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March 18, 2011

SXSW 2011: The Highs and Lows

I'm writing this from a Greyhound bus, as the Texas hill country flattens by outside. The wayward romanticism of the lone traveler on a bus full of strangers at night is not lost on me, but still, give me a good airplane any day and I'll be a happy fellow.

Four hours ago I was at the Driskill hotel, having the last of many good meetings about my next feature. Two hours before that I was sitting down to watch my last movie of SXSW: Alison Bagnall's wonderful romance The Dish And The Spoon. I love Alison, and I love her movie, which is smart enough to quote Moby Dick without trying to earn points by calling attention to any such citations. Greta Gerwig gives her best performance to date -she's a force of nature in the film.

Twelve hours prior to that, I was heading down Riverside Drive in the backseat of Toby's car when someone in front of us swerved into our lane and we smashed right into them. I got a quick glimpse of the driver's wild eyes before he stepped on the gas and peeled out of there, and we gave chase, to no avail. It was the first car accident I'd ever been involved in. It happened right after we saw the brutal Kill List, which is one of the more surprising and effective horror films I've seen in a while, and the super-winning sci-fi adventure Attack The Block.

Just over 24 hours before that, we won the Grand Jury Prize for best narrative short! It was a wonderful surprise; I'm scared of awards ceremonies, just because I get so anxious, but I'm glad James and Toby convinced me to come to this one. SXSW is an Oscar-qualifying festival this year, so I guess our campaign officially begins now? A tremendous thanks to the jury, and also to Janet, Claudette, Stephanie, Jarod and everyone else at SXSW for programming us in the first place.

Over the course of the 121 hours that preceded that award, we ate a lot of vegan breakfast tacos and showed Pioneer twice to big crowds, and heard repeatedly from strangers all over town how much the film meant to them. And I, in turn, watched a handful of movies that meant a lot to me, both because it was so wonderful to see friends make such strong work (The Innkeepers and Silver Bullets) and also because they felt so vital (let me single out Jarrod Alterman's stunning documentary Convento, which is beautifully shot, notably brief and is exactly the sort of documentary I'd like to make some day). Sofia Takal's award-winning Green cemented Kate Lyn Sheil's ascension as an indie superstar, Better This World was a bracing dose of social suspense and the short films Animal Control, Dinosaur Ballet, Muscles, Fran's Daughter, The Eagleman Stag, Heart and The Strange Ones made me feel like I was in excellent company. There were more, but even a few days into any film festival you start having a hard time keeping track of what you've seen.

Traversing all the way back to opening night, there was the premiere of Bad Fever, which was so good that it caused a fight to break out in the audience. I'm so proud to have been a part of that film, and to hear it provoke such strong reactions in the audience. Sitting here now, I'm reading a review of it on my phone which states that Kentucker Audley's performance in the film "can stand up to any great American performance you can think of, including Marlon Brando's Terry Malloy or Robert DeNiro's Travis Bickle."

And so, yes, back to the present, and the bus, which is currently pulled over on the side of the highway in the middle of nowhere. A passenger had a seizure a few minutes ago and had to be carried off by paramedics. I'm listening to people chat around me. A girl across the aisle is worried that the delay will cause her to miss her grandmother's funeral in Memphis. An older woman behind me is en route to Nevada, a trip she said she makes every five weeks to see her grandson. The man next to me is sleeping with a blanket pulled over his head. He might as well be dead. Except that he's snoring. I'm looking forward to being home.

Photo update coming next...

Posted by David Lowery at March 18, 2011 1:25 AM