News

In September 2009, I noticed an unusual special event in an Austin Film Society weekly bulletin about a unique performance piece. The Trash Project was meant to "educate audience members about waste reduction while acknowledging the hard work Austin’s sanitation workers." Choreographer Allison Orr of Forklift Danceworks had organized "the biggest dance of [her] life." It was almost a footnote that director Andrew Garrison (Third Ward TX) would be documenting the event, especially when it included 15(!) vehicles.

Now the film Trash Dance is set to make its world premiere at SXSW on Saturday. Andrew Garrison directed, shot, and produced the documentary, with editing by Angela Pires and sound design by Graham Reynolds. Steve Mims (Incendiary: The Willingham Case), Deb Lewis (Troop 1500, Crawford) and Nancy Schiesari (Tattooed Under Fire) provided additional photography. Here's what Garrison and Allison Orr had to say about their project.

Slackerwood: Describe Trash Dance for us in a couple of sentences.

Here's the latest Austin film-related news:

Congratulations to local musician Ryan Bingham (pictured at right) for winning a Golden Globe with T-Bone Burnett for their song "The Weary Kind" from the movie Crazy Heart. Bingham also appears in the movie. Sometimes-Austinite Sandra Bullock also took home a Best Actress (Drama) award for her role in The Blind Side.Local filmmaker/Austin Film Society staffer Bryan Poyser heads to Sundance this week to premiere his film Lovers of Hate, shot in Austin and in Park City, Utah. Chris Garcia of the Austin American-Statesman grabbed him for an interview beforehand. If only we could jet up to Utah this weekend and check it out ...Speaking of Afs, their Texas Documentary Tour selection this month is Tattooed Under Fire, which plays on Wednesday night at Alamo Ritz. Austin Chronicle writer Kimberley Jones interviewed filmmaker Nancy Schiesari, who is also a professor at The University of Texas,...

The Alamo Guide

for January 14th, 2010

Hello again, friends. I hope your days are well. I am here, once again, to tell you how your days could be better: with the Alamo! We are packed full of new release films from the past week or two, and still we find time for specialty programming! How Do We Do It?! Lots and lots of work hours, that’s how…If you haven’t gone out to see Crazy Heart yet, tomorrow is the perfect opportunity to do so. Local country honky-tonkers The Derailers are playing an after show at The Highball and you can get tickets for both events! If you’re one of those over-planner people, you might want to make some Valentine’s Day plans Now because our Valentine’S Day Feasts go On Sale Friday At Noon! Those sell out super fast and are pretty damn romantic and delicious.

Here are a few of the Austin-related, movie-related news items that have been floating around recently:

Nancy Schiesari's documentary Tattooed Under Fire (pictured at right) airs on Klru on Tuesday, November 10 at 9 pm. Tattooed Under Fire is about the stories and secrets that Fort Hood soldiers share while getting tattoos. Schiesari is a professor in Radio-tv-Film at The University of Texas in Austin. I'll Come Running, directed by former Ut Austin instructor Spencer Parsons, is now available to watch via IFC On Demand. The film played Austin Film Festival in 2008 and was shot in Austin and Denmark. Melonie Diaz stars as a young woman who befriends a Danish tourist and forms an unusually strong connection. Jette recommends it. Cine Las Americas will host its 2010 season kickoff and happy hour fundraiser on Tuesday, November 17 at Malverde. All proceeds benefit the 13th Cine Las Americas International Film Festival, including 10 percent from...