37th USA Film Festival Kicks Off Tomorrow

Last month, the inaguaral AFI Dallas made a big splash in town, featuring nearly 200 screenings and many red-carpet events. On the other hand, the venerable USA Film Festival, now in its 37th edition, starts tomorrow night with barely a whisper.

Which is too bad for local filmgoers, who may miss out on some of the 32 programs spread out over the next week. USA FF's approach is to present just three American films every evening -- all starting at the same time, so you have to pick -- but to make a night of it, with special guests invited for each program. (The programs on Saturday and Sunday start earlier in the day.) Among the invited guests are writer Donald E. Westlake (with The Ax, Costa-Gavras' adaptation of his novel, and The Stepfather, the great 1987 film he scripted) and directors William Friedkin (Bug), Tim Hunter (The Far Side of Jericho), Henry Jaglom (Hollywood Dreams), and Irwin Winkler (Closing Night presentation Home of the Brave).

Schedule and program notes for all the films are available at the festival's official web site, as linked below.

USA FF - schedule
USA FF - program notes