20th ANNUAL AUSTIN FILM FESTIVAL ANNOUNCES
EXTRAORDINARY CONTRIBUTION TO FILMMAKING – ACTOR HONOREE, SUSAN SARANDON
Vince Gilligan’s staged script reading of 2 FACE to include cast of
WILL FERRELL, LINDA CARDELLINI,
and THOMAS HADEN CHURCH
Horror Film ALL CHEERLEADERS DIE to Close Festival on Halloween Night
AUSTIN, TX (October 8, 2013) –Austin Film Festival (AFF) proudly announces the 2013 Extraordinary Contribution to Filmmaking – Actor awardee, Susan Sarandon.
Sarandon’s credits include Oscar®-nominated performances in Thelma and Louise, Lorenzo’s Oil, The Client, and Atlantic City to her Academy Award®-winning and SAG® Award-winning role in Dead Man Walking as Sister Helen. Additional film credits include Bull Durham, The Rocky Horror Picture Show, Enchanted, In the Valley of Elah, Moonight Mile, Igby Goes Down, Romance and Cigarettes, The Great Waldo Pepper, Lovin’ Molly, The Front Page, Pretty Baby, Jeff Who Lives at Home, Cloud Atlas, Robot & Frank, Snitch, The Witches of Eastwick, Cradle Will Rock, White Palace, Bob Roberts, and Little Women. Upcoming films include The Last of Robin Hood with Kevin Kline and Dakota Fanning, The Calling with Ellen Burstyn, Topher Grace and Donald Sutherland and Tammy with Melissa McCarthy.
Sarandon will accept the award at the Festival’s annual Awards Luncheon held on Saturday, October 26, 2013 at the Austin Club. The Inaugural Extraordinary Contribution to Filmmaking – Actor Award was presented to Johnny Depp in 2011. Sarandon will present a retrospective screening of John Turturro’s Romance and Cigarettes, and join a conversation on the art and craft of storytelling with the other 2013 Awardees, Vince Gilligan (Outstanding Television Writer), Jonathan Demme (Extraordinary Contribution to Filmmaking), Callie Khouri (Distinguished Screenwriter), and Barry Josephson (Heart of Film Award).
AFF’s Screenwriters Conference will also feature a staged reading of Vince Gilligan’s unproduced feature screenplay “2 FACE”, to be directed by Rian Johnson on Sunday, October 27th at 2:00PM. The script follows a man with a split personality disorder who finds himself taking opposite sides of the political spectrum. Cast in attendance for the reading includes Will Ferrell, Linda Cardellini, and Thomas Haden Church.
2013 Conference Panelist Elaine May (The Heartbreak Kid, Tootsie, The Birdcage, Primary Colors, Ishtar), will also take part as a guest programmer, presenting A New Leaf, which she wrote, directed and starred in alongside Walter Matthau. The film will be screened on Friday, October 25that 3:30PM.
Austin Film Festival’s Opening Night will feature the US Premiere of Jonathan Sobel’s break-out Toronto heist hit The Art of the Steal starring Kurt Russell, Matt Dillon and Jay Baruchel, as well as the World Premiere of AFF success story Coffee, Kill Boss – a film that emerged from the Festival’s world-renowned Screenplay Competition in 2011. Coffee, Kill Boss stars Eddie Jemison (Ocean’s 11-13, Hung), Noureen DeWulf (Anger Management) and Robert Forster (Jackie Brown, Mulholland Drive). The comedy is about ten executives who meet in secret to sell off their company and end up the victims of a murder plot. Eddie Jemison and Noureen DeWulf in attendance.
AFF’s Closing Night film falls on Halloween and will feature the US Premiere of All Cheerleaders Die, a horror comedy about a rebellious outsider who joins the cheerleading squad on a mission to take down the captain of the football team…. until a supernatural force changes everything. Lucky McKee and Chris Sivertson co-wrote and directed the film, hailed as a monster midnight sensation in Toronto. Lucky McKee and Chris Sivertson in attendance.
Additions to the 20th Anniversary Film Schedule include Whitewash, a comic thriller starring Thomas Haden Church (in attendance) and The Pretty One, starring Zoe Kazan, Jack Johnson, and Ron Livingston. Additional talent in attendance for the 20th Anniversary lineup include Paul Sorvino, Rumer Willis, Chad Michael Murray, Chris Lowell, Aiden Gillen.
For the full Film and Conference schedules, visit www.austinfilmfestival.com. The 20th Anniversary Austin Film Festival and Conference takes place this October 24th to 31st, 2013. Badges and Passes are available for purchase online 24 hours a day at www.austinfilmfestival.com or by phone at 1-800-310-FEST from 10am to 6pm CST.
About Austin Film Festival:
Austin Film Festival (AFF) is a non-profit organization dedicated to furthering the art, craft, and business of filmmakers and screenwriters. In addition to a robust list of year-round events, AFF is producing its 20th Annual Film Festival & Conference in 2013. AFF is known as a uniquely pro-artist and interactive idea exchange. Its uncommonly loyal following is due to the fact that the organization has spotlighted the minds and imaginations behind projects for two decades—a trend now picking up steam in the industry. As director and producer Ron Howard said, Austin Film Festival “is really about creativity, about trying to help people find their voice. You sense it. There’s a spirit of camaraderie that’s palpable.” AFF is a greenhouse for projects and a clubhouse for legendary and emerging artists.
Austin Film Festival is funded and supported in part by a grant from the Texas Commission on the Arts, City of Austin Economic Growth & Redevelopment Services Office/Cultural Arts Division believing an investment in the Arts is an investment in Austin’s future. Additional support is provided by KUT, KVUE, Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences®, Alice Kleberg Reynolds Foundation, and Shweiki Media.