An American in Paris

An American in Paris screens outdoors at the French Legation State Historic Site on Thursday, October 29, as part of the Painted Dreams & Western Horizons film series. The 1951 musical is the main feature of the night, and it's an open-air screening, so you'll be watching it on the lawn rather than inside a theater.

If you're interested in what goes on behind the scenes, there's a companion talk a few days earlier. Artist and author Karen Maness, a UT Austin professor who oversees the Texas Performing Arts Hollywood Backdrop Collection, presents from her book The Art of the Hollywood Backdrop on Saturday, October 24, from 9 AM to noon. She talks about how hand-painted backdrops—many shaped by European and French traditions—built some of Hollywood's most iconic visual worlds, and how that ties into the film.

The screening is part of Painted Dreams & Western Horizons, an outdoor series at the French Legation State Historic Site. The house itself is the oldest standing frame structure in Austin; built in 1841, it served as France's diplomatic outpost during the Republic of Texas. These days it offers guided tours of the home and a reconstructed Creole kitchen, with two and a half acres of lawn, native trees, and formal gardens. The series draws on the site's Cinema East tradition of communal open-air screenings and is curated to take audiences across continents, artistic traditions, and eras—from the romantic elegance of postwar Paris to the sweep of the American frontier. The program is supported by Alliance Française d'Austin and the Texas Film Commission.

The screening starts at 7 PM on Thursday, October 29, with the gates opening at 6:30 PM. Tickets are $5 for adults, and children 17 and under are free with an adult.