AFF Review: "Where I'm From" Texas Shorts
Jake Silverstein, Texas Monthly editor-in-chief, introduced the "Where I'm From" Texas shorts program at Austin Film Festival by explaining how it came to be. This is the first year of the magazine's collaboration with AFF -- in previous years, the shorts contest has been online only. Out of more than 100 reader submissions (Silverstein was unclear on the exact number), there were 18 semifinalists. These were narrowed down to the 11 finalist films which screened at the festival. A panel of judges then picked the three winners, which were announced at the Saturday screening.
First on the program was Will O'Loughlin's film 254 about his travels all over the Lone Star State. While still photographs appear onscreen, O'Loughlin's (somewhat monotone) narration explains how over a span of 15 years, he has driven through every county in Texas, all 254 of them. H-Town Up & Down was the only dramatization in the bunch. A 20-something go-getter's car breaks down in the outskirts of Houston and he has to figure out a way to get to his interview with a firm downtown. Drew Lewis' short has a few funny moments, but the acting leans towards the style of "Hey kids, let's put on a show."
Austin from the Eyes of a Videographer is Ryan Light's ode to our fair city. Gorgeously shot, the film succeeded in making me homesick for a town I already live in (if such a feeling is possible). This extremely quick short and Now Leaving Amarillo were the most professional-looking in the bunch. In Now Leaving Amarillo (video embedded below), recorded voices (how Radiolab-y!) explain why they no longer live in the Panhandle town. Stuart McSpadden's cinematography is elegant as it creates the feeling of a town devoid of any people. In the credits, we discover that all the recorded voices are members of McSpadden's family.
I Heart S.A., second runner-up in the Texas Monthly contest, is a humorous look at San Antonio using animation techniques. What sold me on this short was the 10 seconds of "Tex-Mex p*rn," made up of shots of various enchilada plates. Yummmm. Where I'm From is a more poignant short made by rural Texas dweller Russell Graves. Graves' film makes the point that a number of Texans live on farm- or ranchland not close to any town or city. We hear from his parents and friends about their choice to live in the country. Unfortunately the video for this film kept freezing during the screening, which distracted from the story being told.
Through the slightly creepy Galveston: The Queen City on the Gulf, a Galvestonian mortician (who wears a monocle! and has a very strange laugh!) talks about the strife that Galveston has suffered. I recently read Isaac's Storm (about the 1900 hurricane), and this short provides multiple illustrations of the damage done by such storms, while also showcasing some of the architecture that has survived.
Mariella Perez's short Going to Grandma's is one of the more low-tech offerings in the bunch, but the stories she tells about visits to her grandmother's house in Corpus Christi (and their dramatizations) are funny and sweet ... especially the descriptions of her grandma's food experimentation. Lyndon's Hills, by 75-year-old Hill Country resident John Raven, is a sort of tour through his stomping grounds. Raven's quirky narration was just about my favorite thing in any of the shorts. His film, which traverses Luckenbach, Johnson City, Stonewall and more, was the first runnerup.
El Valle by Rick Gonzales took home the award. Despite some bad audio, jumpy camera action and blurry shots, Gonzales' short about his former home in the Rio Grande Valley is almost poetic. The last film, Where Am I Texas, is smoothly shot, but lacks much warmth in its look at Fredricksburg.
You can watch all the finalists' films in the "Where I'm From" contest online via the Texas Monthly site.