SXSW Features
Featured
Five Questions with Maladies Director Carter
Having established himself as a painter, photographer, and sculptor, Carter continues to expand his art repertoire with his newest feature film, Maladies. After working with James Franco on his directorial debut, Erased James Franco, Carter decided to write another film with Franco… Read more
Five Questions with Swim Little Fish Swim Directors Ruben Amar and Lola Bessis
In Ruben Amar and Lola Bessis’s Swim Little Fish Swim, Lilas (Bessis) defiantly flees her coddled Parisian life for a nomadic walkabout in New York. An aspiring visual artist, desperate to strike out from the shadow cast by her famous… Read more
Five Questions with We Always Lie to Strangers Directors AJ Schnack and David Wilson
Tucked away in the middle of the Ozarks, far away from the bright lights of the coasts, lies Branson, Missouri, a place that has been dubbed “the live music capital of America.” The opposite of hip, its theaters feature a… Read more
Five Questions with The Network Director Eva Orner
When President Obama announced in the State of the Union that the war in Afghanistan would effectively end by 2014, the news was greeted with little more than a collective shrug. That thing was still going on? But what is… Read more
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Five Questions with Snap Directors Youssef Delara and Victor Teran
Quickly after premiering Filly Brown at Sundance in 2012, filmmakers Youssef Delara and Victor Teran moved into production on their newest feature, Snap. As close collaborators for many years on other films, Delara and Teran teamed up again to co-direct and produce Snap. Set in the explosive world of underground dubstep, the film explores the dangerous psyche of a young man as a social worker and her mentor try to uncover his secrets before his violent past erupts. Snap stars Jake Hoffman (Barney’s Version), Nikki Reed (Thirteen, Twilight), Scott Bakula (American Beauty, TV’s Quantum Leap), and Thomas Dekker (Kaboom), and makes its world premiere tomorrow at SXSW in …
by Alexandra Byer on Mar 10, 2013 -
Five Questions with Awful Nice Director Todd Sklar
After self-releasing his first feature film, Box Elder, around the country in 2008, director Todd Sklar has had a successful run of it with major U.S. film festivals. His short ’92 Skybox Alonzo Mourning Rookie Card premiered at Sundance in 2012, which he has made into the feature Awful Nice. Co-written by Sklar and Alex Rennie, Awful Nice follows the misadventures of two brothers who travel back home to Branson, Missouri, to put their recently deceased father’s estate in order. Starring Christopher Meloni, Alex Rennie, and James Pumphrey, Awful Nice premiers in the Narrative Feature Competition category tomorrow at SXSW. Filmmaker: Awful Nice is an expansion …
by Alexandra Byer on Mar 9, 2013 -
Five Questions with Medora Directors Andrew Cohn and Davy Rothbart
Andrew Cohn and Davy Rothbart have been friends since childhood, when they used to shoot hoops together in their hometown of Ann Arbor, Michigan. Since then, Rothbart has become a contributor to This American Life and an acclaimed writer of short fiction and personal essays, and also had his (Manti Te’o-esque) tale of a phone romance with someone who turned out to be a guy adapted into the 2009 film Easier with Practice. Rothbart and Cohn collaborated a few years ago on FOUND: People Find Stuff. Now It’s a Show, the off-Broadway show based on the magazine Rothbart started. Now they …
by Nick Dawson on Mar 9, 2013 -
Five Questions with Elena Director Petra Costa
In the astounding and lyrical Elena, Petra Costa charts the journey of her charismatic, troubled older sister from their youth in Brazil to their year abroad in New York, where Elena is consumed by her pursuit of an acting career. Juggling found footage, voiceovers, interviews, and visual metaphors with effortless aplomb, Elena maintains the utmost intimacy despite the far-reaching chronology and geography of its subject. Elena is a love letter to her lost soul of a sister, and Costa’s gaze is as honest in its examination as its reverence. In fitting fashion, Costa recorded her responses to Filmmaker’s questions, with …
by Sarah Salovaara on Mar 9, 2013 -
Five Questions with 12 O’Clock Boys Director Lotfy Nathan
Sometimes a story is too compelling not to tell, and that certainly was the case when first-time filmmaker Lotfy Nathan came across the 12 O’Clock Boys — a dirt bike street gang which terrorizes the police, who are forbidden to chase them — while a student in Baltimore. Immersing himself in the world of the riders, Nathan found a protagonist for his documentary in the precocious Pug, a 13-year-old self-professed “man” whose dearest dream is to become a member of the gang. Part coming-of-age movie, part gripping, real-life action film, Nathan’s debut — which went through the IFP Documentary Labs …
by Nick Dawson on Mar 9, 2013 -
Five Questions with Some Girl(s) Director Daisy von Scherler Mayer and Producer Patty West
In the battle of the sexes, there has been perhaps no more controversial warrior than the playwright, screenwriter and director Neil LaBute (In the Company of Men). Since the mid-90s, LaBute has made a name for himself by writing movies that are truly, madly, deeply cynical. Adapted by LaBute from his own stage play and directed by Party Girl helmer Daisy von Scherler Mayer, Some Girl(s) stars Adam Brody as a soon-to-be-married writer who takes a cross-country trip to revisit ghosts of girlfriends past. With an all-star cast and a no-holds-barred script, it’s sure to leave people arguing in the lobby …
by Mary Anderson Casavant on Mar 8, 2013