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Chicago – The Dallas International Film Festival (Diff) highlights new voices and especially Texas voices, and a charming slice-of-life Texas film … with shades of Richard Linklater’s “Slacker” dynamic … is screening at Diff on Monday, April 28th. “Party People” is a comedic slice-of-life about college Freshman Year and that first important party, and writer/co-creator Lindsey Robertson and hubby/director Joey LePage will represent at the screening. For the film’s tickets/info, click Party People.

It’s the first week at a Texas college for several sets of Freshman and their assignment is to get to the first major party of the school year. In that pursuit, a series of misadventures occur, including a different time/place for high school relationships, new roommate interactions and older Freshman-in-name coeds who are approaching the night in a different way. They all come together at the “big school” and have hope/dreams for...

Exclusive: Kingston Rumi Southwick (Presumed Innocent) and Banks Repeta (Armageddon Time) will topline Henry’s Ebb, an indie horror thriller marking the feature debut of writer-director Thomas Mendolia.

Others starring in the film, which recently wrapped production in North Carolina, include Ashley Shelton (War Pony), Will Holland, Rebecca Ann Koon (The Menu) and Austin Willard.

Described as a southeastern-set story in the vein of Stand By Me or Mud, with genre elements, Henry’s Ebb follows Henry (Southwick) as he runs away from an abusive home with his imaginary best friend, Ebb (Repeta). The journey tests their friendship, as well as Henry’s inner “need” for Ebb as Ebb’s control and manipulation over Henry intensifies.

Lucas Ford and Joey LePage are serving as the film’s producers, with Ford Films as the production company. Tracy Kilpatrick (The Peanut Butter Falcon) oversaw casting.

The Austin Film Festival (Aff) is set to showcase a remarkable lineup of films at this year’s event, Variety is happy to exclusively announce the first selection of films, including the world premiere of “Ravens,” a magical realist biopic featuring recent Emmy-nominee Tadanobu Asano (“Shogun”).

Also among the highly anticipated premieres is the Texas-made thriller by Chris Beier and Daniel Wolfman centered around a washed-up Youtube star titled “The Ego Death of Queen Cecilia,” “Silent Notes,” a romantic neo-noir starring Daniel Durant (“Coda”) and the film adaptation of the Broadway play “The Piano Lesson” from Netflix starring Samuel L. Jackson and John David Washington, which just recently released a trailer. These films are part of Aff’s first wave of screenings, highlighting some of the year’s best in independent filmmaking.

Additional programming includes “Black Dog,” which received the Un Certain Regard award at Cannes this year as well as Ecuadorian horror film “Shaman.