AFS Viewfinders

AFS Viewfinders is a film culture website with information, resources and opinions designed to deepen and broaden appreciation of film.

Video: Ethan Hawke On Paul Newman’s Trailblazing Westerns

  Ethan Hawke came to visit AFS Cinema, and not just for a screening or two: the ever-busy actor/director/producer/writer presented five films over the course of a weekend (March 24–26) to sold-out crowds. The occasion was a programming series called Paul Newman’s West, which he co-curated with AFS Head of Film Holly Herrick with participation […]

The AFS Guide to SXSW 2023

March in Austin means SXSW, and SXSW means figuring out one’s schedule to pack in as much cutting-edge programming as possible. At the Austin Film Society, we understand that it takes time to figure out what you’re going to (and how you’re getting there), so we want to make things as simple as we can […]

Exploring the Madness of Art and Film in 1980s Japan

  Fast approaching AFS Cinema is Hachimiri Madness, our programming series of 11 experimental Japanese features and shorts from the country’s “punk years.” Many of today’s biggest Japanese filmmakers burst out of this time period (roughly the 1980s, give or take a few years on each end) with ferocity and unfettered DIY sensibilities — directors […]

Agnès Varda’s Impressions of America

  This month on the AFS calendar is Documentary & Beyond: Agnès Varda, the latest in our Essential Cinema series. In it, we’re highlighting four non-narrative titles — including two shorts combined into a single screening — from the “Grandmother of the French New Wave.” While the series aims to showcase some of Varda’s documentary […]

Celebrating a Successful First Year of Creative Careers

  We at the Austin Film Society pride ourselves on the role we play in the world of Texas film. As a nonprofit, we operate programs that help filmmakers get the funds, equipment, and training they need; give them access to studio space; and provide them with a cinema to screen their finished projects.  Creative […]

THE 2022 AFS HOLIDAY GIFT GUIDE

  The Holiday season is upon us, and at AFS, that means it’s a time of giving (and sharing great cinema). With Black Friday and Giving Tuesday freshly behind us and the December holidays ahead, we figured we’d make your job as a gift-giver easy with a handy guide, including a few items handpicked by […]

The “Beautifully Sculpted and Quietly Shattering” AFTERSUN Opens November 4 at AFS Cinema

“Rumors of something remarkable have circled around AFTERSUN since its première … and guess what? The rumors are true.” —Anthony Lane, The New Yorker It’s rare that a nearly unknown filmmaker lands so squarely in the middle of the zeitgeist as director Charlotte Wells has with her arthouse smash AFTERSUN. Until recently, she was best […]

PERFECT BLUE celebrates its 25th anniversary, screening September 16-22

  Satoshi Kon’s Perfect Blue premiered at the Fantasia International Film Festival in 1997, forever changing the landscape of animated film as well as influencing many filmmakers to this day. The film operates as a psychological thriller with key horror aspects, yet what stands out most from Perfect Blue is its themes regarding fame, identity, and obsession, […]

Meet the Recipients of the 2022 AFS Grant for Feature Films

  Today, AFS announced the 2022 recipients of the AFS Grant for Feature Films, the annually renewed fund for emerging Texas filmmakers. Eleven projects by fourteen director applicants were selected for awards: four narrative features, six documentaries, and one experimental feature. As with each group of grantees, this year’s roster is one you’ll want to […]

September’s Natalie Wood series begins with her breakout role, REBEL WITHOUT A CAUSE

  Kicking off September’s Essential Cinema series, Natalie Wood: It’s in the Eyes, is the iconic REBEL WITHOUT A CAUSE, which served as Wood’s breakout role and helped the actress transition from pigtails to the altogether more adult roles to come later in her career.   Before reaching world-wide recognition with films like WEST SIDE […]

Delphine Seyrig’s namesake film closes out Essential Cinema: Be Pretty and Shut Up!

  After years of work as an actress with films such as Last Year at Marienbad, The Day of the Jackal, and Jeanne Dielman, 23 quai du Commerce, 1080 Bruxelles, Delphine Seyrig desired to make her own projects, ones that accurately reflected her off-screen life as well as the experiences of other women. Seyrig understood that the only […]

AFS LATES on KOOP Radio

  In case you missed it: Programmer Jazmyne Moreno visited KOOP’s Voyager with Honest John, where the pair discussed Sun Ra and his intergalactic vibes ahead of SPACE IS THE PLACE, screening May 20 -24. Check out the eclectic mix below and tune in to Voyager with Honest John Mondays, 9-10am, only on KOOP. Looking for a quick […]

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