Austin Film Festival Announces Schedule Release and Extraordinary Contribution to Filmmaking Awardee

AUSTIN FILM FESTIVAL ANNOUNCES FILM AND CONFERENCE SCHEDULE, INCLUDING THE EXTRAORDINARY CONTRIBUTION TO FILMMAKING AWARD RECIPIENT DARREN ARONOFSKY AND THE WORLD PREMIERE OF DARREN LE GALLO’S SAM & KATE

Le Gallo, Dustin Hoffman, Sissy Spacek, Jake Hoffman, Schuyler Fisk will attend the World Premiere of Sam & Kate. Aronofsky will be in attendance to receive the award and will join writer Samuel D. Hunter for the Festival’s opening night film screening of The Whale.

Austin, TX (September 29, 2022) – Austin Film Festival announces its schedule of upcoming films and panels for the 29th annual event, October 27 – November 3. Austin Film Festival’s (AFF) feature film slate includes over 33 World, North American, US, and Texas Premieres. In addition to the previous announcement of the opening night film THE WHALE, AFF is proud to announce the film’s director, Darren Aronofsky will be receiving the 2022 Extraordinary Contribution to Filmmaking Award. Aronofsky and Samuel D. Hunter, writer of THE WHALE, will attend the screening and participate in additional programming for AFF’s Writers Conference.

Austin Film Festival is excited to announce the world premiere of Vertical Entertainment’s SAM & KATE on Friday, October 28. SAM & KATE is Writer/Director Darren Le Gallo’s directorial debut. Joining Le Gallo in Austin will be the film’s stars, Oscar®-winning actor Dustin Hoffman, Oscar®-winning actress Sissy Spacek, Jake Hoffman, and Schuyler Fisk. This is the first time Jake and Schuyler (Sissy’s daughter) are working with their parents.

SAM & KATE is an emotional, multi-generational family story bringing together four people who are given a second chance at love and life. Set in a small town in the heart of the country, Dustin Hoffman plays BILL, a larger-than-life Father to SAM (Jake Hoffman), who has returned home to take care of Bill and his ailing health. While home, Sam falls for a local woman, KATE (Fisk). At the same time, Bill starts to fall for her mom, TINA (Spacek). But if there is a chance for them to make it work, each must reconcile with their past imperfections to find happiness together. And that may be easier said than done.

The film will be released on November 11th, 2022 by Vertical Entertainment. Produced by Le Gallo, Orian Williams, Ben Shields Catlin, Cindy Bru, and Ford Corbett. Executive produced by Amy Adams, Vanessa Yao Guo, Adam Beasley, Michael Jefferson, Nathan Klingher, Stacy O’Neil, Ryan Donnell Smith, and Ryan Winterstern. Original score composed by The Cure’s Roger O’Donnell.

AFF is world-premiering DANIEL’S GOTTA DIE Jeremy LaLonde’s film where DANIEL seeks to reconnect with his family, but they would rather kill him for his inheritance. Starring Bob Saget in his last film appearance, Joel David Moore, Jason Jones, Mary Lynn Rajskub, Carly Chaikin, and Iggy Pop. 

“Bob’s passing came as a shock to the entire DANIEL’S GOTTA DIE team. He was a collaborator through and through and he really loved this film,” says Director Jeremy LaLonde. “It’s with great sadness that he never got to see it finished. I can’t wait to see how audiences react to his final performance at Austin Film Festival with his final gift to all that loved him.“

Matthew Dressel, Writer: “Bob truly loved the script and took on a very fatherly role right from the start; eager to help out in any way he could. He really brought the character’s heart to the surface of the script and was intent on making sure he always got it just right.  On set he always had the script pages in-hand and spoke with me often about making sure the character was as I intended.  If there’s one person who deserved to see this film it’s Bob and I will always be sad he cannot.  He helped us craft a beautiful and heart-warming send-off and I think people will really appreciate it.”

Darren Aronofsky will be receiving Austin Film Festival’s 2022 Extraordinary Contribution to Filmmaking Award in addition to the previously announced awardees Dede Gardner (12 YEARS A SLAVE, MOONLIGHT, THE BIG SHORT) accepting AFF’s Polly Platt Award for Producing, James Gray (LITTLE ODESSA, LOST CITY OF Z, AD ASTRA) accepting AFF’s Bill Wittliff Award for Screenwriting, Nikyatu Jusu (SUICIDE BY SUNLIGHT, NANNY) accepting AFF’s New Voice Award, and Stephen Merchant (“The Office,” “Extras,” “Outlaws”), who will be accepting the Outstanding Television Writing Award.

Born and raised in Brooklyn, New York City. Aronofsky heads Protozoa Pictures, based in Chinatown, NYC. Aronofsky wrote and directed 2017’s mother! starring Jennifer Lawrence and Javier Bardem. Before that, Aronofsky made the 2014 box office hit Noah starring Russell Crowe, Jennifer Connelly, and Anthony Hopkins.

In 2010, Aronofsky received a Best Director Academy Award® nomination for his indie box office phenomenon Black Swan starring Natalie Portman, who won a Best Actress Academy Award® for her performance. 2008’s The Wrestler starring Mickey Rourke won the Golden Lion for the best film at the Venice International Film Festival. Previous to that were the acclaimed and award-winning films The Fountain (2006), Requiem for a Dream (2000), and π (1998). His upcoming film The Whale for A24 stars Brendan Fraser, Sadie Sink, Hong Chau, and Samantha Morton. 

A second A24 film being featured this year is Elegance Bratton’s debut THE INSPECTION which opens in theaters November 18 and is the story of a young man who, after being rejected by his mother, joins the Marines with the determination to succeed despite a system that would cast him aside. Bratton will join the Festival for a screening of the film and will participate in the Writers Conference to discuss the project based on his real-life experience. THE INSPECTION  is produced by Effie T. Brown and Chester Algernal Gordon.

Other World Premieres include THE WILD MAN (Riley Cusick’s debut film about a son caring for his father who thinks he’s a wild animal), DANCE DADS (a film, by Brock Harris, about a father trying to win back his family by forming a dance team of dads), BLOW UP MY LIFE (a former pharma employee discovers a deadly vape conspiracy in this film by Ryan Dickie and Abigail Horton), BEAUTY OF A BLANK SPACE (Ryan Love and Laurel Toupal’s film about a siblings’ road trip to find a long-buried time capsule), SONG OF THE CICADA (Aaron & Robert Weiss’ film chronicling 10 years of the life of an eccentric mortician in Galveston, Texas), THE BYSTANDERS (Gabriel Foster Prior’s comedy about immortals who interfere with their human subjects), WHAT REMAINS (Nathan Scoggins portrait of forgiveness by a small-town Texas pastor to the man who killed his wife), LITTLE JAR (Dominic Lopez and Kelsey Gunn’s pandemic set story of one women’s time in isolation and her friend, a dead mouse), and CHECKOUT (Jonathan Dekel’s story of a Mossad spy trying to secure his legacy).

AFF has previously announced highly anticipated marquee titles, such as Darren Aronofsky’s THE WHALE, Sarah Polley’s WOMEN TALKING, James Gray’s ARMAGEDDON TIME, and Nikyatu Jusu’s NANNY.

Austin Film Festival also revealed today the full Writers Conference schedule, which will take place the first four days of the Festival, October 27-30. Also scheduled to appear at this year’s Conference are Edward Neumeier, Nicole Perlman, Alec Berg, Shane Black, Marc Bernardin, Amy Talkington, Max Borenstein, Lang Fisher, VJ Boyd, and many more.

THE WHALE
OPENING NIGHT SELECTION

Directed by: Darren Aronofsky
Written by: Samuel D. Hunter
In attendance: Director Darren Aronofsky and Writer Samuel D. Hunter

SAM & KATE
WORLD PREMIERE
Directed/written by: Darren Le Gallo
In attendance: Director/Writer Darren Le Gallo and stars Dustin Hoffman, Sissy Spacek, Jake Hoffman, and Schuyler Fisk

WOMEN TALKING
Directed/written by: Sarah Polley
In attendance: Producer Dede Gardner accepting AFF’s Polly Platt Award for Producing and Director/Writer Sarah Polley

ARMAGEDDON TIME
Directed/written by: James Gray
In attendance: Director/Writer James Gray accepting AFF’s Bill Wittliff Award for Screenwriting

NANNY
Directed/written by: Nikyatu Jusu
In attendance: Writer/Director Nikyatu Jusu accepting AFF’s New Voice Award

THE INSPECTION
Directed/written by: Elegance Bratton
In attendance: Elegance Bratton

THE LOST KING
Directed by: Stephen Frears
Written by: Steve Coogan & Jeff Pope

THE BAKER
WORLD PREMIERE
Directed by: Jonathan Sobol
Written by: Thomas Michael & Paolo Mancini

GOOD NIGHT OPPY
Directed by: Ryan White

AFTERSUN
Directed/written by: Charlotte Wells

WHO INVITED CHARLIE?
Directed by: Xavier Manrique
Written by: Nicholas Schutt

SAVAGE WATERS
Directed by: Mikey Corker

1-800-HOT-NITE
Directed/written by: Nick Richey

CAUSEWAY
Directed by: Lila Neugebauer
Written by: Ottessa Moshfegh, Luke Goebel, & Elizabeth Sanders

TURN EVERY PAGE
Directed by: Lizzie Gottlieb

FOUR SAMOSAS
Directed/written by: Ravi Kapoor

MOON GARDEN
Directed/written by: Ryan Stevens Harris

ASHKAL
Directed/written by: Youseff Chebbi

ALL THE BEAUTY AND THE BLOODSHED
Written/Directed by: Laura Poitras

THUG ROSE
Directed by: Marius Markevicius

THE WILD MAN
WORLD PREMIERE
Directed/written by: Riley Cusick

LITTLE JAR
WORLD PREMIERE
Directed by: Dominic López
Written by: Dominic López & Kelsey Gunn

BLOW UP MY LIFE
WORLD PREMIERE
Directed/written by: Ryan Dickie & Abigail Horton 

GOLDEN DELICIOUS
Directed by: Jason Karman
Written by: Gorrman Lee

SALMA’S HOME
Directed/written by: Hanadi Elyan

UNDERWATER
Directed by: Edgar Kapp & Kuba Szutkowski

QUICKSAND
Directed by: JohnPaul Morris
Written by: JohnPaul Morris, Jake Burgess, & Broderick Steele

ABSENCE
Directed/Written by: Ali Mosaffa

WELCOME, VIOLETA!
Directed by: Fernando Fraiha
Written by: Inéz Bortagaray & Fernando Fraiha

MEDUSA
Directed/written by: Sophie Levy

SONG OF THE CICADA
WORLD PREMIERE
Co-directed by: Aaron Weiss & Robert Weiss
Written by: Robert Weiss

WITH THIS LIGHT
WORLD PREMIERE
Directed by: Nicole Bernardi-Reis & Laura Bermudez

AMERICAN:
AN ODYSSEY TO 1947
Directed/written by: Danny Wu

FOR THE LOVE OF FRIENDS
Directed/written by: Cara Consilvio

THE FIRE THAT TOOK HER
Directed by: Patricia E. Gillespie

THE OTHER FELLOW
Directed by: Matthew Bauer
Written by: Rene van Pannevis

THE ‘VOUS
Directed by: Jack Porter Lofton & Jeffrey Dailey

THE BABY DADDY
Directed by: Yair Cymerman & Adi Rabinovici

FENOM
Directed by: Kayla Johnson

SHOWBIZ IS MY LIFE
Directed by: GB Shannon

FIXATION
Directed by: Mercedes Bryce Morgan
Written by: William Day Frank

THE DOMESTIC
Directed/written by: Brad Katzen

FOLLOW HER
Directed by: Sylvia Caminer
Written by: Dani Barker

#BLUE_WHALE
Directed by: Anna Zaytseva
Written by: Evgeniya Bogomyakova, Anna Zaytseva, & Olga Klemesheva

DO NOT DISTURB
Directed/written by: John Ainslie

DANIEL’S GOTTA DIE
WORLD PREMIERE
Directed by: Jeremy LaLonde
Written by: Matthew Dressel

THE BYSTANDERS
WORLD PREMIERE
Directed by: Gabriel Foster Prior
Written by: Gabriel Foster Prior & Jack Hughes

CHECKOUT
WORLD PREMIERE
Directed/written by: Jonathan Dekel

DANCE DADS
WORLD PREMIERE

THE LIBRARY BOYS
WORLD PREMIERE
Directed/written by: Zane Borg

WAKE UP, LEONARD
Directed by: Kat Mills Martin
Written by: Nigel DeFriez, Kat Mills Martin, Kira Pearson

LONG FLAT BALLS (BROKEN PROMISES)
Director: Harald Johan Zwart
Writer: Paul Sparre Enger

BEAUTY OF A BLANK SPACE
WORLD PREMIERE
Directed by: Ryan Love
Written by: Ryan Love & Laurel Toupal

WHAT REMAINS
WORLD PREMIERE
Directed by: Nathan Scoggins

PEPE SERNA: LIFE IS ART
WORLD PREMIERE
Directed by: Luis Reyes