Austin Film Festival — Attraction in Austin

This was my first year experiencing the Austin Film Fest and as with any festival on this scale with multiple events, scheduling and staff you can't expect consistency, but I have to say I was a little taken aback that for such an established festival no one seemed to know what was really going on and the "enforcement" of the 20min rule varied from place to place.

Even when I went to pick up my pass at the Driskill, they couldn't find my name and I had to go through 3 different people before I was able to be issued my pass.

Then at my first event, the schedule had changed from the printed program and I arrived 3mins after the 20min cutoff time for the new 4:30pm showing instead of the 4:45pm time listed and was asked to stand in back of the Gen Adm line, even though I had a pass. When I asked the guy who told me to move lines because I was past the 20min line cutoff for the unpublished changed time how I was supposed to know the time change, he told me to check the website, not trust the program. So when I pulled up the website w/the the link to the PDF that is essentially the printed program, he said "no no, the schedule link". So my suggestion is that the "app" sched that they have for the most up to date schedule needs to be better explained at pass pickup. Once I finally found the correct link and created my acct, the "app" (really just pinning the mobile site to your homescreen if you have an iphone) worked great in that you could add diff screenings to your schedule and you would be sent daily "schedule reminders" via your email. But, back to the inconsistency at venues...I went to the Alamo Village for a couple of showings and was told to get in a badge line when I had a pass and then told when they were checking for badges to go and get in the back of the pass line, even though I had already been in line for almost 30mins by the time they were handing out seating slips. Then, at the Paramount showing of Rosewater, where we were told it was gonna be a tight squeeze for pass holders to get in, a few mins after the 20min cut off for badge holders, a few badge holders walked up to "AFF Crew Members" and somehow were let in even though the deadline for them to queue ahead of those of us who had been standing in line well over 2hrs watched them get preferential treatment. My gripe is that "what is good for one is good for all" and it should not be a "who you know" situation.

I will say though, despite some of the snafus I ran into, I did manage to enjoy my experience and was able to catch some great films, most notably The Barkley Marathons, The Last Time You Had Fun, and Rosewater. I can see myself partaking next year, but definitely on the General Admin basis as having a pass didn't really seem to get my any further than waiting in Gen Adm as badges are the trump card at the...

This stands out among festivals because everyone is so friendly and helpful. As with any festival you get what you put into it. The conferences are definitely worth going to both for learning something new about the craft and networking. The film festival is my favorite especially the shorts. I watched all of them last year and they were terrific and better still the audience was engaged and fun and we got to see the film makers and ask them real and practical film...

Plays films that are banned in other countries because of animal cruelty, like real animals that get hurt and die. The film which I won’t name here was banned for a reason in Australia. They play films about gender equality and civil rights women’s rights but I guess forget about animals who would...