SXSW 2009 Features: The Austin Films

Updated Feb. 3 with more local films.

The SXSW 2009 feature-film lineup was announced late last night. You can check out all the films here. And of course there are lots of big-name films and actors: you can see Paul Rudd in I Love You, Man, or Seth Rogen in Observe and Report; Spike Lee's documentary Passing Strange and Kathryn Bigelow's drama The Hurt Locker. But I know that you're all really interested in seeing the films that are coming out of Austin, right? So that's what I'm listing here.

I don't have a comprehensive list of every film playing SXSW that was shot in Austin or involves Austin cast or crew. And I may have some details wrong here -- this list involved a lot of guesswork. Here's what I've got so far:

• The Overbrook Brothers -- The feature-film debut of local filmmaker John Bryant, whose twisted sensibility has brought us such hilarious short films as Momma's Boy and Oh My God.
• The Two Bobs -- Local writer-director Tim McCanlies (Smallville, The Iron Giant) shot this comedy in Austin (some of it not far from my house, as I recall). I suspect the cast and crew are mostly local too -- I recognized the cinematographer, P.J. Raval (Trinidad, Trouble the Water).
• Beeswax -- Andrew Bujalski's latest film was also shot here. The cast includes local filmmakers David and Nathan Zellner, Kyle Henry, and Bryan Poyser.
• Artois the Goat -- This comedy from Kyle and Cliff Bogart (what is it with the brother filmmaking teams at SXSW?) was shot in Austin and has a lot of local cast and crew, including actress/film critic Laurie Coker and composer Brian Satterwhite.
• American Prince -- Austin filmmaker/animator Tommy Pallotta directed this doc about Scorsese's film American Boy.
• Blaze Foley Inside -- This documentary about country musician Foley was made by Austin filmmaker Kevin Triplett, founder of Mopac Media.
• Ex-Terminators -- This comedy was filmed in Austin and the cast includes local actress Amber Heard, as well as Robert Earl Keen.
• Over the Hills and Far Away -- Although this documentary is about a family traveling through Mongolia, it was directed by Austinite Michel O. Scott.
• Sorry, Thanks -- This comedy by Dia Sokol is set in San Francisco and features a cast and crew primarily from that area ... except for Andrew Bujalski and Austin actor Wiley Wiggins. (FYI: I like their website.)
• Sunshine -- UT grad Karen Skloss directed this film set in 1975 rural Texas.
• St. Nick -- I don't know whether writer-director David Lowery lives here or if he's just shot a lot of short films in town. This feature about a runaway brother and sister was filmed in Fort Worth. Lowery received a Texas Film Production Fund grant in 2007 for the film.
• Sweethearts of the Prison Rodeo (aka Money the Hard Way; thanks Jenn!) -- Former Austin resident Bradley Beesley (The Fearless Freaks) directed this documentary about female convicts participating in a rodeo.
• True Adolescents -- Former Austinite Mark Duplass has an acting role in this comedy, which also stars Melissa Leo (Frozen River).
• Humpday -- Duplass appears in this one too. I told you this film would play at SXSW, didn't I?
• For the Love of Movies -- Gerald Peary's documentary about film criticism includes interviews with Austin film writer Harry Knowles.
• Best Worst Movie -- Austin-now-LA filmmaker Nick Robinson was interviewed for this documentary about Troll 2. Did he make the final cut? We'll find out in March.

If your SXSW film isn't on the list and has an Austin connection, feel free to give it a shout-out in the comments. In addition, if your SXSW film has an Austin connection, I'd love to do a short email interview/preview here at Slackerwood. Post a comment with your email address, or contact me to let me know. Last year we had some great interviews from David Modigliani (Crawford), Jay and Mark Duplass (Baghead), and David and Nathan Zellner (Goliath).