AFS Announces Its July/August 2024 Program Calendar
(Badham’s SATURDAY NIGHT FEVER, 1977)
June 6, 2024, AUSTIN, TX— The Austin Film Society announces its calendar for July and August of 2024 featuring signature programs, special screenings and events and a new, diverse lineup of films from around the globe that filmgoers can only see at the AFS Cinema. The full calendar and more information can be found at www.austinfilm.org.
The Austin Film Society will present two new series of Essential Cinema, the first of which, A Little Early/A Little Late: The Cinema of Hong Sang-soo, will pay tribute to the prolific Korean director through four films in July. Following in August is a second series of Essential Cinema called World Animation: To the Stars and Beyond, celebrating cutting-edge contemporary animated science fiction alongside several foundational works in the medium, like Osamu Tezuka’s Metropolis. AFS Cinema will also present the Summer Free-For-All, a weekly series in July and August featuring four beloved arthouse classics (including Richard Linklater’s Slacker) with free admission to all films for anyone in the community to attend. The Austin Film Society will be showing highlights from several national film festivals, including The Sundance Shorts Tour, selections from the Queer Futures Short Film Festival, and a weekend-long presentation of films from the Pan African Film Festival, which will feature in-person film introductions by festival leadership. The 1984 eight-time Oscar®-winning period drama Amadeus will also screen exclusively at AFS Cinema from July 7–11 in a brand-new 4K restoration, which was supervised by the Academy Film Archive and The Saul Zaentz Co. The Austin Film Society will also host screenings of the documentary Eno with its director, Gary Hustwit, who utilizes hundreds of hours of footage of the influential musician/composer Brian Eno to create unique versions of his film for every live audience. The filmmakers behind the AFS Grant-supported documentary Yakona, about the waters of the San Marcos River Basin, will participate in a Q&A after a 10th Anniversary screening of their film on August 11. And, as a followup to Don Hertzfeldt’s appearance at AFS Cinema in March, the Austin Film Society will screen Two By Don Hertzfeldt, a program that includes the animator’s brand-new short film, Me, and the award-winning triptych It’s Such A Beautiful Day.
Calendar highlights in detail:
In July, AFS will present a series of Essential Cinema called A Little Early/A Little Late: The Cinema of Hong Sang-Soo, which will highlight the earlier films of the South Korean filmmaker that helped cement his style. Hong Sang-soo has had a prolific output of more than 30 feature-length films and is known for his slow-paced, layered narratives. The films in the AFS series serve as an introduction to the filmmaker for both newcomers to his work as well as fans interested in exploring foundational titles in his filmography. The series showcases the titles that helped Hong Sang-soo break into the international film scene, including Woman is the Future of Man (2004) and Tale of Cinema (2005) followed by Night and Day (2008) and The Day He Arrives (2011), both of which will be shown in 35mm.
From July 30–August 31, AFS Essential Cinema will present a series called World Animation: To the Stars and Beyond, featuring a mix of contemporary and classic animated films that combine themes of existential philosophy with interplanetary exploration. The new titles showcased are Carl Joseph Papa’s The Missing from the Philippines and White Plastic Sky by the Hungarian duo Tibor Bánóczki and Sarolta Szabó — both of which are screening in the US after premiering at film festivals last year — as well as Mars Express by French animator Jérémie Périn, an official selection at Cannes 2023. Also in the series are two touchstones in the medium: Time Masters, the followup to Fantastic Planet designed by Mœbius and directed by René Laloux; and Metropolis, based on a comic by Osamu Tezuka (author of Astro Boy), written by Katsuhiro Otomo (Akira) and directed by Rintaro (Galaxy Express 999).
Over four consecutive Wednesdays in July and August, AFS Cinema will present several cherished arthouse films in its Summer Free-For-All. While tickets will be required for entry, admission will be free for films within the series. Kicking things off on July 24 will be Richard Linklater’s Slacker in 35mm, an important part of Texas’ film legacy as well as AFS’s own history. Then, on July 30 is Wong Kar-wai’s beloved Chungking Express starring Takeshi Kaneshiro, Tony Leung, Brigitte Lin and Faye Wong. Following this will be two more 35mm screenings, the first of which on August 7 is Ball of Fire, a Howard Hawks film starring Barbara Stanwyck and Gary Cooper, followed by Sofia Coppola’s seminal The Virgin Suicides on August 14, an adaptation of a Jeffrey Eugenides novel starring Kirsten Dunst and Josh Hartnett.
The Austin Film Society will also present screenings of brand-new works from festivals across the country. From July 4–10, AFS Cinema will host the Sundance Short Film Festival Tour 2024, a 110-minute program of seven short films from the festival earlier this year, including several award-winning projects. Then, on July 14, the Austin Film Society will host a special hour-long program of four shorts from the Queer Futures Short Film Festival, which speculate on and celebrate what queerness and LGBTQIA+ life can look like. From August 15–18, the Pan African Film Festival (PAFF) returns for its second annual Austin series. Since 1992, this LA-based nonprofit has showcased work from throughout the African film diaspora, and PAFF leadership will present a selection of films from their February festival to audiences at AFS Cinema.
The full July/August lineup continues below, and a complete list of all film screenings announced to date and special events are on our website at austinfilm.org. Ticket prices range from $11 to $13.50, with discounts for AFS members. Special pricing is noted if applicable.
AUSTIN FILM SOCIETY JULY/AUGUST CALENDAR
ESSENTIAL CINEMA: A LITTLE EARLY/A LITTLE LATE: THE CINEMA OF HONG SANG-SOO
For newcomers and fans alike, this look at the works of Hong Sang-soo, the prolific South Korean chronicler of human fallibility, offers an introduction to the filmmaker’s singular, idiosyncratic sensibilities and motifs.
WOMAN IS THE FUTURE OF MAN
Hong Sang-soo, South Korea, 2004, DCP, 87 min. In Korean with English subtitles.
7/2, 7/6
“Funny, wry, and emotionally acute.” —TimeOut
“If Cassavetes had been born uptight, pissed off, and South Korean, he might have made this movie.” —Film Comment
“Hong Sang-soo’s films unpeel like an orange.’” —Martin Scorsese
Two old friends decide over beers to seek out an old flame. What could possibly go wrong? Praised by Martin Scorsese for his “masterful sense of storytelling,” Hong Sang-soo’s fifth feature set the blueprint for his career to come. Like Korea’s answer to Éric Rohmer, Hong’s chatter is playful, wry, and unassuming, and this early masterpiece begs its audiences to “listen for the meaning hidden between the seemingly inconsequential, everyday dialogue.”
TALE OF CINEMA
Hong Sang-soo, South Korea, 2005, DCP, 89 min. In Korean with English subtitles.
7/9, 7/13
“Hong’s film is simply told but resonates with profound meaning.” —Slant
“A multilayered, self-deprecating self-portrait.” —New Yorker
Weaponizing a clever film-within-a-film structure to incisively cut its characters layers-deep, Hong Sang-soo methodically reveals himself as a staggering genius with this tale of two men, one woman, chance encounters, suicide pacts, memories, and the cinema. When an actress says, “I don’t think you really understood the film,” perhaps not, but one can try.
NIGHT AND DAY
Hong Sang-soo, South Korea, 2008, 35mm, 144 min. In Korean with English subtitles.
7/16, 7/20
“So many times watching this I thought, ‘This is what people mean when they talk about ‘painfully funny.’” —MUBI Notebook
“A disconcertingly honest portrait of male sexual desire at its most abjectly fumbling.” —Notebook
A Korean painter fleeing a marijuana charge finds himself trying, and failing, to think of his wife as he falls in love with the women — and city — of Paris. Painfully funny, an ambling tale of a grown man lumbering through adulthood. In 35mm.
THE DAY HE ARRIVES
Hong Sang-soo, South Korea, 2011, 35mm, 79 min. In Korean with English subtitles.
7/23, 7/28
“At his best — and, THE DAY HE ARRIVES, is among his very best — Hong offers a strange mixture of magic, mystery, rueful melodrama and dry comedy that’s like absolutely nothing else.” —Salon
Critics Pick! “An exploration, both playful and rueful, of desire, narrative, and the idea beautifully expressed by Faulkner in Absalom, Absalom! that ‘maybe nothing ever happens once and is finished.’” —The New York Times
“Brilliant and touching.” —The New Yorker
A film director who “no longer makes films” finds each day the same as the last: he has drinks with friends, he meets a woman — rinse, wash, repeat — yet only he knows why. An inscrutable enigma from master puzzler, Hong Sang-soo. In 35mm.
ESSENTIAL CINEMA: WORLD ANIMATION: TO THE STARS AND BEYOND
This August, we take a look at some of the greatest animated sci-fi worlds ever created. Stretching from the outer corners of the universe to the far recesses of the human mind, these selections of modern critical darlings and legendary, interstellar juggernauts show the possibilities of cinema when these two planets collide.
MARS EXPRESS
Jérémie Périn, France, 2023, DCP, 89 min. In French with English subtitles.
7/30–8/3
“A sci-fi tapestry not just worth getting lost in, but one that is deeply human.” —Collider
“A pulse-pounding story that kept me guessing right until the end.” —The Verge
2200, Mars. Private Detective Aline Ruby and her android partner head to the red planet in search of a notorious hacker but are soon drawn into the depths of the planet’s capital where they uncover a mystery involving brain farms and a missing girl whose secret could alter the fate of the universe. This first film from Jérémie Périn, director of the lauded LASTMAN series, is a cyberpunk noir that poses philosophical questions as far-reaching as the cosmos. Featuring the voices of Léa Drucker and Mathieu Amalric.
TIME MASTERS
René Laloux, France/West Germany/Switzerland/UK/Hungary, 1982, DCP, 79 min. In French with English subtitles.
8/6–8/12
“A masterful tour de force which nails it with its complexity.” —Le Bleu du Mirror
“The storyline of this epic still surpasses those of many contemporary cartoons.” —Télérama
On the desert planet of Perdide, Piel, a small boy and the lone survivor of a giant hornet attack, awaits rescue by a motley crew of space voyagers led by the pilot adventurer Jaffar. But will the renegade team arrive before the boy succumbs to the dangers of this strange world? Designed by Mœbius, this FANTASTIC PLANET follow-up from René Laloux is an awe-inspiring interstellar thrill ride from start to finish and no less deserving of the praise typically reserved for the latter’s cult interplanetary saga. Newly restored. Free Member Monday — free admission for all AFS members on Monday, August 12.
THE MISSING
Carl Joseph Papa, Philippines, 2023, DCP, 90 min. In Ilocano/Tagalog with English subtitles.
8/13, 8/17
“Spellbinding visuals.” —Dazed and Confused
“Combining clever ideas with a deep current of emotional honesty, this is an unusual and powerful film.” —Eye for Film
“THE MISSING is a unique film that takes a bold approach to certain ideas, developing not only on its thematic content but on the very nature of filmmaking itself.” —International Cinephile Society
Eric can’t speak of the things that have happened to him. A mute, gay animator, he quite literally has no mouth. But the strange goings-on — space aliens, missing eyeballs, and otherworldly entities — soon force him to confront the silence. Recalling the work of Gregg Araki, Carl Joseph Papa has utilized a startling mix of rotoscoped and hand-drawn animation to craft a captivating exploration of trauma and the secrets we keep.
WHITE PLASTIC SKY
Tibor Bánóczki and Sarolta Szabó, Hungary, 2023, DCP, 112 min. In Hungarian with English subtitles.
8/20, 8/24
“Nothing less than spectacular.” —Cineuropa
In the near-distant future, there are no animals, no plants, and no humans over the age of 50. Stefan and his wife, Nora, are 28 and 32, respectively. Following the death of their son, Nora has elected to undergo an eradication procedure, which will see her end her life long before her clock runs out. “An impressively imagined alternate future, WHITE PLASTIC SKY peers into the mystery of love and questions how much of ourselves we owe to the people who love us” (Variety).
OSAMU TEZUKA’S METROPOLIS
Rintaro, Japan, 2001, DCP, 113 min. In Japanese with English subtitles.
8/27, 8/31
“One of the most beautiful animated films ever produced.” —Empire Magazine
Based on the classic comic created by Osamu Tezuka (Astro Boy), written by Japanese anime legend Katsuhiro Otomo (AKIRA), and directed by Rintaro (GALAXY EXPRESS 999), METROPOLIS is, quite simply, one of the greatest feats of animation, a wholly engulfing cinematic experience that must be seen to be believed. In the industrial world of Metropolis, Duke Red controls all, but when a young boy, Kenichi, and his detective uncle begin their search for an organ smuggler, his grip on the city begins to slip.
SUMMER FREE-FOR-ALL
You love the AFS Cinema, we love the AFS Cinema, and we all have friends who are going to love the AFS Cinema once we can pry them away from Barton Springs. That’s what the Summer Free-For-All is all about. We’re showing four films we dearly love, and we are not charging a dime for them. That’s where you come in. Grab those friends who you know are going to love what we do and get them in the building. We’ll do the rest.
SLACKER
Richard Linklater, USA, 1990, 35mm, 97 min.
7/24
“SLACKER perfectly captured the American Left’s malaise, disillusionment, and nihilism at the dawn of the ’90s.” —Film Comment
“Linklater’s lovingly crafted portrait of a group of barely connected eccentrics in Austin, Texas, is about a collective atmosphere, a state of being that is unique to this place and the people in it.” —Reverse Shot
“Stunningly current in both style and content.” —Keyframe
This is the film that brought AFS’s own Richard Linklater to national prominence. Rarely has a city been represented as panoramically as Austin is here with local culture woven through the narrative thread of the film as the camera follows one fascinating person after another. A major moment in World Cinema — and Austin Cinema. In 35mm.
CHUNGKING EXPRESS
Wong Kar-wai, Hong Kong, 1994, DCP, 98 min. In Cantonese/Mandarin with English subtitles.
7/31
“CHUNGKING EXPRESS is one of Wong’s purest evocations of love’s excitement and heartbreak.” —Slant
Love is sweet, but for one pineapple-loving officer, it’s turned as sour as the expired fruit he’s vowed to eat for a month (or at least, until his ex-girlfriend returns, whichever comes first). Thus begins the dual tale of two jilted Hong Kong cops (Takeshi Kaneshiro and Tony Leung Chiu-wai) who cross paths with two very different women (Brigitte Lin and Faye Wong). A total charmer from master stylist Wong Kar-wai.
BALL OF FIRE
Howard Hawks, USA, 1941, 35mm, 111 min.
8/7
“One of the strangest riffs on Snow White and the Seven Dwarfs ever.” —The Austin Chronicle
“A treasure trove of Forties character actors.” —The Village Voice
“Stanwyck is all snap, crackle, and pop as the brassy nightclub entertainer Sugarpuss O’Shea.” —Time Out Magazine
Barbara Stanwyck is at her tough, gum-chewing best as Sugarpuss O’Shea, a nightclub singer and organized crime associate who hides out from the DA with a group of scholars, led by Gary Cooper, who are in the process of writing an Encyclopedia. A beloved classic. In 35mm.
THE VIRGIN SUICIDES
Sofia Coppola, USA, 1999, 35mm, 97 min.
8/14
“A subversive take on feminine mystique.” —The Guardian
“A remarkable first film, a brilliant elegiac and visually splendid adaptation.” —Martin Scorcese
“A film that captures the fragility and beauty of life.” —Pedro Almodóvar
“Obviously, Doctor, you’ve never been a thirteen-year-old girl.” 1975, Michigan. 13-year-old Cecilia Lisbon attempts suicide, an incident that will lead to the demise of her family and haunt the imaginations of suburban schoolboys forever. An evocative portrait of girlhood and the loss of innocence from Sofia Coppola, lensed by Ed Lachman, scored by Air, starring everyone’s favorite, Kirsten Dunst, and Josh Hartnett. Adapted from the 1993 Jeffrey Eugenides novel. In 35mm.
BIG SCREEN CLASSICS
AMADEUS
Miloš Forman, USA, 1984, DCP, 161 min.
7/5–7/11
“A myth-like narrative of ambition, obsession, and searing jealousy.”— The Guardian
“Miloš Forman’s direction has blended pictures and sound into a ravishing feast for the senses.” —The London Evening Standard
“In any incarnation, AMADEUS is beautiful to behold.” —The San Francisco Chronicle
Winner of countless awards, including eight Oscars®, AMADEUS is back in a stunning 4K restoration to thrill audiences anew. Starring Tom Hulce as the celebrated genius Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart and F. Murray Abraham in a career-best performance as his less talented rival Salieri. This is one of the great crowd-pleasing works of 20th Century Cinema.
SATURDAY NIGHT FEVER
John Badham, USA 1977, DCP, 119 min.
7/13–7/18
“One of the great American films.” —The Austin Chronicle
“SATURDAY NIGHT FEVER makes good movie making seem easy.” —Gene Siskel
John Travolta is Tony Manero, a “capital I” Italian-American teen whose only escape from his Brooklyn hellhole comes once a week when he boogies through the NYC grime as king of the dance floor. A stark combination of gritty social realism and feverish disco, this is the film that made an icon, broke a genre, and, with an infernal beat, “keeps audiences in an empathetic rhythm with its characters” (Pauline Kael) decades on. You. Should. Be. Dancing.
BLADE RUNNER: THE FINAL CUT
Ridley Scott, USA/Hong Kong, 1982, 35mm, 117 min.
7/26–7/28
“This remains an astonishing achievement: a dystopian sci-fi epic that is also one of the best film noirs.” —The Independent
“One of the crowning jewels of sci-fi cinema.” —Collider
Ridley Scott’s futuristic noir classic, based on a novel by Philip K. Dick and starring Harrison Ford, Sean Young, Daryl Hannah, and Rutger Hauer. We present the Final Cut of the film, with deleted scenes restored by the director. In 35mm.
ROMAN HOLIDAY
William Wyler, USA, 1953, DCP, 118 min.
8/22–8/28
“The two leads have a charm and innocence that irradiate the whole movie.” —The Guardian
“A charming, laugh-provoking affair that often explodes into hilarity … 118 minutes of sheer entertainment.” —The Hollywood Reporter
One of the most perfect romantic concoctions in cinema history — a sophisticated comedy starring Audrey Hepburn and Gregory Peck shot on location in the Eternal City. This is the good stuff.
WORLD CINEMA CLASSICS
STALKER
Andrei Tarkovsky, Soviet Union, 1979, DCP, 161 min. In Russian with English subtitles.
7/3–7/7
“A revelation of art at its highest aspirations.” —Roger Ebert
“STALKER is Tarkovsky’s greatest achievement and one of film’s greatest accomplishments as well.” —Insession Film
“Has enough hauntingly beautiful images and profound ideas to linger in one’s mind forever.” —T.V. Guide
In one of the most immersive and rarefied experiences in the history of cinema, a trio of men head into the heart of the Zone, the restricted site of a long-ago disaster and home to the fabled Room, a place said to fulfill one’s deepest-held desires. For what would become his final Soviet feature — a fateful adaptation of sci-fi masters the Strugatsky Brothers — Andrei Tarkovsky crafts a visually stunning work that is part religious allegory, part reflection of contemporary political anxieties, and an all-encompassing meditation on film itself.
WOMAN IN THE DUNES
Hiroshi Teshigahara, Japan, 1964, DCP, 146 min. In Japanese with English subtitles.
7/20–7/25
“Nothing can quite prepare you for the sheer macabre strangeness.” —The Guardian
“An existential dive into the horror of the human psyche.” —Japanese Cinema Archive
Novelist Kōbō Abe adapts his own “unfilmable” novel, which becomes, in the hands of director Hiroshi Teshigahara (THE FACE OF ANOTHER), one of the strangest and greatest of all Japanese films.
FITZCARRALDO
Werner Herzog, West Germany/Peru, 1982, DCP, 157 min. In German/Spanish/Asháninka with English subtitles.
8/2, 8/4
“FITZCARRALDO is one of the great visions of the cinema and one of the great follies.” —Roger Ebert
“Few motion pictures have captured the frenzied power of obsession with as much veracity.” —Deep Focus Review
“The preeminent testament of Herzog’s labor as a filmmaker.” —Slant
One of the screen’s great portraits of obsession. Klaus Kinski plays Fitzcarraldo, whose dream of building an opera house to rival Europe’s best in the middle of the Peruvian jungle leads him to try and make one big score. One sequence in the film was so insanely difficult to achieve that the whole enterprise becomes charged with a madness akin to that of the story’s protagonist.
SPIRITED AWAY
Hayao Miyazaki, Japan, 2001, DCP, 125 min. In Japanese with English subtitles.
7/12–7/17
“I can’t think of a film that is so readily able to astonish and wears that ability so lightly.” —The Guardian
A young girl must use her wits to escape a spirit world inhabited by imaginative creatures, both benign and sinister, in this Academy Award®-winning Miyazaki masterpiece. Screenings that start at 6 PM or later are subtitled, all others are dubbed.
PAULINE AT THE BEACH
Éric Rohmer, France, 1983, 35mm, 94 min. In French with English subtitles.
8/8–8/11
“A rare pleasure.” —Télérama
“Singularly caustic.” —L’Humanité
“A breath of fresh air in French cinema.” —Libération
“Exciting as hell.” —Le Monde
In Éric Rohmer’s third installment of the “Comedies and Proverbs” series, a French quartet talk, flirt, and talk some more. This breezy summer vibe is inspired by the colors of Matisse and lovingly filmed by frequent Rohmer-collaborator cinematographer Néstor Almendros (CLAIRE’S KNEE, DAYS OF HEAVEN). In 35mm.
NEWLY RESTORED
MAN RAY: RETURN TO REASON
Man Ray, France, 2023, DCP, 70 min.
8/8–8/11
“A fascinating piece that exhibits the pioneering artist’s deep understanding of light and its unique interactions with film.” —Far Out Magazine
“Man Ray’s century-old cinema poems, set to the music of Jim Jarmusch’s band SQÜRL, are a welcome antidote to the contemporary credo that story is king.” —Original Cin
The surrealist artist Man Ray is well known as a still photographer and visual artist, but his forays into filmmaking are just as compelling and influential. We are proud to present this newly restored collection of Man Ray’s short films set to a hypnotic drone-rock soundtrack by SQÜRL (Jim Jarmusch and Carter Logan).
NO FEAR, NO DIE
Claire Denis, France/West Germany, 1990, DCP, 90 min. In French with English subtitles.
7/22–7/27
“[The start of] one of the most startling runs of inspiration in contemporary cinema.” —New York Review of Books
“One of the most heart-wrenching films ever made.” —Artforum
“Elegant, spare, poetic, uncomfortably quiet, and, at times, inscrutable, NO FEAR, NO DIE is a little-known masterwork in the oeuvre of Denis.” —Senses of Cinema
In this “ruggedly unsentimental and psychologically evocative” (Film at Lincoln Center) French crime drama from Claire Denis (BEAU TRAVAIL), a pair of immigrants (Isaach de Bankolé and Alex Descas) get caught in a web of paranoia and regret following the boom — and bust — of their cockfighting ring. Co-starring new-wave icon Jean-Claude Brialy (LE BEAU SERGE).
PRESSURE
Horace Ové, UK, 1976, DCP, 136 min.
7/28, 7/29
“Ové powerfully presents a cross-section of Black perspectives – and the tensions those differing ideas provoke.” —House Notes
“PRESSURE is vigorous and rough-hewn, and Ové lays down the broad brushstrokes with compulsive energy.” —The Guardian
“Hard-hitting and uncompromising.” —Far Out Magazine
In Horace Ové’s classic, co-scripted by Sam Selvon (The Lonely Londoners) and hailed as the UK’s first Black feature-length drama, Black Trinidadian Tony (Herbert Norville) grapples with the society that rejects him: 1970s England. Gritty and raw, PRESSURE is cinema that speaks truth to power.
MOVING
Shinji Sōmai, Japan, 1993, DCP, 124 min. In Japanese with English subtitles.
8/25, 8/29
“Brilliantly subjective. A film brimming with visual ideas.” —Vis-a-vis film
“MOVING shows Shinji Sōmai’s style at its most finely tuned and emotionally operatic.” —Variety
As noted by its director, Japanese auteur Shinji Sōmai (TYPHOON CLUB), “children can’t choose their parents.” This would seem a suitably pithy, if not facile, summation of this transcendent look at a child stuck between parents on the cusp of divorce.
DOC NIGHTS
COCONUT HEAD GENERATION
Alain Kassanda, France/Nigeria, 2023, DCP, 89 min. In English, Pidgin, Yoruba, and French with English subtitles.
7/8, 7/10
“Witnessing (and perhaps sharing) the determination and resilience of these wonderful young people results in a powerful viewing experience.” —International Cinephile Society
“COCONUT HEAD GENERATION showcases the brilliance and resilience of young Nigerians who are coming together to create a space for themselves and reclaim their power.” —Human Rights Watch
This documentary follows a group of students in southwestern Nigeria at the University of Ibadan who develop and run a cinema club to talk about films and the issues they examine with weekly viewings and discussion sessions. A fascinating view of cinematic culture and youth activism. Free Member Monday — free admission for all AFS members on Monday, July 8.
HUMMINGBIRDS
Estefanía Contreras and Silvia Del Carmen Castaños, USA, 2023, DCP, 78 min. In English and Spanish with English subtitles.
7/21
A vibrant, impressionistic, and timely film about coming of age in today’s Texas, HUMMINGBIRDS is the intimate story of two young Texas women on the border, best friends, one of whom is undocumented. What is today’s American story for these Gen Z women who have experienced the criminalization of immigration and abortion? HUMMINGBIRDS is more than the answer to that question — a cinematic, joyful film pulsing with youthful energy and hope. Supported by an AFS Grant.
BURDEN OF DREAMS
Les Blank, USA, 1982, DCP, 95 min.
8/2, 8/3, 8/5
“One of the most remarkable documentaries ever made about the making of a movie.” —Roger Ebert
“A fascinating portrait of a filmmaker pushed to the outer edge of sanity.” —All Movie Guide
Here the great documentarian Les Blank profiles his good friend, filmmaker Werner Herzog, as the German director fights the elements (and his lead actor) to make the epic FITZCARRALDO. Newly restored.
SPACEFLIGHT RECORDS PRESENTS
THE THING
John Carpenter, USA, 1982, 35mm, 109 min.
8/23–8/26
“A peerless masterpiece of relentless suspense, retina-wrecking visual excess, and outright nihilistic terror.” —Empire
“Rob Bottin’s creature effects hold up as imaginative displays of gore.” —Slant
Our friends at Spaceflight Records join us to present John Carpenter’s horror/sci-fi masterpiece about a shape-shifting alien that seriously disrupts the workings of an Antarctic scientific research station. In 35mm. With live music at the opening-night show on August 23.
FRIGHT CLUB
THE RETURN OF THE LIVING DEAD
Dan O’Bannon, USA, 1985, DCP, 91 min.
7/18–7/21
“Essential, enormous fun.” —Empire Magazine
“A tongue-in-cheek, splatter-laden homage to George A. Romero’s zombie pictures.” —Slant
“A sensation-machine, and the real question is whether it’s done with style. It is.” —Roger Ebert
This very funny, very gory zombie takeover film is one of the crown jewels of ’80s horror cinema. And it’s a rude joy through and through. Written and directed by Dan O’Bannon, screenwriter of ALIEN, and featuring a peerless ’80s punk and metal soundtrack.
QUEER CINEMA: LOST & FOUND
CAGED
John Cromwell, USA, 1950, 35mm, 96 min.
7/17, 7/20
“An astonishing amount of lesbianism … a total underworld, corrupting and brilliantly drawn.” —Vito Russo
Married and pregnant 19-year-old Marie winds up widowed and incarcerated after an armed robbery goes awry. Locked up, she finds herself subject to the whims of the butch matron. Originally offered to Bette Davis, who turned it down because she didn’t want to do a “dyke movie,” CAGED is a shocking exposé of life behind bars. Screening with a video introduction by Queer Cinema: Lost & Found programmer, Elizabeth Purchell.
OCAÑA: AN INTERMITTENT PORTRAIT
Ventura Pons, Spain, 1978, DCP, 85 min. In Spanish with English subtitles.
8/28, 9/1
“A portrait to how we can destroy gender and stereotypes in our society.” —Cinematismo
The life and art of controversial Andalusian painter, performance artist, and queer activist Ocaña are explored in this documentary from Catalan filmmaker Ventura Pons. Made at a time when homosexuality was still illegal in post-Franco Spain, OCAÑA: AN INTERMITTENT PORTRAIT is an enduring document not just of an artist at the peak of his powers but of a nation in a period of transition. Screening with a video introduction by Queer Cinema: Lost & Found programmer, Elizabeth Purchell.
LATES
TAXIDERMIA
György Pálfi, Hungary/Austria/France, 2006, DCP, 94 min. In Hungarian, English, and Russian with English subtitles.
7/12–7/15
Three generations of men — a sexually frustrated WWII soldier whose “weapon” shoots fire (literally); a rotund, communist-era champion speed eater; and an embalmer of cats — converge in this astonishingly grotesque and downright bizarre “surrealist fantasy exploring the limits of the body and its desires” (Los Angeles Times) from György Pálfi (HUKKLE).
CRIMINAL LOVERS
François Ozon, France, 1999, DCP, 97 min. In French with English subtitles.
7/26, 7/27
Queer Hansel and Gretel meets Bonnie and Clyde with a touch of Bambi — honestly, you couldn’t make this up, but that’s the sell for François Ozon’s SITCOM follow-up, which sees teenage thrill-killers Alice and Luc (Natacha Régnier and Jérémie Renier) hit the road and get lost in the woods only to find themselves at the mercy of a psychotic woodsman.
ATTENBERG
Athina Rachel Tsangari, Greece, 2010, DCP, 93 min. In Greek with English subtitles.
8/9, 8/10
23-year-old Marina (Ariane Labed) lives in a dead-end seaside town where she spends her days worshipping proto-punk god Alan Vega (of the band Suicide), watching David Attenborough nature programs, and playing games with her only friend, Bella. That is, until a stranger (Yorgos Lanthimos) arrives, challenges her to a game of foosball, and, ultimately, forces her to confront what she’s long avoided: adulthood. A deadpan oddity from one time Austinite Athina Rachel Tsangari.
AVANT CINEMA
ALCHEMICAL PRAXIS
Various, approximately 90 min.
8/18
In this showcase of avant-garde classics curated by Nayantara Bhattacharya, the films of American eccentric filmmaker and folklorist Harry Smith are presented along with some of his peers, among them Jordan Belson.
BEST OF THE FESTS
SUNDANCE SHORT FILM FESTIVAL TOUR 2024
Various, DCP, 110 min.
7/4–7/10
The 2024 Sundance Film Festival Short Film Tour is a 110-minute theatrical program of seven short films curated from the 2024 Sundance Film Festival, including three Festival Award-winning titles.
QUEER FUTURES SHORT FILM FESTIVAL
Various, DCP, 65 min.
7/14
This traveling compendium of four short films explores fat beauty and liberation, gender-affirming healthcare, non-binary siblinghood in ballroom culture, and the anonymous connections of a decades-old LGBTQ hotline.
SPECIAL SCREENINGS
ENO with Director Gary Hustwit Live
7/19
Director Gary Hustwit (HELVETICA) has done something truly new in the documentary field. With ENO, he’s created the first generative feature film, taking hundreds of hours of footage documenting the great musician and theorist Brian Eno (known for his work with Roxy Music, David Bowie, U2, and Talking Heads) and incorporating it into a groundbreaking software platform. This makes every screening of ENO unique, featuring a different mix of scenes, footage, and music each time it’s shown. This sense of experimentation and chance is completely in tune with Eno’s own artistic values. At this special performance, Gary Hustwit will create the film live on stage in real time and do a Q&A afterwards. We’ll follow it up with a week-long run of unique versions of the film starting on July 26.
YAKONA — 10TH ANNIVERSARY SCREENING
Paul Collins and Anlo Sepulveda, USA, 2014, DCP, 85 min.
8/11
“A visually stunning piece of ambitious filmmaking.” —The Austin-American Statesman
“Adventurous filmgoers who appreciate direct cinema and top-notch nature docs will dive right in.” —The Hollywood Reporter
YAKONA — a title that means “water rising” in the language of the indigenous inhabitants of the San Marcos River Basin — is a visually stunning and immersive documentary that shows us the natural wonder of that river system and the changes that humankind has wrought upon it. Ten-year anniversary screening with filmmakers in attendance. Supported by the AFS Grant.
TWO BY DON HERTZFELDT
Don Hertzfeldt, USA, 2012/2024, DCP, 84 min.
8/30–9/4
Austin-based filmmaker Don Hertzfeldt is among the best-known makers of animated films in the world. This program consists of his latest film, ME, along with the restoration of his 2012 masterpiece IT’S SUCH A BEAUTIFUL DAY.
PAN AFRICAN FILM FESTIVAL
August 15–18
AFS welcomes Los Angeles’ famed Pan African Film Festival (PAFF) for a second annual Austin series, presenting a selection of the most acclaimed films from PAFF’s February festival. Established in 1992 by Hollywood veterans Danny Glover, the late Ja’Net DuBois (Good Times), and Ayuko Babu (Executive Director), the Pan African Film Festival (PAFF) is a 501(c)(3) nonprofit organization that has remained dedicated to the promotion of Black stories and images through the exhibition of film, visual art, and other creative expression. As the critically acclaimed largest Black film and arts festival and Black History Month activation in the United States, PAFF has become the quintessential global celebration of Pan-African cultures and an international beacon for the African diaspora film and arts communities. Pan African Film Festival leaders, including General Manager Asantewa Olatunji and Asst. General Manager Linda Bronson-Abbott, will be in attendance along with newly appointed Executive Director Oduduwa Olatunji, who will be in attendance to introduce the films.
MEDIA CONTACT
Will Stefanski
Will@austinfilm.org
