AFS Announces Its March/April 2023 Program Calendar
(Kelly Reichardt’s MEEK’S CUTOFF, 2010)
MEDIA CONTACT
Will Stefanski
Will@austinfilm.org
AFS Announces Its March/April 2023 Program Calendar
February 7, AUSTIN, TX— The Austin Film Society announces its calendar for March and April of 2023 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 upcoming March/April calendar includes a new Essential Cinema series, Kelly Reichardt: The First Five, which will cover the director’s early features and collaborations with actor Michelle Williams, in conjunction with the release of her latest feature, Showing Up. Also on the calendar are several non-fiction titles for Doc Nights, a series that includes in-person appearances by the directors of Simple As Water and 3 Hours To Love as well as a screening of HHH: A Portrait Of Hou Hsiao-hsien to coincide with Millennium Mambo, a 2001 film directed by Hou Hsiao-hsien also showing at AFS Cinema. Returning to AFS is the ongoing contemporary Middle Eastern series, Children Of Abraham/Ibrahim, which will include Jafar Panahi’s latest film, No Bears. The upcoming calendar also features several special screenings, including a 10th anniversary showing of Andrew Bujalski’s Computer Chess on April 2, followed by a live Q&A with the director and select cast. AFS Cinema will also screen Ridley Scott’s Alien with a live pre-show musical performance presented by Spaceflight Records. On March 11, the Cinema will screen Titane (winner of the 2021 Cannes Palme d’Or), which will be followed by an extended post-film discussion with its director, Julia Ducornau.
Calendar highlights in detail:
AFS presents a new Essential Cinema series, Kelly Reichardt: The First Five, which showcases the work of one of America’s master auteurs. The series begins with River of Grass, Reichardt’s first feature, which she has described as “a road movie without the road, a love story without the love, and a crime story without the crime.” Then, AFS will show Old Joy, starring Daniel London and Will Oldham, followed by Wendy and Lucy, Reichardt’s first collaboration with five-time Academy Award® nominee Michelle Williams. Following those titles will be Meek’s Cutoff, the director’s feminist Western set on the Oregon Trail in 1845. The final film in the program is Night Moves, Reichardt’s 2013 eco-thriller featuring performances by Peter Sarsgaard, Dakota Fanning, and Jesse Eisenberg. The series begins on March 28 with films showing on consecutive Tuesdays and encore screenings the following Saturdays.
AFS’s upcoming Doc Nights programming features a wide variety of subjects and special screenings. The Academy Award®-winning director of Lost Boys Of Sudan, Megan Mylan, will join AFS audiences on April 1 for her latest documentary Simple As Water, which follows four Syrian families and will be followed by a post-film discussion. Patrícia Nogueira will also take the AFS stage on April 6 for a discussion of her film 3 Hours To Love, which takes viewers into a women’s prison in Portugal. HHH: A Portrait Of Hou Hsiao-hsien — originally a French television segment directed by Olivier Assayas (Irma Vep, Clouds Of Sils Maria) — will screen on April 9 and will coincide with showings of Hou Hsiao-hsien’s 2001 film Millennium Mambo. Hidden Letters is a new film about the centuries-old Chinese secret written language Nushu and its reclamation among contemporary female scholars. Its screening on February 24 will be presented as a Free Member Monday show where AFS members at all levels will get free admission. Also playing as part of Doc Nights is Rewind & Play by Alain Gomis (Félicité), which takes a look at legendary jazz pianist Thelonius Monk in a racially antagonistic conversation with one of his contemporaries.
March marks the return of The Children Of Abraham/Ibrahim, part of AFS’s Essential Cinema programming. The annually recurring series focuses on works by filmmakers from the Middle East, North Africa, and the diasporic communities that trace their religious roots to the shared progenitor Abraham/Ibrahim. This year, AFS will screen No Bears, the latest film from Jafar Panahi depicting a fictionalized version of Panahi under house arrest in Iran attempting to make a film. The program also includes Cinema Sabaya — this year’s Oscar entry from Israel — which is also about fictional directors. However, this story is about a group of individuals of Israeli and Arab backgrounds who discover their similarities and differences through a filmmaking class. The entire series is presented in partnership with the University of Texas Center for Middle Eastern Studies.
The full March/April lineup continues below, and a complete list of all film screenings announced to date and special events are on our website at www.austinfilm.org. Ticket prices range from $11 to $13.50, with discounts for AFS members. Special pricing is noted if applicable.
AUSTIN FILM SOCIETY MARCH/APRIL CALENDAR
ESSENTIAL CINEMA: KELLY REICHARDT: THE FIRST FIVE
OVERVIEW
Writer-director Kelly Reichardt trains her lens on the ordinary and takes us on a journey. From her earliest works to her genre experimentations, Reichardt’s extraordinarily insightful eye gazes on relationships, social expectations and power; revealing profound truths about humanity in her stories about everyday people.
RIVER OF GRASS
Kelly Reichardt, USA, 1994, DCP, 76 min.
3/28, 4/1
“Incisive and funny…simultaneously subversive and compassionate.” — Boston Globe
“A lively, entertaining movie about how life isn’t like the movies.” — Los Angeles Times
“One of the year’s smartest indies. Not for squares.” — The Village Voice
Described by Reichardt as “a road movie without the road, a love story without the love, and a crime story without the crime,” this self-assured, shot-on-16mm debut shows a bored Florida housewife embrace cheap thrills and a life on the run with a seductive drifter, Lee (Larry Fessenden, here doing triple duty as the film’s producer and editor).
OLD JOY
Kelly Reichardt, USA, 2006, DCP, 73 min.
4/4, 4/8
“If you must have plot, motive and payoff…See it anyway: It contains the whole world.” — LA Weekly
“American movies don’t come much smaller, subtler, or swoonier.” — The Boston Phoenix
“In this portrait of people formerly close who’ve grown apart, what remains unsaid is often as important as the little dialogue that is…” — Reverse Shot
Traveling by car and foot, two friends — expectant father Mark (Daniel London) and nomadic Kurt (Will Oldham) — trudge through the limits of friendship and masculinity in this minimalist character study which cemented Reichardt’s reputation as an iconoclastic American filmmaker to watch.
WENDY AND LUCY
Kelly Reichardt, USA, 2008, DCP, 80 min.
4/11, 4/15
“Modest but cosmic…” — The Village Voice
“Evanescent and intangible, it dissolves into the air, leaving something tragic and mysterious behind.” — Los Angeles Times
Wendy Carroll (Michelle Williams in her first Reichardt collaboration) is on the road to Ketchikan, Alaska, in hopes of a new life and gainful employment at the Northwestern Fish Cannery with her dog Lucy. When her car breaks down in Oregon, she finds herself not only down on her luck but increasingly desperate with each misfortune cast her way. An engrossing socio-political critique-cum-road movie, WENDY AND LUCY examines those living at the margins of American life.
MEEK’S CUTOFF
Kelly Reichardt, USA, 2010, DCP, 104 min.
4/18, 4/22
“A stone-cold masterpiece.” — Reverse Shot
“Hypnotic from shot to shot.” — Chicago Reader
“Simultaneously cerebral and astonishingly cinematic” — Sight & Sound
Set in 1845 against the harsh landscape of the Oregon Trail, three families (including five-time Academy Award® nominee Michelle Williams) find their faith in each other and their loyalties to their unreliable guide, Stephen Meek, tested when their paths cross a Native American wanderer. An essential feminist western.
NIGHT MOVES
Kelly Reichardt, USA, 2013, DCP, 113 min.
4/25, 4/29
“Breathtakingly tense.” — Artforum
“…has a devastating accuracy about the thin line between ordinary behavior and the unthinking promulgation of terror.” — Sight & Sound
“Never preachy or polemical and always supremely refined and pure.” — Little White Lies
Reichardt ratchets up the suspense in this gripping-yet-deceptive eco-thriller which sees three radical environmental activists (Peter Sarsgaard, Dakota Fanning, and Jesse Eisenberg in his career’s best performance) execute the blow up of a hydroelectric dam — and soon find themselves drowning in the moral maelstrom of its waters.
ESSENTIAL CINEMA: THE CHILDREN OF ABRAHAM/IBRAHIM
OVERVIEW
Our annual series continues to look at films from an area rich in tumultuous history, art, and literature but often mired in war and misunderstanding among the three religions that trace their roots back to a shared progenitor — Abraham/Ibrahim. Filmmakers from the Middle East, North Africa, and the diasporic communities continue to hunt for a common humanity. We share in their efforts with our screening series, enhanced by guests and discussions. Films are selected from the most recent releases in Middle Eastern cinema. Presented in partnership with the University of Texas Center for Middle Eastern Studies.
NO BEARS
Jafar Panahi, Iran, 2022, DCP, 106 min. In Farsi with English subtitles.
3/7
“Critic’s Pick. A film that critiques itself.” — The New York Times
“A complex work of novelistic density, this is among the boldest and most accomplished statements from one of the world’s exemplary filmmakers.” — Screen Daily
“A testament to the power of film to challenge a culture of blind obedience, and also to Panahi’s efforts, as a dissident filmmaker, to build a cinema of defiance against the propagandist film apparatus of the state.” — Film Comment
“Panahi’s thinking about the cross-section of film as art and as political and social refuge in a way few other living filmmakers can match.” — Slant
Jafar Panahi plays himself, a filmmaker under house arrest in Iran forbidden to make films. Naturally, the real Panahi has made a film, and that is just what the character Panahi is trying to do, with some difficulty, in NO BEARS.
CINEMA SABAYA
Orit Fouks Rotem, Israel, 2021, DCP, 91 min. In Hebrew and Arabic with English subtitles.
3/21
“Understated, powerful… Rotem’s light, authentic touch makes it an engaging journey… paint[s] a colorful picture of life as a woman in modern Israel.” — Screen Daily
“CINEMA SABAYA shows what engaged Israeli filmmaking can achieve, dealing with Jewish and Arabs lives in a deep and precise way, and showing the possible realities within Israel.” — Haaretz
“Cinema Sabaya is protest in filmic form and Rotem does so with sensitivity and subtlety.” — Miss En Scene
Israel’s Oscar entry CINEMA SABAYA is a film about a group of women of both Israeli and Arab backgrounds who get together each week for a filmmaking class led by a young, ambitious director from Tel Aviv. As the women make films together, their cultural differences and similarities come to the fore.
BEST OF THE FESTS
MAKE POPULAR MOVIES
Bryan Connolly, USA, 2022, DCP, 74 min.
4/2
Winner of a Special Jury Prize at the Chattanooga Film Festival, this micro-budget Austin-made comedy takes aim at Hollywood’s blockbuster mentality in a series of behind-the-scenes sketches. Writer-director Bryan Connolly and other special guests will join us for this screening.
BIG SCREEN CLASSICS
INHERENT VICE
Paul Thomas Anderson, USA, 2014, DCP, 148 min.
3/19, 3/22
“Literary, loose-limbed and simply impossible to make head or tales of, if you want a straightforward story. Relax a little.” — Time Out
“It is obvious by now that Paul Thomas Anderson isn’t making individual movies so much as building an oeuvre block by block—the sturdiest, most resilient body of work by a big-time American director since Stanley Kubrick died …” — Artforum
Paul Thomas Anderson’s sun-drenched adaptation of the Thomas Pynchon novel is a labyrinthine tableau of acid-age paranoid noir featuring a star-studded cast led by Joaquin Phoenix.
THE NIGHT OF THE HUNTER
Charles Laughton, USA, 1955, DCP, 92 min.
3/19–3/24
“THE NIGHT OF THE HUNTER is so loaded with neurotic symbology that it can accommodate nearly any meaning any generation wishes to assign to it, and that’s the source of its uneasy, primordial power…” — Slant
A high-contrast cinematic fairy tale that delights and, let’s face it, terrifies every new generation that sees it. The one and only film directed by the great actor Charles Laughton stars Robert Mitchum as a sanctimonious “man of the cloth” who pursues a pair of orphaned children for their wealth. Adapted for the screen by James Agee and co-starring Lillian Gish and Shelley Winters. Free Member Monday — free admission for all AFS members on March 20.
DANCE GIRL DANCE
Dorothy Arzner, USA, 1940, DCP, 90 min.
4/29, 5/3
“There are plenty of laughs in Arzner’s movie, but DANCE, GIRL, DANCE never loses sight of the important sacrifices — and necessary compromises — women make in pursuit of artistic careers.” — The Village Voice
“Ms. Arzner captures with peculiar force the emotional reality of the women, independently and in their relationship as roommates and rivals.” — Molly Haskell
Pioneering director Dorothy Arzner brings a specifically female perspective to this backstage story of two dancers in New York: the high-class, ballet trained Maureen O’Hara and the bump-and-grind specialist Lucille Ball.
REPO MAN
Alex Cox, USA, 1984, DCP, 95 min.
4/28, 4/30
“Defies description…” — Time Out
“It’s hard to think of five American studio pictures as original as Repo Man … “ — Slant
“Pretty punk.” — Screen Slate
Southern California hardcore punk meets high weirdness in Alex Cox’s classic tale of a disaffected teenager (Emilio Estevez) who falls in with a grizzled repossession specialist (Harry Dean Stanton) and takes off after encountering a ‘64 Chevy Malibu that may or may not have aliens in the trunk.
WORLD CINEMA CLASSICS
DON’T LOOK NOW
Nicolas Roeg, UK/Italy, 1973, DCP, 110 min.
3/29–4/5
“Frightening and consistently inventive.” — Chicago Reader
“If there were an award for the eeriest, clammiest atmosphere ever committed to film, DON’T LOOK NOW would belong on the shortlist.” — Artforum
“It’s hypnotically brilliant as it works remorselessly toward a sense of dislocation in time; an undermining of all the senses.” — Time Out
Nicolas Roeg’s Venice-set thriller about a couple (Donald Sutherland and Julie Christie) who are haunted by the loss of a child is brilliantly constructed in an experimentally elliptical structure that keeps the viewer off balance. All the better to unleash some of the most effective scares of the seventies.
MEMORIES OF MURDER
Bong Joon-ho, South Korea, 2003, DCP, 131 min. In Korean with English subtitles.
4/17–4/22
“Unpredictable.” — Sight & Sound
“An altogether remarkable piece of work, deepening the genre while whipping its skin off.” — The Village Voice
“A singular mix of gallows humor and unnerving solemnity.” — The New York Times
A true modern masterpiece and one of the most visionary updates of the crime genre. Bong Joon-ho reimagines the policier with his darkly comic take on a true unsolved Korean murder mystery.
SOLARIS
Andrei Tarkovsky, USSR, 1972, DCP, 166 min. In Russian with English subtitles.
4/21–4/27
“Tarkovsky’s speculative visions enfold the mysteries of death and rebirth, the lost paradise of childhood, the power of art to define identity, the menace of science as destructive vanity …” — The New Yorker
“The film has a hypnotic pull, drawing the viewer deeper and deeper into its enigmatic adventure by crafting a world all its own.” — Los Angeles Times
From director Andrei Tarkovsky (STALKER), an epic glimpse into the vast emptiness of the cosmos. An exceptional work of science fiction that encompasses the wonder of our interior universe as well. Winner of the Grand Jury Prize at the 1972 Cannes Film Festival.
DOC NIGHTS
HIDDEN LETTERS
Violet Du Feng, China, 2022, DCP, 89 min. In Mandarin with English subtitles.
4/22, 4/24
“Graceful…elegantly crafted.” — Variety
“Smartly subversive …” — Sight & Sound
“An insightful and engaging cinematic experience.” — Deepest Dream
The centuries-old Chinese secret written language Nushu was created by oppressed women to communicate their thoughts and experiences away from the interference of men. Today, the language is gaining renewed interest. This documentary depicts two women who are ardent scholars of the language and whose struggles mirror those of the women who created the language in the first place. Free Member Monday — free admission for all AFS members on April 24.
SIMPLE AS WATER
Megan Mylan, USA, 2021, DCP, 97 min. In English, Arabic, and German with English subtitles
4/1
“Critic’s Pick. Megan Mylan’s latest documentary feature takes a humble idea and achieves it on a nakedly ambitious scale.” — New York Times
“Superb. SIMPLE AS WATER unfolds more like a riveting neorealist drama, with no trace of the woman and her crew behind the camera, no talking heads, no filmmakerly intervention of any kind.” — Indiewire
Academy Award-winning director Megan Mylan (LOST BOYS OF SUDAN) joins us to present her new film which documents a number of Syrian families as they contend with the impact of war and displacement. Epic in its worldwide scope but intimate in its focus on families. Featuring an in-person Q&A with director Megan Mylan.
REWIND & PLAY
Alain Gomis, France/Germany, 2022, DCP, 66 min. In French and English with English subtitles.
3/1, 3/5
“Gomis’s film illuminates the musician in a light in which we’ve rarely seen him.” — Reverse Shot
Using found and previously unreleased footage, this fascinating work from filmmaker Alain Gomis (FÉLICITÉ) finds Thelonius Monk, the legendarily taciturn ivory tickler, trapped in a studio sweat-box for the one-on-one from hell with white interviewer Henri Renaud. An incisive portrait of racial antagonism, REWIND & PLAY is a rigorous deconstruction of how artists are defined — and refined — through our gaze.
HHH: A PORTRAIT OF HOU HSIAO-HSIEN
Olivier Assayas, France, 1997, DCP, 91 min. In Chinese with English subtitles.
4/9
“A superlative study of a contemporary filmmaker, a documentary packed with entertainingly presented info about the background and working methods of one of the most interesting Asian directors.” — Variety
Airing first on French television as part of the seminal Cinéma, de notre temps, this intimate portrait of esteemed Taiwanese filmmaker Hou Hsiao-hsien sees French filmmaker Olivier Assayas (IRMA VEP, CLOUDS OF SILS MARIA) turn the camera on one of his major artistic influences. See it in conjunction with the new restoration of MILLENNIUM MAMBO.
3 HOURS TO LOVE
Patrícia Nogueira, Portugal, 2013, DCP, 54 min. In Portuguese with English subtitles.
4/6
Portuguese documentarian Patrícia Nogueira takes us inside the Women’s Special Prison Facility of Santa Cruz do Bispo, Portugal, where we follow four separate storylines behind the bars. We will be joined in-person by director Patrícia Nogueira for a post-film Q&A.
INDIE LENS
OVERVIEW
Indie Lens Pop-Up is a neighborhood series that brings people together — virtually and in-person — for film screenings and community-driven conversations. Featuring documentaries seen on PBS’s Independent Lens, Indie Lens Pop-Up draws local residents, leaders, and organizations to discuss what matters most, from newsworthy topics and social issues to family and community relationships. Screenings are free and open to the public.
FREE CHOL SOO LEE
Julie Ha and Eugene Yi, USA, 2022, DCP, 83 min.
4/3
“It was a notorious miscarriage of justice… But, as this impressive and wrenchingly sad documentary explains, that was not the end of the story.” — The Observer
“An enthralling documentary… Directors Julie Ha and Eugene Yi craft a powerful indictment of systemic racism and the criminal justice system.” — Chicago Reader
“Free Chol Soo Lee” is what documentary filmmaking should strive for as a medium built of humanity and empathy.” — RogerEbert.com
In 1973, Korean immigrant Chol Soo Lee was wrongly convicted of a murder in Chinatown. The rank injustice of the case galvanized an Asian-American resistance consisting of not only wild-eyed Berkeley radicals but also respectable business people. This is the compelling story of the man and the movement.
MODERN MASTERS
O SANGUE
Pedro Costa, Portugal, 1989, DCP, 99 min. In Portuguese with English subtitles.
4/19, 4/23
“Every frame throbs with passion, artistry, and a profound understanding of charted and uncharted cinematic terrain.” — Time Out
“From the very first moments of his debut feature, Costa forces us to see something new and singular… something visionary: whites that burn, blacks that devour.” — Adrian Martin
“A black-and-white reverie, in the best sense, a young man’s film, drunk on romantic doom and movie love.” — The New York Times
Longtime fans of the Portuguese auteur Pedro Costa (OSSOS, IN VANDA’S ROOM, COLOSSAL YOUTH) will no doubt be surprised by the lush, thrilling pop visuals of his debut. Following the trials of two brothers in the wake of their father’s death, Costa’s debut is a youthful ode to the works of Fritz Lang, Kenji Mizoguchi, Robert Bresson, Jacques Tourneur, and Nicholas Ray. New 4K Restoration.
NEWLY RESTORED
THE RULES OF THE GAME
Jean Renoir, France, 1939, DCP, 106 min. In French with English subtitles.
3/3–3/9
“The film of films.” — François Truffaut
“THE RULES OF THE GAME taught me the rules of the game.” — Robert Altman
“This magical and elusive work, which always seems to place second behind CITIZEN KANE in polls of great films, is so simple and so labyrinthine, so guileless and so angry, so innocent and so dangerous, that you can’t simply watch it, you have to absorb it.” — Roger Ebert
Jean Renoir’s sharp, venomous portrait of a way of life that was disappearing even as cameras rolled has been restored to its original specifications. At a country estate, a group of French aristocrats gather and reveal their true colors as the storm clouds of war gather around them.
MILLENNIUM MAMBO
Hou Hsiao-hsien, Taiwan, 2001, DCP, 119 min. In Mandarin with English subtitles.
4/6–4/9
“Opens with a vision of the sublime … The visual pleasures are enormous and often deeply touching.” — Los Angeles Times
“A slow burn of profound sadness salved by some of Hou’s most breath-catchingly beautiful passages to date.” — Village Voice
“Sordid yet transcendent, bathed in neon haze and set to a relentless techno-beat, Hou Hsiao-hsien’s MILLENNIUM MAMBO is not only the most pop movie the great Taiwanese filmmaker has ever made but, intermittently, among the most astonishingly beautiful.” – New York Times
The young hearts of Taipei throb to a techno beat in esteemed Taiwanese filmmaker Hou Hsiao-hsien’s neon-dipped tale of a rudderless bar hostess (the luminous Shu Qi) adrift between two men, the volatile and listless Hao-Hao and an enigmatic gangster, Jack (Jack Kao).
HISTORY OF TELEVISION
INTERNATIONAL DAY OF ROCKFORD
Various, 120 min. Online.
4/24
Join us as we stream two of the best episodes of one of the greatest ‘70s crime shows of them all: the subversive and brilliantly written The Rockford Files, starring the immortal James Garner. In this installment, we pay tribute to the recently departed actor Stuart “Angel” Margolin.
SCIENCE ON SCREEN
COMPUTER CHESS
Andrew Bujalski, USA, 2013, DCP, 92 min.
3/28 plus a 10th-anniversary encore on 4/2
“One of the most original and satisfying movies in ages.” — Film Comment
“Pleasurably cryptic and idiosyncratic.” — Little White Lies
“Evokes the ambition and anxiety around artificial intelligence. ” — Artforum
Made in Austin and set deep in the subculture of 1980s computer nerds, a tournament to create the best code unfolds over the course of one strange weekend. The 3/28 screening will feature a post-film discussion and demonstration of the state of the art in Artificial Intelligence, and the 4/2 screening will feature a 10th anniversary Q&A with director Andrew Bujalski and select cast members. Science on Screen® is an initiative of the Coolidge Corner Theatre with major support from the Alfred P. Sloan Foundation.
QUEER CINEMA: LOST & FOUND
SIMONE BARBES OR VIRTUE
Marie-Claude Treilhou/Jessica Dunn Rovinelli, France/USA, 1980/2020, DCP/35mm, 87.5 min. In French with English Subtitles/In English.
3/4, 3/6
“…taps into an endlessly fascinating, vibrant kind of cinema that is continuously alive to the present.” — Sight & Sound
French filmmaker Marie-Claude Treilhou perfectly captures the feeling of a “meh” night out in this stunning — yet woefully underseen — debut. A chief influence on Yann Gonzalez’s KNIFE + HEART, SIMONE BARBES OR VIRTUE finally answers the question, “What if Éric Rohmer made a movie about a lesbian who works at a porno theater?” Paired with contemporary filmmaker Jessica Dunn Rovinelli’s latest 35mm short, MARRIAGE STORY. Queer Cinema: Lost & Found programmer Elizabeth Purchell will join us for a discussion — Sat, Mar. 4.
SPLENDOR
Gregg Araki/Curt McDowell, USA, 1999/72, DCP/Digital, 108 min.
4/8, 4/10
Kathleen Robertson (Clare from Beverly Hills 90210) sparkles in Gregg Araki’s bubbly tribute to the screwball comedy and the joys of dating two himbos at once. An uncharacteristically light movie from the filmmaker who gave us THE DOOM GENERATION and NOWHERE, SPLENDOR boasts a characteristically killer soundtrack and the visual aesthetics of a Gap fitting room circa 1999 — in the best way possible. Paired with THUNDERCRACK! filmmaker Curt McDowell’s rare short, WIENERS AND BUNS MUSICAL. Queer Cinema: Lost & Found programmer Elizabeth Purchell will join us for a discussion — Sat, Apr. 8.
LATES
DER FAN
Eckhart Schmidt, Germany, 1982, DCP, 92 min. In German with English subtitles.
3/3–3/9
“A study in extremes.” — Another Magazine
“The batshit German exploitation horror film you’ve been looking for.” — Vice
“Stylish, twisted, heavy, and absolutely magnetic.” — Bleeding Skull
Teenage angst and obsession are set to cold German synths in DER FAN, the absorbing tale of a girl’s unwavering popstar fandom that soon turns to madness. An entrancing minimalist take on pure pop fanaticism in the era of the Walkman. Shocking, sordid, ice-cold – meet your new cult favorite.
IRREVERSIBLE
Gaspar Noé, France, 2002, 35mm, 97 min. In French, Italian, English, and Spanish with English subtitles.
3/31–4/2
“An ideological sucker-punch.” — The Boston Globe
“Brilliant, punishing…not for the faint of heart.” — Time Out
Loathed and revered in equal measure, enfant terrible Gaspar Noé interrogates the barbarian within during one long winding night through the streets of Paris with two men (the inimitable Vincent Cassel and comedic actor Albert Dupontel, here in an disturbingly uncharacteristic role) who set out to avenge a brutal attack on a woman (Monica Bellucci). Brutal and sexually frank, IRREVERSIBLE is a descent into hell — told in reverse chronological order. Presented in a newly struck 35mm print.
FUGUE
Agnieszka Smoczyńska, Poland/Czech Republic/Sweden, 2018, DCP, 102 min. In Polish and English with English subtitles.
4/7, 4/8
“A complex and hostile film that remorselessly interrogates our assumptions about motherhood.” — Another Gaze
“A pronounced psychological exploration of trauma and personal choice of what not to be.” — MUBI
Mommy is back … perhaps … when, two years after her disappearance, Alicja (screenwriter Gabriela Muskala) returns to the loving arms of her husband and young son despite having no memory of either her family or previous life in this enigmatic follow-up to THE LURE from director Agnieszka Smoczyńska.
THE WOUNDED MAN
Patrice Chéreau, France, 1983, DCP, 110 min. In French with English subtitles.
4/21, 4/22
“Portrays brute physical desire with a force rare in movies.” — Chicago Reader
“Unflinching…among Chereau’s most confrontational works.” — The New York Times
“Explicit and gritty. For the first time in years, audiences will be able to experience one of the most controversial gay films in French cinema history.” — Queerty
Aching with desire, the nights of Paris map the erotic yearnings of the disaffected Henri (BETTY BLUE’s Jean-Hugues Anglade in a haunting breakout performance) as he wanders the streets, seduced by the criminal underworld and a mysterious man named Jean. Written over the course of six years by acclaimed filmmaker and theater director Patrice Chéreau (QUEEN MARGOT) and legendary gay French author and activist Hervé Guibert (Crazy For Vincent), THE WOUNDED MAN is a lyrically transgressive tale of sexual awakening. New 4K restoration.
CEMETERY OF SPLENDOR
Apichatpong Weerasethakul, Thailand, 2015, DCP, 122 min. In Thai with English subtitles.
4/28–5/1
“Apichatpong’s purest work to date.” — Reverse Shot
“Earthy, serene, and magically cryptic.” — The Village Voice
“A rare film that can so vividly take shape as a palimpsest in the mind’s eye.” — Film Comment
MEMORIA director Apichatpong Weerasethakul plumbs the soul and memories of a soldier afflicted with a mysterious sleeping sickness in this hypnotic dream from the ever-challenging Thai director.
SPACEFLIGHT PRESENTS
OVERVIEW
As a nonprofit, the Austin-based record label Spaceflight Records provides equitable access to the many different aspects of the recording industry often way out of reach for marginalized musicians. An important part of that mission is being a launch pad for emerging artists and bringing Austin’s creative scenes together through events. AFS Cinema is proud to welcome this one-of-a-kind endeavor to our stage.
ALIEN
Ridley Scott, USA, 1979, DCP, 116 min.
4/7, 4/9
“A work of unnerving elegance that takes its sweet time slithering its way into your chest.” — Los Angeles Times
Our friends at Austin’s nonprofit record label Spaceflight Records present a special screening of Ridley Scott’s terrifying sci-fi horror hybrid preceded by a live musical act to be announced. Don’t miss Sigourney Weaver, John Hurt, Yaphet Kotto, H.R. Giger’s alien, and Jonesy the Cat in this all-time classic.
SPECIAL EVENTS
TITANE with Julia Ducornau
Julia Ducournau, France, 2021, DCP, 108 min. In French with English subtitles.
3/11
“A most uncommon monster movie.” — Variety
“This violent riot of a masterpiece deserves the right to surprise you. Prepare for carnage, TITANE is coming, and it’ll leave you stunned and revolted.” — Vice
Julia Ducournau examines gender and the pressures of automation in her highly stylized and original vision of a woman who is part machine. TITANE made Ducournau the second woman in history to win the coveted Cannes Palme d’Or. We will be joined by Cannes Palme d’Or Winner Julia Ducournau for a special screening of TITANE followed by an extended discussion.
About Austin Film Society
Founded in 1985 by filmmaker Richard Linklater, AFS creates life-changing opportunities for filmmakers, catalyzes Austin and Texas as a creative hub, and brings the community together around great film. AFS is committed to racial equity and inclusion, with an objective to deliver programs that actively dismantle the structural racism, sexism and other bias in the screen industries. AFS supports filmmakers from all backgrounds towards career leaps, encouraging exceptional artistic projects with grants and support services. AFS operates Austin Studios, a 20-acre production facility, to attract and grow the creative media ecosystem. Austin Public, a space for our city’s diverse mediamakers to train and collaborate, provides many points of access to filmmaking and film careers. The AFS Cinema is an ambitiously programmed repertory and first run arthouse with broad community engagement. By hosting premieres, local and international industry events, and the Texas Film Awards, AFS shines the national spotlight on Texas filmmakers while connecting Austin and Texas to the wider film community. AFS is a registered 501(c)(3) non-profit organization.
