Long Live Cinematexas

November 29th, 2007

Live in Austin?? Lucky.

The bad news first: Cinematexas, the long-running, great underground film festival lost its funding from certain institutions and is over. Annually providing the best, brightest and cutting-edgest short (and occasional feature) films, CNTX was an exciting long weekend of political hotbeds, avant-garde works, underground sludge and music films that traversed all of those worlds. It also programmed for the community – programs and a competition for Univ of Texas student films, and various childrens’ shows.

The good news: The fest is having a going away show this weekend, the Cinematexas Viking Funeral.

On Saturday, December 1st there are three free shows:

RAGNA-ROCK. One of two compilations of new work by esteemed Cinematexas alumni like James Fotopoulos, Ben Coonley, Daniel Cockburn, Stephanie Gray, etc.)

UT HOLLYWOOD SHOWCASE. A local screening of this year’s best UT-produced student films, which screened at the DGA Theater in LA in September.

ASSASSINS: A FILM CONCERNING RIMBAUD. An early experiment by Todd Haynes and an clear precursor to his new Dylan non-biopic I’M NOT THERE. This film is rare!

Then on Sunday, December 2nd:

RAGNA-ROLL: More madness from Cinematexas chums. One of these two programs will have videos from the incomparable, one-man-band Laz Rojas.

INTERKOSMOS. A delightfully tongue-in-cheek homage to a fictional East German space project, Jim Finn’s INTERKOSMOS uses recreated newsreels combined with musical interludes to resurrect the ’70s in all its Brezhnev-era glory.

And two incomparable greats: FROWNLAND, the uber indie film from Ronnie Bronstein, led by the new short by Don Hertzfeldt, EVERYTHING WILL BE OK. This single show is so great its already sold out. But try to catch everything else you can. Criminy, its free and hard-to-find films…. Viva Cinematexas.

http://www.austinfilm.org/film/cinematexas-viking-funeral-frownland

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