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Chappaquiddick[/caption]
The 24th Austin Film Festival (
AFF) unveiled its lineup of feature films, and
Chappaquiddick, a drama recounting Ted Kennedy’s infamous 1969 car accident resulting in the death of his campaign worker, will close out the Festival.
A staple of the Festival, AFF’s retrospective series this year will feature Philip D’Antoni’s 1973 drama The Seven-Ups presented by David Simon and George Pelecanos (The Deuce, The Wire), Jack Fisk’s 1981 film Raggedy Man—a tribute to Sam Shepard—presented by writer William D. Wittliff in partnership with the Wittliff Collections, and seminal 1987 action film Predator presented by Shane Black (Lethal Weapon, The Nice Guys) who is currently working on the film’s reboot. Additionally, already announced Extraordinary Contribution to Film awardee Walter Hill will present his cult classic The Warriors.
In addition to the slate of 150+ films, AFF will present premieres and retrospectives of television programming, including the season 2 premiere of Hulu’s darkly comedic psychic drama Shut Eye , and the premiere of the Season Finale of HBO’s drama The Deuce.
Also confirmed to attend is Dan Rather, who will help present the World Premiere of the documentary Fail State, chronicling the rise of predatory for-profit colleges. Writer/producer Gale Anne Hurd (The Terminator, The Walking Dead) will also be in attendance for AFF’s screening of documentary
Mankiller about barrier-breaking female Cherokee leader Wilma Mankiller.
Other World Premieres include Wild Honey (Francis Stokes’ comedy about a phone sex operator searching for love), Coming to My Senses (a documentary following a man’s journey to regain his mobility after an accident), and Transformer (chronicling the transition of world-renowned body builder Matt Kroczaelski into Janae after being outed as transgender). Making its US Premiere at AFF is comedy
Don’t Talk to Irene, which also won AFF’s Comedy Screenplay Award in 2013. Written and directed by Pat Mills, Irene premiered this month at
Toronto International Film Festival to a receptive audience.
Austin Film Festival also revealed today their full Screenwriters Conference schedule, which will take place the first four days of the Festival, October 26-29. The Conference features a roster of prominent screenwriters in film and television, including Kenneth Lonergan, Keenen Ivory Wayans, Noah Hawley, Courtney A. Kemp, Lindsay Doran, Misha Green, Michael Arndt, Mark Frost, Michael Green, Sarah Gubbins, Christopher Vogler, Scott Frank, Megan Amram, John August, Eric Heisserer, and many more
Austin Film Festival’s 2017 slate:
Marquee Features:
Lady Bird – Opening Night Film
Writer/Director: Greta Gerwig
The Current War – Centerpiece Film
Writer: Michael Mitnick
Director: Alfonso Gomez
Chappaquiddick – Closing Night Film
Writers: Taylor Allen, Andrew Logan
Director: John Curran
24 Hours to Live
Writers: Zach Dean, Jim McClain, Ron Mita
Director: Brian Smrz
42 Grams
Director: Jack C. Newell
An Ordinary Man
Writer/Director: Brad Silberling
The Boy Downstairs
Writer/Director: Sophie Brooks
Blame
Writers: Laurie Shephard, Quinn Shephard
Director: Quinn Shephard
Call Me By Your Name *REGIONAL PREMIERE
Writers: James Ivory, Andre Aciman
Director: Luca Guadagnino
Darkest Hour *REGIONAL PREMIERE
Writer: Anthony McCarten
Director: Joe Wright
Endings: The Good, the Bad, and the Insanely Great – The Movie
Special Presentation by Michael Arndt
Into the Night: Portraits of Life and Death
Director: Helen Whitney
Please Stand By
Writer: Michael Golamco
Director: Ben Lewin
Permanent
Writer/Director: Colette Burson
Mansfield 66/67
Directors: P. David Ebersole, Todd Hughes
Three Billboards Outside Ebbing, Missouri **REGIONAL PREMIERE
Writer/Director: Martin McDonagh
The Upside *REGIONAL PREMIERE
Writers: Jon Hartmere
Director: Neil Burger
Marquee-TV Programming
HBO’s The Deuce-Season Finale
Writers: George Pelecanos, David Simon, Chris Yakaitis
Director: Michelle MacLaren
YouTube Red’s Do You Want to See a Dead Body?
Creator: Rob Huebel
Hulu’s Shut Eye
Season 2 Premiere Episode: “We’re Not in Kansas Anymore” (Season Premiere)
Executive Producer/Showrunner: John Shiban
Executive Producers: Mark Johnson, Melissa Bernstein
Writer: Amy Berg
New Form Original Premieres
Small Talk
Creator: Becca Gleason
Love Me Do
Creator: Gaby Dunn
Press Start
Creators: Evan Beamer and Dave Childs
Retrospective Programming
Confessions of a Serial Killer (1985) – Presented by Mark Blair
Writer/Director: Mark Blair
Predator (1987) – Presented by Shane Black
Writers: Jim Thomas, John Thomas
Director: John McTiernan
Raggedy Man (1981) – Presented by William D. Wittliff
Writer: William D. Wittliff
Director: Jack Fisk
The Seven-Ups (1973) – Presented by George Pelecanos and David Simon
Writers: Albert Ruben, Alexander Jacobs, Sonny Grosso
Director: Philip D’Antoni
The Warriors (1979) – Presented by Walter Hill
Writers: Walter Hill, David Shaber, Sol Yurick (novel)
Director: Walter Hill
Narrative Features:
Amanda and Jack Go Glamping
Writer/Director: Brandon Dickerson
An American in Texas
Writers: Anthony Pedone, Stephen Floyd
Director: Anthony Pedone
Beauty Mark
Writer/Director: Harris Doran
Cast: Laura Bell Bundy, Jeff Kober, Madison Iseman
Bleed. Scream. Beat!
Writers: Aldo Miyashiro, Ãrika Villalobos, Abril Cárdenas
Director: Aldo Miyashiro
Boost
Writer/Director: Darren Curtis
Dabka
Writer/Director: Bryan Buckley
Flock of Four
Writer: Gregory Caruso, Michael Nader
Director: Gregory Caruso
Here We Are
Writer/Director: David Bellarosa
High & Outside: a baseball noir
Writer: Dan O’Dair
Director: Evald Johnson
Hollow in the Land
Writer/Director: Scooter Corkle
In Blue
Writers: Jan-Willem den Bok & Jaap van Heusden
Director: Jaap van Heusden
Kafou
Writers: Jasmuel Andri, Bruno Mourral, Gilbert Mirambeau
Director: Bruno Mourral
Logndagen
Writer/Director: Yaghoob Keshavarz Sarkar
Meerkat Moonship
Writer/Director: Hanneke Schutte
Quality Problems
Writer/Director: Brooke Purdy
Quest
Writers: Santiago Rizzo & Darren Anderson
Director: Santiago Rizzo
Southern Tale
Writer/Director: Tel Royal
Space & Time
Writer/Director: Shawn Gerrard
Sun Dogs
Writer: Jennifer Morrison
Director: Anthony Tambakis
Tenn
Writer: Stacey Miller
Director: James Franco
House of Tomorrow
Writer/Director: Peter Livolsi
Time Trap
Writer: Mark Dennis
Directors: Mark Dennis, Ben Foster
Comedy Vanguard Features
Chasing the Blues
Writer: Scott Smith, Kevin Guilfoile
Director: Scott Smith
Don’t Talk To Irene *US PREMIERE
Writer/Director: Pat Mills
Dr. Brinks & Dr. Brinks
Writer: Josh Crockett, Jonathan Pappas
Director: Josh Crockett
The Great Unwashed
Writer: Louis Fonseca, Nick Horseman
Director: Louis Fonseca
The Outdoorsman
Writer: Ryan Gilmour
Director: David Haskell
Shop of Little Pleasures
Writer: Julia Frick, Alice Frick
Director: Julia Frick
Wild Honey
Writer/Director: Francis Stokes
Dark Matters Features
Bodies
Writer: Joseph Baker
Director: Tom Large
Bullitt County
Writer/Director: David McCracken
Freddy/Eddy
Writer/Director: Tini Tüllmann
Ruin Me
Writer: Trysta A. Bissett, Preston DeFrancis
Director: Preston DeFrancis
The Landing
Writers/Directors: David Dodson and Mark Dodson
Touched
Writer/Director: Karl R. Hearne
Documentary Feature
Augie
Director: James Keach
Beauty and Ruin
Writer/Director: Marc de Guerre
Coming to My Senses
Director: Dominic Gill
Fail State *WORLD PREMIERE
Writers: Alexander Shebanow, Regina Sobel, Nicholas Adams
Director: Alexander Shebanow
Mankiller *REGIONAL PREMIERE
Writer: Valerie Red-horse Mohl, Gale Anne Hurd
Director: Valerie Red-horse Mohl
Mr. Fish: Cartooning From the Deep End
Director: Pablo Bryant
Shot in the Dark
Director: Dustin Nakao Haider
Transformer
Writer/Director: Michael Del Monte
Triumph: The Untold Story of Perry Wallace
Writers: Rich Gentile, Eli Spielman, Bruce Johnson
What Haunts Us
Writer: Mark Monroe
Director: Paige Goldberg Tolmach
Family Series
Earth: One Amazing Day
Writers: Frank Cottrell Boyce, Richard Dale, Geling Yan
Directors: Richard Dale, Lixin Fan, Peter Webber
Into the Who Knows!
Writers: Micah Barber, Tony Faia
Read more
Please Stand By[/caption]
Permanent with Rainn Wilson and Patricia Arquette, Please Stand By with Dakota Fanning and Toni Collete, and 24 Hours to Live with Ethan Hawke and Liam Cunningham are among the first wave of films revealed for the 2017 Austin Film Festival (AFF), taking place October 26 through November 2.
In addition to playing films from all over the world, AFF continues to spotlight local films and talent. This year AFF will premiere the romantic comedy Amanda and Jack Go Glamping starring David Arquette and Amy Acker, written and directed by Austin filmmaker Brandon Dickerson. Additionally, AFF will present a remastered retrospective of 1985 Austin-produced cult horror film Confessions of a Serial Killer starring famed local filmmaker Robert Burns. Based on the crimes of serial killer Henry Lee Lucas, Confessions was the first independent film acquired for distribution by Roger Corman.
Already confirmed to attend the fest this year are David Arquette for Glamping, and Sasheer Zamata (Saturday Night Live) and Brent Morin (Undateable) for the World Premiere of comedy The Outdoorsman. These actors will join AFF’s already announced Distinguished Screenwriter awardee Kenneth Lonergan (Manchester by the Sea).
AFF FIRST WAVE:
24 Hours to Live
Writers: Zach Dean, Jim McClain, Ron Mita
Director: Brian Smrz
Starring: Ethan Hawke, Liam Cunningham, Rutger Hauer
24 Hours to Live follows a career assassin who turns rogue after his latest mission goes awry.
Amanda & Jack Go Glamping
World Premiere
Writer/Director: Brandon Dickerson
Starring: David Arquette, Amy Acker, Adan Canto, June Squibb
With his mid-life marriage on rocky ground, dejected one-hit-author Jack Spencer goes glamping (glamorous camping) with his wife, Amanda, in search of a spark. When the isolated retreat suddenly becomes anything but private with the arrival of double booking honeymoon hipsters and a super-hunk land owner, Jack must learn to get over himself as he dives deep off the grid into a comedic exploration of love, failure, relevance, and miniature donkeys.
Confessions of a Serial Killer –Remastered 1985 Retrospective
Writer/Director: Mark Blair
Starring: Robert Burns, Dennis Hill, Berkley Garrett
The thinly veiled account of the chilling life and crimes of notorious Henry Lee Lucas, whose reign of terror came to an end on July 11th, 1983.
The Deuce-Season Finale
World Premiere
Creators: David Simon, George Pelecanos
Starring: James Franco, Maggie Gyllenhaal, Zoe Kazan
Created by George Pelecanos and David Simon and starring James Franco and Maggie Gyllenhaal, The Deuce follows the story of the legalization and subsequent rise of the porn industry in New York’s Times Square from the early 1970s through the mid-1980s, exploring the rough-and-tumble world at the pioneering moments of what would become the billion-dollar American sex industry. George Pelecanos, David Simon, James Franco and Nina K. Noble executive produce.
Flock of Four
World Premiere
Writer/Director: Gregory Caruso
Starring: Braeden Lemasters, Shane Harper, Coco Jones, Reg E. Cathey
In 1959, four best friends search for a legendary jazz musician and discover an unforgettable night of culture and music in South Central, Los Angeles.
Mr. Fish: Cartooning from the Deep End
World Premiere
Director: Pablo Bryant
Mr. Fish, one of the most dangerous American cartoonists working today, is faced with selling his art or selling his soul.
An Ordinary Man
North American Premiere
Writer/Director: Brad Silberling
Starring: Ben Kingsley, Hera Hilmar, Peter Serafinowicz
The life of a fugitive war criminal takes a turn for the unexpected in An Ordinary Man. After years of hiding in plain sight following the brutal Balkan wars, a man known only as the General, ferried nightly from couch to couch by faithful loyalists, at last is placed in an apartment of his own. When Tanja, the young housemaid of the prior tenant unwittingly stumbles through his door, it’s clear to both that her simply departing will not be an option. What follows is a cat and mouse game of intentions and identities, in which the General’s need for human contact drives him to take increasingly greater risks, pressing to unearth Tanja’s secrets…and setting them both on a collision course with the past.
The Outdoorsman
World Premiere
Writer: Ryan Gilmour
Director: David Haskell
Starring: Brent Morin, Sasheer Zamata, Spencer Grammer
As he prepares to cut ties with society and spend a year in the mountains, an aspiring wilderness writer meets a goal oriented, corporate woman who has quit her job to ‘find herself.’ He falls in love, but ultimately must ask himself what he wants: the ‘normal’ life he’s avoided his whole life, or living his outdoor fantasy, alone.
Permanent
Writer/Director: Colette Burson
Starring: Kira McClean, Rainn Wilson, Patricia Arquette
Set in 1983 in small town Virginia, Permanent centers around a 13-year-old and her family. The story of a hairstyle gone incredibly wrong and a young girl’s plight to fit in while encountering bullies at a new school.
Please Stand By
Writer: Michael Golamco
Director: Ben Lewin
Magnolia Pictures’ upcoming dramedy starring Dakota Fanning and Toni Collette.
Touched
North American Premiere
Writer/Director: Karl R. Hearne
Starring: Hugh Thompson, Lola Flanery
A ghostly, psychological drama about a young woman who disappears from her building and her solitary landlord who tries to track her down.