AFF Daily Schedule: Wednesday

ABDUCTION: The Megumi Yokota Story
Documentary Feature Competition
Screening Info: 7:00 PM October 25th at IMAX
Regional Premiere. Japan, 1977 - A dark, lonely road leads to the windswept shores. This is the remarkable story of a 13-year-old Japanese girl abducted on her way home from school by North Korean spies. Her parents had no idea what had happened to her or if she was even alive for 20 years. Then one day the whole world learned the shocking truth. This is an extraordinary tale of mystery, intrigue, and most of all love. The film is told through the eyes of the girl's mother and father, who have been searching for their daughter for nearly 30 years. The film begins with the day Megumi vanishes and traces the astonishing course of this personal tragedy, as it becomes a battle between two nations rising to a shocking climax. [ info]
Solo Dios Sabe
International Showcase: Mexico
Screening Info: 7:00 PM October 25th at Paramount
Solo Dios Sabe (Only God Knows), a film by Carlos Bolado starring Diego Luna and Alicia Braga, is the dramatic story of a young Brazilian woman who discovers her destiny within a mysterious spiritual tradition. As she travels across Mexico and returns to her native Brazil, she falls in love with a young Mexican journalist and struggles with more wrenching choices. [info]
A Lobster Tale
Narrative Feature Competition
Screening Info: 7:15 PM October 25th at Arbor
World Premiere. In a small Maine fishing town, struggling lobster fisherman Cody Brewer discovers a mysterious sea moss in one of his traps. Tension in the already-fragile Brewer family erupts when the supernatural quality of the moss is revealed. The moss seems like the answer to the Brewer family’s problems, but only after it’s affected everyone in town. Despite its magical elements, the film’s strong story remains grounded in its infinitely believable representation of a town of simple fisherman presented with an amazing discovery. [info]

Run Robot Run!

Screening Info: 7:15pm October 25th at Hideout
World Premiere. In the not-too-distant future, Kent Weston’s regimented life is altered when he is replaced at work by an all-too-real robot named Adam. Not only does Adam assume Kent’s job, but he also steals the object of Kent’s affection. With the help of his coworker buddy at the dream factory, Kent sets out to expose Adam as a robot and win back the girl. From a completely original script by O’Connor, Run Robot Run delivers strong comic performances and breathes new life into the ever-popular human-robot-human love triangle genre. [info]
Total Denial
Documentary Feature Competition
Screening Info: 7:15 PM October 25th at Dobie
Regional Premiere. Total Denial is the story of a historic lawsuit: 14 plaintiffs who’ve never left the Burmese jungle go head-to-head with two corporate giants for human rights abuses in U.S. courts. Two Western oil companies, French TOTAL and UNOCAL, then based in California, embark on a joint venture with the Burmese military regime to build a gas pipeline. The Burmese army, hired by the companies to provide security for the project, forces many in the local population into slave labor. Burned villages, raped women, tortured and killed porters, and hundreds of thousands of men, women, and children hiding in the jungle present a picture of a silent genocide. The outcome of this case will affect the behavior of companies worldwide. [info]
Special
Narrative Feature Competition
Screening Info: 7:30 PM October 25th at Alamo Lake Creek
Regional Premiere. A very select group of people is truly gifted. Special is a movie about everyone else. Les Franken leads a painfully unremarkable life as a meter maid until he enrolls in a drug study for an experimental antidepressant. An unexpected side effect of the drug convinces Les he is developing special powers and must quit his job to answer his new calling in life: to save the world. [info]
Noriko's Dinner Table
TerrorVision
Screening Info: 9:00 PM October 25th at IMAX
Regional Premiere. Noriko's Dinner Table is Japanese filmmaker Sion Sono's semi-sequel to his 2001 cult hit Suicide Club. Leaving behind its predecessor's horror film structure for a more personal dramatic approach, Noriko shows the same world, connected by the events surrounding the suicide circle and the mysterious Haikyo.com, but from a more interior perspective -- and presents us with enigmas even more seductively intriguing. Shot through with subtle humor and cutting social satire, Noriko's Dinner Table is the work of an important emerging talent in international cinema, and a refreshing break from a cinema that is increasingly superficial, self-reflexive and almost completely removed from actual human life and experience. Eschewing pure escapism, Sion Sono has constructed an intricate puzzle box of a film whose purpose seems to be to call into question the structures within which we exist so that we may better see whether or not we are truly related to ourselves. [info]
Pirate Radio U.S.A.
Documentary Feature Competition
Screening Info: 9:15 PM October 25th at Hideout
Regional Premiere. Pirate Radio U.S.A. is a look at the underground world of illegal radio stations, where people play and say what they want until the FCC catches them. DJs Him and Her host a live pirate radio show that is the narrative heart of Pirate Radio U.S.A. Watch as they microcast their story live, taking you on a rock ‘n’ roll journey across the nation. Go inside rogue radio stations and see why some Americans fight for freedom of the radio airwaves. It's not illegal to listen or watch. [info]
Sangre
International Showcase: Mexico
Screening Info: 9:20 PM October 25th at Arbor
Diego's job is counting people as they enter a government building. After work, he and his wife Blanca lie down on the couch, watch soap operas, or make love on the kitchen table. Blanca is extremely jealous, and their relationship is based on having sex, watching TV, and fighting, until one day their routine is interrupted. Karina, Diego's daughter from a previous marriage, arrives in his life in search of love, but Blanca refuses to accept her. Diego finds himself caught between a jealous wife and a daughter in desperate need of guidance. An astonishing climax will lead Diego to lose control. [info]
Military Intelligence and You
Narrative Feature Competition
Screening Info: 9:30 PM October 25th at Dobie
World Premiere. A biting satire in the guise of a WWII military training film, Military Intelligence and You teaches us how Intelligence distinguishes dangerous enemies from merely annoying foreigners. By following Major Nick Reed, a military analyst determined to locate a secret Nazi base, new recruits learn why accurate intelligence is so important at times of war. After all, “What kind of nation would we be if we just went around sending in the troops just because we thought something might be there?” Using clips from actual military training films, Kutzera creates a highly original film with dead-on performances, a witty script, and a strong eye for detail. [info]
American Stag
Special Presentations
Screening Info: 9:40 PM October 25th at Alamo Lake Creek
Regional Premiere. From the birth of cinema through the 1960s in the United States, most pornographic films were brief, black and white, anonymously produced films known as 'stag films', 'blue movies', or 'smokers,' so called because of the smoke-filled rooms where men would gather for private screenings. This film examines the 'stag' film not as much for the subject matter or lack of production value, but as a metaphor and reflection of American popular culture. Featuring interviews with Adam Carolla, Melvin Van Peebles, Tommy Chong, Barbara Hammer, Linda Williams, Chris Gore, David Skal, and Rupert Jee. [info]
Chronicle of an Escape
Special Presentations
Screening Info: 9:45 PM October 25th at Paramount
Regional Premiere. Chronicle of an Escape is a true story of terror and survival from filmmaker Israel Adrián Caetano. A “task force” working for the fascist Argentinean military government kidnaps Claudio Tamburrini, goalkeeper of a B-league soccer team, and takes him to a clandestine detention center known as Sere Mansion, a forbidding old building in the suburban neighborhood of Moron. Claudio enters a living hell of interrogations, beatings, humiliations, and betrayals - a nightmare world of arbitrary lunatic rules and relentless violence, both mental and physical. Alongside other young detainees, he battles to survive while waiting for his fate to be decided. After four months of imprisonment, with execution looking certain, Claudio and three other prisoners make their desperate move to escape. [info]

Post a comment (Comment Policy)

Jean on Review: Brazos' Phosphorescent Blues: http://www.thestreetdate.com/brazos-phosphorescent-blues/ Brazos's new single "day Glo" is a must-hear. Download it from the Street...
Tedd on "Todd and Don Show" Coming Back to KLBJ, Entire Hot 93.3 On-Air Staff Dismissed : "Boogie, mimi and D train" That sounds made up....
Aaron on I Am So Popular: Open Letter To Jody Denberg: Maybe it is true that sometimes you don't know what you have until, well, you...
davetx on "Todd and Don Show" Coming Back to KLBJ, Entire Hot 93.3 On-Air Staff Dismissed : Wow, Shannon's fired up about this....
b on EAST Interview: Angela Hayes of Women Printmakers of Austin: so glad to know about WPA. thank you!...