26th Austin Film Festival Announces Film Lineup HONEY BOY, YELLOW ROSE and more

Austin Film Festival & Writers Conference (AFF) announced the full schedule of films and panels for the 26th annual Festival, this October 24-31.

AFF’s feature film slate includes 23 World, North American, and US Premieres, and highly anticipated marquee titles, including the world premiere of Lawrence and Meg Kasdan’s Last Week at Ed’s; Yellow Rose, starring Austin native Dale Watson with writer/director Diane Paragas in attendance; and Honey Boy, from a screenplay by Shia LaBeouf based on his own experience, in which he also stars alongside Lucas Hedges, Noah Jupe, and FKA twigs. Other marquee titles include Edward Norton’s detective drama Motherless Brooklyn, in which he also stars with Bruce Willis, Gugu Mbatha-Raw, Alec Baldwin, and Willem Dafoe; Noah Baumbach’s Marriage Story, starring Scarlett Johansson, Adam Driver, Laura Dern, Alan Alda, and Ray Liotta; and The Two Popes, from Fernando Meirelles, the Academy Award-nominated director of City of God, and three-time Academy Award-nominated screenwriter Anthony McCarten, starring Anthony Hopkins and Jonathan Pryce.

Other World Premieres include The Killing of Kenneth Chamberlain (based on the true events – an elderly African-American vet with bipolar disorder is killed during a conflict with police), Not To Be Unpleasant But We Need To Have A Serious Talk (a man’s darkly comedic tour through past relationships to find who’s contracted fatal STD), This Might Hurt (a documentary about three chronic pain patients on a ‘mind-body medicine’ program), and Texas Independent I’ve Got Issues (deadpan collage of stories about human suffering).

AFF will host the World Premiere of Pilgrim, the upcoming edition of Hulu and Blumhouse Television’s Into The Dark. Writer and director Marcus Dunstan will present this addition to the feature-length horror anthology series. Inspired by true events: In an attempt to remind her family of their privilege and help them bond, Ms. Anna Barker invites Pilgrim reenactors to stay with them over Thanksgiving. When the “actors” refuse to break character, the Barker family learns that there is such a thing as too much gratitude. AFF will also showcase independent original series from its Scripted Digital Series competition.

Actress, comedienne, producer, writer and director Catherine Reitman, will receive the Festival’s inaugural New Voice Award at the annual Awards Luncheon on Saturday October 26 and participate in additional programming at the Festival’s Writers Conference. Reitman is best known as the creator and star of the acclaimed two-time International Emmy® Award-nominated series Workin’ Moms, which originally aired on CBC in Canada and can now be seen internationally as a Netflix Original. She has had roles in other high-profile film and television series, including Blackish; It’s Always Sunny in Philadelphia; How I Met Your Mother; Real Wedding Crashers; I Love You, Man; and Knocked Up. Reitman’s writing and producing credits include CBC’s Workin’ Moms, VH1’s Miss You Much, and the web series Breakin’ it Down with Catherine Reitman.

Austin Film Festival also revealed their full Writers Conference schedule, which will take place during the first four days of the Festival, October 24-27. The Conference features a roster of prominent screenwriters in film and television, including Megan Amram, Ron Bass, David Benioff, Rachel Bloom, Aline Brosh McKenna, Sarah Green, James Ivory, Nicole Perlman, Daniel Petrie, Jr., Ed Solomon and many more.

Austin Film Festival’s 2019 Slate

Marquee Features

A Hidden Life
Writer/Director: Terrence Malick

Clemency
Writer/Director: Chinonye Chukwu

Crazy Ex-Girlfriend: Oh My God I Think It’s Over
Director: Katie Hyde

Ford v Ferrari
Writer: Jez & John Henry Butterworth, Jason Keller
Director: James Mangold

Harriet
Writer: Gregory Allen Howard and Kasi Lemmons
Director: Kasi Lemmons

Honey Boy
Writer: Shia LaBeouf
Director: Alma Har’el

Last Week At Ed’s (World Premiere)
Director: Meg Kasdan, Lawrence Kasdan

Marriage Story
Writer/Director: Noah Baumbach

Motherless Brooklyn
Writer: Edward Norton (Screenplay), Jonathan Lethem (based on the novel by)
Director: Edward Norton

Peace (World Premiere)
Writer/Director: Robert Port

Portrait of a Lady on Fire
Writer/Director: Céline Sciamma

Rattlesnake (World Premiere)
Writer/Director: Zak Hilditch (in attendance)

Skyman (World Premiere)
Writer/Director: Daniel Myrick (in attendance)

The Kill Team
Writer/Director: Dan Krauss

The Report
Writer/Director: Scott Z. Burns

The Truth
Writer: Hirokazu Koreeda, Adaption by Lea Le Dimna
Director: Hirokazu Koreeda

The Two Popes
Writer: Anthony McCarten
Director: Fernando Meirelles

Waves (Centerpiece film)
Writer/Director: Trey Edward Shults

Yellow Rose
Writer: Diane Paragas & Annie J. Howell
Director: Diane Paragas

Marquee Television

Into the Dark: Pilgrim
Writer/Director: Noah Feinberg and Marcus Dunstan (in attendance) & Patrick Melton

Seinfeld Retrospective Presented by Alec Berg & David Mandel
Creators: Jerry Seinfeld, Larry David

The Label Maker (1995)

The Bizarro Jerry (1996)

Narrative Features

The Bygone
Writer/Director: Graham Phillips, Parker Phillips

DC Noir
Writer: George Pelecanos
Director: George Pelecanos, Gbenga Akinnagbe, Nick Pelecanos, Stephen Kinigopoulos

Drowning (North American Premiere)
Writer/Director: Melora Walters

Family Obligations
Writer/Director: Kenneth R. Frank

The Illegal
Writer/Director: Danish Renzu

The Killing of Kenneth Chamberlain (World Premiere)
Writer/Director: David Midell

Limbo (North American Premiere)
Writer: Anil Kizilbuga
Director: Tim Dunschede

Not To Be Unpleasant But We Need To Have A Serious Talk (World Premiere)
Writer: Giorgos Georgopoulos, Maria Fakinou
Director: Giorgos Georgopoulos

Undertow (North American Premiere)
Writer/Director: Miranda Nation

Wade in the Water
Writer: Chris Retts
Director: Mark Wilson

The Witness (North American)
Writer: Mitko Panov, Wladyslaw Pasikowski, David Riker
Director: Mitko Panov

Comedy Vanguard Features

Man Camp
Writers: Daniel Cummings, Scott Kruse, Josh Long
Director: Nate Bakke

The Planters
Writer/Director: Alexandra Kotcheff, Hannah Leder

Red Rover (US Premiere)
Writer: Duane Murray, Shane Belcourt
Director: Shane Belcourt

Sawah (North American)
Writer: Adolf El Assal, Dennis Foon, Sirvan Marogy
Director: Adolf El Assal

The VICE Guide to Bigfoot (World Premiere)
Writer: Zach Lamplugh, Brian Emond
Director: Zach Lamplugh

Treasure Trouble
Writer/Director: Dan Erickson

Dark Matters Features

A Patient Man
Writer/Director: Kevin Ward

Macabre (North American Premiere)
Writer: Lucas Paraizo, Rita Gloria Curvo
Director: Marcos Prado

Noise (North American Premiere)
Writer/Director: Jeremy Laval

Sleeping in Plastic (World Premiere)
Writer/Director: Van Ditthavong

Swing Low
Writer/Director: Teddy Grennan

The Wretched
Writer/Director: Brett Pierce, Drew Pierce

Documentary Feature

Against The Tides (North American Premiere)
Director: Stefan Stuckert

The Animal People (World Premiere)
Writer: Cassandra Suchan, Denis Henry Hennelly, Sasha Perry, Brian Palmer
Director: Cassandra Suchan, Denis Henry Hennelly

Cowboys (World Premiere)
Director: John Langmore, Bud Force

Cows With No Name (North American Premiere)
Director: Hubert Charuel

Flannery
Director: Elizabeth Coffman

Guest House
Director: Hannah Dweck, Yael Luttwak

Making Apes: The Artists Who Changed Film
Writer: Thomas R. Burman, William Conlin
Director: William Conlin

Paradise Without People
Director: Francesca Trianni

Pipe Dreams
Director: Stacey Tenenbaum

There Are No Lions in Tel Aviv (North American Premiere)
Director: Duki Dror

This Might Hurt (World Premiere)
Director: Marion Cunningham