Screening the World

As director of programming for the Austin Film Society, I have the best job a retired college film professor could imagine. I present 44 feature films, 11 documentaries, and dozens of short experimental films/videos to audiences over the course of each year. I spend much of my time dreaming, watching, researching, reading, writing and talking about film. Narrative feature films are my specialty and each year I create seven Essential Cinema series, with a focus on countries, genres, directors, actors and themes, while the documentaries are primarily recent films examining a variety of contemporary issues. Because of our partial program funding from the NEA, TCA, and the City of Austin, I have to decide two years in advance what the various series will be. For example, in 2009-2010, we will be offering individual programs of films from Greece, Portugal, Hong Kong, and Pakistan, works by Finnish director Aki Kaurismaki and Austrian-American director Billy Wilder, and a summer series exploring global animation.

SEEKING CELLULOID

For each series I make my final selections several months in advance. Up until that deadline I watch lots of relevant DVDs, read magazine and online articles, reconsider films I enjoyed at festivals and in theaters, and keep my eyes and ears open for film suggestions from a variety of sources: emails and catalogs from film distributors, the AFS programming subcommittee, friends, AFS staff, employees of Vulcan Video and AFS members. Then I develop a list of 10-40 “possibilities.” Next comes the sometimes heart-breaking attempt to find my preferences on 35mm prints. Fortunately such prints are still available for many films, but as 21^st century digital media replace the late 19^th century technology of celluloid films, many titles are no longer available in the traditional film format. Some prints are in the US for only a limited time, and, even worse, some film distribution companies are closing or turning strictly to DVD and online sales. Even if a film can be found in a foreign archive, shipping costs for 60 pounds of celluloid are increasingly prohibitive. So, only when there is absolutely no other way to get a desirable film for a series will I swallow my purist pride and accept a DVD or other digital version.

A FLOCK OF CINEPHILES

It is precisely because of our allegiance to the traditional film format, coupled with innovative programming, that AFS has such wonderful audiences. Every Tuesday night when I stand before an audience of 100 or more, I see many familiar faces, usually of the loyal “inner circle” of 40-50 AFS members who see practically everything we show. They obviously have excellent taste! There are many other Austinites who come to a good number of AFS films throughout the year as well as entirely new people who come only to a certain series that interests them.

I love watching films with our audiences. Besides enjoying a great work of art again, I can find new pleasure in “feeling” the audience response, which is often tangible. Our audiences are very cine-literate and eager to explore complex, demanding cinema. I keep my verbal introductions to a minimum and save my own personal understanding of a film for the program notes, where information about the director, production, source material, and cultural context can be found. After the screening, I like to wait out in the lobby – mainly just to thank people for coming and to further gauge their reactions to the film (smiles are good, averted eyes are bad, premature theater-flight is depressing), but also to try to answer questions or hear new interpretations. AFS audiences often make me feel so elated that I practically float out of the theater with the delusional belief that I made the film.

At the age of 60, I came out of retirement (after 30 years of college teaching) to see what I might do as director of programming. I had been on the AFS board since its founding in 1985. For two decades I watched (and, in small ways, helped) the film society grow from a small group of film aficionados watching esoteric movies in a tiny room over a café on the Drag into a thriving multi-faceted organization running a movie studio, giving out over $100,000 annually to creative filmmakers, teaching youngsters the art of filmmaking, showing works-in-progress for critical feedback, bringing in filmmakers for workshops, and presenting world and regional premieres of Hollywood and independent movies to a membership hovering around 2000.

SOMETHING ABOUT CHALE

However, despite this admirable foray into all aspects of films and filmmaking, we steadfastly maintain our initial mission to show significant, rarely seen films year-round. My way of realizing that mission is to focus on global cinema, which has been an integral part of my life. I was practically raised on British comedies in the 1950s because my father, a postal worker in Dallas, had an inexplicable love of dry British wit. At the Capitán, Coronet, Teatro Pan-Americano, Esquire, and Fine Arts theaters I saw lots of “foreign films,” which set off the explosion of 60s arthouse cinema. Three years in New York City in the early 70s provided streetwise post-graduate studies in global cinema. When I returned to Austin in 1973 to teach at Austin Community College, I felt ready to create the Radio-Television-Film department.

A WHOLE NEW WORLD

Thirty years later I have the enviable position of ensuring that AFS continues to bring innovative films to Austin audiences. I personally believe that the most exciting 21^st century films are coming from other countries, with an occasionally wonderful American exception. Through this emphasis on global diversity in our programming, we attract a wide range of audiences, such as those who have attended series focusing on films of India, Iran, China, Mexico, and Africa. Our Japanese anime series pulled in more parents – brought by their children – than other series, which are generally for adults. But since Austin is increasingly cosmopolitan and well educated, I see a healthy diversity of people (ethnicity, age, gender) at all the screenings. Our audiences are film-lovers above all other distinctions.

REALITY CINEMA

There are certainly other aspects to programming – for example, bringing a documentary with its filmmaker to Austin once a month. During the 5-½ years in this job, I have had an incredible education in appreciating documentary films. I’ve spent time with about 60 documentarians, whom I have introduced from the Alamo stages for often rousing Q&A sessions. Austin, unlike Dallas and Houston, is very much a documentary town. AFS Documentary audiences can vary greatly from one doc to another, depending on the subject matter. So many great suggestions for screenings and filmmakers come from the AFS Doc sub-committee that I can’t possibly program all of them.

EXPERIMENTAL CINEMA

Our newest endeavor, Avant Cinema, came into being when AFS member Scott Stark offered to help curate presentations of challenging short films and videos. My officemate Bryan Poyser, filmmaker Spencer Parsons, and AMOA Art School director Judith Sims have joined us to make selections from the overlooked wealth of experimental films and videos. We have started out small, with bimonthly screenings in our 40-seat AFS theater and have initially drawn on local artists in the cinematic avant-garde. The theater easily fills up and discussions often continue after the Q&A sessions. This is yet another underserved Austin audience which AFS is reaching.

WORKING WITH OTHER FILM/ARTS ORGANIZATIONS AND INDIVIDUALS

Another aspect of my job is also quite rewarding – co-sponsoring films with other organizations. I have established a solid relationship with many of the film and arts groups in town. It’s always a pleasure to work with the Cine Las Americas Latino film festival, the Austin Jewish Film Festival, the Austin Asian-American Film Festival, the Austin Gay and Lesbian International Film Festival, SXSW, AMOS, the Bullock, and HRC. We also work with various departments at UT to promote visits by noteworthy filmmakers.

Though I create most of the seven annual Essential Cinema series, I thoroughly enjoy handing the curatorial reins over to someone else from time to time, which has led to outstanding series created by Austin Chronicle Music Editor Raoul Hernandez, AFS Associate Programmer Jameson West and several UT professors.

But mainly I selfishly select the vast majority of our film offerings each year. I wouldn’t do this job if a committee did the programming. While always open to suggestions and recommendations (on a good day), I have a lot I want to say through the films I select and the ones I write about. A series truly becomes my statement about artistic quality and thematic importance. From time to time I love having others write program notes, especially when they are knowledgeable about a particular film, director, or cultural aspect, but I write the majority of the program notes and web information. I love researching and thinking about the films before putting my thoughts together (all too often with a 5:00 pm Tuesday deadline yelling at the back of my head). With a shamelessly unbridled ego, I have decided to put my “stamp” on AFS programming.  

Chale Nafus is the Director of Programming at AFS.

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