Inside Movies

• This is big: Austin filmmakers Bryan Poyser and Jacob Vaughan's provocative erotic drama 'Dear Pillow' has been nominated for an Independent Spirit Award by the Independent Feature Project. The film is one of three in the running for the Someone to Watch Award, which comes with a $20,000 filmmaking grant. (It's up against Jem Cohen's 'Chain,' a big hit at this year's Cinematexas International Short Film Festival, and Jennifer Reeves' 'The Time We Killed.') The awards have also tapped Richard Linklater's 'Before Sunset' for best screenplay (written with Ethan Hawke and Julie Delpy) and University of Texas alum Shola Lynch's 'Chisholm '72: Unbought & Unbossed' for best documentary and the Truer Than Fiction Award. Winners will be announced Feb. 26 in Santa Monica, Calif. www.ifp.org. -- Chris Garcia

• Kudos also to Austin filmmakers Duane Graves and Justin Meeks, whose short comedy 'Rio Peligroso: A Day in the Life of a Legendary Coyote' has won Round One in Kevin Smith's Movies Askew contest. That means the film is now showing at www.moviesaskew.com and will join 11 other monthly winners on a Movies Askew DVD next year. Members of Movies Askew -- anyone who registers at the site -- voted for 'Rio Peligroso,' a zany 24-minute chronicle of hustler Julio 'The Pepper' Chavez, who helps Mexican nationals illegally cross the border 'for a price.' Gushes the 'Clerks' creator: 'If you don't laugh out loud at least twice during this flick, there's something wrong with you. This is some antic, hysterical stuff.' Go to www.riopeligroso.com for more on the movie. Go to the Movies Askew site to submit your own short. -- C.G.

• The popular East Austin Stories program rolls on, with a handful of new short videos screening at 6:30 p.m. Wednesday at Our Lady of Guadalupe Catholic Church (1209 E. Ninth St.) and 10 p.m. Wednesday at Cafe Mundi (1704 E. Fifth St.). Made by University of Texas students under filmmaker Andrew Garrison, the videos examine the cross-hatch of lives and people and culture that compose the city's ever-evolving East Side. Get info and see scores of previous videos at www.EastAustinStories.org. -- C.G.

• The Austin Jewish Film Festival has selected 10 films for its third edition, which runs six days beginning Jan. 29 at the Arbor Cinema. Titles include 'Wondrous Oblivion,' 'Bonjour Monsieur Shlomi' and 'Moving Heaven and Earth,' plus short films from the Sam Spiegel Film & Television School in Jerusalem. More than 900 people attended last year's fest, say organizers. www.austinjff.org. 735-8426 for info and tickets. -- C.G.