Backstory: The Literary Hoax Behind AUTHOR: THE JT LeROY STORY
On August 12, AFS will present a special screening of the highly acclaimed new documentary AUTHOR: THE JT LeROY STORY with director Jeff Feuerzeig in person. Feuerzeig will also join us the following day for a Master Class, copresented with IDA, the International Documentary Association. Back in 1999, a novel called “Sarah” appeared on the […]
Watch This: An Insanely In-Depth Interview with Television Legend Norman Lear
Please note, NORMAN LEAR: JUST ANOTHER VERSION OF YOU, the new documentary about the fascinating life of the legendary television producer (and social change vector) screens at the AFS Cinema on August 24 and 28. In celebration of Norman Lear’s 94th birthday we present this interview from the Archive Of American Television. Their emmytvlegends.org page is one […]
S.E. Hinton, the Original YA Rebel, and RUMBLE FISH
William Smith, Matt Dillon and Mickey Rourke in RUMBLE FISH (1983) Author S.E. Hinton (born on this date in 1948) has written only one screenplay, and her literary output has been sparse – her best known work was written before she turned 30 – but her cultural impact has been significant. Legions of socially disaffected […]
Watch This: Abel Ferrara Going Rogue on Late Night With Conan O’Brien 1996
Some people seem to carry their own cosmos around with them. That is definitely the case with writer/director Abel Ferrara (born on this day in 1951), who, even as he has created a body of work that is very impressive, has terrorized interviewers and others with his – shall we say – unpredictable approach to […]
Watch This: Maurice Pialat Wins 1987 Palme d’Or, Takes Stage to Chorus of Boos, Insults Crowd
From AFS Head of Film & Creative Media Holly Herrick, programmer of the Essential Cinema series INEXPLICABLY YOURS: MAURICE PIALAT, which continues through July 28: Writer/director Maurice Pialat was a brilliant director but a notoriously difficult person. He was famous for his tense film sets, angry actors and his firing of multiple cinematographers and editors in a […]
Watch This: Ben Steinbauer’s New Short – On the NY Times Op-Ed Page?
Ben Steinbauer is a filmmaker we’ve been watching closely ever since his 2009 movie WINNEBAGO MAN signaled the approach of a major new documentary voice. Since then, Ben has stayed very busy producing and directing, mainly shorts and commercials, and also carving out a place as an award winning instructor. Here’s his latest work, a […]
Classic TV Moment: “Ida Lupino, This Is Your Life”
Ida Lupino, who is the subject of our July History Of Television presentation and our August Essential Cinema series, had quite a career. First of all, members of her family had been in the theatrical business in one way or another for about 350 years. In other words, all the way back to Renaissance times. […]
Watch This: The Brand New Trailer for Austin Filmmaker Jeff Nichols’ LOVING
Jeff Nichols, Austin-based writer/director (SHOTGUN STORIES, TAKE SHELTER, MUD, MIDNIGHT SPECIAL) has a new movie coming this November called LOVING. It is based on the true story of Richard and Mildred Loving, an interracial couple who were sentenced to prison in Virginia for marrying across the color line and who fought the verdict all the […]
Austin Monthly Previews Insane New Austin Cult Doc HOLY HELL, Coming to AFS 7/15 and 20
There’s a nice preview here of HOLY HELL, the new doc about the partially-Austin-based Buddhafield new age sect, in the new Austin Monthly. Director Will Allen was a longtime member of the group and documented their activities throughout the years on video. The amount of footage, and the sheer strangeness of it all, is nearly […]
Once Upon A Time: Shelley Duvall’s Strange, Great FAERIE TALE THEATRE
For those of us of a certain age, the show FAERIE TALE THEATRE, which ran on Showtime from 1982 to 1987 and later in syndication, was a big part of our childhood. Whether or not we had actually read, or had read to us, these stories, their enactments on the show, produced and hosted by […]
Watch This: Abbas Kiarostami’s Early Educational Film COLORS
Abbas Kiarostami, the Iranian master filmmaker whose works include CLOSE-UP (1990), A TASTE OF CHERRY (1997), THE WIND WILL CARRY US (1999) and CERTIFIED COPY (2010) died Monday at age 76. He was one of the great figures of the international cinema and helped to put Iran on the cinematic world map. Of Kiarostami’s death, his […]
Holly Herrick on Maurice Pialat
AFS Head of Film & Creative Media Holly Herrick discusses the work of Maurice Pialat in conjunction with an all-35mm AFS Essential Cinema Series Inexplicably Yours: The Films Of Maurice Pialat. One thing that you’ll notice immediately in a Maurice Pialat movie is what’s not there. Films that are made up almost exclusively of characters […]
