From the early ‘70s through the mid ‘80s, there was CinemaTexas, an on-campus film programming initiative. Now a historic selection of the original program materials has been published by UT Press as CinemaTexas Notes: The Early Days of Austin Film Culture, and Austin Film Society will welcome some of the CinemaTexas alumni back to reprise some of their favorite films.

Schedule: 

• March 22 and 25: The Band Wagon - This Vincente Minnelli masterpiece is not only a great musical, it is a textual commentary upon, and and inversion of, the very idea of the song-and-dance film. It is also a showcase for the mastery of old-master Fred Astaire and young up-and-comer Cyd Charisse, who make beautiful music together. The first screening will be hosted by AFS Artistic Director Richard Linklater.
• March 29: Sunrise - In this, the first American film by German expressionist master F.W. Murnau, will show the whole arsenal of his extraordinary visual imagination married to the Hollywood style. The results are unlike any other film. This screening will be hosted by former CinemaTexas member Warren Spector.
• April 5 and 10: Bring Me The Head Of Alfredo Garcia - Writer-director Sam Peckinpah was a man on the edge at all times. This film, starring Warren Oates as a piano playing drifter who sets out on the titular quest, led many to believe he had finally gone over that edge. Today its urgency and humor have made it an outlaw classic. The first screening will be hosted by former CinemaTexas member Louis Black.
• April 12: Caged Heat - Like so many of his contemporaries, Jonathan Demme received his first chance to direct from exploitation producer Roger Corman. The result is a women-in-prison film of surprising thematic and tonal depth. This screening will be hosted by former CinemaTexas member Marjorie Baumgarten.
• April 17: Cinematexas: Avant Cinema Night: Corruption Of The Damned & Necrology - This special Avant Cinema show is presented in conjunction with the CinemaTexas Retrospective. Former CinemaTexas member Nick Barbaro presents 16mm screenings of works by George Kuchar and Standish Lawder.
• April 19 and 22: Gun Crazy - This Joseph H. Lewis noir about a doomed romance between two beautiful young criminals has struck existential chords with each succeeding generation of movie lovers. The first screening will be followed by a panel of former CinemaTexas members as they reminisce about their mentor Ed Lowry.