AFS Viewfinders Podcast

On October 14, Austin Film Society proudly presented our Doc Days Opening Night presentation of Todd Haynes' THE VELVET UNDERGROUND. After the film, we were joined virtually by director Todd Haynes for a conversation moderated by AFS's Founder & Artistic Director Richard Linklater.

AFS Lates host and programmer Jazmyne Moreno joined the AFS Discussion Club to talk about the vampy art/horror masterpiece DAUGHTERS OF DARKNESS with Lars Nilsen and AFS members on Oct. 27, 2020.

Enjoy a lively discussion between UT Professor and founder/Executive Director of the Texas Archive of the Moving Image Dr. Caroline Frick and AFS Lead Programmer Lars Nilsen, with input from AFS members. The conversation centers around the 1932 THREE ON A MATCH, starring Joan Blondell, a pre-stardom Bette Davis and Ann Dvorak as three childhood friends who meet up again as adults whose lives have diverged greatly.

Hear about the Austin-shot documentary BOYS STATE from the directors Amanda McBaine and Jesse Moss, subject Steven Garza, and AFS-supported filmmaker and BOYS STATE camera operator, Patrick Bresnan (PAHOKEE). Moderated by AFS's Holly Herrick. BOYS STATE is an Apple Original Films and A24 release.

On this episode of the AFS Viewfinders Podcast, trailer editor Trevor Lee discusses how his career developed and what he's learned about editing along the way. Hosted by AFS Lead Programmer Lars Nilsen.

AFS-supported filmmaker Channing Godfrey Peoples and her partner/producer Neil Creque Williams joined us to discuss her debut feature film, MISS JUNETEENTH, now playing in AFS's Virtual Cinema.

Part of an ongoing series. Here, a number of former Vulcan Video employees recount some of the brushes with famous people they had at the late, lamented video rental store locations. Plus an extra bonus section about the rivalry between I Luv Video and Vulcan Video, which came to a peak of intensity in the Trivia Showdowns between the two staffs at the Alamo Drafthouse.

This is the introduction for a series of very candid and, we hope, very entertaining interviews in which the former employees of the recently closed video store chain Vulcan Video tell all about their job experiences, their reflections and more. Vulcan Video was a vital and important part of Austin, and the employees helped to create the Austin film culture we all know today. This is their story.In their submitted interviews, the former employees of the now-defunct Vulcan Video talked a lot about the wonderful customer experiences they had. But, you probably wouldn't click on that if we posted it first, so here are some of the bad, the weird, and sometimes harrowing experiences that Vulcan employees had with their customers.See full videos on AFS's Youtube channel.

Back in October 2019, we were privileged to host director Agnieszka Holland for a screening of EUROPA, EUROPA (1990), her brilliant account of the absurdities of fascism and war. With Criterion Channel just adding it to their lineup last week, we thought you might want to follow up your viewing of that with a listen of this Q&A.

On the latest AFS Viewfinders podcast we are joined by Amanda Reyes, who has certainly staked out a place as one of the preeminent expert on that much-maligned hybrid entertainment form, the Made-For-TV movie. Amanda runs the podcast and site Made For TV Mayhem and has done a large number of disc commentaries, most recently for the excellent TV Movie PRAY FOR THE WILDCATS. She has also lectured all around the world on the subject of TV movies. Her book "Are You In The House Alone: A TV Movie Compendium 1964-1999" is both an essential resource for fans of the form and a very entertaining read.Here, we talk about the origins of the TV Movie, the creative forces behind the best ones, and why they were an important outlet for some very talented women. We also take a moment to discuss the episodic television show CHARLIE'S ANGELS, since our History Of Television screening on that subject was so rudely canceled in light of the current crisis.Finally, Amanda offers some recommendations of Made For TV movies available on Amazon Prime for streaming.Here are Amanda's recommendations for streaming TV Movies, though you will find many more films for your watchlist mentioned in the discussion, so take notes as you listen.BORN INNOCENT (1974, D. Donald Wrye)GO ASK ALICE (1973, D. John Korty)SHADOW OF FEAR (1974, D. Herbert Kenwith)INVASION OF CAROL ENDERS (1974, D. Burt Brinckerhoff)NIGHTMARE AT 43 HILLCREST (1974, D. Dan Curtis, Lela Swift)TRILOGY OF TERROR (1975, D. Dan Curtis)POLICEWOMAN CENTERFOLD (1983, D. Reza Badiyi)FEAR STALK (1989, D. Larry Shaw)CAROLINE? (1990, D. Joseph Sargent)FACE OF EVIL (1996, D. Mary Lambert)

Renée Zellweger visited the Austin Film Society to talk to Richard Linklater take questions from the audience following a screening of her Judy Garland biopic JUDY.

Filmmaker Bob Byington & actress/writer Kaley Wheless talk to AFS programmer Lars Nilsen about their new film, FRANCES FERGUSON in advance of its October 26th screening at AFS Cinema. Byington also discusses casting, the challenges of low-budget filmmaking, and the current state of content distribution. Tickets: https://www.austinfilm.org/screening/frances-ferguson/

AFS’ Lars Nilsen talks with Noah Isenberg, Chair of UT Austin’s Radio-Television-Film department and Edgar G. Ulmer biographer, about our upcoming series, The Films of Edgar G. Ulmer: Prince of Poverty Row. Guest-programmed by Isenberg, the series showcases films by the famously obscure émigré filmmaker best known for his essential noir, DETOUR.

On this episode of the AFS Viewfinders podcast, Chale Nafus, former Director of Programming at AFS, talks with Karen Grumberg, Director of UT's Center for Middle Eastern Studies, about upcoming film series Children of Abraham/Ibrahim: Films from the Middle East and Beyond featuring new films CAPERNAUM, HARMONIA, THREE FACES, and MARJOUN AND THE FLYING HEADSCARF (directed by Susan Youssef, recipient of several AFS grants). Erica Deiparine-Sugars also joins in the conversation to talk about the AFS grant and its impact on women in independent film. Now in its 13th year, the Children of Abraham/Ibrahim film series is guest programmed by Nafus and Grumberg and continues to feature some of the best new cinema coming from the Middle Eastern region. From the retelling of a story from the Book of Genesis to a coming of age film that follows a Muslim American teenager in Little Rock, Arkansas, this year's films will touch both your heart and mind as well as create a deeper understanding of a region that we may often only experience in newscasts. Listen in as Nafus and Grumberg discuss the 2019 line-up what to expect from this essential film series.

On this episode of the AFS Viewfinders podcast, we visit with the team behind the American Genre Film Archive (AGFA)—founders Joe Ziemba and Sebastian del Castillo, and Director of Business Affairs Alicia Coombs. Now in its 10th year, the Austin-based non-profit was formed to preserve the legacy of genre movies, the more obscure the better. Specializing in horror, sleaze, action, and independent regional filmmaking, as well as international genre cinema with an emphasis on films from Hong Kong, AGFA has quickly become one of the most sought-after archives in the world. The archive counts among its board members and advisors Alamo Drafthouse founders Tim and Karrie League, filmmakers Nicolas Winding Refn and Paul Thomas Anderson, film fans, and Austin area film programmers including AFS's Lars Nilsen. Housing over 6,000 film prints—some of which are the only copies in existence—a 4K film scanner, and theatrical and home video distribution arms, AGFA will never rest until genre movies rule the world.In this conversation, Lars Nilsen talks with Joe, Sebastian, and Alicia about going on ten years strong, how it all got started in a cluttered projection room of the Drafthouse Village, and current projects like the newly released films of Sarah Jacobson, Queen of the '90s Underground Cinema.

On this episode of the AFS Viewfinders podcast, we visit with John Doe, one of the leaders of the seminal Los Angeles punk band X. Since the band’s beginning in the late 1970s, Doe has carved out a special place for himself in music history. But that’s only half the story. The same love of storytelling and characterization that makes his songwriting come alive has also produced a multi-decade career as an actor, often in small but important character roles. In this conversation, Doe talks with AFS’s Lars Nilsen about growing up in Baltimore and knowing John Waters, how he got into music and film, the LA years, and going to see movies.

For this episode of AFS Viewfinders, AFS Head of Film and Creative Media Holly Herrick talks with director Lulu Wang at our sneak preview screening of her new feature film, THE FAREWELL. Based on an actual lie, Wang’s feature explores the ways in which family can unite and strengthen us, often in spite of ourselves (A24). Listen in as we discuss Wang’s process and inspiration for the critically-acclaimed film. Please note that there may be discussion about important plot details.

For this AFS Viewfinders podcast, Lars Nilsen speaks with Writer/Producer Zack Carlson (Destroy All Movies, DAMSEL, JUNGLE TRAP), who presents a Walter Hill series at AFS Cinema this November. This podcast covers filmmaker Walter Hill (THE WARRIORS, STREETS OF FIRE), including his directing choices and casting THE WARRIORS ensemble. On top of that, the conversation cracks open the entire action movie genre—from LETHAL WEAPON to PREDATOR—discussing just what makes an action movie work (and not work), including characters, authenticity, stunts, and special effects. Plug in and sit down for this hour-long discourse between Zack Carlson and Lars Nilsen.austinfilm.orgFacebook | Twitter | Instagram

On this episode of the AFS Viewfinders podcast, we visit with Austin-based filmmaker Michael Tully, whose new feature film DON'T LEAVE HOME opens September 14 at AFS Cinema. Tully has been immersed in the film world for years, not only as a filmmaker but also as a writer, cinephile, and now teacher. His previous features include SEPTIEN (2011) and PING PONG SUMMER (2014), both of which premiered at the Sundance Film Festival. In this conversation, Tully talks about his experiences teaching film classes, hitting the international festival circuit, why he had to shoot his new gothic horror film in Ireland, what makes sound design key to making an effective horror film, and more. 

This month's ongoing Essential Cinema series, Pre-Code Treasures, looks back at the unique period of time (roughly 1929-34) before the implementation of the Hays Code. Each week, we're joined by film scholars to talk about the era and the film selection for the week. On August 9, scholar, professor, and film archivist Dr. Caroline Frick joined us to discuss "a funky artifact of its time," the Marx Brothers' THE COCOANUTS (1929), one of the early talkies that explored the transition of Broadway and Vaudeville productions to film. Lead programmer Lars Nilsen and Dr. Frick (a self-proclaimed Marx Brothers enthusiast) discussed many aspects of the movie including the Marx Brothers deal with Paramount, how cinematography had to change to adjust for sound, and a possible Austin connection between the famed Marx Brothers.

Here at AFS, we're big fans of Austin-based filmmaker and so-called "Godfather of Mumblecore" Andrew Bujalski. Later this month, Bujalski's newest film SUPPORT THE GIRLS opens around the country, including at AFS Cinema. Our Lead Programmer Lars Nilsen recently sat down with the filmmaker for a conversation about living and working in Austin, his thoughts on Hollywood movies and whether or not we would ever direct a Marvel picture, what he makes of the word "mumblecore" now, and why he will still drop everything to see a 35mm print in theaters.

Austin Film Society Lead Programmer Lars Nilsen conducts a discussion with legendary film programmer, publisher and writer Kier-La Janisse. Janisse is owner/Artistic Director of Spectacular Optical Publications and founder of The Miskatonic Institute of Horror Studies. She has been a programmer for the Alamo Drafthouse Cinema and Fantastic Fest in Austin, Texas, co-founded Montreal microcinema Blue Sunshine, founded the CineMuerte Horror Film Festival (1999-2005) in Vancouver, was the Festival Director of Monster Fest in Melbourne, Australia and was the subject of the documentary Celluloid Horror (2005). She is the author of A Violent Professional: The Films of Luciano Rossi (FAB Press, 2007) and House of Psychotic Women: An Autobiographical Topography of Female Neurosis in Horror and Exploitation Films (FAB Press, 2012) and contributed to Destroy All Movies!! The Complete Guide to Punks on Film (Fantagraphics, 2011), Recovering 1940s Horror: Traces of a Lost Decade (Lexington, 2014) The Canadian Horror Film: Terror of the Soul (University of Toronto Press, 2015) and We Are the Martians: The Legacy of Nigel Kneale (PS Press, 2017). She co-edited and published the anthology books KID POWER! (Spectacular Optical, 2014), Satanic Panic: Pop-Cultural Paranoia in the 1980s (Spectacular Optical, 2015), Lost Girls: The Phantasmagorical Cinema of Jean Rollin (2017), and Yuletide Terror: Christmas Horror on Film and Television (2017), She is currently writing the books A Song From the Heart Beats the Devil Every Time: Children’s Programming and the Counterculture, 1965-1985 and a forthcoming book about Monte Hellman’s Cockfighter. She (and we) would love it if you would contribute to her next project, COCKFIGHT. You can do so here. https://www.indiegogo.com/projects/cockfight-books#/

There's a lot going on at the Austin Film Society's AFS Cinema this November and December. Programmers Holly Herrick and Lars Nilsen have an informal talk about some of their favorite films and series. See the whole AFS Cinema calendar here: https://www.austinfilm.org/screenings/

Austin Film Society Programmers Lars Nilsen and Holly Herrick talk a bit about the opening of the new AFS Cinema and the first round of programming in the venue, including the Texas Christening series, the Noir Canon, and newly restored titles. There is special emphasis on the Comedy Italian Style Essential Cinema Series.

Last month we had a screening of TERMS OF ENDEARMENT in conjunction with the Star Of Texas Award presented to the film at the Texas Film Awards. We were fortunate enough to have Lisa Hart Carroll, who plays Patsy in the film, join us for our screening. It's a small but important part in the film and Carroll is excellent in it. After the screening she joined us for a Q&A that was as candid as it was thoughtful, and I suspect that no one who was in attendance will forget it anytime soon. Carroll is very serious about acting, and has a scholar's knowledge of the great performances to match her lifelong practice at the fine techniques of acting. In this episode we talk about actors from James Dean to Lon Chaney, Jr. with pithy observations and a special attention to the was in which actors are themselves filmmakers.

Austin Film Society Programmer and Alamo Drafthouse Programmer talk about the programmer's job, upcoming series at Drafthouse and AFS, social responsibility and the 'pulp impulse.'

Bryan Connolly, author and co-programmer of the January Essential Cinema series LOVE IS A TWO WAY STREET: FILMS OF BLAKE EDWARDS & JULIE ANDREWS joins us to talk about Edwards' and Andrews' careers and the need for a new PG-32 rating for films.

Filmmaker Kat Candler talks about the filmmaking life, choices, compromises, her working method and her new short THE RUSTED.

30 years after beginning his tenure as a founding Austin Film Society board member and 12 years after joining AFS as Director of Programming, Chale Nafus is retiring at the end of August. AFS Programmer Lars Nilsen talks to Chale about his filmgoing life and his tenure at AFS.

On June 27 A GIRL WALKS HOME AT NIGHT filmmaker Ana Lily Amirpour joined Lars Nilsen and AFS members for a one-hour Moviemaker Dialogue about writing, casting, directing and staying inspired while making a film. Note: there is some adult language and Ms. Amirpour's metaphors can be as profane as they are instructive.

Austin Film Society's Lars Nilsen talks to Hadrian Belove, founder and executive director of Los Angeles-based Cinefamily, a non-profit organization dedicated to unique programming and screening opportunities.

Here is a rare tape of an Austin radio interview conducted with legendary actor Leonard Nimoy as he was in Austin to teach acting at St. Edwards University. Exact year and other details are unknown at this writing and will be updated later.