Just Announced: AFS November & December Programming

This November and December, as the AFS Cinema remodel begins, we will offer a large number of events both onsite at the AFS Cinema (pardon our dust please!) and at a number of other local venues. We will continue to offer events around town until the Cinema reopens early in 2017. More news about January and February offerings to come soon.

On Friday, November 4, we will screen New York Times Critics’ Pick LITTLE SISTER,  the latest film from Zach Clark (WHITE REINDEER) at the AFS Cinema. This is a Free Member Friday. This screening will be preceded by an AFS Member mixer starting at 6pm.

Our long-running free History Of Television series continues at Austin Public on Monday, November 7 with a selection of episodes of the ’70s paranormal series IN SEARCH OF… starring Leonard Nimoy in an assortment of wide collars as he chases Bigfoot and the Loch Ness Monster.

On Friday and Saturday, November 11 and 12, we will again be joined by our friends from our sister city Angers, France as we help celebrate Angers Week with a pair of screenings. On Friday, we will present VINCENT, a favorite from Angers’ Premiers Plans festival, and on Saturday we will host a family-friendly program of animated shorts from France.

Doc Night continues with screenings on Sunday, November 13 and Wednesday, November 16 of FIRE AT SEA, an extraordinary new film, made over the course of a full year, that documents life on the ancient Mediterranean island of Lampedusa, which, in addition to its insular culture of fishermen, now hosts large numbers of refugees from Africa, who are rescued along the treacherous seaways nearby. Winner of the Golden Bear at the Berlin International Film Festival and Amnesty International’s Film Prize.

We are thrilled to present a new restoration of Howard Hawks’ 1934 screwball comedy classic TWENTIETH CENTURY, starring John Barrymore and Carole Lombard, on Tuesday, November 15 at the historic State Theatre. It’s an all-time favorite, and we are excited to partner with the Paramount and State to offer this special screening.

On December 18 and 20 we present one of our favorite new films of the year, IXCANUL, just before we close the doors of the AFS Cinema for the last time in 2016. IXCANUL, from Guatemala and in the spoken Mayan language Kaqchikel, tells the story of a young woman who lives with her family on the side of a volcano, where they harvest coffee beans. A series of events occur that bring the old ways into sharp contrast with modern values. By far the most acclaimed film ever to emerge from Guatemala. We are proud to present it.

We have always been interested in the history of film and its techniques. One of the most fascinating and least appreciated aspects of golden-age filmmaking is the use of painted backdrops. University of Texas lecturer Karen L. Maness has just completed a book on the subject, THE ART OF THE HOLLYWOOD BACKDROP, and will share some of her research and insights with us in a special free screening room presentation on Wednesday, November 30.

We return to the State Theatre on Monday, November 5 for another exciting new restoration. Marlon Brando only directed one film, the weird, existential western ONE EYED JACKS (1961). When original director Stanley Kubrick dropped out, producer/star Brando assumed the directorial reins. In many ways it feels more like Kurosawa than John Ford. After many years in eclipse, this has now received the Film Foundation DCP treatment and can be seen and appreciated as the great film it is.

On Thursday, December 8th at the Bullock we return to present the great new doc A SONG FOR YOU: THE AUSTIN CITY LIMITS STORY. Made by Keith Maitland (TOWER) with the full participation of ACL’s producers and archivists, this is a music-packed, interview-heavy appreciation of not only the greatest music television show of all time, but also the city and attitude that made it possible. With special guests!

Speaking of special guests, on Sunday December 11, our Science on Screen program resumes at the Bullock with a showing of Al Reinert’s seminal 1989 documentary FOR ALL MANKIND, about the Apollo space missions, culled from over 1,000 hours of raw NASA footage. We will be joined by Reinert and members of the original Mission Control team for an educational discussion after the film.

Julie Dash’s epochal 1991 independent film DAUGHTERS OF THE DUST has been restored and we will screen it at the Bullock on Tuesday, December 13. Before DAUGHTERS OF THE DUST, no film directed by an African-American woman had ever been distributed in the US. The film, set in 1902, tells the story of a Gullah family who live on an island off the coast of Georgia that has had very little contact with the mainland. A film of great cultural and historical importance, DAUGHTERS OF THE DUST was selected for the National Film Registry at the Library Of Congress in 2004.