The Austin Film Festival has revealed its first wave of premieres to take place at the 32nd annual festival. The line-up includes a handful of films that will have their world premieres or Texas premieres in the festival’s competition. Meanwhile, the festival has also announced that its Writers Conference will honor Clint Bentley and Greg Kwedar during the festival with the prestigious Writer’s Writer Award.
This year’s AFF world premieres so far include romantic comedy “You’re Dating a Narcissist,” sports comedy “Signing Tony Raymond,” sports documentary “The Boy From St. Croix,” coming of age comedy “Rhythm Is A Dancer,” dramedy “Miles Away,” road trip comedy “Crystal Cross,” and horror feature “Sprite.” Texas premieres will include A24’s “Eternity,” Amazon-MGM’s “Hedda,” Netflix’s “Wake Up Dead Man: A Knives Out Mystery,” and Netflix’s “Train Dreams” from writer honorees Bentley and Kwedar.
Bentley and Kwedar are the Academy Award nominated writers of “Sing, Sing.” They are longtime AFF alumni, with the festival premiering their first short film “Dakota” back in 2015. Bentley and Kwedar said in a joint statement, “We’re so honored to receive the Writer’s Writer Award. AFF has been such an important part of our creative lives as writers since our earliest short films. Through the festival we’ve found connection to a community of writers and have been endlessly inspired. AFF truly has helped shape us as storytellers. We’re excited to reunite with friends and celebrate in October.”
AFF executive director Barbara Morgan said, “We are thrilled to celebrate AFF alumni Clint and Greg, and their remarkably heartfelt film ‘Train Dreams’ at this year’s festival. Ten years ago, their distinct voices stood out to us amongst thousands of submissions, and today, they continue to cut through the noise with their singular point of view and exceptional craft. We have been delighted to champion their careers throughout the last ten years, and to welcome them back to the festival as this year’s incredibly deserving recipients of the Writer’s Writer Award.” They will receive their awards at the Awards Luncheon on Oct. 25.
Films screening in competition at AFF are eligible for awards in the narrative feature, documentary feature, dark matters, comedy vanguard, and Texas independent feature categories.
The festival will take place Oct. 23-30 in Austin and the Writers Conference will take place concurrently Oct. 23-26.