Austin Film Festival Unveils Full Slate Of Programming – Update

UPDATE: October 1, 2020: The Austin Film Festival & Writers Conference (AFF), has unveiled their full schedule for its 27th annual Festival which takes place October 22-29.

Marquee selections include the US Premiere of Dave Not Coming Back, which chronicles the 283-meter cave dive of friends Don and Dave, who find a dead body after breaking a world record. Also joining the fest's slate is Golden Arm directed by Maureen Bharoocha and written by Ann Marie Allison and Jenna Milly.

The annual Writers Conference, which takes October 22-26 will feature conversations with Gina Prince Bythewood, writer and director of Netflix's The Old Guard and writer and director of Love & Basketball, as well as Alec Berg and Bill Hader creators of the Emmy award-winning series Barry.

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The program will also include the world premiere of Felipe Mucci's Two Deaths of Henry Baker, Kazem Mollaie's The Badger and Justin Etheredge's Good. Other world premiere titles include the Marshall Cook-directed comedy Film Fest, Chelsea McEvoy's documentary Re-Inventing The Wheel.

On the international side, the program will feature Time for Love, Standard, The Blue Orchid, The Eagle's Nest and ALE. The festival will also showcase other World Premieres highlighting Texas productions and talent including Hard Luck Love Song and Queens of Pain.

The Conference will include conversations with Gillian Flynn, John Logan, Kevin Willmott, Paul Feig, Prentice Penny, Scott Frank, Tracey Scott Wilson, Ed Solomon, Leslye Headland, Rolin Jones, and Emily V. Gordon.

Check out the full schedule here.

PREVIOUS: EXCLUSIVE: The 27th annual Austin Film Festival (AFF) has unveiled their first wave of programming for its virtual edition for the fest which takes place October 22-29.

In addition to panels, the writers-driven fest will feature the world premiere of Anne Rapp's Horton Foote: The Road to Home, which puts the spotlight on the work of the titular Oscar-winning screenwriter of the 1962 adaptation of Harper Lee's To Kill a Mockingbird. AFF will also feature world premieres from second-round writers through the Festival's Screenplay competitions, including The Catch from first-time director Matthew Ya-Hsiung Balzer as well as Paper Tiger, which also marks the directorial debut of Paul Kowalski. Khaled Ridgeway will also debut the Texas Premiere of his film Death of a Telemarketer starring Larmorne Morris, Haley Joel Osment, and Jackie Earle Haley.

AFF will spotlight Texas filmmakers with the North-American premiere of Blinders, directed by former Terrence Malick collaborator Tyler Savage and written by Savage & Dash Hawkins. Jason Neulander's Fugitive Dreams will make its U.S. debut while Will Bakke's The Get Together will bow at the fest. Ivo Raza's comedy Reboot Camp starring David Lipper, Keli Price, David Koechner, Maya Stojan, Ed Begley Jr., Lindsey Shaw, Chaz Bono, Eric Roberts, and Ja Rule will make its debut while Aldo Miyashiro's Wake Show and Kathy Kuras's Open Field will bow at the fest.

In addition to the screenings, the fest will included the 2020 Writers Conference that will feature panels with Tanya Barfield (Ms. America), Paul Feig (Last Christmas, Bridesmaids), Scott Frank (Get Shorty, Godless), John Logan (Penny Dreadful, Skyfall, Gladiator), Gina Prince Bythewood (The Old Guard, Love & Basketball), Kevin Willmott (BlacKkKlansman, Da 5 Bloods) and Tracey Scott Wilson (Respect).

The complete list of programming will be announced in late September. Read summaries of the films in the first wave below.

Blinders
North-American Premiere
Director: Tyler Savage
Writers: Tyler Savage & Dash Hawkins
In the wake of a messy break-up, Andy Escobedo decides to start fresh, relocating from Austin to Los Angeles. Eager to make new connections, he befriends Roger, an unusual rideshare driver. But when Roger's behavior gets too strange for comfort, Andy blows him off, choosing to focus on a budding relationship with Sam. This unhinges Roger, who begins to torment Andy, ensuring that his stay in L.A. is short-lived.

Death of a Telemarketer
Texas Premiere
Writer/Director: Khaled Ridgeway
When a smooth-talking Telemarketer preys upon the seemingly perfect mark, he must pass a twisted test on ethics if he wants to live to sell another day.

Fugitive Dreams
US Premiere
Writer/Director: Jason Neulander
In this allegorical road movie touching on themes of homelessness, mental health, and addiction, two lost souls embark across a dreamscape America. Their darkly strange journey confronts them with their traumatic pasts, and bonds them in compassion and love.

Horton Foote: The Road To Home
World Premiere
Director: Anne Rapp
Horton Foote: The Road To Home is a documentary that chronicles the creative journey of acclaimed Texas writer Horton Foote through his own eyes and voice at the end of his life. Foote, who was born and raised in Wharton, Texas, went on to become a Pulitzer Prize winning playwright, the winner of two Academy Awards for screenwriting, an Emmy Award for television writing, and was recipient of the National Medal of Arts among numerous other theatrical and literary prizes. His long and successful 70- year career of writing consisted primarily of stories set in the small town of Harrison, Texas, a fictitious version of Wharton. Horton was known for his delicate yet deeply-layered and profound storytelling— about family, human connections, struggles, resilience and redemption.

Open Field
World Premiere
Director: Kathy Kuras
She plays by NFL rules in NFL stadiums. She wins world championships. She's at the top of her game. What does she have to do to level the playing field?

Paper Tiger
World Premiere
Writer/Director: Paul Kowalski
A widowed immigrant mother in LA fears her schizophrenic teenaged son is turning into a school shooter. Inspired by true events, Paper Tiger unfolds as a timely conversation about gun violence, mental illness and immigration; it also plays as a riveting psychological thriller, showcasing Paul Kowalski's feature debut as a crafted and cinematic roller coaster.

Reboot Camp
World Premiere
Writer/Director: Ivo Raza
After losing his life savings and his wife to a self-help guru, Seymour is on a mission to expose false prophets who fleece people for money. He teams up with his brother Danny, a filmmaker, and they start a fake self-improvement group called Reboot Camp. While Seymour transforms into the charismatic Gordon St. Pierre, a larger than life persona who teaches a path to bliss through a process called "rebooting," Danny films. They succeed handsomely as even the most ludicrous group activities are met with unbridled enthusiasm from the members. But as Reboot Camp grows, Seymour and Danny must request additional funds from the producer, who pushes them to hire his niece Claire to supervise.

The Catch
World Premiere
Writer/Director: Matthew Ya-Hsiung Balzer
A troubled woman returns to her estranged family in coastal Maine. With her lobsterman father caught up in a turf war at sea, she and an ex-boyfriend make plans to hijack local drug runners.

The Get Together
World Premiere
Director: Will Bakke
Writers: Will Bakke & Michael B. Allen
A recent college post-grad, a soon-to-possibly-be-engaged couple, and a failing musician all deal with the realities of growing up as their three stories intersect over the course of one night at a house party in Austin.

Wake Show
World Premiere
Writer/Director: Aldo Miyashiro
Leonardo Oviedo is an ambitious theatre director, whose plays haven't accomplished the success he dreamt of. Seeking for some recognition, he decides to write a play for four characters; a one- performance only, where all actors have to die onstage. On that matter, he casts an old has-been actor, who is an alcoholic, an overweight actress, an endearing and intellectually disabled boy, and a black actor, who has only been cast for the color of his skin. The play brings on a media hype never seen before, is an instant success and everyone is eager for the opening night. With defenders and detractors, the whole country talks about Leonardo Oviedo, and he will be willing to get to the very end, to fulfill this sickening artistic ideal.

Source: deadline.com