Austin Film Society to Open John H. McCall's New Theater with “Paper Tiger” and 4K Restorations

Exclusive: James Gray and Richard Linklater, AFS Founders, Will Attend Final Day of Opening Weekend

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John H. New Theater McCall, the third screening at the Austin Film Society's AFS Cinema, opens its doors Oct. 24, kicking off a weekend of events that will bring James Gray's crime thriller "Paper Tiger" to the Texas venue. IndieWire shares the exclusive details below.

Martin Scorsese's "The Color of Money" (1986), Sofia Coppola's "Marie Antoinette" (2006) and the 1995 fashion documentary "Unzipped" will also be shown in new 4K restorations during the first weekend of theaters. On Oct. 27, the theater will host the premiere of Neon Paper Tiger, along with a conversation between writer/director Gray and AFS founder and artistic director Richard Linklater. Liam Neeson Stunt Related Stories From Nearly 30 Years Behind the Camera for 'The Mongoose' 'Whalefall' Review: Austin Abrams battles his daddy issues in brutal survival thriller.

"The McCall Theater allows us to expand our programming and better serve the filmmakers, festivals and audiences who have made the theater their home," said Linklater. It's another step in the same journey we started four decades ago: creating a place where great films are discovered, filmmakers are supported, and a community gathers around the shared cinema experience."

McCall has a capacity of 169 people and has a 4K digital laser projector and 7.1 surround sound. AFS credits the third additional display to the donation of Amy McCall, wife of the late John McCall, who died in 2021. The McCalls previously made a grant to AFS in 2016 that provided funds for the organization to renovate and reopen the shuttered Marchesa Theater as an AFS cinema. Honored by AFS as a decades-long supporter of the Texas film industry, John McCall was inducted into the Texas Film Hall of Fame in 2018.

AFS was first founded in 1985 by a twentysomething Linklater. In 2017, the organization opened the repertory and first art house AFS Cinema, giving it its first permanent screening house. The venue had two screens and an event space until McCall's addition. Along with AFS Cinema, the organization also operates Austin Studios, a 20-acre facility for local productions, as well as Austin Public, a space for media professionals to learn and collaborate.

"Paper Tiger" will be released in other cinemas in the country from November 13.