Austin Film Festival 2013 Day #2

This morning THE LIFE AND CRIMES of DORIS PAYNE, a well made documentary about an elegant and notorious jewel thief in her 80's was a great way to start the day. I learned a great deal about stealing jewelry. The short that opened the show THE REHEARSAL was an adorable film of a magician rehearsing in his side show theater in Coney Island.  We then walked back over the river to The Rollins to see John Tuturro's campy and zany musical, ROMANCE AND CIGARETTES, starring James Gandolfini, Susan Sarnadon and Steve Buscemi. Christopher Walken has a cameo as well. Tuturro and Buscemi are Park Slopers where lots of the film was shot. There's lots of humor, very well cast and Sarandon gave a thoughtful and intelligent Q&A about the film and her craft.  This evening we just came from Texas Spirit theater where we saw LITTLE HOPE WAS ARSON, a documentary about the burning churches of East Texas and the investigation that followed to solve the crime.  While we have heard much about East Texas since moving here, this film was a great glimpse into the social fabric of this area.  An informative Q&A followed with the first time filmmaker and the ATF guy who solved the crime (lone star boots kind of guy).  Waiting on lines, talking to film lovers from all over and giving hugs to UT RTF kids working as crew and volunteers makes this such a great event.