Violet Crown

The East

Directed by Zal Batmanglij

Sarah Moss is a brilliant operative for an elite private intelligence firm whose top objective is to ruthlessly protect the interests of their A-list corporate clientele. She is assigned to go undercover to infiltrate an anarchist collective known for executing covert attacks upon major corporations. Living amongst them in an effort to get closer to their members, Sarah finds herself unexpectedly torn between two worlds as she starts to fall in love with the group's charismatic leader, finding her life and her priorities irrevocably changed.

Stories We Tell

Directed by Sarah Polley

In this inspired, genre-twisting new film, Oscar-nominated writer/director Sarah Polley discovers that the truth depends on who's telling it. Polley is both filmmaker and detective as she investigates the secrets kept by a family of storytellers. She playfully interviews and interrogates a cast of characters of varying reliability, eliciting refreshingly candid, yet mostly contradictory, answers to the same questions. As each relates their version of the family mythology, present-day recollections shift into nostalgia-tinged glimpses of their mother, who departed too soon, leaving a trail of unanswered questions. Polley unravels the paradoxes to reveal the essence of family: always complicated, warmly messy and fiercely loving.

Stories We Tell explores the elusive nature of truth and memory, but at its core is a deeply personal film about how our narratives shape and define us as individuals and families, all interconnecting to paint a profound, funny and poignant picture of the larger human story.

Frances Ha

Directed by Noah Baumbach

A valentine to New York City from acclaimed director Noah Baumbach with a wildly inventive comic performance from Greta Gerwig, who also co-wrote the script. The film follows an aspiring dancer as she attempts to finally become independent in her life and in her career. Greta Gerwig is embraceable, unpredictable and possessed of gifts for physical comedy.

Before Midnight

Directed by Richard Linklater

In this follow-up to Before Sunrise and Before Sunset, we meet Jesse and Celine nine years later in Greece. Almost two decades have passed since their first meeting on that train bound for Vienna.

Directed by Richard Linklater and starring Ethan Hawke and Julie Delpy who also co-wrote the screenplay.

The Great Gatsby

Directed by Baz Luhrmann

"The Great Gatsby" follows Fitzgerald-like, would-be writer Nick Carraway (Tobey Maguire) as he leaves the Midwest and comes to New York City in the spring of 1922, an era of loosening morals, glittering jazz, bootleg kings, and sky-rocketing stocks. Chasing his own American Dream, Nick lands next door to a mysterious, party-giving millionaire, Jay Gatsby (Leonardo DiCaprio), and across the bay from his cousin, Daisy (Carey Mulligan), and her philandering, blue-blooded husband, Tom Buchanan (Joel Edgerton). It is thus that Nick is drawn into the captivating world of the super rich, their illusions, loves and deceits. As Nick bears witness, within and without of the world he inhabits, he pens a tale of impossible love, incorruptible dreams and high-octane tragedy, and holds a mirror to our own modern times and struggles.

Mud

Directed by Jeff Nichols

Mud is an adventure about two boys, Ellis and his friend Neckbone, who find a man named Mud hiding out on an island in the Mississippi. Mud describes fantastic scenarios - he killed a man in Texas and vengeful bounty hunters are coming to get him. He says he is planning to meet and escape with the love of his life, Juniper, who is waiting for him in town. Skeptical but intrigued, Ellis and Neckbone agree to help him. It isn't long until Mud's visions come true and their small town is besieged by a beautiful girl with a line of bounty hunters in tow.

This film screens as part of AFS Selects, which is presented in partnership with Austin Film Society. AFS Members receive a $2 discount on tickets purchased at the box office or by phone during the run of the selection, except the first show of the day.

Trash Dance

Directed by Andrew Garrison