Firsts After 29 Years

Dustin Hoffman and Sissy Spacek take spotlight at Austin Film Festival with world premiere

The festival is premiering more than one film for every year it's been going: so far, 29 years. (Pictured: Sam & Kate)

Photo courtesy of Vertical Entertainment

Here in Festival Land we don’t have too many events that are so firm in the zeitgeist they can be called something as straightforward as, say, the Austin Film Festival. The event is nearing three decades since its start in 1994, and is the city's default film event outside of South by Southwest.

The 29th annual event spans eight nights (October 21-28) with Q&A sessions, competitions, and world premieres. One world premiere, for Sam & Kate on October 28, is a bundle of firsts. Oscar-winning actors Dustin Hoffman and Sissy Spacek join their respective children, Jake Hoffman and Schuyler Fisk, for the first time as co-stars. The story follows two romantic couples of two generations, with each parent-child relationship intact in the film through fictional characters.

Sam & Kate is also the directorial debut for actor and surrealist painter Darren Le Gallo, who is no stranger to familial relationships in the film industry through his marriage to Amy Adams, who executive produced the film. Roger O’Donnell of The Cure is hopping on the list of debuts, with his first original film score, assuming it is the one he teased without naming the project in August. Vertical Entertainment will release the film on November 11.

The festival plans “33 World, North American, US, and Texas Premieres,” including titles like Daniel’s Gotta Die (starring Bob Saget in his last film), The Wild Man, and Dance Dads. The opening night film The Whale — an A24 film featured alongside The Inspection, by the same studio — tells the story of a gay widower estranged from his teenage daughter, whose binge eating is a focal point of the film.

Brendan Fraser stars, wearing controversial prosthetics to add hundreds of pounds; reviewers seem to agree that the film handled the subject with relative nuance and sensitivity. (Viewers should still keep in mind that A24 is not known for pulling punches.)

The festival also announced the full schedule for its Writers Conference, which builds out a writer’s career track over the festival’s four days with advice on research, editing, funding, collaboration, and creative maintenance. Conference admission comes separately from a festival badge.

Passes (starting at $80) all festival and conference schedules are available at austinfilmfestival.com.

dustin hoffman sissy spacek sam & kate austin film festival

New

Historic Austin museum will close for more than a year for restoration

Photo courtesy of the City of Austin

The Elisabet Ney Museum will close at the end of 2024 and reopen in mid-2026.

Every building needs some maintenance here or there, and the historic Elisabet Ney Museum needs some extra-special care. Formerly the art studio and residence of its namesake, it's been standing since 1892. It'll spend 2025 in relative solitude, as it undergoes renovation for a year and a half with no visitors allowed.

The museum will close to the public December 30, 2024, and open again in the summer of 2026 if all goes according to plan, a news release from the City of Austin shares. It'll be a quiet period compared to the 21,000 people visiting from around the world each year.

According to a museum overview on the city's website, Elisabet Ney, a European portrait sculptor, bought the property and called her new studio Formosa. She worked on sculptures depicting important Texans like Stephen F. Austin and Sam Houston, and collected works of European contemporaries.

The building at 304 East 44th St. includes 3,700 square feet of museum space, which was converted by Ney's friends after her death in 1907. It retains its unique look that juxtaposes a Neo-Classical main studio from 1892 with a later addition from 1902 including a tower for her husband, Edmund, to write in. It is also on 2.5 acres of land, which has largely been restored to its natural state with native species.

A press release lists these tasks (verbatim) within the scope of the new work, referred to as the Capital Improvement Project (CIP):

Restoration of original exterior wood doors and windows
Upgrades and replacement of the heating, ventilation, and air conditioning system
Replacement of the exhibit and general lighting systems
Repairs to the roof, masonry, plumbing, and interior finishes.

There will also be work to do outside of the building. Workers will replace the pedestrian bridge across Waller Creek, stabilize a 20,000-square-foot portion of the bank, and make the grounds more accessible by adding new pathways.

Funding comes from several sources, according to a release: "the 2012 Bond, Proposition 14, the Parkland Dedication Fund, the Historic Preservation Fund, Partners in Preservation through the National Trust, and contributions from the Friends of the Elisabet Ney Museum."

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