The Deep in the Heart Film Festival announces special 30th Anniversary screening of Richard Linklater’s Dazed and Confused on Saturday, July 22.
The special added celebration of the 90s classic will include a presentation of the Deep in the Heart FF Trailblazer Award to Jason London, whose starring role in the film kicked off his career as one of the decade’s top stars.
Deep in the Heart FF co-founders and directors Samuel Thomas and Louis Hunter, said, “We could not be more thrilled to add this weekend-long celebration of such an influential film shot here in Texas to what was already a jam-packed festival of great films and events. Having Jason London here to accept our Chisholm Trailblazer Award, headline our Opening Night Red Carpet and participate in what is sure to be a very entertaining conversation about the making of the film and his career is just so much icing on the cake. Each year, we have tried to add something new and special for our film fans to enjoy, and what could be better than this?”
Screening at the Waco Hippodrome on Saturday, June 22 at 1:00PM, Richard Linklater’s Dazed and Confused (1993) is regarded as a cult classic, ranking 3rd on Entertainment Weekly’s list of the “50 Best High School Movies,” as well as being ranked 10th on the same magazine’s “Funniest Movies of the Past 25 Years” list. Quentin Tarantino included the film in his list of the 10 greatest films of all time in a poll he participated in for Sight and Sound. The film follows the exploits of a group of teenagers during the last day of school in 1976 Austin, Texas.
The film has also become noteworthy, if not legendary, due to the large number of actors from its extensive ensemble who went on to become stars, including London, Joey Lauren Adams, Ben Affleck, Rory Cochrane, Adam Goldberg, Cole Hauser, Milla Jovovich, Nicky Katt, Matthew McConaughey, Parker Posey, and Renée Zellweger.
Following his debut in The Man in the Moon (1991), Jason London went on to appear in the thriller December (also 1991) before establishing himself with Linklater’s Dazed and Confused (1993). As Randy ‘Pink’ Floyd, football player and group conscience in the filmi, London stood out among the talented cast. Following that breakthrough, he starred with Susan Sarandon’s in the drama Safe Passage (1994), a small-town hick entranced with John Leguizamo’s character in To Wong Foo, Thanks for Everything, Julie Newmar (1995), and a victimized teen in the drama Fall Time (1995). On television, London’s credits include the Fox vampire thriller, “Blood Ties” (1991), TV movies “Country Estates” (ABC, 1993), “I’ll Fly Away: Then and Now” (PBS, 1993), and the Kurt Russell role in ABC’s 1995 remake of “The Barefoot Executive.” Miniseries have included “False Arrest” (ABC, 1991) and “A Matter of Justice” (NBC, 1993), and he has guested on such series as “Tales From the Crypt,” “The Outer Limits” and “Route 66.” This year, London can be seen in the horror thriller Blood Harvest, and the murder mystery Half Dead Fred.
As part of the weekend celebration of the film and his career, London will appear on Deep in the Heart FF’s Opening Night Red Carpet entrances on Thursday, July 20, a “Conversation on Film” on Friday, and then receive the Chisholm Trailblazer Award during the Dazed and Confused post-screening Q&A on Saturday.
As previously announced, the Deep in the Heart Film Festival will combine in-theater screenings July 20-23, followed by an online encore July 24-30, kicking things off with an Opening Night presentation of Dawn Mikkelson and Keri Pickett’s film festival sensation Finding Her Beat, and wrapping up with Anna Baumgarten’s multiple award-winning drama Disfluency as the Closing Night selection. The festival will also host a unique multi-media screening and live performance of Greg Brownderville and Bart Weiss’ critically acclaimed Southern Gothic shaggy dog story Fire Bones, as well as a Friday Night Spotlight screening of Thaddeus D. Matula’s inspiring documentary Into the Spotlight.
With screenings at the historic Waco Hippodrome and Cultivate 7twelve, and a program divided into four categories: Crowd Pleasers, Deep Dives, Family Friendly, and For the Curious and Adventurous, the Deep in the Heart FF has once again worked to add more to the popular film festival’s screenings, events, and presentations to make it even more audience-friendly and easy to access and enjoy as they head to the movie theaters. The programming tracks were created to help audiences understand the tone of the films and make it easier for people to discover the movies that fit their tastes. The screening schedule will include 127 films (9 features, 106 shorts, 12 music videos), and 1 multi-media project).
To purchase passes and tickets and to find more information on the Deep in the Heart Film Festival, please go to: https://www.deepintheheartff.com/.
