The American road trip has become a genre all its own, shaped by sun-bleached deserts, fading small towns, endless highways, and roadside oddities that create adventures both exciting and deeply familiar. For decades, movies have turned car rides into something bigger, using the open road as a pressure cooker where every mile forces a decision and every detour reveals something unexpected.
This year’s audiences will experience David Lynch’s underseen masterpiece The Straight Story, celebrate the 20th anniversary of Little Miss Sunshine with Academy Award-winning screenwriter Michael Arndt, revisit Paper Moon with legendary producer Frank Marshall, the producer behind E.T. the Extra-Terrestrial and Back to the Future, and rediscover Poetic Justice, featuring unforgettable performances from Janet Jackson and Tupac Shakur.
KANSAS TO MISSOURI
Paper Moon (1973)
Presented by Frank Marshall
Legendary producer Frank Marshall will present the screening. Marshall served as associate producer on the film early in his career before going on to produce Raiders of the Lost Ark, E.T. the Extra-Terrestrial, Back to the Future, Who Framed Roger Rabbit, and the Jurassic World franchise.
writer: Alvin Sargent
director: Peter Bogdanovich
A traveling Bible salesman is tasked with taking an orphaned girl to live with her relatives. The two have more in common than they first realize, and after becoming a successful pair of con artists, neither is eager to part ways.
LOS ANGELES TO OAKLAND
Poetic Justice (1993)
Presented by author Mark Cunningham
Writer Mark Cunningham, author of the upcoming book Once Upon a Time in South Central L.A.: John Singleton’s Hood Trilogy, will introduce the film and discuss its place within Singleton’s body of work.
writer/director: John Singleton
A beautician whose boyfriend has been killed escapes her pain by writing poetry. As she travels to a beauty convention, she winds up sharing a ride with an incorrigible postal worker.
IOWA TO WISCONSIN
The Straight Story (1999)
Presented by co-writer/editor Mary Sweeney
Following the screening, audiences will have the opportunity to hear from the film’s co-writer and editor, Mary Sweeney. A key creative collaborator with David Lynch for more than twenty years, Sweeney also produced Lost Highway, Mulholland Drive, and Inland Empire.
writers: John Roach and Mary Sweeney
director: David Lynch
Oscar® nominee Richard Farnsworth stars as a septuagenarian who drives his lawn mower hundreds of miles across the Midwest to visit his estranged, dying brother.
NEW MEXICO TO CALIFORNIA
Little Miss Sunshine (2006) - 20th Anniversary Screening
Presented by writer Michael Arndt
Academy Award®-winning screenwriter Michael Arndt will join AFF for a special presentation of the film’s 20th anniversary screening. Arndt received the Oscar for Best Original Screenplay for his work on Little Miss Sunshine.
writer: Michael Arndt
directors: Jonathan Dayton and Valerie Faris
A family determined to get their young daughter to the finals of a beauty pageant embarks on a cross-country journey in their battered Volkswagen bus.
At this year’s Austin Film Festival, go beyond the screen with exclusive post-screening Q&A’s with filmmakers and cast members, and gain behind-the-scenes insight into the creative vision and collaboration that bring the story to life. Experience timeless classics and this year’s awards season contenders with the minds that bring them to life. For only $75, film passes grant access to all Festival screenings including the “On The Road” Retrospective Series. Buy now at the link below.
The “On The Road” retrospective series is supported in part by Austin Arts, Culture, Music, and Entertainment, the Texas Commission on the Arts, the National Endowment for the Arts.
