100+ films are premiering at the 2020 Virtual Austin Film Festival and Writers Conference this year, and we know that’s quite a selection to choose from! We’ll try to make it easier by highlighting some must-see films.
AFF27 is showcasing some incredible international films this year, so be sure to check them out and get an individual ticket or add them all to your content library if you have Virtual Badge or Virtual Film Pass!
The Eagle’s Nest | Cameroon
premiering October 23 10:00 pm CDT
During a night of debauchery, Paris and Samantha discover 5 million euros in a hotel room. Later, a thief breaks into Paris’s house, kills her mother, her sister and leaves her for dead. When Paris recovers, she seeks revenge.
Time for Love | Poland
premiering October 24 3:15 pm CDT
Mikolaj (Marcin Franc) jumps on a train in pursuit of a mysterious stranger. He hopes to convince her that they are made for each other. On the way to happiness, however, he finds himself without a ticket. And ‘tickets are sacred’ for the crude conductor Nowak (Jacek Kalucki), and will do everything to ensure that fare-dodgers suffer appropriate consequences. Instead, Nowak disappears and Mikolaj appears dressed as the conductor. With the help of the charming trolley attendant, Edyta (Marta Sutor), he tries to control the chaos spurred after an emergency stop in the middle of nowhere. Yet problems escalate when a woman is carried back inside with hypothermia and several passengers have been robbed in a mysterious way. As Mikolaj and Edyta try to handle what’s beyond their reach, an invigorating bond flourishes. Everything falls apart when Mr. Nowak reappears and holds Mikolaj responsible for what’s happened. But Nowak needs Mikolaj to solve the mystery of the robbed passengers, so he gives him a much-needed second chance – before Edyta is gone forever.
ale | Switzerland
premiering October 24 3:45 pm CDT
19-year-old Alessandra is a wrestling student. As a newbie, her first goal is to develop a so-called “gimmick” for herself: an artificial character similar to her for fighting in the ring. This film documents this development process, which at the same time represents an inner journey of self-discovery for Alessandra. But on her way to becoming a full-fledged wrestler, her life changes in unexpected ways, forcing her to grow up faster than expected.
kusasa | South Africa
premiering October 24 5:45 pm CDT
KUSASA is the story of a young football team from South Africa and their journey to compete in the world’s largest youth football tournament, the Gothia Cup. From the bustling streets of a slum in Cape Town to the tree-lined avenues of Sweden, this group of football players and their larger-than-life coaches embark on an adventure of a lifetime.
The Badger | Islamic Republic of Iran
premiering October 25 2:30 pm CDT
THE BADGER is the story of a 40-year-old woman called Soodeh Sharifzadegan who faces a strange incident, right before her second marriage.
Vagabonds | France
premiering October 22 9:30 pm CDT
Four people on the fringes of society are going to make a “seismic” encounter. Four vagabonds, with seemingly no future, will discover the meaning of hope. For Jo and Faustine, two worlds collide: misery and opulence, illiteracy and culture. One is a young woman living out of her broken car, while the other, a wannabe writer, ran away from her family and comfortable consumerist life. Jo is a mess of exploding emotions with a heavy past, and Faustine might be about to write her story. Soha and Anastasia are two young and isolated vagabonds, damaged by drugs and the street. They stumble upon one other only to become inseparable. Together, they run away from their past to walk into a better present. Will their newfound friendship and love be the force they need to aspire to a normal life?
Wake Show | Peru
premiering October 23 7:00 pm CDT
Leonardo Oviedo is an ambitious theatre director, whose plays haven’t accomplished the success he dreamt of. Seeking some recognition, he decides to write a play for four characters; for one-performance only, where all actors have to die onstage. On that matter, he casts an old has-been actor, who is an alcoholic, a fat 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.
Baato | Nepal
premiering October 23 5:00 pm CDT
Every year Mikma and her family travel by foot from their village in the Himalayan mountains of eastern Nepal to sell locally gathered medicinal plants in the urban markets of southern Nepal. The route of their migration is transforming rapidly as a transnational highway project that will connect to China and India is currently under construction in this roadless valley. Intercut with stories from the road construction crew and the staff of a bus, ‘Baato’ (n. [Nepali] 1. path, trail 2. way 3. road) is an observational film that documents the instruments of globalization in intimate detail.
Standard | Spain
premiering October 23 5:00 pm CDT
Tomás’ two great passions are classical music and a compulsion for putting things in order, which has led to his nickname “rarito” (weirdo). In Tomás’ tidy world, where he works stacking shelves in the supermarket of a quiet, uneventful neighborhood, something changes when his secret platonic love, Laura, disappears. However, thanks to his fondness for tidying up things and noting down everything, he analyses the habits and obsessions of an eccentric array of clients to find out who is behind Laura’s disappearance. In this town nothing is as “standard” as Tomás would like…
The Blue Orchid | Denmark
premiering October 24 3:15 pm CDT
Casper, a young photographer, is introduced to a man who runs a mysterious video business. He gets hired and is slowly seduced into an artificial world leaving reality and all real relations behind.