Chronicle. AFF.

The Austin Film Festival opens tomorrow and runs through October 26. Naturally, the Austin Chronicle runs a hefty preview package this week.

Toddy Burton talks with Mike Akel and Chris Mass about their "Austin-produced microbudget Chalk."

Then, briefly:

• Belinda Acosta: "Like most classic satire, Military Intelligence and You appears to be about one subject while brazenly lampooning another." Also, the "subversively cheery documentary" Pirate Radio USA.

• Darcie Stevens on Mario's Story, documenting "every twist and turn that keeps the young, intelligent writer [Mario Rocha] behind bars." Also, the "engrossing Sounds of Silence [which] documents the maturing music industry in Tehran, Iran." And: "Milena Kaneva's poignant Total Denial tells the horrific story of the construction of a gas pipeline in Myanmar (Burma) by a company conglomerate comprised of American oil giant Unocal and France's Total."

• Marrit Ingman on Steel City, which "creates an atmosphere of working-class middle America that feels lived-in and real." Also, Third Monday in October: "Imagine Vote for Pedro: The Documentary, and you've got half the appeal of this lively and insightful chronicle of middle school class elections, backdropped by the 2004 presidential elections."

• James Renovitch finds The Garage "doesn't break the coming-of-age mold but instead fills it out adeptly." Also, Urban Scarecrow, where "the line between escapism and escape disappears." And Duncan Removed: "Ken Marino (Wet Hot American Summer) and Mackenzie Astin (The Last Days of Disco) have a particular chemistry as the man and the-man-behind-the-man, respectively."

• Mark Fagan on Abduction: The Megumi Yokota Story: "At times it is hard to believe this film is a documentary and not fictional due to the Megumi's unbelievable saga." Earlier: Jonathan Marlow's interview with Chris Sheridan and Patty Kim.

• Josh Rosenblatt on The Hip Hop Project, a doc about "Chris 'Kharma Kazi' Rolle, a reformed troublemaker from the streets of Crown Heights, Brooklyn, who discovered himself in hip-hop and then set out to help other at-risk kids do the same."

• Sofia Resnick on the "sincere" doc Runners High.

• Marjorie Baumgarten praises Michael Rapaport's performance in Special.

• Jeremy Martin on The Land of Shadowed Sand: "Think of it as West Texas Confidential."

And the shorts programs are previewed by Kimberley Jones, Sofia Resnick, Darcie Stevens and Jeremy Martin.

The festival's got a blog, by the way, and MySpace page loaded with trailers.

Posted by dwhudson at October 19, 2006 10:06 AM