Austin Film Festival announced an initial slate of films attendees can expect to watch when the event starts on October 27. For eight days, the festival champions local and international filmmakers who push the boundaries of storytelling in film, television, and new media. Movie buffs, critics, and the general public will be happy to discover that the festival has selected The Whale as the movie that will kick off the event on its opening night.
Directed by Darren Aronofsky (mother!), The Whale has been gaining momentum as it makes its way through film festivals across the world, and it’s possible that it makes it all the way to the 2023 awards season. The story centers around a 600-pound gay man who struggles to reconnect with his estranged daughter (Sadie Sink). The man is played by Brendan Fraser (The Mummy film series), who’s been outside mainstream media for a while now. Earlier this week, the actor broke down and started crying when the audience at the Venice Film Festival gave him a 6-minute standing ovation for his performance after the movie was screened at the event.
The Austin Film Festival committee also announced that their slate of titles will include Armageddon Time, the new feature film by celebrated filmmaker James Gray (Ad Astra). Starring Anne Hathaway (Les Miserables) and Anthony Hopkins (The Father), the movie is a coming-of-age story based on the director’s experience growing up in Queens, NY. Gray himself will be present at AFF, where he will be presented with the Bill Wittliff Award for Screenwriting. In previous editions, the award has been given to acclaimed screenwriters like Nancy Meyers (It's Complicated), Tony Gilroy (Rogue One: A Star Wars Story), and Lawrence Kasdan (Raiders of the Lost Ark).
Other titles from this year’s AFF include local filmmaker Riley Cusick’s The Wild Man, a movie about a son taking care of his father with a deteriorating mental condition. The Fire That Took Her is directed by Patricia E. Gillespie and tells the story of one of the few people who testified at their own murder trial, and Jonathan Dekel’s Checkout is a dark comedy based on real stories from Mossad spies.
Austin Film Festival will release the full slate of films and panels that integrate the 2022 edition later this month. You can discover the first wave of films announced on the Austin Film Festival website.
You can check out details from the second wave of the festival program below:
THE WHALE
OPENING NIGHT SELECTION
Directed by: Darren Aronofsky
Written by: Samuel D. Hunter
Synopsis: From Darren Aronofsky comes The Whale, the story of a reclusive English teacher living with severe obesity who attempts to reconnect with his estranged teenage daughter for one last chance at redemption. Starring Brendan Fraser and based on the acclaimed play by Samuel D. Hunter.
In attendance: Writer Samuel D. Hunter
ARMAGEDDON TIME
Directed/written by: James Gray
Synopsis: From acclaimed filmmaker James Gray, ARMAGEDDON TIME is a deeply personal reflection on the strength of family, the complexity of friendship and the realities of class and privilege, seen through the eyes of a young Jewish boy growing up in 1980s Queens. The film features an all-star cast including Anthony Hopkins, Anne Hathaway and Jeremy Strong.
In attendance: Writer/Director James Gray
THE WILD MAN
WORLD PREMIERE
Directed/written by: Riley Cusick
Synopsis: A son takes care of his father with a deteriorating mental condition where he believes he's a wild animal.
CHECKOUT
WORLD PREMIERE
Directed/written by: Jonathan Dekel
Written by: Shai Satran
Synopsis: Checkout follows Dov (Josh Pais), a desperate spy who must convince his peers he is telling the truth about a legendary terrorist. Trying one last time to become the myth he always thought he would be, Dov faces the harsh realities determined to retire him. He'll do anything to change their minds. Checkout is a dark comedy based on real lies of real Mossad spies.
THE FIRE THAT TOOK HER
Directed by: Patricia E. Gillespie
Synopsis: Mother-of-two Judy Malinowski, was doused in gasoline and set on fire by her crazed ex-boyfriend – becoming one of the first people to testify at their own murder trial. THE FIRE THAT TOOK HER goes inside the landmark case to ask a timely question: How much must women suffer in order to be believed?
FOLLOW HER
Directed by: Sylvia Caminer
Synopsis: FOLLOW HER is a psycho-sexual thriller. Jess Peters, a struggling actress and live streamer, has finally found her hook: secretly filming creepy interactions she encounters via online job listings, and using the kinks of others to fuel her streaming success. For her next episode, she’s been hired to write the ending of a screenplay in a remote, lavish cabin. Once there, the alluring self-proclaimed screenwriter hands her a script in which the two of them are the main characters. This client isn’t what he seems, and even though the money is great… the real payment here could cost her life.
FOR THE LOVE OF FRIENDS
Directed/written by: Cara Consilvio
Synopsis: In 1986, to awaken America to the AIDS crisis and to honor the friends he lost, Brent Nicholson Earle runs the perimeter of the United States. In The American Run for the End of AIDS, Brent runs almost a marathon a day for 20 months straight. After enduring blisters, exhaustion, ignorance and fear, he returns home to his own HIV diagnosis. Though the run finishes, Brent’s activism never stops.
GOLDEN DELICIOUS
Directed by: Jason Karman
Written by: Gorrman Lee
Synopsis: When basketball-obsessed Aleks moves in across the street, Asian-Canadian teen Jake finds himself trying out for the basketball team to get his attention in this classic coming-of-age drama set in the digital age.