Originating in 1994, the Austin Film Festival is “dedicated to celebrating the art of storytelling through film.” The four-day conference, featuring panel discussions and roundtables, gives amateur writers intimate face time with renowned screenwriters and producers; while the eight days of film screenings (limited to a predominately evening-oriented schedule) consistently feature a strong narrative film competition alongside high profile marquee premieres.

Recently, AFF has steered away from the “screenwriting” moniker which differentiated it from most film festivals, leading to a less-restrictive descriptor of “storytelling.” Several of this year’s films lacked strong and/or innovative writing, or arguably any writing at all (I’m looking at you Largo), though they all told stories.

The 15^th Annual Austin Film Festival ran from October 16^th-23^rd. Danny Boyle (Trainspotting, Sunshine) received AFF’s top honor (Boyle gets a tribute at AFI Fest 2008, too), the award for Extraordinary Contribution to Filmmaking; Greg Daniels (“The Simpsons”, “The Office”) was honored as the Outstanding Television Writer.

Oliver Stone opened the festivities with a bio-pic of one of Austin’s most despised ex-residents – W. (written by Stanley Weiser); Kelly Reinhardt’s Wendy and Lucy (written by Reinhardt and Jonathon Raymond) snuggled in as the fest’s centerpiece selection (also at AFI Fest 2008); and James Gray’s Two Lovers was the festival’s good night kiss. Danny Boyle’s Slumdog Millionaire and Paul Schrader’s Adam Resurrected (both at AFI Fest 2008) were two other notable premieres.

On Saturday, I found myself engulfed by a never-ending sea of burnt orange-clad college students (go Longhorns!). I was a non-conforming outcast lacking visible support of their number-one ranked football team; they were a drunken and unruly mob. Luckily the dark shelter of the nearby Dobie Theater offered suitable protection from public lynching. As if my weekend was penned by a screenwriter with a sharp sardonic wit, Sunday brought hundreds of zombies (marching in the 2^nd Annual Dismember the Alamo celebration) leering hungrily upon a crowd waiting for Wendy and Lucy outside the Paramount Theatre. Rather than feasting on the apathetic AFF crowd, the zombies moseyed on up Congress Ave. to the state capital building (much to the chagrin of Texas state troopers).

The pedestrian-unfriendly, scattered locations of theaters (some only accessible by automobile) and sparse scheduling of screenings made it nearly impossible to see more than 10 percent of the 190+ selections.

The following are synopses of the noteworthy of that 10 percent:

How to Be – The only film to screen three times at the 2008 AFF, How to Be garnered the most repeat viewers and was the most recommended film by other festival-goers. I entered the screening with lofty expectations and found myself leaving a wee bit underwhelmed. That is not to say that Oliver Irving’s 83-minute comedy is not worthwhile. Unlike most stateside comedies (which rely heavily upon lowbrow jokes about sex and bodily functions – for example: Role Models, which also premiered at AFF), the British How to Be is sublimely intellectual and class oriented. Robert Pattinson’s performance as Art is topnotch, as is Powell Jones as the personal self-help guru Dr. Ellington.

Left – Winner of the narrative feature Special Jury Award, writer-director Froukje Tan found a fantastic way to keep his cast to a minimum – create a lead character that sees a few people replicated everywhere. Dexter’s (Jeroen van Koningsbrugge) first clue is that only one of the several incarnations of his girlfriend recognizes him. After a rash of car accidents and unpaid tickets, Dexter is hospitalized and discovers another mental complication – he (like McCain supporters) cannot see left. This further hinders his grasp on reality and his outlook on life, while casting a larger net for the philosophical context of this film (Are people becoming as homogenized as Longhorn football fans? Are views becoming more polarized – left or right?). This psycho-babbling gem from the Netherlands is a brainteaser to the tenth degree.

A Quiet Little Marriage – Winner of an audience award and my pick for the best film of the narrative feature competition (I was not able to view the winner – Nobuyuki Miyake’s Lost & Found), writer-director Mo Perkins’ A Quiet Little Marriage is an improvised (a la John Cassavetes) tale of a young, fault-filled marriage. The story is brutally realistic; the dialogue and the performances are skillfully subdued and the cinematography is perfectly natural. The ending twist is a bit trite, but otherwise the only “fault” of A Quiet Little Marriage is that the writing plays second fiddle to the acting (I still consider AFF to be a writer’s festival).

Wendy and Lucy – Clearly the highlight of the week-long festival was Kelly Reichardt’s follow-up to Old Joy. Reichardt waxes poetically on the plummeting economic situation in the United States (without any references to plumbers named Joe or Sam) and its effect on an everyday young woman and her faithful dog. Without any back story, we find Wendy driving across the United States with her dog, Lucy. Wendy is unemployed. She is Alaska-bound, in search of lucrative job prospects. Unfortunately, her car has different plans and Wendy finds herself hemorrhaging her remaining money in Oregon.

Les Ninjas du Japon – Giommi Giovanni’s film about a team of Japanese semiprofessional cyclists that traveled to Burkina Faso to compete in Africa’s most prestigious bike race won the documentary feature competition.

And then there were shorts:

Martha – My favorite narrative short film of the competition (the competition winner was Andrew Okpeaha MacLean’s Sikumi), Martha is a semi-autobiographical tale of a young girl who is embarrassed by her father’s quirkiness as well as her family’s financial status. Martha deserves kudos for its set design and lead acting performance (Christine Cheney), as well as its writing (Katja Straub). Writer-director Katja Straub is working on a feature version of this story.

Zietek – Winner of the documentary short competition, this Polish short tells the story of Bogdan Zietek who has filled his house with wooden, life-sized sculptures of women. The dirty old man opts to lust longingly at (and inappropriately touch) the fake women while ignoring his not-so-finely-aged wife.

Frankie – Winner of a Special Jury Award for Ryan Andrews’ lead performance, Frankie is the tale of a 15-year-old Irish boy who is about to become a father. The once-a-hoodlum-always-a-hoodlum Frankie recognizes that he is unfit for parenthood, so he prepares for the life-changing experience by carrying around a crying doll to the constant ridicule of his hoodlum friends.

Passages – Winner of the Special Jury Award for Personal Expression and Advocacy, the journal entries animated in Passages are like drawings on a chalkboard (with white sketches on a black background). Canadian writer-director Marie-Josée Saint-Pierre’s intensely personal story commences with her unbridled excitement of being pregnant and evolves into a battle with the Canadian health care system over her child’s complicated birth (thanks, in part, to an incompetent staff at the hospital).

Love You More – It is June 1978 – the release date for the Buzzcock’s fourth single “Love You More”. Two young punks (unbeknownst to each other) scurry down to the local record shop after school; both fatefully grab for the only copy of the 7-inches of vinyl bliss wrapped in a pink sleeve (the color of a tit). They return to the female punk’s bedroom, listening to “Love You More” on repeat. The music converts the two awkward virgins into orgasm addicts. They never even get to listen to the b-side (“Noise Annoys”).