New East Austin Stories

[agarr]

Hi, All-

The latest East Austin Stories wil be showing on Thursday night,
December 13. The first show will be at 6:30 at the community Hall of
Our Lady of Guadalupe Catholic Church conveniently located between
East 11th and 7th streets, right across from the Texas State Cemetery
at1206 East 9th Street. At 9:30 will be showing the new work in the
courtyard of Cafe Mundi--a reason to hope for unseasonably warm
weather. Cafe Mundi is good for hot chocolate or cold beer so you are
covered either way, I suppose. The address is 1704 East Fifth.

This year's selection of short documentaries includes subjects as
sharp, funny, moving, and diverse as East Austin itself. There are
stories of work and dreams tempered with reality like volunteer Coach
Juan Flores and his team of young teenage girls playing soccer--not
just for sport but for their futures-- and the quinceañera of Lorena
Grimaldo. There are stories of personal struggle, like Daniel Gomez,
founder of the influential non-profit Hispanic Connect.com., now
putting his life back together with the help of his son, after being
laid-low by addiction. And there's the story of struggle against
eminent domain--Darwin Hamilton fights to get back his childhood home,
taken by the city for a fraction of its value. You'll see activist
poet Raul Salinas, Burlesque dancer Matrita de la Torre, and "The
Candy Man," a local cabbie. There are 90 minutes of short films and
you can meet the people in the films and the filmmakers. Maybe you
are in one.

The East Austin Stories project is an on-going class in the U.T. RTF
Department that asks student filmmakers to collaborate with East
Austin residents, businesses, and community groups to collect stories
and present them back, on video. The class instructor is yours truly.
In addition to the public screenings on December 13, you can see past
East Austin Stories streamed online at www.EastAustinStories.org or
download the free podcast from the iTunes store.

Best wishes,
Andy