS A DANCER
World Premiere
Written/Directed by: Lauren Caster
Cast: Lauren Caster, Amy Aquino, Tate Donovan, Marianne Muellerleile, Robert Costanzo, Beau Billingslea
Ro, a young woman with a dwindling dance career who returns home after many years to meet her biological father (Tate Donovan) for the first time. Born to Susan (Amy Aquino), a lesbian who opted for insemination, Ro grapples with the complexities of her unconventional family dynamic and soon forms a bond at her new job with three spirited octogenarians, who help her reconnect with her family, her roots and herself.
SIGNING TONY RAYMOND
World Premiere
Written/Directed by: Glen Owen
Cast: Michael Mosley, Mira Sorvino, Rob Morgan, Marshawn Lynch, Brian Bosworth
A young college football coach is sent to rural Alabama to try and sign the nation’s top high school defensive end and soon finds himself trying to outflank rival recruiters, fight off grifting townsfolk and win over the player’s wildly dysfunctional family.
SPITE
World Premiere
Written/Directed by: Carolynn Cecilia
Cast: Masha Cima
When social worker Johanna returns to her childhood home after the death of her estranged mother, she must confront the abuse she experienced as a child, battling a force within the house that thinks Joanna is still in need of discipline.
YOU’RE DATING A NARCISSIST
World Premiere
Directed by: Ann Marie Allison
Written by: Ann Marie Allison & Jenna Milly
Cast: Marisa Tomei, Sherry Cola, Ciara Bravo, Marco Pigossi, José María Yazpik
An outspoken psychologist rushes to Los Angeles with her best friend to stop her lovesick daughter’s wedding, fearing the groom is a narcissist.
