The two most important independent films of the 1990s to come out of Austin taught very different lessons, and it wasn’t just that a tiny budget can go a long way. Slacker taught filmmakers to put their own experience, no matter how weird, first. El Mariachi was a clarion call to aspirational Hispanic filmmakers that they could tell their own stories, too. Director Marcos E. González was a wise student when he applied both lessons to Mohammed’s Radio, a wild, grimy slice-of-life drama about petty thieves in Austin that basically disappeared after its 1996 festival run. Catch this historic screening of what González calls this lost media’s definitive cut and stick around as he explains its 30-year path back to screens. – Richard Whittaker
