The lobby at AFS Cinema features posters from Linklater’s personal collection and a central light installation harkening back to vintage theater marquees.
When the AFS outgrew its weekly screenings at the Alamo Drafthouse, the organization started searching for a permanent space to show films in 2013. Working with the Lincoln Village Shopping Center (now known as The Linc) near Highland Mall, the AFS started a crowdfunding campaign to bring a 35mm projector to the Marchesa theater as a semipermanent home. When the Marchesa folded in 2016, the AFS decided to take over the lease and renovate the theater. Adding a second screen and a new lobby designed by Austin architect Michael Hsu, AFS Cinema opened a year later, realizing Linklater’s original vision to showcase independent films. Standing in the AFS Cinema lobby before a press breakfast announcing details for the 2020 Texas Film Awards, Conti points out the film posters from Linklater’s personal collection. “I remember seeing [them] in his offices when I was an AFS intern,” she says. “I’ve loved seeing something I was a part of when I was young just grow and expand.”
tribeza.com
| MARCH 2020
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