Jason Reitman's THE FRONT RUNNER to Close Austin Film Festival

Austin Film Festival (AFF), the premier film festival recognizing writers' and filmmakers' contributions to film, television, and new media, announced today that The Front Runner will serve as the fest's Closing Night selection. Directed by Academy Award®-nominee and AFF alum Jason Reitman (Juno, Up in the Air), The Front Runner stars Hugh Jackman as the charismatic politician Gary Hart, who was considered the overwhelming front-runner for the 1988 Democratic presidential nomination when his campaign was sidelined by the story of an extramarital relationship with Donna Rice. The Front Runnerwill bow in Austin on November 1 with Reitman in attendance.

Additionally featured in AFF's second wave announcement are The Favourite, the latest project by director Yorgos Lanthimos (The Lobster, The Killing of the Sacred Deer) starring Emma Stone and Rachel Weisz, and Everybody Knows from acclaimed Iranian director Asghar Farsadi (A Separation, The Salesman), starring Javier Bardem and Penelope Cruz.

The Festival also announced four world premieres-British drama Undercliffe, supernatural thriller The Dark Red, directed by Dan Bush (The Signal), Indian American family drama Love Goes Through Your Mind and The Money Stone, Stuart Harmon's documentary about two boys coming of age among the gold mines of Ghana.

The Festival will also be presenting Texas Cotton from local filmmaker Tyler Russell. Based on the short film of the same name that played at AFF in 2016, Texas Cotton follows an aging policeman (Troll 2's George Hardy) convinced that a mysterious stranger arrested in his small Texas town is innocent.

In addition to these features come a number of short films from emerging female voices that will premiere during the Festival this year. AFF's highly competitive and Oscar®-qualifying short film competition has helped boost the career of filmmakers like Jason Reitman and Maggie Carey and led to numerous Academy Award® nominations, including last year's documentary short Heaven Is a Traffic Jam on the 405, which took home the Oscar® after premiering at AFF.

AFF Second Wave

The Dark Red

World Premiere

Writers: Dan Bush, Conal Byrne

Director: Dan Bush

Starring: April Billingsley, Kelsey Scott, Rhoda Griffis

A young woman is committed to a psychiatric hospital and claims her newborn was stolen by a dark cult.

Everybody Knows

Writer/Director: Asghar Farhadi

Starring: Javier Bardem, Penelope Cruz, Ricardo Darin

Laura, a Spanish woman living in Buenos Aires, returns to her hometown outside Madrid with her two children to attend her sister's wedding. However, the trip is upset by unexpected events that bring SECRETS into the open.

The Favourite

Writer/Director: Yorgos Lanthimos

Starring: Emma Stone, Rachel Weisz, Olivia Colman

Early 18th century. England is at war with the French. Nevertheless, duck racing and pineapple eating are thriving. A frail Queen Anne (Olivia Colman) occupies the throne and her close friend Lady Sarah (Rachel Weisz) governs the country in her stead while tending to Anne's ill health and mercurial temper. When a new servant Abigail (Emma Stone) arrives, her charm endears her to Sarah. Sarah takes Abigail under her wing and Abigail sees a chance at a return to her aristocratic roots. As the politics of war become quite time consuming for Sarah, Abigail steps into the breach to fill in as the Queen's companion. Their burgeoning friendship gives her a chance to fulfill her ambitions and she will not let woman, man, politics or rabbit stand in her way

The Front Runner

Closing Night Film

Writers: Matt Bai, Jay Carson, Jason Reitman

Based on the book All the Truth is Out by Matt Bai

Director: Jason Reitman

Starring: Hugh Jackman, Vera Farmiga, J.K. Simmons, Alfred Molina

Oscar® nominee Hugh Jackman stars as the charismatic politician Gary Hart for Academy Award®-nominated director Jason Reitman in the new thrilling drama The Front Runner. The film follows the RISE and fall of Senator Hart, who captured the imagination of young voters and was considered the overwhelming front runner for the 1988 Democratic presidential nomination when his campaign was sidelined by the story of an extramarital relationship with Donna Rice. As tabloid journalism and political journalism merged for the first time, Senator Hart was forced to drop out of the race - events that left a profound and lasting impact on American politics and the world stage.

Love Goes Through Your Mind

Writers: Shruti Swaminathan, Ronak Shah

Director: Ronak Shah

Starring: Ariela Barer, Azim Rizk

An Indian-American family begins to implode under the pressures of a family member's untreated mental illness.

The Money Stone

World Premiere

Director: Stuart Harmon

Deep under the jungles of Ghana, scores of children are driven by poverty to leave school and work in dangerous pits IN SEARCH OF gold. Justice and Maxwell, two teens trapped in the deadly world of illegal mining who risk it all IN SEARCH OF a better future.

Texas Cotton

Writers: Tyler Russell, Jameel Khaja

Director: Tyler Russell

Starring: George Hardy, Lew Temple, Jason Douglas, Gene Jones

An aging policeman is convinced a mysterious stranger arrested in his small town is innocent. His investigation stirs up a hornet's nest.

Undercliffe

Writer: Bruce McLeod

Director: Lisa Mulcahy

Starring: Laurie Kynaston, Mark Addy, Akbar Kurtha, Stephanie Hyam

A young man wakes up beaten half to death in a wasteland, with no memories of what happened to him or who he is. As he investigates his own past, he discovers that he has left a trail of destruction in his wake.

Highlighted Shorts

Candid

Writer/Director: Gabrielle Shepard

Faced with the memory of her late mother, an aspiring street photographer takes a surreal journey through the city as she reconciles her future and the relationship with her father.

Daily Bread

Writers: Ruby Challenger, Jonathan Wald, Ella Carey

Director: Ruby Challenger

In a WWII internment camp in Indonesia, Jan acts out of desperation to save a little girl's life, bringing dire consequences upon the whole camp.

Max & The Monster

Writer/Director: Jenna Kanell

Maxine struggles to regain normalcy after acquiring the company of a persistent monster whom no one else can see.

Mercury

Writer: Gorana Jovanovi?

Director: Kyla Simone Bruce

Bambi drives her very pregnant best friend Al to the hospital to have her baby. Al's mood darkens as the inevitable and irreversible reality sinks in.

Moonwalk with Me

Writer/Director: So Young Shelly Yo

A Korean-American girl named Juno struggles to keep her drifting father grounded.

The Ride Home

Writer/Director: Laura Adkin

A young girl makes an unexpected connection with a couple who offer her a ride home after her painful and complicated decision to terminate her pregnancy.

ABOUT AUSTIN FILM FESTIVAL:
Austin Film Festival (AFF) is a non-profit organization dedicated to furthering the art, craft and business of writers and filmmakers and recognizing their contributions to film, television and new media. AFF CHAMPIONS the work of aspiring and established writers and filmmakers by providing unique cultural events and services, enhancing public awareness and participation, and encouraging dynamic and long-lasting community partnerships. AFF is supported in part by the Cultural Arts Division of the City of Austin Economic Development Department and the Texas Commission on the Arts. All attendees and events are based on permitting schedules and are subject to change and/or cancellation without notice. For media credentials, please contact Lauren Kelcher Stevenson at aff@sunshinesachs.com. Badges and passes are available for purchase online at www.austinfilmfestival.com or by phone at 1-800-310-FEST.

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