OPENING NIGHT: The Lone Star Film Festival has announced that Jayne Mansfield’s Car, directed by Billy Bob Thornton, will open this year’s program on Nov. 7. The movie revolves around two familes whose worlds collide after the death of a shared family member. Thornton will intro the film and stick around for a Q&A. And while he’s in town, the Oscar-winner will also accept the festival’s Achievement in Film Award.

A BIG WINNER: Miroslav Penkov, an assistant professor at UNT, has been given the BBC International Short Story Award for his collection of stories East of the West. The prize includes  a check for 15,000 pounds; Penkov was the unanimous pick by the judges. More on the his major victory on dallasnews.com. And if you’d like to know more about Penkov, Jerome profiled him way back in June, 2011.

TAKE A TRIP: About 210,000 paintings are publicly owned in the U.K. And soon, you’ll be able to see Every. Last. One of ‘Em. An organization called the Public Catalogue Foundation has spent the last decade photographing the works for the BBC’s Your Paintings website. About 172,000 are up on the site currently, with the rest expected by December. So … if you’ve got some time to kill.