Once again demonstrating that this is a great city for film lovers, The 14th annual Cine Las Americas Film Festival begins on Thursday. Over 100 films have been selected to participate, and they represent the best emerging voices in Latin American film. more ›

There's a lot going on in Austin's food scene this month, but sometimes events do seem to have a unique twist to them. If you've ever considered asking actor Edward Burns a question, like perhaps "how does one manage to win the Sundance Film Festival, convince Tom Petty to soundtrack your ideas, and marry Christy Turlington?", then this may be the evening to get your answer. Burns, The Blind Side director John Lee Hancock, and Braveheart screenwriter Randall Wallace will all appear as featured guests at the Austin Film Festival's 8th Annual Film + Food next Wednesday at the Driskill Hotel.

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Channeling intense volunteer passion, subtly opening conservative minds, and standing up to the occasional pesky picketing threat — all in a day's work for Jake H. Gonzales, Programs Director of the Austin Gay and Lesbian International Film Festival (aGLIFF). While the act of wading through a preposterous amount of films and contacts would be enough to make us feel that we had the right to walk around slapping...anyone, Jake exudes a most understanding and calm energy that—to us—seems like an incredible feat when you're one week away from launching a film festival. Although we would have liked to have spent the interview trying to find a way to bottle that energy for ourselves (muah ha ha), asking a few questions involving the diverse lineup of films and events aGLIFF 23 is bringing our way September 7th-12th seemed like the more pertinent thing to do. We convened at Cherrywood Coffeehouse to discuss unforgettable yodelers, angry transwomen, and why it's so damn hard to get people to heart the documentaries like we do. We then forced Jake to play a LGBTQI Pop Culture Thought Game with us. Like we said, really understanding energy. more ›

This weekend Art Outside will bring two film festival programs to the Austin-ish area, much to the satisfaction of the city's rabid film fanatics. Be sure to check out the schedule of other events going on and purchase tickets! more ›

The third wave of content for Fantastic Fest was recently announced, and it totally rocks. That's especially true if you dig vampires, ninjas and super scary stories about spooky things. We couldn’t be more enthused about the programming if we’d been abducted by an alien ship and had the special "Fantastic Fest souvenir mind control device" implanted in our brains. more ›

If there's one thing that will bring the boys (and girls) to the yard, it's a good dance party that follows a night of thought provoking art cinema. Of course, it's smart to throw in a drink special for good measure. Tonight, Homoscope, an international queer short cinema event, will do just that at Artseen Alliance, with all benefits going to support the arts programs at ALLGO, a statewide organization for queer people of color. more ›

Kicking off this Wednesday with Bikes Rock at the Parish La Zona Rosa, the 9th Annual BFF will skid into Austin for five days of bike-centric love, including art shows, after-parties, bike polo and, of course, films about bikes and the people that love to ride them. Luckily, we got the chance to exchange emails with Brendt Barbur, the founding director of the Bicycle Film Festival, about why this festival is important, the culture of cycling and, oddly enough, fashion. more ›

This weekend Austin will play host to the first ever film festival for non-profit and cause-driven organizations. Lights. Camera. Help. received submissions from over 140 groups and selected nineteen finalist to be screened this Friday and Saturday. Of these films, one will win the Lights. Camera. Help. Judge's Prize which comprises all the proceeds from ticket sales and donations collected during the festival. Lights. Camera. Help. co-founder Aaron Bramely answered some questions for us about non-profit organizations, new technology, and this weekend's festival. more ›

Austin may be the Live Music Capital of the World, but it’s known for more than just that. For years now, great filmmakers are poking their heads out of the crowds and displaying a talent for visual storytelling that isn’t often seen so far away from either coast. Why, we can barely walk down the street without crossing in front of a tiny DV camera and accidentally becoming an extra in somebody’s thesis flick, or some band’s documentary. So it’s no wonder that the third annual Austin Underground Film Festival’s call for submissions should bring in a lot of local talent. more ›

Tonight, the Cine Las Americas International Film Festival will kick off its 11th edition with a reception and screening at the Paramount Theatre, followed by an after-party at the Mexic-Arte Museum on Congress (where there'll be appetizers, drinks and music). The program this year looks amazing--in all, the festival will screen eighty-two films from eighteen countries in a wide range of genres, including drama, documentary, experimental, animation, film noir, thriller, comedy and fantasy. And, of course, all of the films are made by or about Latino and indigenous people of the Americas. more ›

We can't stress enough how great B-Side is. And besides being a handy planning tool, it's also a go-to spot for festival buzz and audience feedback. If you're not quite sure about a particular title, you can check out the ratings and reviews before you commit to it. Word? Word. more ›

RSO [Registered Sex Offender], follows the unenviable life of one ex-convict, played by newbie Gabriel McIver, who must reintegrate into a world that has indefinitely deemed him a social leper. He must deal with all of the minutiae that all of these other sad, pitiful, white males that we love to capture on film must deal with, but with the dark cloud of criminal damnation hovering somewhere just above his brow, to humorous effect. We don't know what he did (just yet) but we are guessing that, in his case, the punishment and repulsion may not fit the crime. more ›

Harmony Korine's Mister Lonely follows the adventures of an American Michael Jackson impersonator (Diego Luna) who meets a charming Marilyn Monroe impersonator (Samantha Morton) on the streets of Paris. Together, they travel to a commune populated exclusively by celebrity impersonators--a Neverlandesque place where everyone is famous, and the spotlight never fades. more ›

At a time when so many indie dramas focus on directionless white twenty-somethings, it's refreshing (if not downright invigorating) to see a film about two black twenty-somethings who have no ostensible interest in dancefighting, and who have plenty to say about relationships, identity, and cultural displacement. more ›

In Intimidad, documentarians Ashley Sabin and David Redmon follow the lives of Cecy and Camilo, a young couple living in Reynosa, Mexico. Cecy and Camilo both work for minimum wage in maquiladoras, trying to save money to buy land, build themselves a house, and bring their daughter Loida back to live with them. more ›

Has the media attention around "Mumblecore" ultimately been a positive or negative thing for the Festival and the filmmakers? more ›

Of all the documentaries premiering at this year’s South by Southwest Film Festival, we’re probably most excited about seeing Second Skin, an up close and personal look at the lives of seven MMORPG (Massively multiplayer online role-playing game) players and the fictional worlds they inhabit. We recently had a chance to chat with the film’s Texas-born producer, Victor Piñeiro, about video games, social networks, and getting away with murder in a virtual world. more ›

So, we know that there is some other film awards show going on this weekend that involves statues and crimson carpets and such, but how many nominees can claim Austin as their hometown? None that we can think of, which is what makes the Film Independent's Spirit Awards a bazillion times more interesting to us than the stodgy old Oscars! more ›

If you love booze and cinema, well, have we got a deal for you. Cine Las Americas, Austin's own multicultural, non-profit media arts center, will be holding Chicha 56, a combo happy hour and after party fundraiser to benefit this year's programming. The event comes a mere 56 days before the Cine Las Americas International Film Festival kicks off. more ›

Bust out your day planner, or your spreadsheet, or your Google Calendar, or whatever the hell you use to organize your life--the full schedule for the SXSW Film Festival has been released, including all features, docs, shorts and panels. more ›

Spiral follows a lonely, nerdy telemarketer who sketches portraits as a hobby. But when he begins sketching a hot new ladyfriend (Amber Tamblyn), shocking secrets from his past begin to emerge. If the reviews on the Fantastic Fest B-Side site are any indication, it's quite good. more ›

With 113 new feature films, 64 of those being world premiers, there is truly something for every level of film appreciator. Some of the films that have received early buzz include American Teen, Full Battle Rattle, Baghead, Choke , Shine A Light and the closing night film, Young@Heart, which we absolutely can not wait to see because, seriously, who doesn't love watching old people rock out? Adorable! more ›

They're looking for submissions under five minutes long that "must include a storyline containing the concept of an underdog or be a mock ad, and must include a reference to Dogfish Head in the script or have Dogfish Head product placement in the film." High-minded cinéastes offended by product placement, sit down: that $2,000 prize for first place will buy you a brand-new copy of Final Cut Pro with plenty of change left over for whatever, and you'll also receive a toothsome pile of Dogfish Head goods. Submissions should be postmarked by February 15th (click the link and scroll down to download the entry form from the Dogfish Head site.) As always, expect the Alamo Drafthouse to foster just the right environment in which to fully enjoy the festival--they'll be screening various beer-related films and serving "beer dinners." more ›

On Thursday night, the Austin Film Festival will make you wonder what you would do for a joy ride as they bring us Blood Car, one of the surprise hits of the 2007 fest. Based in the not-so-distant future, where gas prices are over $30 a gallon and everyone's new mode of transportation involves Rollerblades, vegan kindergarten teacher Archie discovers that the future of the combustion engine may not lie in fields of green, but in pools of blood. more ›

MovieMaker Magazine has just named Austin the "Number One City to Live, Work and Make Movies". This is the seventh year in a row that Austin has placed in the top three, and the second time we've been numero uno (unseating longtime fave New York City, which slipped all the way down to #4 this year). more ›

David Berman, the head honcho behind the massively influential Silver Jews, made a turnaround these past couple of years that has both shocked and delighted his many loyal fans. While Berman became renowned through Silver Jews releases like The Natural Bridge and American Water, not to mention a turn at poetry with 1999’s Actual Air, he more recently experienced a religious rebirth and crawled out of his “hell-hole life,” as he described it, discovering an only hinted-at passion for Judaism as well as a renewed appreciation for everyday life. more ›

As we waited for our feature presentation at the Drafthouse over the weekend, we laughed at the trailer above. The film is titled Teeth and it doesn't take long to figure out that the pearly whites they refer to aren't found in the mouth, but in a curious teenager's "vajajay". more ›

Any publicity is good publicity. Such is the case with Director Brian De Palma's newest controversy du jour, Redacted, which will see a limited run at the Alamo Downtown starting this evening. This film has garnered both praise and outrage from a varied panel of critics, earning the Silver Lion at the Venice Film Festival for De Palma and the scorn of conservative pundit Bill O'Reilly and the Boycott Redacted crew. more ›

Walk Hard Moive PosterAfter a much deserved break, the folks at the Austin Film Festival will resume their fantastic year-round screening series next week, beginning on Wednesday with a sneak peek at Marc Forster's adaptation of The Kite Runner, which will see a limited release on December 14th after much controversy about the film's effect on its young stars. On Friday evening, AFF will also present an advance screening of the new Judd Apatow /... more ›

Photo from ImageAfter Starting today, we'll be publishing a weekly roundup of various arts & entertainment news that we've come across. Most of these developments, whether national or international, have a direct relationship with something local, whether it be an organization, individual, or our collective culture. In any case, it's a nice chance to broaden our world view -- a definite bonus (or necessity, some might argue) for a city that revels in creativity! --... more ›