The Wittliff Collections at Texas State University and Austin Film Festival have joined forces to digitize recordings of more than 52 hours of content from past Austin Film Festival panels and make them available to the public for free at https://digital.library.txstate.edu/handle/10877/6478.
Held every fall, AFF brings screenwriters and filmmakers to Austin to celebrate their work and inspire up-and-coming filmmakers. To date, 250 conference panels have been digitized dating back to AFF’s founding in 1994. Support for the digitization has been provided by Texas State Library and Archives Commission.
With recordings from guest speakers like David Simon, Matthew Weiner, Larry Wilmore, Callie Khouri, Vince Gilligan, Issa Rae, Sydney Pollack, and Bill Wittliff, additional highlights include:
- An audio interview with Mike Judge (King of the Hill) https://digital.library.txstate.edu/handle/10877/6511
- A video interview with Harold Ramis (Groundhog Day) moderated by Judd Apatow (The 40-Year-Old Virgin) https://mediaflo.txstate.edu/Watch/d4R7Mbc8
- King of the Hill – Behind the Drawings https://mediaflo.txstate.edu/Watch/s5LSf4p6
- A Conversation with Oliver Stone https://mediaflo.txstate.edu/Watch/g4DTy93P
The remainder of the digitized content is available to researchers on-site at The Wittliff Collections. These materials are the latest in an ongoing partnership between The Wittliff Collections and AFF to preserve and present the festival’s content to filmmakers, film fans, and researchers for generations to come.
“We are so grateful to The Wittliff Collections and Texas State University for providing a home for all of this treasured content,” said AFF Executive Director Barbara Morgan. “This festival is so important to us and the state of Texas, and digitizing this content will allow AFF to live on for decades to come.” David Coleman, Director of The Wittliff Collections, said, “With its emphasis on screenwriting, the Austin Film Festival has had a tremendous influence on the film industry for more than two decades. We are honored that the Austin Film Festival has entrusted us with sharing and safeguarding its legacy.”
The Wittliff Collections are located on the seventh floor of Texas State’s Alkek Library in San Marcos, between Austin and San Antonio. Exhibition hours, directions, and parking information are online. For questions, call 512.245.2313 (press 0).
INSTRUCTING, ILLUMINATING, INSPIRING
The Wittliff Collections are dedicated to collecting, preserving, and sharing the cultural legacy of the Southwest’s literary, photographic and musical arts, and to fostering the region’s “Spirit of Place” in the wider world. The Wittliff hosts readings, artist talks, lectures, and other events; presents major exhibitions year-round from its holdings; and makes its collections available to statewide, national, and international researchers.
Visitors, tours, and classes are welcome. Admission is free.
Online: http://www.thewittliffcollections.txstate.edu/
