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September 6, 2008
Texas Ain't The Same Without You
I'm back in Austin temporarily, where the fact that it's now September means absolutely nothing at all. The Texas heat is comforting, in a strange, overbearing, nostalgic way, but it certainly doesn't make life easy. I heard some vague mention today that Orion's current position in the night sky signifies eight more weeks of summer, which if true is a terrifying thought - but then again, I'll be taking off before too long, heading for increasingly cooler climes and that obligatory note here in which I'll wax ecstatic about the first day of fall....
My arrival was perfectly timed for the screening of Ciao at the Austin Gay and Lesbian Film Festival . Yen invited me to come do the Q&A with him, and when he introduced me before the theater he mentioned that the film was very much a collaboration between the two of us. That's just as true of any of the key players who helped make the film happen, but it was very touching to hear, and watching the first few minutes before we stepped out to get coffee, I once again felt very proud of it, and what we managed to do with it. All those winter evenings we spent cutting the film at my parents' house (and once in a hospital) definitely comprised one of the most satisfying artistic endeavors of my life, precisely because it was such a great collaboration. I can't wait for him to make another film, just so I can work on it! And it looks like that might be happening sooner rather than later. In the meantime, over the next few months, Ciao will be playing at festivals all over the world, from Paris to Hong Kong to Oklahoma, all the way up until its domestic theatrical release...
On the subject of film festivals, in three weeks I'll be heading back to the Sidewalk Moving Picture Festival in Birmingham for the second year in a row, along with what seems like just about every other filmmaker I know on the planet. Catalog is screening there, and in a case of great cross-pollination, Clay's film My Mom Smoked Weed and James' Merrily Merrily are in the short film program too. Sidewalk is the most laid-back and friendliest festival I've ever been too. I'm looking forward to once again breaking into the rooftop deck of our hotel, and also smelting some iron at the Sloss Furnaces...because what other festival offers that sort of opportunity?
Time to go make some coffee so I can get some sleep.
Posted by David Lowery at September 6, 2008 7:31 PM