South
by Southwest 2004 - Day 5 - Tuesday March 16, 2004
I took the day off from work on Tuesday. I thought I might
want to check out some of the TBA films at the Alamo in
the afternoon, but no one ever announced what they were
at any of the screenings I attended and I really didn't
feel like going out, so I got some writing done, ate lunch
and caught up on some TV watching.
The night before on the USA Network they had run the
first ten minutes of the new version of "Dawn of Dead"
starring Sarah Polley and the trailer for that film
looks so good that I decided to tape it and watch it
even though I usually hate seeing too much about a film
too soon. Well this was a genius move on the part of
Universal because the first ten minutes of the film
are amazing and waste little time in getting right to
the zombies. Polley is excellent and I really like how
her character was not a Screaming Mimi and did not freak
out. She plays a nurse and when trouble starts happening,
she just gets into gear and starts doing things. She's
not inactive by any sense of the word. This is cool.
At about 4:15, I set my VCR to tape the new "Queer
Eye" and headed to the Arbor for a 5 o'clock screening
of "Paper Clips." I thought traffic might be bad but
after I got through downtown, it was a breeze. I got
to the Arbor early, went to the bathroom and got a Diet
soda.
At 5 a volunteer introduced Joe Fab, the "producer"
of "Paper
Clips." He was an older gentleman and he was wearing
a suit. He told us that the film had been picked up
by Miramax and will be coming out this summer. He told
us the film had taken 2 and a half years to make and
that he would do a Q&A after the film. I knew I wouldn't
be able to stay for that as the film was 85 minutes
and I needed to be at the Paramount by 7. Sometimes
film festival schedules just suck.
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After the film, I left the theater with tears
in my eyes. I used to wipe them away before I
left a theater but now I like to walk out with
them on my cheeks for some reason. When I got
to my car, I got in and looked in the rear view
and you couldn't even see them. Anyway, I raced
to the Paramount via Mopac and had to take some
back street downtown because they have 5th Street
all tied up with ridiculous pylons blocking off
lanes for construction that (surprise) they are
not working on.
I wanted to park somewhere between the Paramount
and the Convention Center as it was my intention
to see "Killer
Diller" first at 7 at the former and "Hair
High" at the latter at 9:45. But I found a space
fairly close to the Paramount and parked there.
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The cast
of "Killer Diller"
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I didn't have to wait too long in line for "Killer
Diller" and when I got inside, I realized that this
was the eve of the music festival and since this film
was supposedly about "the blues," some of the folks
here were really more "music" people.
At 7 a volunteer introduced the film and told us that
the director, Tricia Brock, was in attendance and would
do a Q&A after the film. They had set aside a lot of
seats for VIP's and when the film started, there were
lots of applause and hoots and hollers as the cast and
crew names appeared in the credits.
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Brock did do a Q&A after the film
and brought up producers and cast members including
William Lee Scott and Niki J. Crawford. When someone
asked "Where's Lucas?" (Black), Brock told us he
was in Odessa shooting "Friday Night Lights." She
was also quite honest about how Black really didn't
want to do the film. Her honesty was refreshing
even though I could kinda see where Black was coming
from. She told us that it wasn't until Black met
Scott that she was sure he would sign on and that
during the closing party Black had given a heartfelt
speech about feeling like he was a part of a team
working on the film. She said he started by saying,
"You all know that I hate acting." |
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Black's mother and grandmother (called Me-Maw)
was in attendance and Brock acknowledged them.
She told us that Me- Maw's birthday was tomorrow.
At some point later in the Q&A an audience member
asked Crawford to sing a little and she sang "Happy
Birthday" to Me-Maw. Her voice was amazing and
beautiful.
It was only about 9 and I decided to look at
my options for the last show. "Hair High" was
an animated thing by Bill Plympton, and I am not
the biggest animation fan, so I tried to decide
whether to see that, "After the Apocalypse" at
the Dobie or "Blind
Horizon" at the Paramount. I opted for the
latter as it was closest, started first and at
90 minutes would end first. It wasn't until the
movie started that I snapped to the fact that
90 minutes is the universal code in film-land
for "we're not exactly sure how long it is but
we've got to put something in the program." I
just hoped I wasn't in for a 2 hour film (It actually
ran about 1:45).
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The cast
of "Killer Diller"
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Anyway, while I was waiting in line to go back into
the Paramount, this crazy thing happened. A car came
by pulling a trailer with an anti-Bush message on it.
It was an odd effigy of Bush with flames coming out
of his ass and the website www.pantsonfire.net
on a banner. I guess they were trying to say that Bush
is a liar. I tried to take some pictures but I don't
think they turned out very good.
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I just love Austin. You never know what you're
going to see here.
I got back in line and was a few people further
back. A girl was on a phone with a mic and was
talking to someone about how Thinkfilms "made
an offer" on some film. Some guys were handing
out flyers for the "48 Hour Film Festival" screening
at the Alamo (I've seen them a lot this week.)
I checked my messages and left a message with
my friend Johnny Oh! I am hoping he will go with
me to see "Straight Jacket," the new Richard Day
film. Day directed the wonderfully campy "Girls
Will Be Girls."
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My friend Jan walked up and was near me, albeit in
the Passes line, and I chatted to her. After a bit of
prompting, she said that she had liked "Minding the
Gap" and "Blackballed." We talked about documentaries
and I told her how much I had liked "Paper Clips." We
both have heard good buzz on "The League of Ordinary
Gentlemen" but neither of us have actually seen it.
About this time Niki Crawford from "Killer Diller"
and her entourage walked by and I told her, "You Rock!"
I asked Jan if she had went to the "Hellboy" screening
and she had. She said it was a madhouse and that she
had gotten there early but supposedly they weren't going
to let anyone line up until 10pm. Of course, she hung
out anyway and found out where the lines would be. At
some point after they had begun the lines, SXSW figurehead
Louis Black came by and announced that they were in
the wrong place and everyone started shifting, then
someone else came and put them all back in the lines
they were originally in. Jan, who is not wont to complain,
actually said, "It was not handled very well."
We got in the Paramount and at 9:30 a volunteer introduced
the producers of "Blind Horizon," Todd Tooley and Heidi
JoMarket. They told us that director Michael Haussman
couldn't come because he had a new baby but scripters
F. Paul Benz and Steve Tomlin were in the house and
would do a Q&A after the film. Tooley joked that he
and Market will be "next door getting a drink."
The SXSW "La Cineeaste" trailer played and I looked
and noticed that they actually spelled Louis Noir with
a "U" in the Louis in the subtitles. I hadn't noticed
that spelling before and that's why I spelled it wrong
in yesterdays notes. The film began and it had a Lions
Gate logo at the begining.
The film was so bad that I didnt stay for the Q&A.
I walked to my car and called in an order at Wan Fu.
When I got home at 11:30 toting my General Taso's Chicken,
the new "Queer Eye" was starting. I don't know why it
was on at such an odd time. I watched it and ate.
I checked my e-mail and got this news from SXSW:
NARRATIVE COMPETITION FEATURE
JURY AWARD FOR NARRATIVE FEATURE: Luck directed by
Peter Wellington. Produced by Jennifer Weiss and Simone
Urdl. Synopsis: Set in the early1970's, this film takes
us into the world of a group of young, free-spirited
underachievers who enjoy a good bet. A bit lost, and
paralyzed by his own obsession with luck and destiny,
one of the group members wonders if he's lucky enough
to win Margaret, the girl of his dreams. It seems that
luck is not on his side. Or is it?
SPECIAL JURY AWARD FOR NARRATIVE FEATURE: "Mind the
Gap" directed by Eric Schaeffer. Produced by Chip Hourihan,
Robert Kravitz, Terence Michael, and Eric Shaeffer.
Synopsis: Five seemingly unrelated adults decide to
take huge risks with their lives, searching for the
happiness constantly eluding them.
DOCUMENTARY FEATURE
JURY AWARD FOR BEST DOCUMENTARY FEATURE: "A Hard Straight"
directed by Goro Toshima. Produced by Goro Toshima,
Lindsay Sablosky. Synopsis: A Hard Straight follows
3 parolees in their post-prison lives; enjoying their
newfound freedom, as well as negotiating the difficulties
of re-entering an uncaring and sometimes hostile society.
SPECIAL JURY AWARD FOR DOCUMENTARY FEATURE: "Witches
In Exile" directed by Allison Berg. Produced by Allison
Berg, co-produced by: Frank Keraudren. In Ghana, women
accused of witchcraft are torn from their families and
banished to witch villages. Synopsis: "Witches in Exile"
follows these accused women through their daily struggle
to survive in the Kukuo Witches Camp. As government
agencies attempt to abolish this age-old tradition,
these women find themselves caught between their society's
deeply-rooted beliefs and its drive toward modernization.
COMPETITION SHORTS
JURY AWARD: "Gretchen and The Night Danger" directed
by Steve Collins. Produced by Riley Malone. Synopsis:
An awkward teenager wrestles with whether or not to
let her boyfriend go up her shirt.
SPECIAL JURY AWARD: 9:30 directed by Mun Chee Yong.
Produced by Ryan Sturz and Brett Henenberg. Synopsis:
9:30 is a story about a man'sintense longing and his
futile attempt to put it to an end. Chan Kin Fai flies
to Los Angeles from Singapore to forget the person he
loves. He doesn1t manage to forget. He ends up calling
his love everyday at 9:30 Singapore Time.
ANIMATED SHORT
JURY AWARD FOR BEST ANIMATED SHORT: "Pan With Us"
directed and produced by David Russo. Synopsis: A frenetic
and poetic flight on the wings of classic Greek mythology.
SPECIAL JURY AWARD FOR ANIMATED SHORT: "Subsidized
Fate" directed and produced by Lance Myers. Synopsis:
A man is instructed to burglarize another man's house
by mysteriously placed commercial messages. Are these
signs in his head or has capitalism become an omnipotent
force?
EXPERIMENTAL SHORT
JURY AWARD FOR BEST EXPERIMENTAL SHORT: "dissolve"
directed by Aaron Valdez. Synopsis: A meditative collage
of hundreds of dissolves cut directly from old 16mm
educational films and reassembled to form an abstract
look at our own impermanence.
SPECIAL JURY AWARD FOR EXPERIMENTAL SHORT: "Roothold"
produced by Eric Patrick. Synopsis: Roothold is a divination
film that speculates on Gene Rowley; a woman pictured
on an abandoned gravestone in Port Arthur, TX.
MUSIC VIDEO
JURY AWARD FOR BEST MUSIC VIDEO: "54 Seconds - "Better?"
directed by Tracie Laymon. Produced by Spencer Gibb,
Karen Ramirez and Trevor Nelson. Synopsis: In the video
for the band 54 Seconds, a depressed young woman takes
advantage of the only opportunity she sees to make her
life better.
SPECIAL JURY AWARD FOR MUSIC VIDEO : Dizzee Rascal
- "Fix Up, Look Sharp" directed by Ruben Fleischer.
Produced by Miwa Okamura.
AUDIENCE AWARDS
LONE STAR STATES: "Mojados : Through The Night" directed
and produced by Tommy Davis. Synopsis: Director Tommy
Davis tags along with four migrants from a small village
in Mexico as they leave their families and embark on
a 120 mile trek across the deserts of Texas, attempting
to evade the U.S. Border Patrol. They must overcome
dehydration, hypothermia and come face to face with
death.
EMERGING VISIONS: "The Naked Feminist" directed by
Louisa Achille. Produced by Louisa Achille, co-produced
by Stephen Kijak. Synopsis: This film challenges the
mythology surrounding women in the porn industry head-on,
through a series of candid interviews with porn stars,
academics, and feminists. The film seeks to strip away
the ideological straitjacket surrounding the decades
old "porn versus feminist" debate.
DOCUMENTARY FEATURE: "A League of Ordinary Gentlemen"
directed by Christopher Browne. Produced by Wilhelmus
Bryan and Alex H. Browne. Synopsis: Four professional
bowlers' lives are interrupted when their league is
purchased by a trio of Microsoft programmers who hire
a Nike marketing guru to turn professional bowling into
the next 'second tier sports franchise.'
NARRATIVE FEATURE: "Blackballed: The Bobby Dukes Story"
directed by Brant Sersen. Produced by Dominic Amatore,
Allen Bain, Seth Eisman, Peter Gelles, Darren Goldberg,
Chris Lechler, Jesse Scolaro, Brant Sersen, and Brian
Steinberg. Synopsis: Banned from paintball for ten years,
Bobby Dukes, the former Hudson Valley Champ, has returned
to reclaim his title.
BAFTA (British Academy of Film and Television Arts)
AWARD (for Competition Shorts 15 minutes or under):
"Underground" directed by Aimee Lagos and Kristin Dehnert.
Produced by Aimee Lagos, Kristin Dehnert, Estee Chandler,
and Joanne Duray. Runners' Up (in order): "The Climactic
Death of Dark Ninja" directed by Peter Craig. Produced
by Rachel Craig. Synopsis: A frazzled auteur struggles
to keep his lead actor, avoid heatstroke and weather
creative differences, while attempting to shoot his
movie's climactic final scene. A mannequin, four ninjas
and a five year-old lost in the woods are not making
it any easier. "We Have Decided Not To Die" directed
by Daniel Askill. Produced by Christopher Seeto and
Daniel Askill. Synopsis: Three Rituals. Three Figures.
Three modern day journeys of transcendence. "Excursion"
directed by Cris Jones. Produced by Cris Jones and Jessica
Brookman. Synopsis: You wake up. That`s how it always
starts. But what next? What do you do? What do you have
for breakfast? Burn your house. Quit your job. Never
trust a refrigerator Set off the smoke alarms. Turn
on the gas. Get on the goddam boat. Peace.
For more information, go to http://www.sxsw.com
Lodger@SXSW2004
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