Of all the awesome-looking films playing at SXSW this year, Frownland initially caught our eye because, well, any reference to Captain Beefheart is awesome. And after checking out some clips on the film's website, we immediately added it to our schedule. This kind of film scratches us right where we itch-- it's that sort of bleak, acerbic comedy that makes you laugh while simultaneously making you feel weird about laughing. Director Ronald Bronstein has described... more ›

Michael Tully came of age at the North Carolina School of the Arts, where he made friends with such latter-day indie stars as director David Gordon Green and songwriter Dave Berman. His documentary, Silver Jew, about Berman's band The Silver Jews and their recent tour in Israel, is set to screen during SXSW. We caught up with him via email to ask the tough questions: So the documentary is only 51 minutes long. Does... more ›

One of the films we're really excited about seeing at this year's SXSW Film Festival is A Lawyer Walks Into a Bar..., a broad, lighthearted look at America's obsession with (and simultaneous hatred of) lawyers and lawsuits. The film follows six law students as they prepare for the notoriously difficult California Bar Exam, but it also features stories and commentary from several notable lawyers, comedians and personalities including Eddie Griffin, Robert Shapiro (counsel to O.J.... more ›

We should probably preface this whole thing by saying that we absolutely love Don McKellar. And not in a cute, innocent, forgivable way—in a nerdy, fawning, obsessive kind of way. And so while much of the following interview does relate directly to Reg Harkema’s new film Monkey Warfare (which Don is in, and which will be screening at SXSW), we also couldn’t resist occasionally veering way off topic, randomly blurting out years worth of pent-up... more ›

This weekend, first-time directors Brian Cassidy, Jennifer Loeber and (ex-Austinite) Aaron Hillis will bring their unusual but fantastic new documentary Fish Kill Flea to Austin for its world premiere at SXSW. Strange and funny and sad by turns, Fish Kill Flea is an honest, close-up portrait of a decaying mall in upstate New York that has become home to a popular (though shabby) flea market. Though the subject seems fairly specific at first, the film... more ›

This Sunday, the SXSW Film Festival will host the world premiere of Jennifer Venditti's much buzzed-about documentary Billy The Kid. The film follows Billy Price, a fifteen-year-old boy who overcomes obstacles with courage and wisdom to spare. This one looks really interesting—apparently, Venditti is a casting agent who's famous for her "street scouting", where she travels around finding real people (as opposed to, you know, actors) for advertising, fashion and film roles. She encountered Price... more ›

Austin filmmaker Bob Ray's Hell on Wheels tells the story of Austin's roller derby revival, following a group of hard-hitting Texas women who pulled the sport from the brink of obscurity and into the international spotlight. Five years in the making, this rock-meets-rollerskates doc will be premiering at this years' South by Southwest film festival. We recently had a chance to talk to Bob about Roller Derby, filmmaking and one-man bands. How did Hell on... more ›

Aside from being an accomplished documentary filmmaker (and Guggenheim, Rockefeller, NEA and AFI Fellowship award recipient), Third Ward TX director Andrew Garrison is also an associate professor at the University of Texas, and the founder of East Austin Stories, an ongoing student documentary program that focuses on East Austin neighborhoods. We recently had a chance to talk to Andrew about Third Ward, East Austin Stories and South by Southwest. Tell us a little bit about... more ›

One of the films we're most excited about seeing at this year's South By Southwest Film Festival is Laura Dunn's The Unforeseen, a documentary look at the controversy surrounding Austin's real estate development and its impact on the Edwards Aquifer and on Barton Springs. Co-executive-produced by Terrence Malik and Robert Redford (who reportedly learned to swim at Barton Springs), the film explores the unseen relationships between our natural environment and our urge to destroy it.... more ›

Since moving to Austin in the early 90s to attend film school at UT, Bryan Poyser has become a fixture in the local film scene. A co-founder of the Cinematexas Film Festival, Bryan has also spent time as a producer at SXSW Film, and is currently Director of Artist Services for the Austin Film Society. And on top of all that, he makes movies. With two shorts and two features under his belt (one of... more ›