SXSW

Less and less sleep, more and more people to keep in touch with. Oh, and if you don't know, the Alamo brunch menu is indeed available during the entire film festival run. SXSW is more than just conference panels and screenings, it's about community.

St. Nick (Emerging Visions)
Director/Writer: David Lowery
Shot in Forth Worth, this definitely had a Texas look. With very little dialogue, a lot is conveyed, as two youngsters turn an abandoned house into their home. Ultimately, the conclusion didn't work for me, but I'm open to persuasion.

I've got about 20 minutes. Let's see what's been going on.

• A funny moment on opening night: The red carpet for I Love You, Man was super-crowded, plus it was cold and raining and ... I thought a minute, then rushed from Paramount to ACC and caught The 2 Bobs instead. This is a fun movie if you live in Austin, because you can probably pick out every single locale. Plus, Turk Pipkin has an unbelievably freaky small role.
• I just saw David Lowery's St. Nick and wow. Lovely. The kids are amazing.

I never made it to the Trade Show, but for once I got in a full day's worth of movies, most of which were well worth it, and with a lot of Austin connections. The programming this year continues to be solid.

Me and Orson Welles
Director: Richard Linklater. Writers: Holly Gent Palmo and Vincent Palmo Jr. (screenplay), Robert Kaplow (novel)
SXSW loves Linklater, and rightly so; he embodies the independent spirit that's rampant at the festival, and is not only a filmmaker, but supports the film community very strongly, especially the Austin community. So it's no surprise his films get special screenings. Me and Orson Welles is a period piece and focuses on theatre, which means it won't likely find a large audience, but should be seen for the eerily outstanding performance by Christian McKay, who has a striking resemblance to Orson Welles, and captured the spirit of the high strung genius in his early days.

Days are already running into each other, and it's only day three.

American Violet (Lone Star States)
Director: Tim Disney. Writer: Bill Haney
It's an old story; wrongfully charged, someone fights back. What makes a film like this work is the performances, and Nicole Beharie delivers a memorable one as single mother wrongly charged with a felony drug offense. Actually, most of the performances were very strong. While the story itself is fiction, it puts faces to the very real phenomenon of aggressive police action. I just wish they'd shot in a Texas location, since the cases it's based on took place in the Waco area. I highly recommend it, if only for watching Beharie, particularly when she has battles of will with Alfre Woodard, who plays her mother.

It's only day two and I'm losing track of myself already. I only saw three films today, when I could have seen six. But I think catching a bit of Jeffrey Tambor's acting workshop, as well as all of the film critic panel makes up for it. There's a lot of diversity in the panels this year.

Objectified (Spotlight Premieres)
Director: Gary Hustwit
I was a big fan of Hustwit's Helvetica. However, his follow up was like Helvetica Lite. I was hoping for a more in-depth look at product design history, not just who are the big contemporary designers. Still worth catching, though fans of Helvetica are likely to be disappointed. I kept dozing off, when I wanted to be interested.

Despite the chill and the rain, filmgoers seemed to be out in force for the first day of SXSW film festival.

The Square (Spotlight Premieres)
Director: Nash Edgerton. Writers: Joel Edgerton and Matthew Dabnet
I usually avoid the opening film for festivals, and at SXSW, there is usually a single-screening of a smaller film I want to see. This year, it was The Square, which I knew very little about. It was an excellent choice. Screening with his darkly humorous and startling short, Spider let the audience know they were in for a very interesting ride. A tale of choice and repercussions, the audience gasped audibly several times, in unison, and at one point twice, yet the shock value was never gratuitous or outrageous. I don't know if it has distribution yet, but if it does, check it out. It's the best kind of low-key, small budget thriller. It's a shame it only screened once, I'd like to see it again.

SXSW is upon us and I always get a little antsy trying to figure out my schedule. It's tough to balance the screenings, panels, parties and general socializing with friends I only see at festival time. Not for the first time, I had to decide if I was going to stick with a Film badge or upgrade to Gold to take advantage of the Interactive conference. Thankfully, SXSW knows the lines between Interactive and Film get blurrier each year, and offer a number of joint panels and events.

Like every other year, I like to have a screening-heavy schedule. SXSW is a film lover's dream because the programming is very eclectic, with an emphasis on smart, independent films (Hollywood hates me, but I'll write about that later). This year, my most anticipated films seem to include more docs than usual, something I blame on SXSW; I never used to be a big doc fan, but the lineup is consistently strong, and several of them really resonate with me.

Just a few of the films I'm looking forward to seeing are:

Yes, that's me in the picture on the right, which was taken during SXSW. (Thanks to Melanie Addington for taking it and posting it to Facebook.) No points for guessing which movie I was about to see. I'll probably look just like that this year, except for the lei, so say hi if you see me.

Meanwhile, the SXSW announcements and excellent blog entries keep rolling in. Here are a few for today:

• In case you hadn't heard yet, Fantastic Fest and SXSW are co-sponsoring a special screening of some clips from Sacha Baron Cohen's latest film, Bruno. The screening takes place on Sunday night, March 15, at 11 pm at Alamo South Lamar. You don't need a SXSW badge or pass to attend -- it's first come, first serve. (I'm planning to see the Sam Raimi movie instead -- it's impossible to see both without a chauffeur, sadly.)

Love him or hate him, you have to admit Kinky Friedman is a genuine Texas Colorful Character, and it's fascinating to see what he's going to do next. (But not running for governor again. Please.) I started to tell you all my own little story about meeting Friedman when I worked as an Austin City Limits intern in 1994, but it went on too long. And I don't want to take the spotlight away from my e-mail interview with David Hartstein, director of the documentary Along Came Kinky ... Texas Jewboy for Governor. The film is having its world premiere at SXSW this year.

Along Came Kinky ... Texas Jewboy for Governor plays just once during SXSW: Thursday, March 19 at 7:30 pm at the Paramount. I bet it's going to be fun to watch with a big audience, especially if a lot of Texans are there. Here's what local filmmaker Hartstein had to say about the film.

Note: A 2010 guide to the SXSW Film Festival is now available.

[Editor's Note: Jenn originally posted this survival guide to her blog last week, and I thought it was so enjoyable and useful that I asked permission to repeat it here.]

I've been a badge holder for SXSW film for the last several years, with the exception of last year, when I had a film pass. If you're going to really do a film festival, and get 4-6 screenings in a day, with all that line standing, you can make it easier on yourself with: