Film News

BY JOE O'CONNELL

Nichols Shoots and Scores

Count Jeff Nichols as the next hot Austin filmmaker. His Shotgun
Stories, the tale of a feud between two sets of half-brothers after the
death of their father, received the Narrative Feature Jury Award at the
Austin Film Festival, which rates him not only a cash prize but an
additional screening at 7:15pm, Thursday, Oct. 18. If you're reading
this in time, rush to the Alamo Drafthouse Lake Creek, and see what all
the fuss is about. And for the full list of AFF award winners, go to
www.austinfilmfestival.com.

Tennis, Anyone?

Is Austin cornering the market on tennis films? First there was Gary the
Tennis Coach; now word is that Pras of the Fugees may come to town to
star in the film 40 Love, a low-budget comedy about what happens when a
hip, young tennis star gets hired as a country-club pro and gets locked
in competition with the club's older tennis pro while courting the older
guy's daughter. Production offices recently opened with a 30-day shoot
expected to commence Nov. 5. Former Daily Texan entertainment writer
Weezie Melancon directs.

Screens? We Got Your Screens

Cinemark is opening not one but two new multi-screen theatres in the
Austin area this month. A 12-screen theatre opens Friday in the 1890
Ranch Shopping Center in Cedar Park; a 14-screen theatre opens on
Highway 71 in Bee Cave on Oct. 26. Both venues include stadium seating.

Who's Your NAMAC Daddy?

The National Alliance for Media Arts and Culture is conducting its next
conference in Austin from Oct. 17 to 20 with keynote addresses by
filmmaker Richard Linklater, al Jazeera English's Jean Garner, and the
21st Century Project's Gary Chapman. The conference is being spearheaded
locally by the Austin School of Film @ Motion Media Arts Center in
conjunction with NAMAC and the Austin Media Arts Council. Expect lots of
cool screenings, music, deep thought, and frivolity. Linklater is
curating a program of film shorts for a very special edition of the
Alamo Drafthouse Rolling Roadshow at the Salt Lick. More information at
www.namac.org.

And the Rest ...

Is Fireflies in the Garden doing some local reshoots? Either that or
Willem Dafoe, who joined Julia Roberts in the film's cast when it shot
here earlier this year, just likes to shop at Whole Foods, where he was
spotted more than once last week... Bob Ray's Roller Derby doc, Hell on
Wheels, screens Friday at the CMJ Music Marathon & Film Festival in New
York City... The soundtrack to Austin-shot Flatland: The Movie, with
music by Kazimir Boyle, is out and available through CDBaby.com.
Downloads are also available through iTunes and DigStation.com. A
special educator edition can be purchased at FlatlandTheMovie.com...
Already a Telly Award winner, Sniper '66, a doc about the Charles
Whitman murders at the University of Texas Tower is now nominated for a
Long Star Emmy. Filmmaker Whitney Milam, a public-history grad student
at Texas State, is now at work on a film about the French legation that
was commissioned by the Daughters of the Republic of Texas.

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As we were going to press, the Alamo Draft-house Cinema announced the
grand opening of its Ritz venue (320 E. Sixth) taking place Nov. 1. For
more information, see www.originalalamo.com and upcoming issues of the
Chronicle.