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2008 Marquee Screenings

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15th Annual Austin Film Festival
2008 Marquee Screenings

Presented by Austin Film Festival

October 16-October 23, 2008

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In addition to hosting its annual screenwriters’ conference, the AFF will screen approximately 190 feature and short films including World, U.S. and Regional premieres.Festival Films are listed according to categories. Following are the Marqee Screenings. Other categories are AFF Presents…; Narrative FeatureCompetition; Documentary Feature Competition; Comedy Vanguard; Dark Matters; Target Family Film Series and Austin Screens. The Festival will also host 14 short film programs.  All films are listed with writer, director and cast information as well as a short synopsis. (Slumdog Millionaire, pictured.)

Marquee Screenings: (Venues and Times noted beside Film Titles)

“Adam Resurrected” (Germany/Israel/USA, 106 min.) • Sat, Oct 18, 06:30 PM • Paramount 
Writers: Noah Stollman
Cast: Jeff Goldblum, Willem Dafoe, Derek Jacobi, Ayelet Zurer
In the aftermath of WWII, a former circus entertainer who was spared from the gas chamber becomes the ringleader at an asylum for Holocaust survivors.

“American Swing” (USA, 81 min.) U.S. Premiere • Thu, Oct 16, 11:30PM * Alamo Drafthouse Ritz
Directors: Jon Hart, Matthew Kaufman
A documentary chronicling the rise and fall of the 1970s New York City swingers’ nightclub known as Plato’s Retreat.

“Bart Got a Room” (USA, 80 min.) Regional Premiere • Fri, Oct 17, 05:30PM • Alamo Drafthouse Ritz
Writer/Director: Brian Hecker
Cast: Williams H. Macy, Cheryl Hines, Steve Kaplan, Alia Shawkat, Jon Polito
Danny needs a prom date. Now. I mean, even Bart has one.

“Boogie Man: The Lee Atwater Story” (USA, 86 min.) Regional Premiere •  Sun, Oct 19, 09:30PM • Arbor
Director: Stefan Forbes
Featuring: Michael Dukakis, Sam Donaldson, Tom DeLay, Mary Matalin, Robert D.
A documentary about the late Lee Atwater, former head of the GOP and mentor to Karl Rove.

“Crazy” (USA, 105 min.) Regional Premiere  • Thu, Oct 16, 9:45 PM • Bob Bullock IMAX
Writers: Brent Boyd, Jason Ehlers, Rick Bieber
Director: Rick Bieber
Cast: Lane Garrison, Waylon Payne, Ali
Inspired by the life of Hank Garland, “Crazy” is the story of a legendary guitar player who emerged from Nashville in the 1950s.

“D Tour” (USA, 70 min.) Regional Premiere • Fri, Oct 17, 10:15PM • Dobie
Director: Jeremy Konner
Featuring: Jack Black, Kyle Gass, Ben Stiller, Jon Stewart
A tour documentary chronicling Tenacious D’s tour in support of their film, “The Pick of Destiny.”

“Death in Love” (USA, 97 min.) Regional Premiere • Fri, Oct 17, 08:00PM • Alamo Drafthouse Ritz
Writer/Director: Boaz Yakin
Cast: Jacqueline Bisset, Lukas Haas, Adam Brody, Josh Lucas
A Jewish woman’s love affair with the doctor in charge of human experiments in a Nazi concentration camp affects the lives of her sons many years later.

“A Good Day to Be Black & Sexy” (USA, 92 min.) Regional Premiere • Sun, Oct 19, 05:00PM • Alamo Drafthouse Ritz
Writer/Director: Dennis Dortch
Cast: Chonte Harris, Marcuis Harris, Mylika Davis, Alphonso Johnson, Emily
Several vignettes combine to create a between-the-sheets peek at black love and sexuality.

“The Great Buck Howard” (USA, 87 min.) Regional Premiere • Wed, Oct 22, 07:00PM • Paramount
Writer/Director: Sean McGinly
Cast: Colin Hanks, John Malkovich, Ricky Jay, Griffin Dunne, Tom Hanks, Emily Blunt
A young man, much to the chagrin of his father, becomes the new assistant to an illusionist in decline.

“Happy-Go-Lucky” (UK, 118 min.) Regional Premiere • Fri, Oct 17, 07:00PM • Arbor
Writer/Director: Mike Leigh
Cast: Sally Hawkins, Alexis Zegerman, Eddie Marsan
Just how hard is it to be happy? In this new comedy from director Mike Leigh, an irrepressibly free-spirited schoolteacher brings an infectious laugh and an unsinkable sense of optimism to every situation she encounters.

“How to Be” (UK, 83 min.) Regional Premiere • Thu, Oct 16, 07:30PM • Dobie
Writer/Director: Oliver Irving
Cast: Robert Pattinson, Rebecca Pidgeon, Powell Jones, Alisa Arnah, Jeremy Hardy
A young man (Robert Pattinson) having an existential crisis convinces a Canadian self-help guru to visit London and become his personal life coach.

“Lake City” (USA, 92 min.) Regional Premiere • Mon, Oct 20, 09:30PM • Arbor
Writers/Directors: Hunter Hill, Perry Moore
Cast: Sissy Spacek, Troy Garity, Rebecca Romijn, Dave Matthews, Drea de Matteo, Barry Corbin, Keith Carradine
In this searing Southern drama, a mother and son reunite under desperate circumstances years after a family tragedy drove them far apart.

“Largo” (USA, 112 min.) Regional Premiere • Sat, Oct 18, 02:30PM • Dobie
Directors: Mark Flanagan, Andrew van Baal
Featuring: John C. Reilly, Fiona Apple, Zach Galifanakis, Paul F. Thomkins, Jon Brion, Louis C.K., Fred Armisen, Aimee Mann, Patton Oswalt, David Garza, Sarah Silverman, Colin Hay, Andrew Bird, Grant Lee Phillips, Dave Allen
A concert film covering the last days of the L.A. club Largo in their original location, a regular home to comedians and musicians.

“The Last Deadly Mission” (France, 123 min.) Regional Premiere
Writer/Director: Olivier Marchal
Cast: Daniel Auteuil, Olivia Bonamy, Catherine Marchal, Francis Renaud
A washed-up Marseilles cop earns a chance at redemption by protecting a woman from the man who killed her parents and is about to be released from prison.

“Max Payne”  (USA, 100 min.) • Thu, Oct 16, 10:00PM • Paramount
Writer: Beau Thorne
Director: John Moore
Cast: Mark Wahlberg, Chris Bridges (Ludacris), Mila Kunis, Olga Kurylenko, Chris O’Donnell, Beau Bridges, Donald Logue, Amaury Nolasco, Nelly Furtado
A DEA agent (Mark Wahlberg) whose family was slain as part of a conspiracy and an assassin (Mila Kunis) out to avenge her sister’s death come together to solve a series of murders in New York City.

“Noble Things” (USA, 98 min.) World Premiere • Mon, Oct 20, 07:00PM • Bob Bullock Spirit Theater
Writers/Directors: Dan McMellen, Brett Moses
Cast: Brett Moses, Lee Ann Womack, Michael Parks, Ryan Hurst, Tracy Bird, Dominique Swain
Singer Jimmy Wayne Collins finds himself adrift when forced to return home to Southeast Texas to face his dying father and the demons he left behind.

“On the Count of Zero” (Sifir Dedigimde) (Turkey, 90 min.) US Premiere • Tue, Oct 21, 07:00PM • Bob Bullock Spirit Theater
Writer/Director: Gokhan Yorgancigil
Cast: Aykut Bilgin, Özhan Carda, Oktay Kaynarca, Hazim Körmükçü, Özge Özder, Riza Pekkutsal, Semih Sergen
A young girl loses a precious book she has borrowed from her teacher. Unable to find it, she is driven to depression and eventually enters a world for forgotten people and the realms of traditional Turkish fairy-tales.

“Phantom Punch” (USA, 104 min.) Regional Premiere • Fri, Oct 17, 07:00PM • Bob Bullock Spirit Theater
Writer: Ryan Combs
Director: Robert Townsend
Cast: Ving Rhames, Nicholas Turturro, Stacey Dash, Bridgette Wilson
The fascinating life story of Sonny Liston, the controversial heavyweight-boxing champion of the world.

“The Poker Club” (USA, 81 min.) World Premiere • Sun, Oct 19, 02:00PM • Dobie
Writer: Richard Chizmar, Johnathon Schaech
Director: Tim McCann
Cast: Johnathon Schaech, Judy Reyes, Johnny Messner, Loren Dean, Jana Kramer
Four friends discover and accidentally kill a burglar—who may not be alone—in the kitchen during their weekly poker night.

“A President to Remember: In the Company of John F. Kennedy” (USA, 85 min.) Regional Premiere • Wed, Oct 22, 07:30PM • Rollins Theater
Director: Robert Drew
An intimate portrait of the president by famed documentarian Robert Drew

“Sita Sings the Blues” (USA, 82 min.) Regional Premiere • Tue, Oct 21, 09:15PM • Bob Bullock Spirit Theater
Writer/Director: Nina Paley
An animated version of the epic Indian tale of “Ramayana” set to the 1920s jazz vocals of Annette Hanshaw.

“Song Sung Blue” (USA, 87 min.) Regional Premiere • Thu, Oct 16, 07:00PM • Alamo Drafthouse Ritz
Director: Greg Kohs
Koh’s documentary follows the alternately inspiring and tragic love story of Lightning & Thunder, a homegrown Milwaukee husband and wife singing duo that pay tribute to the music of Neil Diamond.

“Slumdog Millionaire” (UK/India, 120 min.) Regional Premiere • Fri, Oct 17, 07:30PM  • Paramount
Writer: Simon Beaufoy
Director: Danny Boyle
Cast: Dev Patel, Madhur Mittal, Freida Pinto, Anil Kapoor, Irrfan Khan
The story follows an 18-year-old orphan from the slums of Mumbai, who is about to experience the biggest day of his life. With the whole nation watching, he is just one question away from winning it all on India’s “Who Wants To Be A Millionaire?”

“Strangers” (Israel, 85 min.) Regional Premiere • Fri, Oct 17, 09:30 • PMArbor
Writers/Directors: Guy Nattiv, Erez Tadmor
Starring: Liron Levo, Lubna Azabal, Abdaliah El Akal, Birol Ünel, Partick Albenque
When an Israeli man and a Palestinian woman fall in love during the 2006 World Cup finals in Berlin, star-crossed complications ensue.

“Summerhood” (Canada, 96 min.) Regional Premiere • Sat, Oct 18, 07:00PM • Bob Bullock IMAX
Writer/Director: Jacob Medjuck
Cast: John Cusack, Joe Flaherty, Christopher McDonald
A coming of age summer-camp saga featuring four best friends who hate each other. Narrated by John Cusack.

“Synecdoche, New York”  (USA, 124 min.) Regional Premiere • Tue, Oct 21, 07:30PM • Paramount
Writer/Director: Charlie Kaufman
Cast: Phillip Seymour Hoffman, Emily Watson, Dianne Wiest, Michelle Williams, Samantha Morton, Tom Noonan, Catherine Keener
A theater director (Phillip Seymour Hoffman) struggles with his work, and the women in his life, as he attempts to create a life-size replica of New York inside a warehouse as part of his new play. Directorial debut of Charlie Kaufman (writer of “Being John Malkovich” and “Eternal Sunshine of the Spotless Mind.”)

“Tree of Ghibet” (USA, 90 min.) Regional Premiere • Fri, Oct 17, 08:00PM • Dobie
Writer: Amedeo D’Adamo
Directors: Amedeo D’Adamo, Nevina Satta
Cast: Corinne Cameny, André Bang, Olivier Ngoundé, Samyong Samy, street children in Akwa-Douala
DJ, an 8-year-old child, is suddenly accused by his aunt of being possessed by devils and then abandoned on the hard streets of Douala, Cameroon.

“Vampiro: Angel, Devil, Hero.” (Canada, 90 min.) US Premiere • Fri, Oct 17, 07:00PM • Alamo Drafthouse Lakecreek
Director: Lee Demarbre
A documentary that exposes the underbelly of professional wrestling and traces one man’s personal journey from the top rope to rock bottom and back up again.

“Wendy and Lucy” (USA, 80 min.) Regional Premiere • Sun, Oct 19, 07:00PM • Paramount
Director: Kelly Reichardt
Writers: Jonathan Raymond, Kelly Reichardt
Cast: Michelle Williams, Will Patton, Larry Fessenden, Will Oldham
A woman’s life is derailed en route to a potentially lucrative summer job. Her car breaks down, her dog is taken to the pound and she is led through a series of increasingly dire economic decisions.

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