EVENTS

AAVCLUB @ AFS Cinema

*$4 off with code: AAAFF$4

Applicable for additional showtimes of the films listed below as well. Check AFS Cinema schedule for most updated showtimes.

TOMIE

Directed by Ataru Oikawa | Japan, 1998, 1h 35min, DCP, In Japanese with English subtitles

• Jan. 17, 18 | The hit series by cult manga artist Junji Itō (Uzumaki) comes to life in this peculiar tale of an evil high school femme fatale whose kiss drives men to madness. An atmospheric chiller from the J-Horror boom of the ‘90s. True beauty never dies. Starring Tomorowo Taguchi (TETSUO: THE IRON MAN) and Mami Nakamura (TOKYO TRASH BABY). Newly restored.

THREE BEWILDERED PEOPLE IN THE NIGHT

Directed by Gregg Araki | USA, 1987, 1h 32min, DCP

• Jan. 22, 30|A gay performance artist, his video-artist best friend, and her sexually confused photographer boyfriend fall into a disorienting bisexual love triangle in Gregg Araki’s rarely-seen feature debut about “angst, despair, and coffee shops in the Modern World.” Made for $5,000 and shot across Los Angeles entirely at night (and without a crew), THREE BEWILDERED PEOPLE IN THE NIGHT is a triumph of low-budget filmmaking and a fascinating origin point for one of the most beloved queer filmmakers of the past three decades. As the film’s original press notes state, “In short, an anxiety-ridden Good Time is guaranteed for all.”

  Screening with a video introduction by Queer Cinema: Lost & Found programmer Elizabeth Purchell.

YOKOHAMA BJ BLUES

Directed by Eiichi Kudo | Japan, 1981, 1h 52min, DCP, In Japanese with English subtitles

• Jan. 31, Feb. 1 | Altman’s THE LONG GOODBYE meets Visconti’s DEATH IN VENICE in this existential slow-burn about a listless, down-on-his-luck blues musician (Yūsaku Matsuda, BLACK RAIN) turned private investigator whose new case rocks him back to life. A nihilistic, queer neo-noir set to its own rhythm. Newly restored.

George Nakashima, woodworker

Directed by John Nakashima | USA, 2021, 1h 59min, DCP

• Feb. 9 | Presented by the Japan-America Society of Greater Austin. At the intersection of philosophy, woodworking, and architecture stands George Nakashima (1905–1990). This new film follows his spiritual and aesthetic journey through interviews, archival footage, recordings, and photographs.

  Followed by a special panel featuring filmmaker John Nakashima (who is also George Nakashima’s nephew), Mark Macek and Kevin Alter from the UT School of Architecture, and moderated by Chale Nafus.

TAMPOPO

Directed by Jûzô Itami | Japan, 1985, 1h 54min, DCP

• Feb. 10, 13, 14,16 | Tonally over-the-top and absolutely irresistible. Bring your appetite because TAMPOPO is a steamy love story, a food-porn movie, and the world’s first “ramen Western.” None of these flavors should work together, but they do — like a perfect bowl of noodles. Hal Hinson of the Washington Post calls it “perhaps the funniest movie about the connection between food and sex ever made.”