SXSW

The SXSW 2008 film festival lineup is out there now, except for the shorts, which I think get announced next week. I'm already making some lists and the schedule hasn't been posted yet ... hoping that the films I want to see aren't all scheduled opposite one another. I also haven't heard anything definite on venues but my guess is that they're the same as last year, with Alamo Ritz taking over for the old Alamo Downtown.

The lineup is chock-full of movies with some connection to Austin, some of which I've listed after the jump. These are just the Austin connections I'm making on the fly, I'm sure there are more. (Let me know what I missed.)

I'm still figuring out how much/what kind of SXSW coverage I'm doing for Cinematical (I know I'm reviewing some movies, but that's about all I know at the moment), but I am planning to beef up Slackerwood's coverage of SXSW regardless. In addition, we're planning to update last year's guide to SXSW venues, include some more guides about surviving the nine-day film festival, and ... well, I won't spoil it all in advance. Keep an eye out for some cool SXSW stuff, is what I'm saying.

If you're reading this and you're a filmmaker with a movie at SXSW that has some ties to Austin (you or your cast/crew live in Austin, or it was shot in Austin, etc.), please drop me a line ASAP because I'd like to talk to you. And possibly write about you.

I wrote an article for Cinematical on the latest news from the SXSW Film Festival: six more films announced, the best-known probably being Harold and Kumar Escape from Guantanamo Bay. (The movie has forced me to learn how to spell "Guantanamo" properly.) I don't want to repeat myself, but I've got other things to say about the announcement that didn't quite work in the Cinematical article:

• The other five films, in case you really are too lazy to click the link: Mister Lonely, Crawford, Battle in Seattle, The Promotion, and The Toe Tactic. Matt Dentler has posted summaries of all these films -- they're also all in IMDb except for Crawford, which I could not find a website for at the time. 
• Speaking of Crawford, the documentary is locally made -- producer/director David Modigliani is an Austin filmmaker and playwright. A rough cut of Crawford ­had screened last September at Austin Film Society as part of their "Works-in-Progress" program -- in fact, finding that page was how I found the link to the Crawford website.
• SXSW also announced three speakers who will participate in "Conversations" panels. Most news articles focused on two of the speakers: Helen Hunt and Michael Eisner. You know I was most interested in the third speaker: Harlan Ellison. Ellison seems to have a reputation these days for being a somewhat unpredictable public speaker, so I am trying not to get too excited (ask me sometime about the time I saw Russ Meyer in person, which was a sad lesson a la Dorothy Parker's "Glory in the Daytime"). But Ellison's "Watching" essays are what got me interested in writing about film in the first place, so part of me is hoping not to be disappointed.
• The rest of the SXSW 2008 films will be announced on Feb. 5. My guess is that the Duplass brothers' film Baghead and the Zellner brothers' film Goliath (both shot in Austin) will be in the mix. Both features are playing Sundance next week. As Karina points out at Spout, there's a perfect opportunity here for a reprise of the "Zellner vs. Duplass" showdown screening from SXSW 2007.

By the way, SXSW is about to hold its big volunteer signup, if you want to see some of these movies or panels and can't afford a pass or badge. Crew signup takes place on Sunday, January 20 at the downtown Hilton.

If you attended SXSW Film Festival in 2002 -- or if the culty word-of-mouth reached you later -- you may have heard about the Burger Hut film-fest house ads that year. You know how film-fest house ads can often be incredibly lame and annoying, especially if you have to watch them before 15 or more movies in a week? Apparently that didn't happen with the goofy Burger Hut ads. I wasn't th­ere in 2002 and I haven't tried to watch the ads 15 times in a week, so I can't vouch for t­his personally, but word gets around. People are very nostalgic about the Burger Hut.

If you have no idea what I'm talking about, you can actually watch the old Burger Hut ads on YouTube. They were created by Dan Brown, Kent Osborne, and Mike Mitchell.

But if you do remember the Burger Hut ads fondly and wish that the SXSW house ads would return to those salad days, I have good news. Check out this blog entry from Matt Dentler, SXSW Film Festival producer, and guess what the house ads might be for SXSW in Austin this March. (Hint: That's Osborne in the second photo wearing the Burger Hut hat.)

I liked Joe Swanberg's house ads for SXSW 2007 just fine (Osborne was in those as well), and only one grew a bit annoying after awhile (the one with Greta and the mic, which I seemed to keep getting over and over again). So I'm glad to see that this year's house ads are likely to maintain (at least) the same level of interest.

SXSW has sent us a New Year's gift: the film festival just announced its opening-night premiere, 21. The film is directed by Robert Luketic (Legally Blonde) and stars Kevin Spacey, Kate Bosworth, and Jim Sturgess. No word yet on whether the director or any cast will be around for the premiere. I saw a trailer for this recently -- it's about MIT students who are lured into card-counting at Vegas casinos to pay off their college loans. The movie is based on a nonfiction book about similar real-life events. Looks pretty interesting, and I'm sure the Paramount will fill up quickly on March 7.

Other films in the festival lineup were also announced this week. You've probably seen trailers already for Run Fatboy Run, the Simon Pegg-starring comedy directed by David Schwimmer (yes, the one from Friends) and scripted by Pegg and Michael Ian Black. (Oooh, Hank Azaria is in it.)  There's also a heist film, Flawless, starring Demi Moor­e and Michael Caine.

I like to watch as many documentaries as I can during SXSW, especially those that might not see theatrical distributi­on later. You know I'm looking forward to the film about Harlan Ellison, Dreams with Sharp Teeth. Steve James (Hoop Dreams) and Peter Gilbert directed another doc slated for the fest, At the Death House Door, about the execution of Carlos DeLuna. Finally, Wild Blue Yonder is also scheduled, in which Celia Maysles delves into the life of her documentary-making father David (as in David and Albert Maysles, who made Grey Gardens). SXSW Film Festival runs from March 7-16 this year.

I was at a party Friday night where somehow I ended up trying to explain what "mumblecore" is (and failing, I suspect) and someone said, "I remember liking this film I saw at Village a few years ago, what was it, Pillow?"

"Dear Pillow," I guessed.

"Yes, what happened to that, is it on DVD?"

"I don't think so," I said. "Too bad, I liked it a lot."

Less than 24 hours after that conversation, Dear Pillow producer Jacob Vaughn posted to his blog, e-Jake, that Dear Pillow will be out on DVD on November 13. How's that for coincidence?

Dear Pillow, which was made in Austin by writer-director Bryan Poyser and producer Vaughan, premiered at Slamdance in 2004, then pla­yed SXSW and a number of other festivals. The filmmakers were nominated for an Independent Spirit Award in the "Someone to Watch" category.

The film sadly never found theatrical distribution (the sexual subject matter might have been a difficult sell), but in the fall of 2004, Alamo Village showed it nightly for about a month, where it built on word-of-mouth.  I remember that my husband and I went to see the film at the end of its run, having to push ourselves because we are not usually 10 pm moviegoers, even though we live around the block from Alamo Village. We were seeing it on the urging of friends (and John Pierson's persuasive article about the film for the Austin Chronicle) and weren't sure what to expect, but the film totally blew me away. I reviewed it later for Celluloid Eyes. [More after the jump.]

A few bits and pieces of news from around the web:

• The Paramount remembers the late Lady Bird Johnson, and Metroblogging Austin captures a photo. Wish I'd seen that in person.
• Austin Movie Blog reminds us that the SXSW Film Conference is looking for panel ideas for 2008.
• Austin School of Film is holding a free Open Screen Night on Sunday -- details are available on Austinist.
• Austin's Fantastic Fest has joined a new alliance of American film fests devoted to sf/fantasy/horror/animation. I love Fantastic Fest and can't wait until late September.
• Free online movie: The documentary Summercamp! from Austin filmmaker Bradley Beesley and Sarah Price, which I reviewed when it premiered at SXSW in 2006. If you like what you see online and want a higher-quality copy, you can buy the DVD. (via Cinematical)

Here's a list of helpful blog entries and articles about SXSW 2007, either generally or for the film festival:

• The Austin Chronicle has a huge section devoted to SXSW film, as they do every year. One article I particularly liked is good for anyone attending SXSW: "So, Basically, Tacos and Free Beer: Enjoying Good Food and Drink at SXSW for $10 a Day During SXSW" by musician Kathy McCarty.
• Metroblogging Austin has "advice for daytime" for out-of-towners unused to Texas weather. I'd add that I bring bottled water everywhere -- I get those teeny Ozarka bottles and stick them in my purse, I keep cold bottles in my car, etc.
• Austinist is full of SXSW interviews, info, and giveaways right now -- most of it's related to the music festival but you can also find good film fest content.
• SXSW Baby is blogging about all aspects of the festival. They have a film category if you just want to read the film fest stuff. They have some good food guides if you're an out-of-towner. (What I personally need is a good guide to downtown-area food for someone who lives in Austin -- I don't need to be continually steered toward Tex-Mex, I just need to know where I can get a bite running between ACC and the Paramount. Anyone?)
• Keep an eye on Matt Dentler's blog, because you never know when he might post something about SXSW that you'll want to know. After all, he's the source.

Note: A 2010 guide to SXSW Film Fest venues is now available.

SXSW Film Festival has six venues this year, and if you've never been to Austin you may not know where all the theaters are located and all of their little quirks. You might think it's possible to run from the Paramount to Alamo on South Lamar on foot in ten minutes, and you'd schedule movies accordingly, and then be sad later. Or you might make it through the entire festival without trying the root-beer float at Alamo Drafthouse.

I thought I'd offer a guideline to the Austin theaters playing SXSW movies to help visitors who want to maximize the number of films they see in a day or who want to make sure they're able to find decent meals in between or even during the movies.

The SXSW film venues are a little different this year -- the Arbor is no longer on the list. This is a shame in one way, because it's a very nice venue and a good place for locals with cars to see movies. On the other hand, trying to drive across town to catch a movie at the Dobie right after seeing one at the Arbor is something I'd rather not attempt again. SXSW has added another screen at Alamo on South Lamar instead, which is more convenient to downtown.

The official SXSW Venues PDF provides a list of theaters with a map, including nearby hotels and film party venues. This useful page also has info on bus service: "Cap Metro’s Film Fest Flyer (Route 3) stops within a few blocks of nearly all the Film Fest venues. Ride from downtown to the Dobie (from 8th and Brazos) or Alamo South (from 3rd and Colorado) for just 50 cents, or buy a Day Pass on the bus for just $1 a day. Buses leave around every 20 minutes and run from 6am to midnight on weekdays, with reduced schedules on weekends. See capmetro.org, call 474-1200, or see the CapMetro flyer in the 'Big Bag'" (which I assume is the bag you get at registration).

Update 3/6/07: The B-Side Unofficial SXSW Other Site Guide includes a venue page with a Google map display for each venue, which you can use to get directions to/from the venues. Here are the six SXSW theaters, with info on location, nearby food, and nearby wireless. If I've missed some tips and tricks that you think belong in this guide, please add a comment or email me and I'll be happy to update this entry.

 

The call is out - it's time to volunteer for SXSW. If you can't swing the dough for a badge or pass, you can put in some time (4 nights or 30 hours) and get in to the rest of the festival for free. Plus the volunteer shirts for SXSW are usually pretty cool -- the sort of thing you'd actually wear willingly after the event is over. Check out sxsw.com or e-mail vol at sxsw.com for more info.

The KLRU-TV series SXSW Presents is airing the 2005 documentary The Dreams of Sparrows tonight at 9:30 pm. The documentary is shot in Iraq, but should not be dismissed as "yet another documentary about Iraq." A few amateur filmmakers bought a couple of DV cameras and decided to shoot all kinds of everyday scenes in various parts of Iraq -- artists, businessmen, hospitals, kids living in bombed-out buildings, more fortunate kids in private schools, and so forth. Some of the interview subjects are great fans of George Bush, others aren't happy about the U.S. invasion. It's a very different sort of look at contemporary Iraq. You can watch a trailer for the film on the SXSW Presents website.

And after the documentary ends, you can watch me discussing The Dreams of Sparrows with a group of other Austin film people. I haven't seen the finished interview yet, so I'll be watching too (and probably feeling really embarrassed). The interview will be posted to the SXSW Presents website after the show airs, so you can watch it there, but the main attraction is definitely the documentary. Set your TiVo, or VCR, or curl up on the couch tonight at 9:30.