Austin, TX – Austin Film Festival (AFF) is excited to announce its newest screening series, AFF Audience Award Film Series Presented by Esurance, featuring four of the most beloved films from the 2011 Austin Film Festival. The series, screening at the Alamo Drafthouse Village (2700 W Anderson Lane, Austin, TX 78757), will take place every third Monday of the month, beginning on May 21st, 2012 at 7:00pm.
Last year during the 2011 Austin Film Festival, audience members were invited to rate the 170+ films that screened at the Festival and vote for their favorites. This year, AFF will bring four of the Esurance Audience Award Winners back to Austin audiences for an encore screening: RESTIVE (writer/director Jeremiah Jones, winner – Narrative Feature Competition); ECSTASY OF ORDER: THE TETRIS MASTERS (director Adam Cornelius, winner (tie) – Documentary Feature Competition); STORIES FROM AN UNDECLARED WAR (director Dennis Rice, winner (tie) – Documentary Feature Competition); and SIRONIA (writer/director Brandon Dickerson, writers Thomas Ward and Wes Cunningham, winner – Texas Independents Category). The award-winning writers and/or directors of each film will be present at the screening to discuss their film, creative process, and future projects.
“There truly is no greater reward for a filmmaker than an Audience Award, which confirms their ability to tell a good story. Every filmmaker is a storyteller at heart, and you can’t receive better validation than the approval of your audience,” says AFF Film Program Director Stephen Jannise.
AFF will kick off the series with SIRONIA on May 21st. Singer/songwriter Wes Cunningham stars as a man who has been chewed up and spit out by the Hollywood music machine. A once ambitious musician, he impulsively moves with his pregnant wife to a small town called Sironia, Texas in search of authenticity and purpose in his life. This poignant film played to two standing-room-only audiences at AFF last year. The writer/director of SIRONIA, Brandon Dickerson, will be present at the screening for a Q&A.
The next entry in the series, screening on Monday June 18th, will be ECSTASY OF ORDER: THE TETRIS MASTERS, co-winner of the AFF Audience Award in the Documentary Feature category. The film follows a group of record-holding Tetris players as they prepare to compete in the 2010 Classic Tetris World Championship. The film gives us an intimate look at the Masters as they reveal their secrets, recount their obsessions with the game, and take us to the transcendental state required to reach the highest level, known as the ‘Ecstasy of Order.’
The series will continue on with RESTIVE, a Southern Gothic tale from promising new writer/director and University of Texas graduate Jeremiah Jones, and STORES FROM AN UNDECLARED WAR, a documentary that follows The Freedom Writers Diary, a collection of journal entries written by 150 at-risk students from Long Beach, CA. The dates of these two screenings are TBD and will be announced on Austin Film Festival’s website.
The AFF Audience Award Film Series is sponsored by Esurance, the direct-to-consumer car insurance company. Esurance has been a longtime supporter of filmmakers and artists who help bring compelling stories to life.
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, and recognizing their contributions to film, television, and new media. AFF champions the work of aspiring and established writers and filmmakers by providing unique cultural events and services, enhancing public awareness and participation, and encouraging dynamic and long-lasting community partnerships.
Austin Film Festival is funded and supported in part by the City of Austin through the Cultural Arts Division and by a grant from the Texas Commission on the Arts.
For more information on the upcoming 19th Annual Austin Film Festival & Conference, October 18th – 25th, 2012 in Austin, TX, visit www.austinfilmfestival.com, or call 1-800-310-FEST (3378). Badges and Film Passes are currently on sale and can be purchased online. For regular updates, follow AFF on Facebook at www.facebook.com/AustinFilmFestival and Twitter @austinfilmfest.
About Esurance®
Esurance provides auto insurance direct to consumers online, over the phone, and through select agents, including sister company, Answer Financial. With easy-to-use mobile apps, quick comparison quotes, and online repair monitoring, Esurance is insurance for the modern world™ and the smart choice for today’s web-savvy consumer. As a member of the Allstate family with an A+ rating from A.M. Best, Esurance is a reliable choice for car insurance, offering anytime, anywhere service just a click, call, or tap away. For more information, visit www.esurance.com or call 1-800-ESURANCE (1-800-378-7262).