An annual festival celebrating the intersection of movies and music will be independently produced in Austin for the first time this year.
Sound Unseen originated in Minneapolis in 1999 and was brought to Austin three years later. Becky Arreaga saw the obvious fit.
“We’re a music town and we’re a film town,” she said. “How many cities across the country get to have those two … claims to fame?”
After helping to produce the festival here for the last few years, Arreaga will be running the show herself with a cast of locals. Sound Unseen’s founder, Jim Brunzell, decided to take a break and passed the baton.
“[He said,] ‘You guys run your own schedule, run your own submissions and invite the films you want. It’s all yours,’” Arreaga said. “This was literally a dream come true for me.”
The four-day festival starting Thursday at AFS Cinema will showcase feature-length films, documentaries and videos that capture the sound and spirit of the music scene. It will also include filmmaker Q&As, industry meetups and live music events.
“I love just mixing these two communities together in one theater and seeing what happens,” Arreaga said.
‘Very grassroots’
Arreaga and her all-volunteer team reviewed over 200 submissions to be shown at the festival. They fought over their favorites, then finally whittled them down to seven feature-length films and six shorts.
One of the filmmakers showing this year is Lauren Yap, who directed a short documentary about Meat Joy, an Austin punk band from the ’80s. America’s Entertainment Nightmare is the first movie Yap has directed that’s been in a film festival.
“So that means a lot to me,” they said. “And also this will be the premiere of the film itself publicly. And so I’m glad to be doing it locally at AFS with folks who are just obsessed with music and film and like it feels like the perfect audience.”
Meat Joy connected with Lauren a couple years ago through OUTsider Festival, the annual LGBTQ transmedia arts event in Austin. The experimental band had reunited for a pair of shows, and they were looking for someone to make a film about them.
Meat Joy performs at Club Foot in the ’80s. The band is the subject of a new documentary called America’s Entertainment Nightmare, which will be screened at Sound Unseen.
Yap was inspired by how genuine and radical Meat Joy was.
“The documentary [is] a few stories that kind of, I think, encapsulates their energy as a band, which is very cooperative, very grassroots, very anyone can do anything, you know?” they said.
Yap thought the film was a perfect fit for Sound Unseen because they’re both pretty DIY.
“It is all fully locally run and it’s by filmmakers, by music lovers, musicians like who have this passion for that?” they said.
Something for everyone
Arreaga said Sound Unseen is going to have a bit more Texas flair this year. Opening night Thursday will feature the 20th anniversary screening of Shut Up and Sing, a documentary that follows the political backlash The Chicks faced after singer Natalie Maines publicly criticized President Bush for the Iraq War.
Arreaga said the film is especially relevant in today’s political climate, looking at what has and has not changed.
The movie will be followed by a Q&A with Academy Award-winning director Barbara Kopple and co-director Cecilia Peck, moderated by former KUT general manager, Debbie Hiott.
A documentary about the Austin punk band Big Boys will also be shown, as well as videos from locals Tele Novella and Mama Duke. Arreaga said she can’t wait for those bands to see their work at AFS.
“It’s so rewarding to watch their eyes light up when they see their music video on a giant screen versus they’re typically watching it on their phone screen,” she said. “So that is quite a different experience. And that’s just super cool.”
She’s also excited to be screening a movie about Grammy winner Sara Bareilles, called Good Grief. It just premiered at the Tribeca film festival, and the director, Josh Alexander, will be in town.
Arreaga says there’s something for everyone and every decade, starting with early rock and roll star Eddie Cochran, who wrote the song “Summertime Blues.”
“You know, I only wish that everybody in Austin could watch every one of these films,” she said, “because they’re so good.”
Sound Unseen runs Aug. 6-9 at AFS Cinema. Get tickets here.