USA Film Festival (USAFF) returns for its 55th edition April 23-27 at the Angelika Film Center in Dallas. The festival features such special events as an opening night Salute to Nancy Kwan and a Salute to Jon Avnet with a screening of his film, The Last Rodeo. A 25 th Anniversary Screening of Christopher Nolan’s Memento will feature Stephen Tobolowsky
in attendance.
The USAFF’s Closing Night highlight is a 40th Anniversary screening of Brigette Berman’s Oscar-winning documentary, Artie Shaw: Time is All You’ve Got.The Karate Kid/Cobra Kai villain Martin Kove will be honored with the 50th Anniversary screening of the Corman Cult Classic Death Race 2000.
All screenings and events will be held at the Angelika Film Center (5321 E. Mockingbird Lane), with the vast majority of the programming offered free to the public. At the Angelika, free parking is also available.
“We are pleased to once again celebrate Dallas Arts Month with our annual Spring Festival,” USAFF Managing Director Ann Alexander said, “We are honored to bring a number of distinguished Master Artists to our stage in Dallas — including Nancy Kwan, Jon Avnet, Martin Kove, Neal McDonough, Mykelti Williamson, Stephen Tobolowsky and William Shockley — and to celebrate so many talented filmmakers with new works as well as revisiting a few classic favorites. With support from our Sponsors, once again this year most of our programs will be presented as Free
admission.”
Opening Night on April 23, the Salute to Nancy Kwan features a film clip compilation followed by an on-stage conversation where she will discuss her life and career with author and film historian Foster Hirsch. Kwan’s distinguished film and television career includes film classics and favorites such as The World of Suzie Wong, Flower Drum Song, The Wrecking Crew, Fate Is the Hunter, Arrivederci, Baby! and many more. Ms. Kwan will sign copies of her new memoir, & ” The World of Nancy Kwan.”
The screening of Jon Avnet’s The Last Rodeo, about a retired rodeo legend who risks it all in a high-stakes bull-riding competition to save his grandson, will highlight the salute to Avnet’s career. Co-written by Avnet, Neal McDonough and Derek Presley, the inspiring film stars McDonough, Sarah Jones, Mykelti Williamson, Christopher
McDonald, Ruvé McDonough and Daylon Swearingen. The film will be released by Angel Studios on May 23rd. In attendance will be Jon Avnet, Neal McDonough, Ruvé McDonough, and Mykelti Williamson.
Rounding out USAFF Opening Night will be a 25th Anniversary screening of Christopher Nolan’s mind-bending thriller Memento (2000). Dallas-born actor Stephen Tobolowsky (and SMU alumnus) will attend the festival and discuss his role in the film.
The program will be presented with the Hamon Arts Library and G. William Jones Film & Video Collection, SMU Libraries.
On April 24, USAFF features Beth Lane’s powerful documentary UnBroken. The daughter of a Holocaust survivor, Lane embarks on an international quest to uncover answers about the plight of her mother and her six siblings who, as mere children, escaped Nazi Germany. Lane will participate in a post-screening Q&A.
April 26 will be highlighted by a Salute to Martin Kove in conjunction with a 50th Anniversary screening of Death Race 2000 (1975). Directed by Paul Bartel and produced by Roger Corman, the B movie cult classic is a no-holds-barred cross-country thrill-and-kill race where drivers garner points by trying to knock out their opponents
along with as many pedestrians as possible. The film stars David Carradine, Sylvester Stallone, Roberta Collins, and Mary Woronov, alongside Kove as the drivers. Kove will attend to talk about the film as well as his best known roles in The Karate Kid, Rambo: First Blood Part II and “Cobra Kai,” among others.
William Shockley’s feature film directorial debut, Long Shadows, will also debut Saturday. The period Western follows the journey of a young boy whose parents are savagely murdered. Dermot Mulroney, Jacqueline Bisset, Dominic Monaghan, Blaine Maye, Sarah Cortez, Grainger Hines, David St. Louis, Chris Mulkey, Ronnie Gene Blevins and Mike Markoff are in the cast, and many of them will attend the screening.
Also screening Saturday is Brandt Johnson’s Rebel with a Clause documentary that follows a grammar guru who takes her pop-up grammar advice stand on a road trip across all 50 states to show that comma fights can bring us closer together in a divided time. Brandt Johnson and author/film subject Ellen Jovin will attend.
On April 27, the Festival’s Closing Night line-up will include a 40th Anniversary screening of Brigitte Berman’s newly restored and remastered Artie Shaw: Time Is All You’ve Got (1985). The winner of the 1986 Academy Award for Best Documentary Feature, Berman’s insightful documentary portrays the restless life and five-decade career of the gifted bandleader.
For more details and to view the full schedule of programs, visit https://www.usafilmfestival.com/. Tickets range from free to $10, and advance tickets are still available at the site.
The USA Film Festival is supported in part by the City of Dallas Office of Arts and Culture, the Texas Commission on the Arts and the National Endowment for the Arts. Presenting Sponsors include Sidley Austin LLP, Dave Perry Miller Real Estate, Gaedeke Group, Carol and Alan J. Bernon Family Charitable Foundation, Moody Fund for the Arts, Headington Company, Dallas Tourism Public Improvement District, Mary Fox and Laura Fox, Dallas Film Commission, Dallas Producers Association, SAG- AFTRA, SMU – Hamon Arts Library, Spracklen Film &; Video and the Angelika Film Center.
