AFF Daily Schedule: Monday

The Garage
Austin Screens
Screening Info: 7pm October 23rd at Alamo Lake Creek
Regional Premiere. Shot in and around Austin with a local cast and crew, The Garage tells the story of Matt, a young mechanic, who works at his father’s garage. Dreaming about leaving his small-town existence for grander ambitions, Matt struggles with his feelings for his new girlfriend and his loyalty to his parents and brother. Despite insistence that he leave from his friend Schultz, other pressures keep Matt at home. Thibault’s film offers much more than the average coming-of-age story, adding a poignant sense of reality to life in a small town and the bonds that form there. [ info]
The Third Monday in October
Documentary Feature Competition
Screening Info: 7pm October 23rd at Arbor
World Premiere. Third Monday in October follows the presidential elections of 12-year-old kids vying for the promise of leading their middle school student councils in the midst of the 2004 national Presidential election. Taking an intimate journey with these young candidates as they enter their races, through their campaigning, slogan writing, poster creating, public speaking, and debating, and up until the final emotional and dramatic day of school elections, this film shows a true slice of American politics, raw and uncensored, through the eyes and votes of American 12 year olds. [ info]
The Quietest Sound
Special Presentations
Screening Info: 7:10pm October 23rd at Hideout
Regional Premiere. 2005 AFF alum James Vculek (Two Harbors) returns to the Festival with a riveting drama about the abduction of a four-year-old girl and the efforts of a pair of detectives to locate her. Shot in one 75-minute take, The Quietest Sound offers a narrative experience unlike any other film at the Festival. The film doesn't rest on a gimmick, however -- a serpentine plot and an exceptional performance by Catherine E. Johnson (also from Two Harbors) keep viewers guessing right up to the picture's end. [ info]

Shorts Program Winner

Screening Info: 7:15pm October 23rd at Dobie
The winners of the Short Film Competition will screen in this slot. [ info]
Sleeping Dogs Lie
Marquee Screenings
Screening Info: 7:15pm October 23rd at IMAX
Regional Premiere. Amy is a seemingly normal young girl, adored by her parents and golden-boy fiancé. Her future looks bright until her fiancé suggests they tell each other their darkest secrets - things they have never told anyone. When Amy finally relents and reveals her secret, everything falls apart. Writer/Director Bobcat Goldthwait brings us a story that adeptly explores honesty, family, forgiveness, and courage. Frankly probing our relationships and idealization of the absolute virtues of honesty, Sleeping Dogs Lie is a funny and perceptive dark comedy. [ info]
Runners' High
Documentary Feature Competition
Screening Info: 9:15pm October 23rd at Arbor
Regional Premiere. The Toronto Star says, "It's pure inspiration every step of the way." The SF Bay Guardian raves, "Inspirational Sports Movies are hard to beat and this one is particularly potent." When teenagers from one of the nation’s toughest neighborhoods in Oakland, California sign up to train for a marathon, they begin the journey of a lifetime. Runners High is an intimate, character-driven documentary of struggle, courage, and hope. During a season filled with conflict and possibility, four of these teens bare their dreams, joys, tears, and fears. As several stumble under pressure in emotionally charged moments, others realize the journey begins with the power and commitment to accept responsibility for their own futures. [ info] 6
Sounds of Silence
Documentary Feature Competition
Screening Info: 9:15pm October 23rd at Hideout
Regional Premiere. Hidden beneath the alarming headlines from a totalitarian regime lies a bustling culture desperate for recognition at home as well as in the eyes of the wider world. This documentary offers a view inside Tehran and its burgeoning pop music scene through the eyes of young musicians and their followers. It salutes their ongoing struggle with the Iranian government’s Ministry of Islamic Guidance, Ershad, which meticulously scrutinizes and sometimes censors all forms of art. The film shows the delicate balance in these young musicians’ lives between their musical endeavors and the rocky path in store for them as progress and conservative traditionalism clash in modern Tehran. [ info]
The Land of Shadowed Sand
Austin Screens
Screening Info: 9:30pm October 23rd at Alamo Lake Creek
World Premiere The Korean War has just ended, and a young soldier named Frank returns home to follow up with his friend Louis about a job offer. Upon arriving, Frank finds the position has dried up, just like Louis' relationship with his boss, Ruby, the local crime lord. As Frank is drawn into Louis' world, he finds there may be more to lose in Ruby's desert than an occupation. Taking the film noir style and dropping it into the western landscape of Texas, Hice uses stunning visuals to create a unique Cold War crime film. [ info]
Narrative Feature Competition Winner
Narrative Feature Competition
Screening Info: 9:30pm October 23rd at Dobie
The winner of the Narrative Feature Competition will screen in this slot. [ info]
The Book of the Dead
Special Presentation
Screening Info: 9:45pm October 23rd at IMAX
Heavily influenced by the traditional aesthetics of Noh, Bunraku doll theatre and Kabuki, Kihachiro Kawamoto’s haunting puppet animations have won numerous prizes internationally. The Book of the Dead is Kawamoto’s second feature length stop motion puppet animation and intertwines two poetic stories in ancient Japan. When a young noblewoman falls into a trance after copying Buddhist sutras and walks to a remote a temple that women are forbidden to enter, she stirs up the ghost of the executed Prince Otsu. Otsu’s ghost then mistakes Iratsume for one of her ancestors, a young woman who came to watch the execution. The beautiful face of this young woman was the last thing the Prince saw before he died, and his ghost cannot rest while her face haunts his sleep. [ info]