Austinist: SXSW Film Recap

March 18, 2008

SXSW Film Recap

We just woke up from a heavy post-SXSW slumber, and thought we'd share some of our personal highlights from this year's SXSW Film Festival, along with a tidy roundup of our interview and preview coverage (and we've still got a couple interviews in the queue, so keep an eye out for even more!)

Of all the docs we saw, They Killed Sister Dorothy hit us hardest. Besides being an artful portrait of a gutsy environmentalist nun, and a thorough exploration of a brutal South American land war, They Killed Sister Dorothy is also a tense courtroom drama, and a riveting insider's look at the bizarre Brazilian justice system. It's tragic and shocking in equal measure, and we highly recommend you go see it if you get the chance.

In contrast, We are Wizards, a documentary portrait of several Harry Potter obsessives, was a heck of a lot of fun (thanks to numerous appearances by Austin funnyman Brad Neely, who we totally love). And despite the lame, one-note premise, Super High Me was somehow very funny too. Harlon Ellison got the Dreams With Sharp Teeth screening off to a great start by chatting with the audience, and the much-lauded American Teen actually came reasonably close to being as good as people say it is.

On the narrative front, we also thoroughly enjoyed Goliath, Medicine for Melancholy, Woodpecker, and Registered Sex Offender. And though the Simon Pegg / Micheal Ian Black-penned Run Fatboy Run didn't deliver many real laughs, it still left us in a good mood.

Of course, that's just small selection of the good stuff. If you weren't following along during the festival, you can follow the jump for a list of our filmmaker interviews and previews. And if you saw something great, tell us about it in the comments!

Austinist Interviews: Filmmakers Bob Byington and Alex Karpovsky

Austinist Interviews SXSW: One Minute to Nine Director Tommy Davis

Austinist Interviews Suroosh Alvi of Heavy Metal in Baghdad

SXSW Film Preview: FrontRunners

SXSW Film Preview: One Minute to Nine

Austinist Interviews SXSW: David Pomes and Anson Mount of "Cook County"

SXSW Film Preview: Woodpecker

Austinist Interviews SXSW: Order of Myths Director Margaret Brown

SXSW Film Preview: Goliath

Austinist Interviews SXSW: CRAWFORD Director David Modigliani

SXSW Film Preview: RSO [Registered Sex Offender]

SXSW Film Preview: Mister Lonely