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The South by Southwest (SXSW) Conference and Festivals has announced its 2020 Jury and Special Award winners for this year’s film festival, despite it having been cancelled due to the spread of the coronavirus earlier this month.

The SXSW Film Festival had several Special Awards juries set up, but after the cancellation, the organization expanded to the juried competitions.

“When we curated and announced our slate for the 2020 SXSW Film Festival, filled with an array of wonderful films we were excited to share with our unique audience, we had no idea of the unprecedented impact that Coronavirus would have on all our lives,” Janet Pierson, Director of Film, said. “Our hearts were broken for all the filmmakers who invested so much time and talent in their work, hoping for a transformative experience at our event. We’re honored to at least be able to present our juried and special awards.

The 2017 Oak Cliff Film Festival ran June 8-11 and I was fortunate enough to attend for the second time as a juror. I truly adore the Oak Cliff Film Festival as well as festival founders Adam Donaghey, Barak Epstein and Jason Reimer. Each of these guys is completely different from one another personality wise […]...

A few nights ago, I went to the screening of Troma’s hilarious new movie Return To Nuke ‘Em High Volume 1. Texas Frightmare Weekend and Rue Morgue magazine were kind enough to sponsor the event at the historic Texas Theatre in Oak Cliff. Texas Frightmare is an annual horror convention that happens every May in Irving, Texas, that welcomes both celebrities and fans to gather and celebrate the genre. Fearnet will be attending the event this year, so make sure to stop by their booth to say hello and grab some much needed hand sanitizer!

On Sunday, I was lucky enough to get a quick interview with the man himself; the legend who created Troma Entertainment, Mr. Lloyd Kaufman. We chatted about the remake of his cult classic Class of Nuke ‘Em High, what’s in store for Return To Nuke ‘Em High Volume 2, and what it takes to make...

We're deep in the heart of the 18th Austin Film Festival we've been spotlighting the Austin films, but Uncertain, TX has so many Texas filmmakers working on it, we just had to do a quick interview with director Eric Steele and producer Adam Donaghey, both based up in the Dfw area. Austin's Clay Liford (Wuss, Earthling) did the cinematography. Uncertain, TX may be Steele's first feature film, but he's been active in the local film community. Steele, Donaghey, Barak Epstein and Jason Reimer are all part of Aviation Cinemas, which revived the historic Texas Theatre in 2010.

Describe your film for us, in a quick and dirty paragraph.

Eric Steele: Uncertain, TX is, in essence, the worst bed and breakfast experience imaginable. Two drifters happen upon an old bed and breakfast in a bayou town near the Louisiana/Texas border and encounter a very odd family who psychologically torments them during their stay.

Congratulations to filmmaker Clay Liford, whose latest feature Wuss will have its world premiere in the Lone Star States category at SXSW 2011 next month.

Remember Clay? Last year at SXSW, My Blackberry Ate My Clay Liford Interview when I talked with him and producer Barak Epstein about Clay's cerebral science-fiction genre-crossing movie Earthling, and touched briefly on his 2008 short My Mom Smokes Weed. The man is batting a thousand -- getting two features into SXSW two years in a row is no mean feat. He spent a Sunday brunch at Olivia a couple of weeks ago chatting with Jette and me about his latest projects -- we all ate smoked gouda grits, and the Blackberry did not eat the interview this time.

As it happens, My Mom Smokes Weed star Nate Rubin plays the lead in Wuss. Rubin stars as Mitch, a high-school teacher who can't seem to escape the...

While at South by Southwest I had an opportunity to sit down with Clay Liford and Barak Epstein, a very talented duo out of Dallas, to discuss their film ‘Earthling’. The movie is a science fiction film about a group of people who realize their lives aren’t what they seem to be, and that they are actually aliens living inside of “host” human bodies.

Tmp: You seem very passionate about the science fiction genre. Why did you choose to write a character driven Sci-Fi film opposed to what people might normally expect?

Liford: I think it always comes down to my own personal interests, the genre itself is just a part of the palate, more things you can paint with as a part of your film. Sci-fi doesn’t always have to be rockets and ray-guns and stuff like that. There are so many stories within the genre and...

“There’s a sucker born every minute,” is the slogan for the film. That includes anyone who pays good money to buy this DVD. You’ll get more laughs out of an old Bela Lugosi Dracula movie than from this poor parody of vampire films. If you’re expecting a clever satire of the monster hoard genre, such as Shaun of the Dead or Zombieland, be warned that cleverness has left the building.

The film wants to be the Young Frankenstein of vampire films, but it’s so unoriginal, insipid and low budget, it’s more like the Plan 9 from Outer Space of vampire flicks. The humor in Blood on the Highway works on such a lowbrow level that it makes The Howard Stern Show seem cerebral. The movie attempts to create humorous violence, such as in the Troma Studios cult classic The Toxic Avenger, but dual-directors Barak Epstein...

Directed and written by by Steve Balderson

Featuring Karen Black, Mink Stole, Jane Wiedlin, Jeff Dylan Graham, Starina Johnson, Pleasant Gehman, Susan Traylor, Stacy Cunningham,

Review by Andrew Shearer

Unbelievable. Un-fucking-believable. A new women in prison film (Wip for short) starring Karen Black, Mink Stole and one of the Go-Go's was shot less than two hours away from me and I didn't even know about it! I consider it a lost opportunity. I'm currently developing a nice, dark bruise on my left leg from kicking myself repeatedly with my right...

Stuck!, written and directed by Steve Balderson (Pep Squad, Firecracker), is a gorgeous, black-and-white noir character piece that feels less like an homage and more like a newly discovered classic in the babes-behind-bars genre. Whereas Barak Epstein's Prison A Go-go opted to go the route of parody (owing more to Troma than to, say, the late Cirio H. Santiago...

The organizers of Philadelphia’s Backseat Film Festival have a number of new fright features in the lineup for their 2009 event this week. The fest is taking place at the 941 Theater (941 N. Front Street) and runs through next Sunday, March 15.

Among the horror movies being shown are The Burnt House (pictured), a local production making its world premiere. Directed by Adam Ahlbrandt, who also helmed last year’s Lionsgate DVD release Sight, it’s about a couple with a troubled marriage who move to the husband’s rural childhood home, where scary events from the past begin to recur in the present. The Texas vampire opus Blood On The Highway by Barak Epstein, whose Prison-a-go-go won the Best Film prize at the 2004 Backseat Fest, and Blair Rowan, just had its Philly premiere there last night, and upcoming are the Southern survival shocker Resurrection County, from Cellar Door’s Matt Zettell; Rona Mark’s Strange Girls,...

Earthling is a new scifi film by Clay Liford that's heading into production next month. Besides sporting a pretty great ensemble cast including Rebecca Spence (Michael Mann's Public Enemies), Peter Greene (Pulp Fiction), William Katt (House, Carrie), Jennifer Sipes (W), and Harry Goaz (Twin Peaks), it's also got an intriguing and original premise.

After a mysterious atmospheric event aboard the International Space Station, a small group of people wake up to realize that their entire lives have been a lie. They are in fact aliens disguised as humans. Now they have to make a choice. Live amongst men, or try to find a way back home.

We first hear about the film through Fangoria who were told by the film's producer Barak Epstein that it was going to have "crazy alien gore." So is it scifi/horror? I guess we'll see. The film's full press release is after the break so have a look.

Got an email from Barak Epstein about a low-budget sci-fi movie he’s producing called “Earthling”. It’s got a pretty good premise for a sci-fi movie, one of those character-based dramas that happens to have a sci-fi slant. Not sure how much space lasers or grey aliens we’ll see in this one, but it doesn’t sound all bad. The film is currently in production with an eye toward a 2009 release. Here’s the plot: After a mysterious atmospheric event aboard the International Space Station, a small group of people wake up to realize that their entire lives have been a lie. They are in fact aliens disguised as humans. Now they have to make a choice. Live amongst men, or try to find a way back home. The film will star Rebecca Spence (Grace is Gone, Michael Mann’s Public Enemies), Peter Greene (Pulp Fiction, The Mask,...

Filmmaker/Producer Barak Epstein (Blood On The Highway, Prison-a-go-go!) got in touch with Fango tonight to spread the word about his latest project, Earthling. "It's gonna have some crazy alien gore!", he said about the sci-fi thriller that will begin lensing next month under the direction of Clay Liford (A Four Course Meal), who also penned the screenplay.

Get the full details on the film, along with an early look at production design artwork after the jump.

Synopsis: "After a mysterious atmospheric event aboard the International Space Station, a small group of people wake up to realize that their entire lives have been a lie. They are in fact aliens disguised as humans. Now they have to make a choice. Live amongst men, or try to find a way back home."

Rebecca Spence  (Grace Is Gone, Michael Mann's Public Enemies), Peter Greene (Pulp Fiction, The Usual Suspects), William Katt (The Greatest American Hero,...

Xander Harris of Buffy the Vampire Slayer is under the tooth once again, so to speak, in a new indie horror-comedy called Blood on the Highway . Okay, so it's not Xander , but actor Nicholas Brendan does co-star in the film and you can catch a glimpse of him and Tom Towles ( Henry: Portrait of a Serial Killer ) in Highway 's trailer right here . Blood on the Highway has been taking a bite out of the film festival circuit all year. Shot in Texas and directed by Barak Epstein and Blair Rowan, the story finds a road-tripping trio who roll into the town of Fate and find it's populated by vampires. When its made known to the inhabitants that fresh meat has arrived, they hole up and prepare for battle. For more info, visit the film's official site where you'll find more...