AFS Cinema Announces Its January/February 2026 Program Calendar
December 11, 2025, AUSTIN, TX— The Austin Film Society announces its January and February 2026 calendar featuring a new, diverse lineup of films from around the globe that filmgoers can only see at the AFS Cinema. The full calendar of signature programs, special screenings and events can be found at www.austinfilm.org.
In January, AFS will present a new series of Essential Cinema dedicated to the decade-long collaboration between two iconic artists: Nico/Garrell: White Light Lays Above. Nico, the singer well-known for her work with the Velvet Underground, was in a romantic relationship with French filmmaker Philippe Garrel, and the two of them collaborated on films together that have not been available theatrically for many years. This series focuses on the otherworldly experimental features and shorts they made together — La cicatrice intérieure paired with the short Athanor in 35mm (January 6 and 10) and the newly restored films Le berceau de cristal (January 13 and 17) and Un ange passe (January 20 and 24) — as well as a final feature dedicated to Nico by Garrell after her death, I Can No Longer Hear the Guitar (January 27 and February 1), which will also be shown in 35mm.
AFS Essential Cinema will continue in February with a selection of films showcasing the work of several influential Black filmmakers. The series, called The L.A. Rebellion, shares its name with the one given to a group of directors who all graduated from UCLA’s Ethno-Communications Program beginning in the late ’60s, which was designed to open the doors of the industry to filmmakers of color. The films chosen for this series include Charles Burnett’s To Sleep with Anger (February 3 and 7) starring Danny Glover; Larry’s Clark’s jazz-infused story Passing Through (February 10 and 14), which will be paired with When It Rains, a 1995 short film by Charles Burnett; Julie Dash’s poetic portrait of Gullah women living off the coast of South Carolina, Daughters of the Dust (February 17–22); and Compensation (February 24 and 28), Zeinabu irene Davis’ story of romance in the Black hearing-impaired community, which will be screened alongside Iverson White’s sepia-toned short film about Black migration, Dark Exodus.
Throughout the month of February, the AFS Cinema will dedicate its screens to both love and lust in film through two seasonal series. The first annually recurring series — Love Month, providing programming surrounding Valentine’s Day — presents a new lineup for 2026. Among this year’s titles are Ang Lee’s queer romantic comedy The Wedding Banquet (February 6 and 8); Greta Garbo and a huge cast of character actors in 1939’s Ninotchka (February 13 and 14), presented in 35mm; Breaking the Waves (February 14 and 15), Lars von Trier’s Scottish-set Cannes-winning marital drama; François Truffaut’s French New Wave classic Jules and Jim (February 15–19); the musically vibrant Brazilian adaptation of the Greek myth, Black Orpheus (February 19 and 23); and Wim Wenders’ introspective West-German masterpiece Wings of Desire (February 25–28). Coinciding with AFS’s Love Month programming is Pink Cuts, a series dedicated to showcasing pinku eiga — a subgenre of Japanese films that featured arthouse sensibilities alongside nudity and sexual themes. The AFS Cinema will showcase work in this genre done by many now-iconic directors: Yoshimitsu Morita’s Pink Cut: Love Me Hard, Love Me Deep (February 6 and 7), Shinji Sōmai’s Love Hotel (February 12 and 13), Kiyoshi Kurosawa’s Bumpkin Soup (February 20 and 21) and Masayuki Suo’s Abnormal Family (February 27 and 28).
The Austin Film Society will screen several films created by recipients of the AFS Grant, including two projects that were directly supported by Grant funding. The first, The Trouble I See (January 14), is a new documentary about incarcerated men in Virginia by Sally O’Grady, who received support from the AFS Grant for Feature Films in 2017. Age of Audio (January 18) is a non-fiction piece about the rise of podcasting by Shaun Michael Colón, which received an AFS Grant for Feature Films in 2023, as well as the North Texas Pioneer Film Grant, a special section of the AFS Grant program funding debut feature projects by underrepresented North-Texas-based directors. Alongside these Grant-supported projects are two films by filmmakers who previously received support from the AFS Grant: Night in West Texas (by Deborah Esquenazi, 2015 recipient of the AFS Grant for Feature Films) and Luv Ya, Bum! (by Sam Wainwright Douglas, David Hartstein — who received AFS Grant support for projects in 2006, 2010, 2011 and 2017, respectively — and Andrew Alden Miller).
Throughout January and February, the Austin Film Society will present several special-event screenings. On January 11, AFS will welcome back the filmmakers behind The Wasp — a period-accurate Aristophanes adaptation shot in Austin — for a screening of their film. The Austin Film Society will also continue its partnership with Alienated Majesty Books for its Paper Cuts series, featuring screenings of Watership Down on January 25 and 29 (paired with the zine Dark Entries, Vol. 3: Excursions into the Gothic) and Peter Greenaway’s The Pillow Book on February 22 and 26 (paired with The Pillow Book by Sei Shōnagon). Both Paper Cuts events will feature a pop-up book shop in the AFS lobby at the first screening of each film. On February 20, the AFS Cinema will host a Science on Screen® presentation of Michael Wech’s 2022 documentary The Covid Century — The Pandemic Preparedness Dilemma, which will include a post-film panel with experts on the film’s subject. Science on Screen® is an initiative of the Coolidge Corner Theatre, with major support from the Alfred P. Sloan Foundation.
As a part of its effort to exhibit and celebrate 35mm film prints, AFS will show the following films in this format:
- La cicatrice intérieure (1/6, 1/10)
- I Can No Longer Hear the Guitar (1/27, 2/1)
- Gloria (1/4–1/9)
- Ninotchka (2/13, 2/14)
The full January/February lineup continues below, and a complete list of all film screenings announced to date and special events are on the AFS 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 JANUARY/FEBRUARY CALENDAR
ESSENTIAL CINEMA: NICO/GARREL: WHITE LIGHT LAYS ABOVE
Spurred by a “poetic view of the galaxy,” German chanteuse Nico and filmmaker Philippe Garrel forged a decade‑long relationship and artistic collaboration, producing some of the most hermetic and enigmatic films in all of cinema. Nico’s presence has continued to reverberate through Garrel’s films long after their separation and her death, her voice and story haunting his art. Through a series of newly restored films, including rarely screened shorts, this selection highlights their otherworldly partnership.
LA CICATRICE INTÉRIEURE
Philippe Garrel, France, 1970/72, 35mm, 80 min. In English, German, and French with English subtitles.
1/6, 1/10
In this “collage of dreams” born of an acid haze, Nico (of Velvet Underground fame) joins Philippe Garrel and Pierre Clémenti in a mystical battle of the sexes, shouted across three languages against the painterly backdrops of Sinai, Death Valley, and Iceland. Presented with the short ATHANOR. In 35mm.
LE BERCEAU DE CRISTAL
Philippe Garrel, France, 1975, DCP, 72 min.
1/13, 1/17
Scored by krautrockers Ash Ra Tempel, this largely wordless meditation on darkness features Nico, Dominique Sanda (THE CONFORMIST), and Rolling Stones-muse Anita Pallenberg. Newly restored.
UN ANGE PASSE
Philippe Garrel, France, 1975/77, DCP, 94 min. In French with English subtitles.
1/20, 1/24
The music of Nico punctuates the casual musings and chainsmoking of Maurice Garrel, Laurent Terzieff (WOMAN IN CHAINS), Jean‑Pierre Kalfon (LES IDOLES), and Bulle Ogier (CÉLINE AND JULIE GO BOATING), who appear as characters without a story, interrupted only by Nico’s haunting voice. Presented alongside the short LE BLEU DES ORIGINES. Newly restored.
I CAN NO LONGER HEAR THE GUITAR
Philippe Garrel, France, 1991, 35mm, 98 min. In French with English subtitles.
1/27, 2/1
Dedicated to Nico, Philippe Garrel’s I CAN NO LONGER HEAR THE GUITAR is quite “possibly his masterpiece” (Olivier Assayas). The film follows couple Marianne (Johanna ter Steege, THE VANISHING) and Gerard (Benoît Régent) as they fall in and out of love with each other — and heroin. An intensely autobiographical work, Garrel and co-scribes Marc Cholodenko and Jean-François Goyet craft a story that is at once “elusive and haunting” (The New York Times). In 35mm.
ESSENTIAL CINEMA: THE L.A. REBELLION
Beginning in the late ’60s, a new wave of Black graduate filmmakers emerged from UCLA, turning their cameras toward the lives Hollywood overlooked. Not unified in style but on common ground, the films of the L.A. Rebellion blend experimentation with lived realities, insisting on truth over tropes. These films by filmmakers such as Charles Burnett, Julie Dash, Larry Clark, and Zeinabu irene Davis have reshaped the pulse of American cinema, creating new possibilities in Black storytelling along the way.
TO SLEEP WITH ANGER
Charles Burnett, USA, 1990, DCP, 102 min.
2/3, 2/7
They say “if you keep knocking on the devil’s door, sooner or later someone will answer.” But what if the devil comes to you? Danny Glover is drifter Harry Mention, whose arrival from the South lays trouble squarely on the welcome mat of his old friends in South Central L.A.
PASSING THROUGH
Larry Clark/Charles Burnett, USA, 1977/95, DCP, 124 min.
2/10, 2/14
Following his release from prison, musician Eddie Warmack seeks redemption through jazz while avoiding a corrupt industry intent on exploiting art for profit. Rarely screened, Larry Clark’s PASSING THROUGH is a cry for liberation as refined and crisp as a saxophone’s tone. Scored by Horace Tapscott and featuring music by Charlie Parker, John Coltrane, Eric Dolphy, and Sun Ra. Preceded by Charles Burnett’s short WHEN IT RAINS.
DAUGHTERS OF THE DUST
Julie Dash, USA, 1991, DCP, 112 min.
2/17–2/22
A rich, poetic meditation on memory and tradition, Julie Dash’s landmark film captures three generations of Gullah women at the turn of the century, caught between preserving their heritage and leaving for the mainland.
COMPENSATION
Zeinabu irene Davis/Iverson White, USA, 1999/85, DCP, 120 min. In English and ASL with English subtitles.
2/24, 2/28
Eighty years apart, the lives and loves of two couples are lyrically interwoven through the use of archival photography, ragtime, and African percussion. This moving portrait of the struggles of the Black American deaf and hearing communities also shows the complexity of romance at the turn of the twentieth century. A landmark of independent cinema from writer-director Zeinabu irene Davis. Preceded by Iverson White’s short DARK EXODUS.
PINK CUTS
Find out where cinema gets its color as we dive into the world of pinku eiga. A training ground for many of Japan’s most renowned filmmakers — including Kiyoshi Kurosawa (CURE), Shinji Sōmai (TYPHOON CLUB), Masayuki Suo (SHALL WE DANCE?), and Yoshimitsu Morita (THE FAMILY GAME) — these films are known for their innovative storytelling, taboo sexuality, and wild experimentation. Sophisticated yet provocative, these films toe the line between grindhouse and arthouse, offering a daring alternative to the staid sexuality and unimaginative narratives of mainstream cinema.
PINK CUT: LOVE ME HARD, LOVE ME DEEP
Yoshimitsu Morita, Japan, 1983, DCP, 68 min. In Japanese with English subtitles.
2/6, 2/7
Hairstylists Mayumi and Mai give new meaning to “rinse, lather, repeat” when they open the Pink Cut, a barbershop offering everything but a clean cut. Fluffier than a blowout, this pastel‑colored balayage of musical numbers, charm, and humor comes from Nikkatsu’s Roman Porno and Yoshimitsu Morita (HARU, THE FAMILY GAME).
LOVE HOTEL
Shinji Sōmai, Japan, 1985, DCP, 88 min. In Japanese with English subtitles.
2/13, 2/14
Yumi, a sex worker, and Tetsuro, a man circled by loan sharks, reunite long after a violent encounter to rekindle a flame that threatens to engulf them both. TYPHOON CLUB-director Shinji Sōmai directs LOVE HOTEL, an elegiac entry in Nikkatsu’s Roman Porno cycle.
BUMPKIN SOUP
Kiyoshi Kurosawa, Japan, 1985, DCP, 83 min. In Japanese with English subtitles.
2/20, 2/21
From Kiyoshi Kurosawa (CURE, PULSE) comes the story of Akiko, a naive country girl who receives a big‑city education when she enters university in search of her high school crush. She soon discovers that the once‑innocent freshman has become a sex‑obsessed libertine who never attends class. Meanwhile, she draws the attention of Professor Hirayama (Juzo Itami), determined to theorize the very concept of shame.
ABNORMAL FAMILY
Masayuki Suo, Japan, 1984, DCP, 63 min. In Japanese with English subtitles.
2/27, 2/28
A playful ode to the master of Japanese cinema in which a new bride’s arrival introduces modern values into her husband’s traditional household. A bawdy riff on TOKYO STORY, ABNORMAL FAMILY is both an irreverent homage and a sly parody of the films of Yasujirō Ozu from Masayuki Suo, director of SHALL WE DANCE?
LATES
SEDUCTION: THE CRUEL WOMAN
Monika Treut and Elfi Mikesch, West Germany, 1985, DCP, 84 min. In German with English subtitles.
1/9, 1/10
Cruelty is her profession. Love is their game. A trio of forlorn lovers orbit a dominatrix in Hamburg. The rules are clear, but not all will obey … Inspired by Baron Leopold von Sacher‑Masoch, namesake of masochism itself, Monika Treut and Elfi Mikesch’s sensual ode to obsession is a seminal work of lesbian cinema. Featuring Udo Kier and Sheila McLaughlin. 2K restoration.
WINDOW ON YOUR PRESENT
Cinqué Lee, USA, 1988, DCP, 68 min.
1/16, 1/17
In the ruins of a world drained of color and bereft of love, escape often takes the form of self-destruction. Against the bleak skyscape, lovers Europa and Lever seek solace in the pursuit of a dream beyond the horrors of reality. A no-wave tone poem set to the lush jazz of Spike and Cinqué’s father, Bill Lee.
THE RED SPECTACLES
Mamoru Oshii, Japan, 1987, DCP, 116 min. In Japanese with English subtitles.
1/30–2/4
The first live-action feature from Mamoru Oshii, legendary director of ANGEL’S EGG and GHOST IN THE SHELL. In dystopian Japan, the Kerberos Panzer Cops defy disbandment. Years later, lone survivor Koichi Todome returns with a mysterious suitcase to a Tokyo full of paranoia and absurdity. New 4K restoration.
BEST OF THE FESTS
SMALL, SLOW BUT STEADY
Sho Miyake, Japan/France, 2022, DCP, 99 min. In Japanese with English subtitles.
1/3, 1/5
Keiko, a hearing‑impaired, semi‑professional boxer, takes a hit to her confidence when her beloved gym faces closure due to the COVID‑19 pandemic and the owner’s declining health. Free Member Monday — free admission for all AFS members on Monday, January 5.
DEBUT, OR, OBJECTS OF THE FIELD OF DEBRIS AS CURRENTLY CATALOGUED
Julian Castronovo, USA, 2025, DCP, 78 min.
1/24, 1/25
Director Julian Castronovo stars as “Julian Castronovo,” a filmmaker and writer who uncovers a link to the mysterious disappearance of an art forger. Soon, he becomes unsure whether he is authoring the true-crime film he is creating or trapped within it. Crafted from viral clips, endless‑runner mobile games, Photo Booth recordings, and even a puppet — on a production budget of $900 — DEBUT is cinematic copy‑pasta.
DOC NIGHTS
ORWELL: 2+2=5
Raoul Peck, USA/France, 2025, DCP, 119 min.
1/7, 1/11
Director Raoul Peck (I AM NOT YOUR NEGRO) uses the life and work of George Orwell as a lens through which to view the totalitarian history of the 20th century and beyond. Using ample quotations from Orwell’s work as an essayist and novelist, Peck examines the rightful place of the intellectual and of any person of conscience when the world seems to go mad.
THE TROUBLE I SEE
Sally O’Grady and Patrick Gregory, USA, 2025, DCP, 90 min.
1/14
The centerpiece of this moving documentary is a father-daughter dance at the Richmond City Jail in Virginia. Incarcerated men are shown reflecting on the state of their lives and their prospects for an improved life. Then, as several of the men resume their lives again after their release, we see their paths narrow and the cycle begin anew. An AFS Grant-supported project.
I’M NOT EVERYTHING I WANT TO BE
Klára Tasovská, Czech Republic/Slovakia/Austria, 2024, DCP, 90 min. In Czech with English subtitles.
1/10, 1/12
In the final decades of the Soviet Union, a queer female photographer breaks free from the constraints of a repressive regime on an inspiring journey to self‑acceptance. Drawn from the work and diaries of Czech photographer Libuše Jarcovjáková — dubbed “the Nan Goldin of Czechoslovakia” — this documentary captures a life lived through pictures.
67 BOMBS TO ENID
Kevin Ford and Ty McMahan, USA, 2025, DCP, 88 min.
2/8
Few of us could pick out the Marshall Islands in the South Pacific on a map, but for a period from 1946 to 1958, it was ground zero for U.S. atomic bomb testing. Many of the islanders were relocated from their homes to rural Enid, Oklahoma. This new documentary, executive produced by Errol Morris, takes us into the lives of these survivors and their descendants as they reflect upon the impact of these weapons.
SCIENCE ON SCREEN
THE COVID CENTURY — THE PANDEMIC PREPAREDNESS DILEMMA
Michael Wech, Germany, 2022, DCP, 88 min. In German and English with English subtitles.
2/20
We will be joined by a special panel of guests for a special Science On Screen® and Texas Science Fest co-presentation of THE COVID CENTURY, a documentary that takes a minute-by-minute look at what scientists and governments knew about the emerging pandemic and how they responded. Our post-film discussion will range widely through matters of science and policy as we try to sort out which lessons have been learned and which have not. An initiative of the Coolidge Corner Theatre, with major support from the Alfred P. Sloan Foundation.
BIG SCREEN CLASSICS
GLORIA
John Cassavetes, USA, 1980, 35mm, 122 min.
1/4–1/9
Gena Rowlands’ GLORIA is one of her most unforgettable characters. When her neighbor, a mob accountant, is being pursued by mob hitmen, Gloria runs off to safety with the man’s young son, protecting him with lead bullets and steel nerves as needed. You will never forget Gloria, and you will understand why this film has become a touchstone of independent cinema. In 35mm.
STORMY WEATHER
Andrew L. Stone, USA, 1943, DCP, 78 min.
1/30–2/5
This all-Black-cast musical spectacular is an absolute treasure of the Cinema. Dancer Bill “Bojangles” Robinson’s fictionalized life story stars the man himself with a galaxy of other musical stars: Lena Horne, Fats Waller, Cab Calloway, the Katherine Dunham Dance Company, and, most unforgettably, the Nicholas Brothers, whose stairway dance number never fails to provoke spontaneous applause.
STOP MAKING SENSE
Jonathan Demme, USA, 1984, DCP, 88 min.
2/25–3/1
Considered by many critics the greatest concert film of all time. This is more than a recording of the Talking Heads’ stage show — it is an immersive work of music, theater, dance, and cinema intertwined. Appropriately enough, it sounds as great as it looks, and audiences emerge from screenings of this film as sweaty and exhilarated as the performers.
PAPER CUTS
WATERSHIP DOWN
Martin Rosen, UK, 1978, DCP, 92 min.
1/25, 1/29
A young rabbit tries to warn others of an encroaching threat that endangers their lives in the idyllic English countryside. This animated film features graphic violence, once dubbed “a one-way ticket to post-traumatic stress disorder.” Featuring the voice talents of John Hurt, Denholm Elliott, and Richard Briers. Featuring a post-film discussion and a pop-up shop on January 25, this film’s book pairing, this film’s book pairing, Dark Entries, Vol. 3: Excursions into the Gothic, is available for purchase at Alienated Majesty Books, in-person or online.
THE PILLOW BOOK
Peter Greenaway, Netherlands/UK/France/Luxembourg, 1996, DCP, 126 min.
2/22, 2/26
Drawing on childhood memories, a woman (Vivian Wu) invites a series of lovers to treat her body as a canvas until an English translator (Ewan McGregor) becomes the willing blank surface for her calligraphy in this rich text from Peter Greenaway. Featuring a post-film discussion and a pop-up shop on February 22, this film’s book pairing, The Pillow Book by Sei Shōnagon, is available for purchase at Alienated Majesty Books, in-person or online.
WORLD CINEMA CLASSICS
BUBBLE BATH
György Kovásznai, Hungary, 1980, DCP, 79 min. In Hungarian with English subtitles.
1/2–1/4
Cold feet slide into dancing shoes as a jittery groom seeks solace in the embrace of his fiancée’s best friend. György Kovásznai’s musical pulses to the rhythm of the heart, propelling not only the beat but also its hand‑drawn animation to mind-boggling excess.
THE UMBRELLAS OF CHERBOURG
Jacques Demy, France, 1964, DCP, 92 min. In French with English subtitles.
1/25,1/28
A young French woman (Catherine Deneuve in a star-making role) falls for a young mechanic about to be drafted to war in this colorful romantic musical directed by Jacques Demy with a score by Michel Legrand.
LOVE MONTH
Expect “love, pain, and the whole damn thing” (only not that particular film) as Love Month returns with six classics sure to melt the coldest of hearts with the warmest gift of all, a cinematic embrace.
THE WEDDING BANQUET
Ang Lee, Taiwan/USA, 1993, DCP, 112 min. In Mandarin and English with English subtitles.
2/6, 2/8
You are cordially invited to the biggest sham of the wedding season. Wai‑Tung and his boyfriend Simon live together in New York, while Wei‑Wei, an artist, needs a green card. When Wai‑Tung’s meddling parents insist it’s time for him to marry, he proposes a marriage of convenience — one that may prove to be anything but.
NINOTCHKA
Ernst Lubitsch, USA, 1939, 35mm, 110 min.
2/13, 2/14
“Garbo Laughs!” was the tagline for this sublime comic concoction. Directed by Ernst Lubitsch and written by the team of Billy Wilder and Charles Brackett, it is indeed a showcase for Greta Garbo’s hitherto unseen and, frankly, unsuspected comic talents. She plays a Soviet operative, dispatched to Paris to check up on a trio of straying functionaries, who discovers, and is greatly inconvenienced by, love. Co-starring Melvyn Douglas, Ina Claire, and every character actor in Hollywood. In 35mm.
BREAKING THE WAVES
Lars von Trier, Denmark, 1996, DCP, 158 min.
2/14, 2/15
Lars von Trier’s breakthrough film is a startling but ultimately vivid and meaningful look at a marriage that persists through injury and disability. Emily Watson and Stellan Skarsgård star as the newlyweds in a small Scottish backwater whose relationship hits a major iceberg but who manage, even if their solution is morally offensive to the town and the church. A visually stunning, gorgeously acted film that still packs a major emotional wallop. Winner of the Grand Prix at Cannes.
JULES AND JIM
François Truffaut, France, 1962, DCP, 105 min. In French with English subtitles.
2/15–2/19
Jeanne Moreau’s star-making performance was in the role of Catherine, a woman whose heart is unknowable, even to herself, in François Truffaut’s glorious adaptation of Henri Pierre-Roché’s novel about a love triangle among three friends/lovers during and after the first World War.
BLACK ORPHEUS
Marcel Camus, France/Brazil, 1959, DCP, 100 min. In Brazilian Portuguese with English subtitles.
2/19–2/23
BLACK ORPHEUS is an immersive wonder in every respect, a bold and colorful adaptation of the ancient Greek story of Orpheus and Eurydice set in Brazil at Carnival time. This is the film that introduced the world to the bossa-nova and samba beats of the Afro-Brazilian music scene, and the pulse of the music drives the story throughout.
WINGS OF DESIRE
Wim Wenders, West Germany, 1988, DCP, 128 min. In German and English with English subtitles.
2/25–2/28
A perennial classic and one of Wim Wenders’ most beautiful creations. Bruno Ganz stars as a guardian angel who falls in love with his charge, an ethereally beautiful trapeze artist, and decides to renounce his immortality. Peter Falk, as himself, helps to guide him home.
NEWLY RESTORED
SAFE
Todd Haynes, USA, 1995, DCP, 128 min.
1/1–1/4
In this ’90s indie classic, Todd Haynes directs Julianne Moore as Carol, a paranoid California housewife who becomes allergic to her environment. When her illness escalates from coughing fits to nosebleeds, Carol retreats to the Wrenwood Institute in New Mexico. But, as the tagline asks, “Where can you go, when no place is SAFE?”
TASTE OF CHERRY
Abbas Kiarostami, Iran, 1997, DCP, 99 min. In Persian with English subtitles.
1/1, 1/3
In this characteristically poetic and philosophically rich Kiarostami classic, a man (the recently departed Homayoun Ershadi) is seeking only one thing — someone to bury him after he commits suicide. It’s a tough task and may be futile. When he does interest a stranger in the job, things get even more complicated. New 4K restoration.
QUEEN KELLY
Erich von Stroheim, USA, 1929, DCP, 105 min. Silent with music score and English intertitles.
1/26, 1/29
The ambition behind this film was enormous. One of the biggest movie stars in the world, Gloria Swanson, persuaded her inamorata, the financier Joseph P. Kennedy, to fund a massive, sacrilegious epic about a convent girl’s moral dissipation, to be produced by Swanson and directed by the genius filmmaker Erich von Stroheim. Naturally, the personalities involved were too volatile to finish the film and it has always been frustratingly incomplete, until now.
This new preservation is made by Milestone Films, who are indebted to the George Eastman Museum, the Library of Congress National Audio-Visual Conservation Center, the Harry Ransom Center, the Margaret Herrick Library, Paramount Pictures, and the John F. Kennedy Presidential Library and Museum for providing the original nitrate 35mm materials, photographs, and papers used to create this new version.
CRONOS
Guillermo del Toro, Mexico, 1992, DCP, 92 min. In Spanish and English with English subtitles.
1/16–1/21
Guillermo del Toro’s first feature is a thrilling amalgam of science fiction and philosophy. The title refers to a device that can give the bearer immortality. When an antiques dealer finds the strange gadget, his life changes, but who can say if it is for the better or not. A kind of skeleton key to del Toro’s later work and a very entertaining film on its own merits. New 4K restoration.
CITY ON FIRE
Ringo Lam, Hong Kong, 1987, DCP, 105 min. In Cantonese with English subtitles.
1/17–1/21
If you have seen Quentin Tarantino’s RESERVOIR DOGS, you will understand immediately why the comparisons between that film and this one were so pervasive. But quite apart from that, CITY ON FIRE is its own movie. Chow Yun-fat and Danny Lee appear, as they would again in THE KILLER. Chow plays a deeply embedded undercover cop, hunted and despised by all, until the final Mexican standoff.
THE BUSINESS OF FANCYDANCING
Sherman Alexie, USA, 2002, DCP, 103 min.
2/9, 2/15
Sixteen years after leaving his home on a Spokane reservation, Seymour (Evan Adams, SMOKE SIGNALS) returns as a successful, openly gay poet, only to find that while the white world may have embraced him, he may face trouble on “the rez.” Free Member Monday — free admission for all AFS members on Monday, February 9.
FRIGHT CLUB
ALLIGATOR
Lewis Teague, USA, 1980, DCP, 89 min.
2/2, 2/5
It would be wonderful if we could split John Sayles in two so we could have the don of American independent cinema on one hand and the screenwriter of so many wonderful drive-in films on the other. His script for this JAWS-inspired shocker — about a baby alligator that grows to monstrous size in the subway — is a marvel. The film is beautifully executed too, despite its modest budgetary scale. With Robert Forster and Henry Silva.
QUEER CINEMA: LOST & FOUND
VIRGIN MACHINE
Monika Treut, West Germany, 1988, DCP, 84 min. In German with English subtitles.
1/11
In the Oz of San Francisco, German journalist Ina Blum, researching an article on the nature of romantic love, finds exactly what she was looking for — and then some — thanks to the help of lesbian strip‑show barker Susie Sexpert (Susie Bright), drag king Ramona (Shelly Mars), and her mysteriously kinky neighbors (Cléo Dubois and Fakir Musafar). A fiercely controversial work of lesbian cinema, it led Die Zeit to proclaim: “Films like Monika Treut’s are destroying cinema.”
Screening with a video introduction by Queer Cinema: Lost & Found programmer Elizabeth Purchell.
SCORE
Radley Metzger, USA, 1974, DCP, 91 min.
2/8
A married bisexual couple wager they can bed a pair of innocent newlyweds in Radley Metzger’s adaptation of Jerry Douglas’ stage play Score, or No One’s Afraid of Virginia Woolf! Witty and transgressive, it delivers on everything the swinging ’70s promised.
Screening with a video introduction by Queer Cinema: Lost & Found programmer Elizabeth Purchell.
SPECIAL SCREENINGS
THE WASPS
Jake Binstock and Parker Rouse, USA, 2025, DCP, 80 min.
1/10
An Aristophanes adaptation made on a micro-budget in a literal backyard set built in the Cherrywood neighborhood of Austin, this indie labor-of-love executive produced by filmmaker Richard Linklater boasts full period costumes and production design, stunts, pyrotechnics, period-accurate dildos, and flying old men. Featuring a post-screening Q&A with the filmmakers.
NIGHT IN WEST TEXAS
Deborah Esquenazi, USA, 2025, DCP, 83 min.
1/11
Forty years after a gay Apache man is framed for the brutal murder of a closeted Catholic priest, a police chief uncovers long-buried evidence that shakes up the small, oil-rich West Texas town that imprisoned him. The documentary filmmakers behind this film join with the Innocence Project as they forge a rare alliance with the Chief of Police and the District Attorney’s office to rebuild James’ case, despite the slim odds of exonerations granted to defendants in the state of Texas. Will James win and live free after 40 years? An AFS Grant-supported film. Featuring a post-screening Q&A with filmmaker Deborah Esquenazi.
AGE OF AUDIO
Shaun Michael Colón, USA, 2025, DCP, 80 min.
1/18
Co-presented by Sound Unseen.
AGE OF AUDIO is a feature documentary about the wild rise of podcasting — from basement mics to billion-dollar deals. Told through the journey of indie host Ronald Young Jr. and featuring interviews with iconic voices like Ira Glass, Kevin Smith, Kara Swisher, Marc Maron, Roman Mars, and more, the film explores how a DIY medium transformed into a global industry — and what gets lost along the way. An AFS Grant-supported film. Featuring a post-screening Q&A with filmmaker Shaun Michael Colón.
LUV YA, BUM!
Sam Wainwright Douglas, David Hartstein, and Andrew Alden Miller, USA, 2025, DCP, 86 min.
2/1
Houston in the ’70s was a boom-town, a metropolis on the rise, a cultural meteorite spurred ahead by high petroleum prices and mechanical bulls. It was just too bad that the NFL team, the Houston Oilers, were so bad. That’s where the namesake of this film comes in. Bum Phillips was a rough-edged football coach who could get the best out of players that other teams wrote off. This film takes us through that era via archival footage and examines Coach Phillips’ legacy through interviews with his family and friends. Featuring a post-screening Q&A with the filmmakers.
Will Stefanski
Will@austinfilm.org
