Short Cuts

It's in its seventh week and shows no sign of letting up. No, I'm not referring to the endless summer heat, I'm talking about something that may even be hotter — and certainly more fun. That would be the Austin world premiere of S.R. Bindler's documentary Hands on a Hard Body at the Dobie Theatre. To say that the Hard Body has tremendous staying power would be a gross understatement. The unusual, Texas-made movie is doing business the likes of which Dobie's owner Scott Dinger finds unprecedented. "Everyone's amazed," he comments. "It's surprising the distributors and the producers." (One of the producers who provided completion funds for the movie is Texas native Matthew McConaughey.) Dinger says that the movie has been the "biggest documentary ever at the Dobie" and has also tallied up as the theatre's strongest-grossing offering every week since its opened (except for the opening weekend of Pi, which outperformed Hands by just a few fingers). Though the film received a felicitous local launch by the Texas Documentary Tour and an Austin Hands on a Hard Body tie-in contest, Dinger credits the movie's longevity to "word of mouth." (See http://www.auschron.com/issues/vol17/issue43/screens.texas.html for the Chronicle's interview with Bindler.) No one wants to be the last one on the block to see it. On the strength of its Austin debut, the movie has now gained opening dates in Los Angeles and New York City, where it seems reasonable that its crowd-pleasing success will multiply. Austinites should feel proud and lucky to know that our city's enthusiastic show of interest and support for this quirky little film that couldn't is the reason it seems poised to become a major documentary blockbuster (if that's not an oxymoron)...

Film festival season is upon us. The Austin Gay & Lesbian International Film Festival (aGLIFF) begins today and continues for the next two weeks at Dobie. For more info see the "Screens" feature this issue, visit the aGLIFF Web site at http://www.agliff.org, or call the hotline at 476-2454...

The CinemaTexas Festival dedicated to the art of short films begins in a couple of weeks on the UT campus. More info will be published as it becomes available...

The Austin Heart of Film Screenwriting Conference and Festival (AHFF) is scheduled for October 1-8 and the deadline for advance registration ($350/$175 student) is September 8. You may register or obtain more information at http://www.austinfilmfestival.org or by calling 800/310-FEST...

The Texas Association of Film/Tape Professionals (TAF/TP) hosts the first Austin Media Forum on Sunday, August 30, 2-4pm (round table forum)/4-5pm (mixer), in the upstairs banquet room of the Old Pecan Street Cafe (310 E. Sixth St.). The effort hopes to brings together a diverse group of participants from the entire spectrum of the Austin media community. The Forum's goal is to create a round table discussion that results in a position paper to be presented to the mayor's office that will assist city government in redefining and expanding awareness and policies involving the continued growth and success of the Austin media economy. Most major film organizations in town have pledged participation, although affiliation is not required to attend. The effort sounds like an exciting new outlet for the incubation and pollination of ideas and programs advantageous to our community at large — film, video, and interactive professionals, festival organizers, artists, administrators, and whatnot. For more info, contact Paul LeBlanc at 250-5000 or call the TAF/TP office toll free at 888/630-7373.