Tag Archives: South by Southwest Film Festival

Jun4

Asheville, NC

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On the road from Brevard, NC, Jon and I drove about 30 miles and stopped again for a visit. Our friend Janelle moved to Asheville about a year ago and has been busily remodeling a lovely home in a historic district.

The city is much bigger than Brevard and has some bigger city problems like a lot of intersecting highways with signage that works perfectly if you already know which lane you should occupy!

Janelle lives within walking distance of downtown, but since it was raining we drove up the hill several blocks and walked from there. Lots of beautiful churches along with new development–restaurants, bars, an art museum. It was a Tuesday when the historic one-screen theater has movies at half price! After a quick snack of white asparagus we bought tickets to see Monsieur Lazhar. I had seen it at the South by Southwest Film Festival in Austin and was glad to have a chance to see it again!

This old theater still uses reels of film. Near the end, snap!

We waited for a while until the technician admitted defeat. The film was damaged beyond simple splicing. Too much of it would have been lost. After folks got passes for a free flick (and we gave ours to Janelle) a bunch of us went back in so I could give them a summary of the ending and answer questions! It’s a good movie, so see it if you can.

We spent the night, had some homemade granola and fruit for breakfast, and went on our way a little further toward home. Thanks, Janelle, for your gracious hospitality!

Here are some pictures, mostly of the house, but a few from downtown Asheville. In the store window you can see that not all North Carolinians voted to ban same sex marriage. In her front yard she has special plant protectors that are filled with water to keep the temperature stable as plants are taking root and to keep pests out–they crawl up the side and fall into the bladders filled with water. I had never seen them before.

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Mar9

SX

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NO, it’s not shorthand  for SEX–but for “South By.”

SXSW reads South by Southwest; insiders often shorten the name to “South By.”  It’s a big series of overlapping festivals in Austin, TX: Education, Interactive, Film, and Music. For almost 2 weeks these events roll through and overlap. With so many schools and colleges out for Spring Break, people pour into town. There are lots of satellite events, too, and free music all over town. I’ve heard that the population of Austin doubles during this time, so locals avoid downtown and the roads that feed into it.

For several years Maggie, a close friend of mine, has attended the SXSW Film Festival. She is especially fond of documentaries and tries to see as many as possible. This year I decided to join the crowd as part of study leave (so much to learn from movies!) and vacation. As a first timer, I’ve pored over the schedule and movie descriptions and locations and come up with a tentative plan. As the days go by and people start talking about their favs, my list will undoubtedly change.

Today’s lineup: Best of Vimeo Shorts; Girl Walk//All Day; and Wikileaks: Secrets and Lies.

Descriptions from the web site:

Best of Vimeo Shorts: “It’s hard to construct a program from the world’s most impressive collection of short-form media. With millions of incredible videos to choose from, it’s not a question of finding good stuff, it’s how does one ignore so much brilliance? The curators at Vimeo have taken on the task, though, and their existential pain is your gain.

“Vimeo Loves showcases the diversity and stunning quality of the Vimeo community’s work. From timelapse experiments that depict the Earth in new ways, to tours of new worlds never before visited, get ready for some of the most captivating videos on Vimeo.”

“Girl Walk // All Day is a feature-length dance music video and tale of urban exploration that follow three dancers across New York City. They turn the city’s sidewalks, parks, and stadiums into an evolving stage as a story of rebellion, love, and discovery unfolds. Shot entirely in public spaces, and funded entirely by crowd-sourcing, Girl Walk // All Day is a statement about the power of community and public space. Set to the album All Day by mashup musician Girl Talk, it’s also an insanely fun love letter to New York.”

“Produced by Oxford Film and Television, Wikileaks: Secrets and Lies is Bafta winner Patrick Forbes’ seventy-six-minute documentary of the Wikileaks affair as told by the people involved: personal, moving and frequently hot tempered, it documents history in the making and establishes a new frontier for technology and journalism.

“A definitive factual account of the Wikileaks affair, the film features the first major television interview with Wikileaks founder Julian Assange.”

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