East Austin Stories at SXSW
agarr
I'll send a schedule of shows in a futurer e-mail. Also, trying to have
the stories podcasting by SXSW.
Best wishes,
Andy
East Austin Stories at SXSW:Short documentaries in four programs,
Saturday, Mar. 11 through Tuesday Mar. 14 at the Hideout Theater, 617
Congress Ave.
East Austin Stories are a series of documentaries like no others
at SXSW. When they screen at the Hideout Theater (617 Congress Ave.)
in four nightly programs you'll see a slice of Austin life you may
not know. You'll hear the father of Tejano Music, Manuel
"Cowboy" Donley talk about LBJ shooting dice at the all-night cab
stand. You'll see why male boxers want boxer and three-time champion
Ann Wolfe to train them. You'll meet Gene Tumbs, the man behind
"Gene's Restaurant" and Porkchop Thursdays; and Charlie Machado,
"The World's Fastest Mexican." You will hear dreams, memories
,and the everyday stuff of living that gets people through. You'll
meet dancers, do-it-yourself body-piercers, a curandera, heroes of the
Blues and heroes of the block. And, they may be sitting next to you.
SXSW hosts the East Austin Stories project for four nights of
short documentaries, Saturday March 11 through Tuesday March 14, from
9:00 p.m. to 11:00 p.m. at The Hideout. The East Austin Stories
project is a collaboration between University of Texas film students
and community residents, business people, patrons, and passers-by in
East Austin. Each semester of the class the student filmmakers meet
people and find stories in East Austin to share in video.
"Stories are how we see life. The first audience for these
stories are the people who tell them--their friends, family and
neighbors in East Austin," says Professor Andrew Garrison, filmmaker
and leader of the class. "The stories are a community resource. The
students bring these stories to video so they can be kept and shared.
Sometimes funny or inspiring, sometimes difficult, their appeal goes
beyond the boundaries of East Austin."
Far beyond. In the past year organizations as diverse as
Americans for the Arts, the Society of Environmental Journalists, the
Duke University's Center for Documentary Studies have asked for
screenings. East Austin St ories have played at festivals, won awards,
and broadcast on both KLRU and KERA in Dallas.
Each night student filmmakers and film subjects will attend the
SXSW screenings. Juan Valadez and Dr. Miguel Guajardo, two residents of
East Austin and co-founders of the project along with Garrison will
host question and answer sessions. Brand new films and old favorites
from the five years of the East Austin Stories project will be shown,
"There will be nine to twelve short films each night," says
Garrison, "so there is always something new about to happen."
The screenings are being produced in part, with support from
SXSW, the University of Texas's UTopia program, Humanities Texas, the
Texas Commission for the Arts, Texas Folklife Resources, and the Center
for Cultural Exploration. You can preview some of the films at the
East Austin Stories website, www.EastAustinStories.org
Contact: Andrew Garrison
336-7316, agar...@mail.utexas.edu