Blogging SXSW: The Memorable Moments

Alex Karpovsky, director of Trust Us, This Is All Made Up, does a Q&A with subjects T.J. Jagodowski and David Pasquesi.

There is a special moment in Alex Karpovsky's film, Trust Us, This Is All Made Up. Part performance doc, part study in the art of improvisation, the film follows T.J. Jagodowski and David Pasquesi, two seasoned improv veterans, from preparation, to performance, to their reactions after the show. At one point during the performance, Pasquesi turns his back to the audience as Jagodowski takes the action on stage away from him. The camera allows us to see what the audience doesn't see; that even with his back to the audience, when no one was the wiser, Pasquesi remains in character and is even silently pantomiming a conversation. If not caught on film, no one would know. It is a revelatory moment that captures the heart of the film and hints at its inner truth.

In Paul Cotter's world premier feature, Bomber, the moment is more abstract but no less powerful. The film takes the family tensions of an elderly husband and wife and their adult son on a mysterious road trip to Germany. There is a moment when the inscrutable father finally opens up to his family, but with a devastating admission that could potentially break their family ties. Instead, with humor and poignancy, his admission is unexpectedly turned into something positive, something that might make the family stronger.

Gerald Peary's For the Love of Movies: The Story of American Film Criticism was an interesting documentary for SXSW as it discusses the history of American film criticism, from the silent movies at the dawn of cinema to the Internet age of today. The film presents a host of different methods of criticism employed throughout the years by film critics. It not only reveals how people talk about films, but also can change how you see films. In the film, the esteemed film critic Manny Farber describes his own process of critique, in which he “circumvented writing about the story and the plot and [he] dived into the center of the movie.”

For me, attending the South By Southwest Film Festival was an almost overwhelming string of diving into the center of these moments. Moments not only captured on film, but in post-screening Q&As and sidewalk conversations. When you gather hundreds of filmmakers and creative people together and screen a few hundred films, special moments are hard to miss.

Take Karen Skloss's very personal documentary Sunshine. The film explores the contrast between her birth mother's experiences as a single mother in rural Texas against the filmmaker's own experiences some 30 years later. There is a moment of unexpected truth when Skloss's birth mother takes the camera, turning the tables on the filmmaker and asking questions of her own.

Sitting down with first time director Dia Sokol to discuss the world premier of her film Sorry, Thanks, I suggested one or two polarizing moments for the characters in her self-described “unromantic comedy” as revealing the central truth behind the film. The film follows the struggles of Max and Kira as they try to find their way through love and life. By the end of the film, the character of Kira is absent and we are left with Max's ambivalence. In talking about the film, Sokol admits that Kira's absence is central to heart of the film. Max seems to miss her, but it is the audience that feels a sense of loss.

For two films, the heart of the film wasn't a specific moment, but the performance of its leads. Bruce McDonald's thriller/horror film Pontypool had attendees buzzing over Stephen McHattie's portrayal of a radio show host facing down a town's descent into insanity with nothing but his voice and the radio waves. In Duncan Jones's old school sci-fi thriller, Moon, Sam Rockwell's turn as the lone operator of a lunar base was a delicate and layered performance that deserved the buzz it received.

A significant moment for me at SXSW didn't occur on screen, but rather when I realized that while features were the draw at the film festival, the true heart of the fest lay in the emerging visions of the short films. Unlike other major film fests, SXSW has a rooted interest in short films. Shorts can be a place where first time directors and filmmakers can hone their craft. Not surprisingly, Lya Guerra, the short films programmer for the festival, has a nurturing protectiveness over the short screened at SXSW. Even with over two thousand shorts submitted for SXSW '09, Guerra entered the selection process with no preconceived notions, selecting films that spoke to her. That care is evident from the order they run to how they fit thematically with the other films in their grouping. Possibly as a testament to this commitment to short films, for the first time winning films at SXSW '09 qualify for the Academy Awards Short Film category.

On screen, the shorts didn't disappoint. In John Wayne Hated Horses, Andrew T. Betzer's short film depicting a father and son's relationship, the moment lies in the shift from a scene of tenderness to one of harshness, subtly questioning the role of masculinity in fatherhood. Gary Huggins's buzz worthy Happy 95 Birthday Grandpa (the Special Jury Award winner), deftly hints at a breadth of substance and truth lying just underneath the surface of a girl's face and a boy's intransigence. Jill Orschel's short doc, Sister Wife, was also the topic of continued conversation for its intimate portrayal of woman's heartfelt belief in a faith that includes polygamy. Lance Alton Troxel's The Golden Pose follows the trials of a street performer with a refreshing swagger and joy of film that even includes an homage to Michelangelo Antonioni's classic Blow-Up.

Another significant moment for me came at one of the panel discussions. Where last year's SXSW saw the Screen Actors Guild strike, the major non-fest issue at SXSW '09 is the troubled economy. While there seemed to be fewer film exhibitors at the trade show this year, filmmakers seemed to have the same two issues on their mind as in years past: funding and distribution. When the topic of the current economic crisis came up during the “Managing Your Expectations: Indie Film Realities” panel, moderator Chris Gore (author of The Ultimate Film Festival Survival Guide) responded by welcoming everyone to the world of independent film.

One of the most popular panels at SXSW is “Jeffrey Tambor's Acting Workshop.” As the noted comedic actor (Arrested Development, Hellboy) ran two actors through a scene, he dropped insightful asides and a wealth of industry knowledge. From directing to acting to writing, he attacked every part of the scene from every angle, unpacking it to its basic core. It is no accident that throughout the process, he pushed the actors to make mistakes. To explore the truth of the scene. To find, in the building blocks that make a film, that special moment.

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