A Poet

Hyperreal Film Club is screening A Poet on Tuesday, September 29, at their space on Chicon Street. It's part of Cinema de la Cultura, a series they've put together for Hispanic Heritage Month that brings five films from the last 25 years to the club, spanning different genres and borders. Each screening in the series is co-presented by a different community partner.

Shot on 16mm, A Poet follows Oscar, a Colombian writer who knows he's failing — drunk, unlucky, and living at home — until he finds a reason to be excited about life in Yurlady, a talented young student whose work might be a ticket out of poverty. Critic Cynthia Muñoz described the film as darkly funny, absurd, sometimes cruel and sometimes heartfelt, a portrait of the artist as a broken man. If that sounds like your kind of thing, it's a good place to start with the series.

For a bit of context on the venue, Hyperreal Film Club is an Austin project that specializes in staging movie screenings in unusual, thoughtful, and immersive pop-up environments, while also amplifying local artists. They don't just put a screen in a room; they build a space around the film. A Poet is just one of the five titles they're cycling through this month, so if you're into cinema and want to see a few different voices from across the Spanish-speaking world in one go, this is a good way to do it.

The screening runs from 7:30 PM to 11:00 PM, with doors opening at 7:00 PM, so you've got a half-hour to get settled before it starts. You'll find them at Hyperreal Film Club, 301 Chicon Street, Austin, TX 78702.