Local Indies

I don't like interviewing people over the phone, since I can't make eye contact. I don't like interviewing a filmmaker without seeing his or her movie first, in case it turns out to be awful. And I don't usually like two-on-one interviews with a filmmaker and actor, because I'm not confident about questions I have for actors, and always worry I'll lapse into lameness. So I try to avoid these situations.

However, I jumped into a combination of all of them a few weeks ago to talk with Austin filmmaker Bob Byington and actor/producer Nick Offerman about their latest film, Somebody Up There Likes Me, which had its world premiere at SXSW on Sunday night. It was well worth working outside my comfort zone. And yes, I ended up really liking the movie, so I didn't have to hide from Byington afterward.

The original plan was to interview Bob Byington at a local cafe, but he emailed me a day or two beforehand and asked if we could make it a phone interview to include Offerman. Offerman is actually in four films at SXSW this year -- besides Byington's movie, he has a supporting role in Casa de mi Padre, and briefer appearances in 21 Jump Street and Slacker 2011.

I've already covered selected shorts from SXSW's program -- see Part One and Part Two of my preview -- but there are still two opportunities to see the Texas Shorts program, with films that are set in Texas, made in Texas, or made by Texas and Austin filmmakers.

Catch the Texas Shorts program today -- Tuesday, March 13 -- at 3:30 pm at Alamo Drafthouse on South Lamar, or on Friday, March 16, at 5 pm at Alamo Slaughter. (Aside: If you watch anything at Slaughter, say "Hi" to Miss Hallie Hughes-Hawkins, @halliehh on Twitter, who has been very lonely for familiar faces since moving to the new location from South Lamar.)

In addition to the Texas shorts I previously reviewed, Tumbleweed! and Knife, the selections also include Hellion, made in Austin by director Kat Candler. This brilliant short shows what happens when Dad gets home to find his three demonic sons have terrorized the babysitter. As the father, Jonny Mars has a smoldering intensity that reminded me of Gary Sinise. The twist ending left me chuckling.

Also, Russell Oliver Bush directed an entirely Austin cast and crew in conjunction with the MFA Film Production program at The University of Texas to create Magpie. Phillip (Daniel Hershberger) visits his daughter Maggie (Ashley Spillers), who has just become engaged to Aaron (Paul Boukadakis). Estranged since he walked out on Maggie and her mother, Phillip finds himself exploring her house, trying to reconnect while she is away at work. What he finds unlocks the door to his guilt and leads to a surprising confrontation in this moody, even creepy drama.

The SXSW 2012 feature Kid-Thing is aptly titled, for this latest effort from Austin filmmaking brothers David Zellner and Nathan Zellner deftly captures a child's world.

At the center of this oddly tragicomic story is 10-year-old Annie (Sydney Aguirre), a virtually parentless girl whose father, Marvin (Nathan Zellner), is too preoccupied with his goat farming, demolition derby driving and beer drinking to pay much attention to his lonely and bored daughter. Left to entertain and fend for herself, tomboyish Annie does, well, kid things, exploring the world around her rural home near Austin and getting into various forms of mischief. She makes crank phone calls, shoplifts, smashes things with a baseball bat and hurls balls of dough at passing cars. She is anything but a model child.

On a walk through the woods, Annie hears a call for help and discovers Esther (Susan Tyrrell), a woman trapped at the bottom of a well. But rather than summoning help, Annie visits Esther repeatedly, bringing her food and carrying on bizarre conversations with the increasingly desperate woman. Annie checks in with Esther as if toying with her is just another childish amusement, like playing with fireworks or splattering various objects with her paintball gun.

Last month, I had the chance to interview the director and one of the producers of Somebody Up There Likes Me: Bob Byington and Nick Offerman, respectively. Offerman also has a starring role in the movie, which will premiere at SXSW 2012 on Sunday night. As is the case with good interviews, I ended up with a lot of material -- too much for one article. But Byington and Offerman were so much fun together, I hated to leave anything out.

Look for a longer feature about the movie itself on Monday morning, based on my interview, and featuring a great photo of Offerman from the set of the movie. In the meantime, I'd like to share the parts of the interview where Byington and Offerman talk about Austin itself (and Smithville) -- barbecue,  Brad Pitt's mojo, the Texas heat, and some SXSW advice (sort of).

It started when I asked Byington and Offerman what they liked about working together.

Nick Offerman: Well, I like any excuse to visit Austin and sample the barbecued meats there.

In September 2009, I noticed an unusual special event in an Austin Film Society weekly bulletin about a unique performance piece. The Trash Project was meant to "educate audience members about waste reduction while acknowledging the hard work Austin’s sanitation workers." Choreographer Allison Orr of Forklift Danceworks had organized "the biggest dance of [her] life." It was almost a footnote that director Andrew Garrison (Third Ward TX) would be documenting the event, especially when it included 15(!) vehicles.

Now the film Trash Dance is set to make its world premiere at SXSW on Saturday. Andrew Garrison directed, shot, and produced the documentary, with editing by Angela Pires and sound design by Graham Reynolds. Steve Mims (Incendiary: The Willingham Case), Deb Lewis (Troop 1500, Crawford) and Nancy Schiesari (Tattooed Under Fire) provided additional photography. Here's what Garrison and Allison Orr had to say about their project.

Slackerwood: Describe Trash Dance for us in a couple of sentences.

Andrew Garrison:  A choreographer and city trash collectors make something ridiculously beautiful together. It is funny, unexpected, and genuinely powerful.

This year's SXSW Community Screening: Austin Film Society ShortCase will be held Saturday, March 10 at 11 am in the Canon Screening Room (aka Rollins) at the Long Center, and will feature short films by Central Texas filmmakers ranging from Richard Garriott to Bob Ray.

I was pleased to be invited to curate the ShortCase -- I've said for years that I'd love to help host a short-film festival. The response from AFS filmmakers was overwhelming, with over 100 short films submitted in a two-week timeframe. I cried, laughed, and screamed -- and even hit the Rewind button a few times to savor certain scenes. AFS Interim Artist Services Manager Austin Culp, intern Reid Connell and I worked together to select the 10 best films to fill the 90-minute screening time. It was a daunting task with so much wonderful content representing the talent of AFS filmmakers, but we somehow agreed on the final slate. 

For filmmakers who didn't make the cut, we hope that you'll submit films for future ShortCase events -- I'm already formulating a cunning plan to get some of the content into a screening later this year. Feedback will be provided to filmmakers who requested it, and we encourage everyone to take advantage of the programs available to the AFS filmmaker members.

Without further ado, here are this year's SXSW ShortCase films.

Jonathan Lisecki's movie Gayby is making its world premiere at SXSW; it's a feature that expands the story from his short film of the same name. Lisecki's past work includes the 2008 Spirit of Slamdance Award-winning Woman in Burka, and you might remember him as the coach in Clay Liford's film Wuss from SXSW 2011. Austin filmmaker Liford was Director of Photography on Gayby, so you know it's going to look good; when you read the premise, you can be pretty sure it's one of the more memorable plots in an already edgy fest lineup.

Slackerwood: Describe your film for us in a couple of sentences.
Jonathan Lisecki: Gayby is an outrageous comedy about a straight girl and her gay best friend trying to have a baby. Insanely awkward sex scenes and vast complications ensue.

What’s one thing about the film that is going to make it impossible for people to resist seeing it?
Who doesn't love weird and silly sex, and we have that for sure. A woman I know who programs for another festival saw an early cut and said it had the funniest sex scene she had seen all year. This is someone who watches hundreds of films, so she knows of what she speaks. But after the aforementioned insanely awkward sex scene there is another one that takes it to a whole different level. Come for the sex, stay for the laughs. That's how most of my relationships have gone, now that I think of it.  

The Austin Film Society is providing a chance for AFS member filmmakers to get their short films screened during the SXSW Film Festival next month. ShortCase, a 70- to 90-minute special screening of short films, is confirmed for Saturday, March 10, 11 am, at the Canon Screening Room at the Long Center (aka the Rollins).

I am especially excited this year as I am officially curating the ShortCase film series on behalf of AFS. Our long-term goal is to expand the frequency of the ShortCase screening events, as well as provide constructive feedback to filmmakers whose work is not accepted into the screening lineup. We sincerely hope AFS filmmakers take advantage of the wealth of resources provided through AFS Artists Services, including the Texas Filmmaker Production Fund and Moviemaker Dialogues. AFS members interested in film-festival information should consider attending the upcoming "Maximizing Your Film Festival Experience" on February 29 with Kat Candler, Clay Liford and Geoff Marslett (and moderated by Slackerwood editor Jette Kernion).

To be considered for the AFS ShortCase screening at SXSW Film Festival, entries are due into the AFS offices no later than Wednesday, February 22, at 6 pm -- that's today, yes, and note that it's not the postmark-by date. They must be in DVD or Blu-ray format and should be clearly labeled . Films can be documentary, narrative, experimental, animation, music videos, etc. as long as they are under 30 minutes and completed -- no works-in-progress. Films should have been completed in the last 2 - 3 years (2010 to 2012). Older films can be submitted, but newer films will have preference. This will be a showcase for work that is not already playing at SXSW this year or has played in previous years. Find out more details here.

The plethora of films at SXSW Film Festival this year includes a good selection of Austin-based features even without the Lone Star States category of movies. The quality and buzz for local films is high, and I predict a couple of these features are destined to win audience awards at SXSW.

Here's the best list we've been able to compile of Austin connections in SXSW films this year. If we missed your movie, please let us know in the comments and we will update the list as needed. Stay tuned for Elizabeth Stoddard's feature on other Texas films at SXSW.

A note to filmmakers: If your movie has some link to Austin, we would love to interview you about it and see the film. Please drop us a line ASAP so we can set something up before the fest begins.

The Dallas International Film Festival has announced 15 of the films in its 2012 lineup, and not only does Texas make a great showing, but Austin is well represented. I'm hoping to attend the festival this year, the selections look so good so far. Some notable non-Texas films include Lawrence Kasdan's Darling Companion, which has former Austinite Mark Duplass in the cast; The Brooklyn Brothers Beat the Best, the directorial debut of actor Ryan O'Nan (The Dry Land), and Takashi Shimizu's Tormented.

Cinema Six, the latest feature from filmmakers Mark Potts and Cole Selix (S&M Lawn Care), will have its world premiere at the festival, which takes place from April 12-22 (corrected from original text). Jenn and I visited the set in Lockhart last year (when the movie was called A Splice of Life). The filmmakers aren't from Austin, but many of their cast and crew are: producer Kelly Williams, Director of Photography Clay Liford, editor Don Swaynos, and actors John Merriman, Shannon McCormick, Chris Doubek, Kerri Lendo and Byron Brown, among many others. Barry Corbin, who will be honored at the Texas Film Hall of Fame Awards next month, has a cameo. Film Threat premiered the trailer today, which I've embedded with other trailers at the bottom of this article.

A couple of Austin-connected films that have played Austin fests will be at DIFF, in case you missed them. Local actor Jonny Mars' documentary America's Parking Lot, which premieres at SXSW, will make its way to Dallas -- appropriately, since it's about die-hard Dallas Cowboys fans. Austin Film Festival 2011 selection Sironia (Jenn's review), about a musician whose life changes as he moves from L.A. to the title town (which is really Waco), will also screen at DIFF. Filmmaker Brandon Dickerson made the move from California to Texas himself and now lives in Austin.

But wait, there's more. Bindlestiffs, which won an audience award at Slamdance this year, is from Houston filmmaker Andrew Edison, who started working on the movie in high school and is now a student at NYU. The comedy is about high-school boys, suspended from school, naively trying to be bad in the big city. Film Slate has a great summary and interview with Edison. The movie will be a midnight selection at DIFF.