SXSW 2009: Thoughts on Austin in the Aftermath of a Successful Fest

I understand that there are pleasures in Austin – I truly do.  Hell, I’ve got more friends than I can count on 2 hands who can ably attest to this town’s ability to sustain artists, bohemians, filmmakers, writers and the like.  Keep Austin weird – it’s even got it’s own bumper sticker.  What other town boasts that kind of nonsense?

Yet, one can’t help but wonder as you wander through downtown Austin at closing time (granted during SXSW and approaching St. Patty’s Day) and – in a two-block radius – watch one young woman puke and fall over in one continuous motion (9.5 on the degree of difficulty), then see three consecutive fist fights, one seemingly building on the other, until, finally, one sees a young man cold-cock (surprisingly punch for those unfamiliar with the phrase) another young man and watch the punchee drop to the ground (street) in the midst of traffic – not stagger and tumble but flat drop, head hitting the pavement with the sickening thudding sound of a melon – to wonder, what Mad Max hell is this?

And don’t give me that “it’s a college town” bullshit.  I spent 4+ year’s in a quintessential college town and saw two fist fights.  Austin (at least downtown) is a fist fight begging to happen, SXSW or no. 

That said, when spring comes to Austin, as it did on Sunday, with the chilled temperatures of Friday and Saturday giving way to warm sun, is there anywhere better to sit outside with a salty margarita and a bowl of chips and salsa (after four days you’ve got queso coming out of your pores).  Heaven help the filmmaker scheduled to screen at that moment when the 70 degree temperatures arrive.

This was my fourth year in Austin and I felt like I’d finally learned some lessons.  Lesson #1 – Stay out of the convention center (aside from the theater, which is on the ground floor and an easy in and out).  It’s a soul sucker and makes you feel like you actually did pursue that career in something that wasn’t creative and, fuck, how did that happen; Lesson #2 – Get up and see two movies early in the day.  If you want to actually accomplish your goal of seeing 3 films a day, go ahead and see two before afternoon fully arrives; Lesson #3 – It’s perfectly fine to go to Guero’s three days in a row.  Just make sure you eat the fish tacos (they’re delicious) before you go with the folks who have sustainability issues; Lesson #4 – Go to the Starbucks on Congress and don’t bother with the Starbucks in the hotels near the convention center; Lesson #5 – Let a local drive; Lesson #6 – Get to the Alamo Ritz early, even if you have a badge, cause that place is gonna sell out and, oh yeah, that blogger who SXSW staff is gonna try to get into the movie? It's not you.

One of the amazing things about SXSW in Janet Pierson's first year of leading the festival (taking over from Matt Dentler, who left last April) was how this year's SX felt so similar to previous years (perhaps the similar environs and fellow travelers played a role in this) without feeling like a musty rehash.  The festival seemed terrifically alive and audiences seemed bigger than ever. 

The films, too, carried on in the Austin tradition - seriously, where else would a documentary about TROLL 2 debut?  And, in fact, BEST WORST MOVIE was one of the most talked about nonfiction films at the festival.  Lots of folks were also talking highly of WINNEBAGO MAN, BEETLE QUEEN CONQUERS TOKYO, TRIMPIN: THE SOUND OF INVENTION and I heard intense love it/hate it reaction to BROCK ENRIGHT: GOOD TIMES WILL NEVER BE THE SAME, which pretty much guarantees my desire to see it.

Among the other films that I saw were Aron Guadet's THE WAY WE GET BY, an emotional, thoughtful look at a group of seniors in Maine that welcomes - and sends off - US trips en route to/from Iraq and Afghanistan; David Lee Miller's stylistic tour-de-force MY SUICIDE, a narrative film that uses some nonfiction elements (including real people man on the street interviews) and documentary filmmaking situations and which feels - for the first half at least - like a modern-day HEATHERS; and Jamie Jay Johnson's charmful SOUNDS LIKE TEEN SPIRIT, a look at the Junior Eurovision contest that is open-hearted, generous to its subjects and truly funny.  (Previously, we wrote of the SXSW Jury winner 45365 and fest favorites OBJECTIFIED and SWEETHEARTS OF THE PRISON RODEO.)

Late in the week, after many of the film fest revellers (including yours truly) had headed home, two more awards were announced - IRON MAIDEN: FLIGHT 666 took the Audience Award in the 24 Beats Per Second section, while OVER THE HILLS AND FAR AWAY received the Audience nod in the Lone Star State division.

Comments

[charlie]

Hehe, you should spend more time in the UK, AJ, here it's more sinister if you don't get those kind of nightlife sights.

[Pat Aufderheide]

Great comments, AJ. The downtown homeless shelter in Austin is a couple of blocks from the convention center, and a block from the Alamo Ritz, so there are a lot of people on the street who are a little lost. And there are a lot of people in downtown Austin who are drinking way too much. A reminder that weird can also be unfortunate. Meanwhile, I loved SAY MY NAME, by Nirit Peled and David Hemmigway. What a project! (Check out Mamamess website) Movie, billboards, posters, music files...all about creative, talented women rappers. I also am soft on the convention center, because I do learn a lot from the panels. Although one of the most entertaining--a fair use panel where the audience was the jury--was in the Hilton. I was thrilled to see Julie Ahrens of Stanford's Fair Use Project wave the Doc Filmmakers' Statement of Best PRactices in Fair Use (centerforsocialmedia.org/fairuse) and hear the crowd break out into applause! Small delicious moments, even without a margarita in hand.

[eric matthies]

lovely visual and shared sentiments. a few additions and one disagreement.

- the unofficial music is usually just as good or better than the wristband shows. too bad there's not unofficial movies too.
- you can't eat too much queso.
- YardDog for great art, free food and a great band line up.
- Starbucks???? F that noise. Jo's man, it's the best java in the land. Belgian Bomber to start the day, can't be beat. Support local businesses!!! If you can't cross the bridge without a fix, there's always Texas Coffee Traders or Juan Pelota (Lance Armstrong's java joint) around 3 blocks from the main drag.

[eric matthies]

great quote from Wired sound-mixer article

"First of all, when they said "Keep Austin weird," they didn't mean let other weird people into the city. They meant keep Austin unique. I guess it was a calling card to weirdos and freaks everywhere in the world."

http://blog.wired.com/underwire/2009/03/sxsw-sound-guys.html