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Beavis & Butthead creator Mike Judge returned to emcee the Austin Film Society’s Texas Film Awards on Thursday, March 10. It was the 16th annual award ceremony (formerly known as the Texas Film Hall of Fame Awards) and, as is tradition, both a celebration of Texas film and a major fundraiser for AFS’ educational and grant programs. The Austin Film Society celebrated its 30th anniversary in 2015. -
Mike Judge hosting the Texas Film Awards on Stage 7 of the Austin Studios lot -
AFS Executive Director Rebecca Campbell -
AFS Executive Director Rebecca Campbell -
Adrian Quesada -
Adrianne Palicki introducing the Rising Star Award to her Friday Night Lights castmate and friend Jesse Plemons -
Noting Jesse Plemons’ standout, if bloody work on Breaking Bad and Fargo, Adrianne Palicki cracked, “He’ll always remember his first TV kill,” a reference to their deeply unpopular Friday Night Lights second season arc. -
Jesse Plemons accepting the Rising Star Award -
Upon receiving the Rising Star Award, Jesse Plemons joked, “I imagined a really big cowboy hat slowly descending on my head. But this is also really good.” Visibly moved by the honor, he pointed out that he got his first break on Children of the Corn 4, playing “Sickly Kid Number 7.” -
Maya Rudolph inducted comedy legend Carol Burnett into the Texas Film Hall of Fame -
In honor of the occasion, Maya Rudolph slipped into a prolonged Texas drawl – “I’m happier than a gopher in soft dirt” to be inducting her hero, she proclaimed – then turned heartfelt, praising Carol Burnett’s kindness and humanity and how they shaped her comedy. “Carol makes you feel good. It’s just that simple.” -
While inducting comedy legend Carol Burnett into the Texas Film Hall of Fame, Maya Rudolph expressed surprise that Burnett wasn’t already inducted. After listing off the extraordinary number of honors Burnett’s racked up over her 60-year career – Emmys, Golden Globes, the Peabody, the Mark Twain Prize for Humor, a Hollywood Walk of Fame star – Rudolph joked, “If people were a little smarter, they’d go ahead and give her the Heisman and the Stanley Cup.” -
Burnett took the stage with adoring words for her presenter: “Maya, I want to adopt you.” She then shared with the audience that she’d known Rudolph’s husband, director Paul Thomas Anderson, since he was 4 years old and a neighbor. -
“I was born in San Antonio, back in the covered-wagon days …” Carol Burnett told the audience about the times she spent roller-skating around her grandmother’s house in San Antonio, putting deep grooves in the hardwood floor. Decades later, the house was saved from demolition, moved eight blocks, renovated, and now serves as a school for at-risk kids. -
Carol Burnett -
Adrian Quesada -
Variety’s Steven Gaydos -
Richard Linklater -
Richard Linklater took the opportunity to thank everyone who helped AFS make it to 30 years. He also announced that AFS would open a two-screen arthouse/international/repertory theater with daily programming by the end of the year. No word yet on location. -
Richard Linklater -
Richard Linklater -
Ellia English introduces her friend, honoree, and “sunny bunny” Chandra Wilson -
Following a sweet speech by friend and mentor Ellia English and a clip reel highlighting her early work in Lone Star and Philadelphia and defining role as Dr. Miranda Bailey for 12 years on Grey’s Anatomy, Chandra Wilson took the stage: “That almost made me feel like I’ve done a thing or three.” -
In her speech, Chandra Wilson paid tribute to the Houston theater companies that trained her as a child and young woman. She continues to return to Houston every year to mentor young actors and give out scholarships. On being a role model: “Kids are watching. There’s a responsibility in that that I embrace.” -
Honoree Michael Barker, co-president and cofounder of Sony Pictures Classics, handpicked his friend Ethan Hawke to present him with his award. Hawke explained part of their bond: “We are both New Yorkers who are secretly Texans.” He also celebrated his friend as a “champion of filmmakers. … When he speaks about acting and artistry, I learn something.” -
Michael Barker, co-president and co-founder of Sony Pictures Classics, stands up to receive the Austin Chronicle’s Champion of the Arts Award -
Ethan Hawke -
Michael Barker and Ethan Hawke -
Michael Barker accepts the Austin Chronicle Champion of the Arts Award. Lily Tomlin, Cate Blanchett, and Barker’s Sony Pictures Classics partner Tom Bernard all sent their well wishes via video. Woody Allen’s congratulations were more deadpan; of being inducted into the Texas Film Hall of Fame, he said, “It’s like being voted man of the year in Uzbekistan.” -
“I wish my dad was here,” said Sony Pictures Classics co-president and cofounder Michael Barker, taking the stage after standing ovation, “because my dad used to say, ‘I wonder if seeing all these movies will ever amount to anything.’” Barker concluded his speech with an impassioned defense of 35mm projection, film preservation, and the communal experience of theatergoing. He also praised AFS as “one of the most vital cultural institutions in America.” -
Sony Pictures Classics co-president and cofounder Michael Barker recalled discovering film in Oak Cliff, “the driest and most Biblical part of Dallas,” with childhood friend Ed Lowry, the late, deeply influential film critic and professor. “You celebrate Eddie Lowry when you celebrate me.” -
Master of Ceremonies Mike Judge -
Austin Film Society’s Holly Herrick and Rebecca Campbell -
Texas Film Award event co-chairs Melody McCaig, Armando Zambrano and Sherri West -
Honoree Michael Barker -
AFS Executive Director Rebecca Campbell and Variety Executive Editor Steven Gaydos -
Lorelei Linklater -
Richard Linklater -
Brooklyn Decker -
Richard Linklater -
Honoree Carol Burnett -
Maya Rudolph and Carol Burnett -
Maya Rudolph -
Chandra Wilson -
Ellia English -
Kendra Scott -
Cast of ‘Everybody Wants Some’ with Richard Linklater and Rebecca Campbell -
Adrianne Palicki and Jesse Plemons -
Super Girl Melissa Benoist -
Meredith Hagner -
Ethan Hawke -
Ethan Hawke assists Richard Linklater with his tie -
Ethan Hawke and Richard Linklater
2016 Texas Film Awards
