Short Cuts

Jerry Bruckheimer Films has announced an Austin casting call for the company's upcoming film Coyote Ugly. They're looking for a white female who is a "sexy young beauty, approximately 18-22 years old, with acting ability and a golden singing voice" to star in this film about a woman whose aspirations to become a songwriter are sidelined by her success at her day job as a barmaid in an outrageous new nightclub. A glance at Bruckheimer's producing résumé speaks volumes about his kindly and sensitive depictions of women: Days of Thunder, Bad Boys, Armageddon, The Rock. Chasing Amy's Kevin Smith is listed in the Internet Movie Database (http://www.imdb.com) as one of the film's writers. The casting call is for Saturday, June 19, 10am-3pm, in the Topas/Palmwood Room of the Embassy Suites (300 S. Congress). Hopefuls must bring a recent non-returnable photo and have a 30-second song & dance routine prepared...

The late deadline is looming for submitting films for consideration in the 1999 CinemaTexas International Short Film and Video Festival scheduled for September 22-26. Deadline has been extended to Monday, June 21. Works under 45 minutes may be in any genre and will be accepted in most formats. For submission forms and complete info see http://uts.cc.utexas.edu/~cinematx, send e-mail to [email protected], or call Bryan Poyser or Jen Proctor at 471-6497...

The Austin Gay and Lesbian International Film Festival (aGLIFF) also has an upcoming deadline for submissions to this year's festival: July 9. The 12th annual festival will be held August 27-September 9. Feature films, documentaries, shorts, and animated works about gay, lesbian, bisexual, or transgender subject matter will be accepted in 35mm, 16mm, 1/2" or 3/4" video formats. Entry forms and other info may be obtained at http://www.agliff.org, by e-mailing [email protected], or by calling 302-9889...

Summer is a big time for out-of-town travel so here are some events going on in nearby Texas cities. In Houston, SWAMP (Southwest Alternate Media Project) presents its third season of film and video workshops this summer. The workshops are geared to beginners and professionals and cover such topics as the elements of documentary filmmaking, the nuts and bolts of independent low-budget filmmaking,shooting on Super-8, introduction to the Internet, the use of multimedia tools for storytelling, and Chinese cinema. A complete schedule can be found at http://www.swamp.org/workshops.html. Advance registration is requested as seating is limited; discounts are available to SWAMP members. For more info call 713/522-8592...

In San Antonio, the 22nd annual CineFestival continues from Thursday, June 17-Sunday, June 20. A special focus of this year's film festival is on the images of Latinas. Wednesday's opening-night film was SXSW favorite Luminarias. Also playing is SXSW documentary winner La Ciudad. CineFestival's closing film is Lourdes Portillo's fascinating Corpus: A Home Movie for Selena, in which the filmmaker speaks candidly with some of the crossover star's family members, fans, and doubters. It is a stirring document that raises deep questions about Latinas in our culture and the arts. Portillo will also participate in a panel titled Women on the Verge. Various programs are also geared to teens and children. For a complete schedule call 210/351-7787 or see http://www.guadalupeculturalarts.org/media.html.