The Austin Film Festival has announced its preliminary slate of films for this year’s edition of the festival. Mike Binder’s “Black and White,” which will premiere at the Toronto International Film Festival next month, will be featured as the festival’s centerpiece film. Other notable titles include the world premiere of the highly-anticipated documentary “21 Years: Richard Linklater,” the Tommy Lee Jones-directed frontier drama “The Homesman” and James Franco’s “The Sound and the Fury.”
For the full list of films announced so far, as well as the talent that is currently confirmed to be in attendance, see below. The 21st Annual Austin Film Festival will take place October 23-30.
“Black and White” – CENTERPIECE FILM
Writer/Director: Mike Binder (In attendance)
Cast in attendance: Jillian Estell
Starring Academy Award-winners Kevin Costner and Octavia Spencer, Black and White is the story of a widowed grandfather (Costner) who is left to raise his bi-racial granddaughter. When the little girl’s paternal grandmother (Spencer) seeks custody, a bitter legal battle ensues that forces the uneasy family members to have an honest conversation about life, death, anger and America’s racial divide. Also starring Anthony Mackie, Jennifer Ehle, Gillian Jacobs, Bill Burr, Andre Holland, and introducing Jillian Estell.
“21 Years: Richard Linklater” – World Premiere
Director: Michael Dunaway, Tara Wood (In attendance)
A spirited look at the first 21 years of writer/director Richard Linklater’s remarkable career, featuring interviews with collaborators Matthew McConaughey, Ethan Hawke, Julie Delpy, Billy Bob Thornton, Keanu Reeves, Jack Black, and more.
Director: Michael Dunaway, Tara Wood (In attendance)
A spirited look at the first 21 years of writer/director Richard Linklater’s remarkable career, featuring interviews with collaborators Matthew McConaughey, Ethan Hawke, Julie Delpy, Billy Bob Thornton, Keanu Reeves, Jack Black, and more.
“7 Minutes” – World Premiere
Writer/Director: Jay Martin (In attendance)
Cast in attendance: Luke Mitchell, Leven Rambin
Three former high-school friends are forced to commit a brazen robbery that quickly goes horribly wrong. Featuring a cast of Kris Kristofferson, Luke Mitchell, Jason Ritter, and Leven Rambin.
Writer/Director: Jay Martin (In attendance)
Cast in attendance: Luke Mitchell, Leven Rambin
Three former high-school friends are forced to commit a brazen robbery that quickly goes horribly wrong. Featuring a cast of Kris Kristofferson, Luke Mitchell, Jason Ritter, and Leven Rambin.
“Dawn Patrol” – World Premiere
Writer: Rachel Long, Brian Pittman (In attendance)
Director: Daniel Petrie Jr. (In attendance)
Cast and Crew in attendance: Scott Eastwood, Rita Wilson, Jeff Fahey, Chris Brochu, Kim Matula, Dendrie Taylor, Matt Meola, Rick Dugdale
A surfer-turned-Marine (Scott Eastwood) held at gunpoint tells his tragic story of revenge-gone-wrong to stall his execution. With the screenplay originating out of Austin Film Festival’s 2008 Screenplay Competition, Dawn Patrol (formerly Stranded) was acquired by Dan Petrie Jr and Rick Dugdale at Enderby Entertainment and makes its way back to Texas this October for its World Premiere.
Writer: Rachel Long, Brian Pittman (In attendance)
Director: Daniel Petrie Jr. (In attendance)
Cast and Crew in attendance: Scott Eastwood, Rita Wilson, Jeff Fahey, Chris Brochu, Kim Matula, Dendrie Taylor, Matt Meola, Rick Dugdale
A surfer-turned-Marine (Scott Eastwood) held at gunpoint tells his tragic story of revenge-gone-wrong to stall his execution. With the screenplay originating out of Austin Film Festival’s 2008 Screenplay Competition, Dawn Patrol (formerly Stranded) was acquired by Dan Petrie Jr and Rick Dugdale at Enderby Entertainment and makes its way back to Texas this October for its World Premiere.
“One-Eyed Girl” – World Premiere
Writer: Craig Behenna, Nick Matthews (In attendance)
Director: Nick Matthews
Cast in attendance: Mark Leonard Winter, Tilda Cobham-Hervey
A psychiatrist haunted by the death of a former patient stumbles upon a Doomsday cult and battles to save a teenage girl (Cobham-Hervey) from its clutches.
Writer: Craig Behenna, Nick Matthews (In attendance)
Director: Nick Matthews
Cast in attendance: Mark Leonard Winter, Tilda Cobham-Hervey
A psychiatrist haunted by the death of a former patient stumbles upon a Doomsday cult and battles to save a teenage girl (Cobham-Hervey) from its clutches.“The Homesman” – Texas Premiere
Writer: Tommy Lee Jones, Wesley A. Oliver, Kieran Fitzgerald
Director: Tommy Lee Jones
When three women living on the edge of the American frontier are driven to the brink, the task of saving them from their surroundings falls to the pious, independent-minded Mary Bee Cuddy (Hilary Swank). Transporting the women by covered wagon to Iowa, she soon realizes just how daunting the journey will be, and employs a feisty low-life drifter, George Biggs (Tommy Lee Jones), to join her. The unlikely pair and the three women head east, where a waiting minister and his wife (Meryl Streep) have offered to take the women in. But the group first must traverse the harsh Nebraska Territories marked by stark beauty, psychological peril and constant threat.
Writer: Tommy Lee Jones, Wesley A. Oliver, Kieran Fitzgerald
Director: Tommy Lee Jones
When three women living on the edge of the American frontier are driven to the brink, the task of saving them from their surroundings falls to the pious, independent-minded Mary Bee Cuddy (Hilary Swank). Transporting the women by covered wagon to Iowa, she soon realizes just how daunting the journey will be, and employs a feisty low-life drifter, George Biggs (Tommy Lee Jones), to join her. The unlikely pair and the three women head east, where a waiting minister and his wife (Meryl Streep) have offered to take the women in. But the group first must traverse the harsh Nebraska Territories marked by stark beauty, psychological peril and constant threat.
“The Imitation Game” – Texas Premiere
Writer: Graham Moore
Director: Morten Tyldum
Benedict Cumberbatch stars as Alan Turing, the genius British mathematician, logician, cryptologist and computer scientist who led the charge to crack the German Enigma Code that helped the Allies win WWII. Turing went on to assist with the development of computers at the University of Manchester after the war, but was prosecuted by the UK government in 1952 for homosexual acts which the country deemed illegal.
Writer: Graham Moore
Director: Morten Tyldum
Benedict Cumberbatch stars as Alan Turing, the genius British mathematician, logician, cryptologist and computer scientist who led the charge to crack the German Enigma Code that helped the Allies win WWII. Turing went on to assist with the development of computers at the University of Manchester after the war, but was prosecuted by the UK government in 1952 for homosexual acts which the country deemed illegal.
“The Sound and the Fury” – Texas Premiere
Writer: Matt Rager, William Faulkner (Novel)
Director: James Franco
Directed by and starring Academy Award® nominee James Franco, The Sound and The Fury captures the lives and passions of the Compsons, a once proud Southern family caught in a tragic spiral of loss and misfortune. Based on the novel by Noble Prize winner author William Faulkner and considered among the 20th century’s greatest works, The Sound and the Fury encapsulates the universal theme of the death of honor, social injustice and forbidden love.
Writer: Matt Rager, William Faulkner (Novel)
Director: James Franco
Directed by and starring Academy Award® nominee James Franco, The Sound and The Fury captures the lives and passions of the Compsons, a once proud Southern family caught in a tragic spiral of loss and misfortune. Based on the novel by Noble Prize winner author William Faulkner and considered among the 20th century’s greatest works, The Sound and the Fury encapsulates the universal theme of the death of honor, social injustice and forbidden love.
“The Texas Promise” – World Premiere
Director: Vanessa Roth (In attendance)
From Academy-Award ® winning documentarian, Vanessa Roth, The Texas Promise is the gripping story of equity, politics, money, and our children as historic decisions are being made about opportunity, the economy, and our democracy. When the Texas legislature cut $5.4 billion from public schools, it affected the daily lives of the 5 million students in Texas public schools and made Texas 49th in the country in per pupil spending. Texans took to the streets in protest, districts from across Texas sued the state, and ideological battle lines were drawn in Austin.
Director: Vanessa Roth (In attendance)
From Academy-Award ® winning documentarian, Vanessa Roth, The Texas Promise is the gripping story of equity, politics, money, and our children as historic decisions are being made about opportunity, the economy, and our democracy. When the Texas legislature cut $5.4 billion from public schools, it affected the daily lives of the 5 million students in Texas public schools and made Texas 49th in the country in per pupil spending. Texans took to the streets in protest, districts from across Texas sued the state, and ideological battle lines were drawn in Austin.
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