Liz has News and Continued Update on Films from SXSW 2011

Monday the 14th featured some great films during the festival that are some of my favorite.
'Win Win' with Paul Giamatti, Amy Ryan and many other cast members each gave excellent performances and is another gem from the director, Tom McCarthy. The film was screened at the Paramount Theater with cast members in attendance at the Red Carpet. All members of the cast and filmmakers were very pleasant during the interview opportunities. What a thrill to see Paul Giamatti in person! It had a theatrical release in April.

'Beginners' by director/screenwriter Mike Mills was among the films in the Spotlight Premieres category during the festival. The cast includes Ewan McGregor, Christopher Plummer, Melanie Laurent (Inglorious Bastards), Goran Visnjic, among others. Lucky for film fans who did not catch either of the two screenings of this gem during the festival, as 'Beginners' is having a theatrical release by Focus Features in June. The comedy/drama inspired by Mills' father will begin to platform on June 3rd and is scheduled to arrive in Austin theaters on June 24th. I had the opportunity to speak with director Mills when he was in town for the festival and this information will be included in my review of the film for the June release.

'Incendies' from director/screenwriter Denis Villenueve is an Academy Award nominee for Best Foreign Language Film, adapted from the play by Wajdi Mouawad. I was unable to schedule either of the film screenings into my work agenda, but it was in the Festival Favorites category. Sony Pictures Classics will release the film in theaters as of June 3rd and in Austin, it will open at the Arbor Theater and the new Violet Crown Theater in downtown Austin. I look forward to it.

Jez Jerzy [George the Hedgehog] made it's International Premiere at the festival this evening as part of the SXFantastic set of films. If you can imagine a skateboarding hedgehog who drinks beer, there is plenty of action between the hedgehogs and humans. Screenwriter Rafa Skarzycki has a very vivid imagination. As much as I was not looking forward to a story about a hedgehog during the festival, I actually started to forget George is not a human and worried about his fate with the mad scientists!

'Septien,' written and directed by Michael Tully had it's premiere screening on Monday afternoon [14th] and unfortunately was unable to catch this or the subsequent screenings. Prior to screening at SXSW 2011, it was at Sundance 2011 and is scheduled to be make its New York premiere at the upcoming Bam Cinemafest in June. As of July 6th, IFC Midnight will present 'Septien' in New York and nationwide Video On Demand via IFC Midnight.