SXSW Film Fest Producer Matt DentlerLast year we chatted with SXSW Film Festival producer and all-around cool guy Matt Dentler about film programming, Austin audiences and Texas filmmakers. This year, he's answered even more of our questions--and this time around, we talked Mumblecore, Global Doc Days, and SXSW success stories. Has the media attention around "Mumblecore" ultimately been a positive or negative thing for the Festival and the filmmakers? As much as it's a term......

So, we know that there is some other film awards show going on this weekend that involves statues and crimson carpets and such, but how many nominees can claim Austin as their hometown? None that we can think of, which is what makes the Film Independent's Spirit Awards a bazillion times more interesting to us than the stodgy old Oscars!...

"Both funny and emotional, both indie and Hollywood, both entertaining and political, both real and magical," is how SXSW Film Festival Producer Matt Dentler describes the palette of films being shipped into town March 7-15 for the 15th annual South by Southwest Film Conference & Festival. "It's a well-rounded slate of films, from both veteran masters and promising newcomers." With 113 new feature films, 64 of those being world premiers, there is truly something for......

Fantastic Fest '08 Badges are on sale now! VIP badges sold out while the '07 festival was still running, but there are some new ticket options for '08 including "2nd Half" and "Daytime Only" badges. UT Professor Ellen Spiro and Talkshow Host Phil Donahue's doc "Body of War" has made the Oscar shortlist. Check out Chris Garcia's interview with Spiro here. The Belgian government has honored four Austin filmmakers for their documentary work. We......

Photo from Soundcheck Magazine Austin's 2nd Annual Green Holiday Festival, "The Sustainable Shopper's Ball!", returns to the Sunset Valley Farmers Market with over 60 local vendors and educators offering everything from bamboo homewares to luxury organic linens SXSW Film Festival Producer Matt Dentler shares some insider tips on what the film programming team is looking for - "Should you spend money on a fancy press kit? Should you check your DVD screener 4 different times......

TUESDAY [10] music • Brand New, Kevin Devine, Manchester Orchestra at Stubb's music • Richard Swift & Sons of National Freedom, David Vandervelde & the Moonstation House Band, Zookeeper, the Gigantic Rubber Band at Emo's Lounge music • Gurf Morlix at Waterloo Records (5pm, Free) music • DJ Trevor, A Few Nice Things at Beauty Bar music • Radioland Murders, Pack of Wolves at Whisky Bar books • Randall Pinkett presents The Campus CEO......

Okay, maybe we're not the kind of friend you'd invite to your wedding, or ask to hide a gun for you until the heat dies down. But we do try our best to keep you informed about awesome new films and film-related events—which is something your regular, non-blogger friends probably almost never do. Now that we think of it, why do you even hang out with them? Anyway, this Tuesday April 10th you'll get a......

The jet lag had just started to wear off (or the booze just started to kick in) when most of the filmmakers, actors and bloggers who are showcasing work during The 2007 SXSW Film Festival & Conference met at Buffalo Billiards Thursday night. Film gets kicked off today, with Scott Frank's directorial debut, The Lookout debuting at The Paramount tonight at 9:00pm. L to R: Dan Cox, director of Running With Arnold & Reginald Harkema,......

Now in his fourth year as producer for the South By Southwest Film Festival, Matt Dentler might just be the busiest guy in the Austin film community. In addition to his year-round duties at SXSW Film, he's also a programmer for the mega-awesome Fantastic Fest, a curator for two national film distributors, an active blogger, television show host and occasional film festival panelist, judge and lecturer. And as if that weren't enough to keep him......

Though it’s still a full eight months away, the third annual Fantastic Fest is already gearing up, and badges officially went on sale today at noon. If you missed our coverage of last year’s fest, here’s a quick primer: Fantastic Fest is an eight-day festival showcasing the very best in new horror, sci-fi, fantasy, Asian and cult films (supplemented by various genre retrospectives and classic horror). The festival is curated by AICN's Harry Knowles, Big......

SXSW Presents returns to KLRU TV tomorrow for its third season, with four brand new episodes slated to run through the end of February. The critically acclaimed series, hosted by SXSW Film Fest Producer Matt Dentler, showcases some today's finest examples of independent filmmaking, many of which have a local emphasis -- past epiodes have featured Viva Les Amis, 24 Hours on Craigslist, and Witches in Exile. BBQ: A Texas Love Story February 6th,......

SXSW today announced an exciting new contest they're sponsoring with director Robert Rodriguez, in anticipation of the upcoming Rodriguez-Tarantino double feature, Grindhouse. Filmmakers are invited to submit their best "grindhouse trailers" for a fictional feature-length film, in the same vein as those being made by celebrity directors Eli Roth and Rob Zombie. Rodriguez (Sin City, Spy Kids, Once Upon a Time in Mexico) himself will judge the best submissions and share these at a......

It's like attending a film festival in your pajamas. And the popcorn is free. “SXSW Presents” premieres tonight on KLRU. The purpose of the show is to “share festival-circuit gems with television audiences.” Produced by SXSW, in conjunction with Austin-based company, Beef & Pie Productions, the show endeavors to bring the film festival to you. Tonight’s first installment will feature Robert Brinkmann’s film, Stephen Tobolowsky’s Birthday Party. The film is a performance-based documentary that......

While we were busy watching Funky Forest, Mel Gibson made a surprise appearance at Fantastic Fest to present an advance screening of his upcoming Apocalypto. This is going to go down in history as one of the most talked about Fantastic Fest events ever. We nabbed this photo from Matt Dentler's blog, where he has an in-depth review of the film and the event. So check it out. And if you were lucky enough......

Fantastic Fest continues this week at the Alamo Drafthouse on South Lamar. So many great movies are playing at this festival that it’s a little overwhelming to try to take them all in. For our first four days at the fest, we decided to concentrate on the low-budget indies and international. After all, the major label flicks will be in theaters or on DVD soon. But who knows when we might have another opportunity......

Fantastic Fest starts tomorrow at the Alamo Drafthouse on South Lamar. VIP badges are already sold out, and there are only 80 regular festival badges left. If you love movies, the festival badge is a steal: $110 buys you 8 days of giant monsters, kung fu, chainsaw murders, school girls, angry insects and generally fantastic cinema. (Read our preview) To help prepare you for Fantastic Fest, we conducted a quick interview with Austin's own......

We were tickled to read about the premiere of Robert Altman's latest, Prairie Home Companion, at Salon.com. The film premiered at SXSW, of course--Friday night, in fact. Salon's Andrew O'Hehir was on hand remarking on the heat and tank tops. Here's a snippet: From the stage of the Paramount, a gingerbread-laden movie palace (originally built in 1915 and remodeled in the '30s) that has been lovingly preserved, festival director Matt Dentler told us that......

We love Kat so much we had to get the word out about the premiere of her new film jumping off bridges this Saturday at the SXSW Film Festival. You may not have a film pass, but you should go and try to get a ticket. Kat is not only a local filmmaker to support, she is a spotlight on truth and beauty. Great independent films don't have to always be about crude jokes, violence,......

Film and public radio fans rejoice; legendary Director Robert Altman (M*A*S*H, Nashville, Short Cuts) will open the SXSW Film Festival this March with the North American premiere of his new film “A Prairie Home Companion,” the feature-length adaptation of the wildly popular public radio presentation from original American voice Garrison Keillor. The premiere is a boon for the fest, which has establishied itself as one of the country’s premiere film festivals. The film, penned......