Austin Film Festival Day #2

Three hours of shorts at The Hideout today were spectacular.  BELLA FLEACE GAVE A PARTY, is a poignant film about an elderly woman controlling her final days by planning a huge Christmas ball.   Amanda Yam's PRIZE is light hearted and funny and turns quite serious when a young boy controls time,  and LISA, a stunning film made in the Czech Republic is a sensitive film about a child dealing with a parent's death.    In the CRIME STORIES category a special shout out to Joel Johnstone's THE PILGRIM AND THE PRIVATE EYE, a film shot in Brooklyn that was clever, funny and well acted by the writer/director.  Mr. Johnstone is absolutely believable as an actor using his craft to help a shady private investigator.  HER NEXT DOOR is a short out of the UK that is hysterical in it's use of a never ending monologue to provide humor in a home invasion.  This evening we headed up to IMAX to see THE MUSLIMS ARE COMING a documentary about Muslim- American comedians taking their   routines across the U.S. to cities, suburbs and small towns to bring their message of HUG A MUSLIM and "this is who we are."  These comedians are superbly professional, funny and open about their experiences.  I wouldn't miss this for the world.  And with all of our waiting we run into old and new acquaintances, lots of UT film students and the friendliest of AFF volunteers.