Dark Days is an American documentary film directed, produced, and photographed by the English documentarian Marc Singer that was completed and released in 2000. Shot during the mid-1990s, it follows a group of people who lived in the Freedom Tunnel section of the Amtrak system at the time. DJ Shadow created new music for the documentary and also let Singer use some of his preexisting songs.
The Austin Film Society (AFS) is a non-profit film society based in Austin, Texas. Founded in 1985 to exhibit independent, experimental, foreign and various other non-mainstream art films, the film society has grown from just film exhibition to fostering independent filmmaking in Texas and has served as a cornerstone in building the film industry in Austin. The film society also owns and maintains Austin Studios, hosts the annual Texas Film Awards gala, and oversees the Austin Film Society grant program. The film society was founded by film director Richard Linklater, who currently serves on the board as artistic director. Other notable members on the board and advisory board include Tim McCanlies, Robert Rodriguez, Charles Burnett, Guillermo del Toro, Jonathan Demme, Mike Judge, John Sayles, Steven Soderbergh, Paul Stekler and Quentin Tarantino.
South by Southwest (SXSW) is an annual conglomeration of parallel film, interactive media, and music festivals and conferences organized jointly that take place in mid-March in Austin, Texas. It began in 1987 and has continued growing in both scope and size every year. In 2017, the conference lasted for 10 days with the interactive track lasting for five days, music for seven days, and film for nine days. There was no in-person event in 2020 and 2021 as a result of the COVID-19 pandemic in Austin; in both years there was a smaller online event instead.
Emily Kunstler is an American documentary filmmaker and activist. Her documentaries have won awards at South by Southwest and have been featured at Sundance. Kunstler is the daughter of lawyer William Kunstler, famous for his historic civil rights cases and Margaret Ratner Kunstler, a prominent New York human rights attorney.
The Williamstown Theatre Festival is a resident summer theater on the campus of Williams College in Williamstown, Massachusetts. It was founded in 1954 by Williams College news director Ralph Renzi and drama program chairman David C. Bryant. It was awarded a Tony Award in 2002 and the Massachusetts Cultural Council Commonwealth Award in 2011.
In Our Nature is a 2012 film starring John Slattery, Gabrielle Union, Jena Malone, and Zach Gilford, and directed by Brian Savelson. It premiered at the SXSW Film Festival and was released in theaters by Cinedigm. Seth and Andie had the perfect weekend getaway planned, until an unexpected visit puts Seth's estranged father and his girlfriend in the same cabin.
Fandor is a division of the American entertainment company Cinedigm. It is a streaming service dedicated to independent films, documentaries, international titles and classics.
Our Nixon is an all-archival documentary providing a view of the Nixon presidency through the use of Super-8 format home movies filmed by top Nixon aides H.R. Haldeman, Dwight Chapin and John Ehrlichman, combined with other historical material such as interviews, oral histories and news clips. It was directed by Penny Lane.
Short Term 12 is a 2013 American independent drama film written and directed by Destin Daniel Cretton. It is adapted from Cretton's short film of the same name, produced in 2009. The film stars Brie Larson as Grace Howard, a young supervisor of a group home for troubled teenagers. The film was the first leading performance of Larson's career.
The Mend is an American comedy-drama film written and directed by John Magary. The film stars Josh Lucas, Stephen Plunkett, Mickey Sumner and Lucy Owen. It premiered at South by Southwest on March 9, 2014, and opened in selected theaters on August 21, 2015.
Rat Pack Rat is a 2014 drama short film, written and directed by Todd Rohal. The film had its premiere at 2014 Sundance Film Festival on January 17, 2014. It won the Jury Award at the festival.
Thank You a Lot is a 2014 American drama film directed by Matt Muir. Set in Austin, Texas, the film stars Blake DeLong as a struggling music manager who is forced to sign his estranged father, country music singer James Hand.
The Wise Kids is a 2011 American drama film written and directed by Stephen Cone and starring Molly Kunz, Tyler Ross, Allison Torem, Matt DeCaro, Sadieh Rifai, and Stephen Cone. An ensemble, coming-of-age piece, the film follows a group of young members of a South Carolina Baptist church as they confront issues of homosexuality and a crisis of faith.
Byron Bowers is an American comedian, writer and actor. Byron has appeared on The Eric Andre Show on Adult Swim, Comedy Central's Adam DeVine's House Party, and on the reboot of BET's Comic View. He made his late-night debut on The Pete Holmes Show followed by an appearance on Jimmy Kimmel Live. He appeared in MTV's Guy Code and in the History Channel comedy, The Crossroads of History. He is currently appearing in Lena Waithe's Showtime series drama The Chi as Meldrick. He also played the roommate of Lucas Hedges’ character in the film Honey Boy, which won the Special Jury Prize at the 2019 Sundance Film Festival.
Penny Lane is an American independent filmmaker, known for her documentary films. Her humor and unconventional approach to the documentary form, including the use of archival Super 8 footage and YouTube videos, have earned her critical acclaim.
Lucky is a 2020 American horror film directed by Natasha Kermani, from a screenplay by Brea Grant, who also stars in the film. The film premiered at the Fantasia International Film Festival on August 23, 2020, and on Shudder on March 4, 2021.
Blindspotting is an American comedy-drama television series and a spin-off sequel of the 2018 film of the same name. Set six months after the events of the film, the series follows Ashley, who is forced to move in with the mother of Miles, her boyfriend and father of her son, after he is suddenly incarcerated. The series co-stars Jaylen Barron, Candace Nicholas-Lippman, Benjamin Earl Turner, and Atticus Woodward.
What We Leave Behind is a 2022 documentary film directed by Iliana Sosa. The film is a portrait of Sosa's grandfather, Julián Moreno, as he starts building a house in the Mexican state of Durango. As a younger man, Julián had spent decades living between the United States and Mexico, first working as a bracero and later traveling by bus to visit his children and grandchildren in the Southwestern United States. In the film, Julián revisits this past with his granddaughter as the two forge a tighter bond together. Voiceovers from the director punctuate the film and pair with imagery of the local landscape; the soundtrack features an a cappella song by the Cardencheros de Sapioriz, who are also from Durango.
Ghostlight is a 2024 American drama film, directed by Kelly O'Sullivan and Alex Thompson, from a screenplay by O'Sullivan. It stars Keith Kupferer, Dolly de Leon, Katherine Mallen Kupferer, Tara Mallen, Hana Dworkin, Tommy Rivera-Vega, Alma Washington, H.B. Ward, Dexter Zollicoffer, Bradley Grant Smith, Deanna Dunagan and Francis Guinan.
Bradley Grant Smith, also known professionally as Sad Brad Smith, is an American singer-songwriter, actor, and filmmaker. He gained recognition in 2009 for his song, "Help Yourself", which featured in the Oscar-nominated film Up in the Air, starring George Clooney and Anna Kendrick. He wrote, directed, and scored the 2021 film Our Father, which was nominated for the Grand Jury Award for Narrative Feature at the 2021 SXSW Film Festival.
