With each year more and more people flock from all over the world to Austin, Texas for the largest film, music and tech conference in North America, South by Southwest. This being my first year attending my expectations were set high. Originally starting with only 700 attendees in 1987, SXSW (the common acronym for South By Southwest) now boosts nearly 175,000 attendees just 32 years later. Often perceived as an event of tacos and tequila, each year SXSW sees a gradual shift towards something different, gaining the identity of the native weird Austinites, the indie filmmakers, the startup engineers and developers, and the musicians from all over the world. With my SXSW pass in hand I was ready, or so I thought, for all the experiences this city had to offer!
With a push away from its pioneering track in music towards film and interactive, these visions are slowly growing larger, debuting the next and most innovative ideas in storytelling, directing and visual design. This year’s “South by” was introduced with the debut of Jordan Peele’s newest horror film, Us. After his successful directorial debut of Get Out, which won an Academy Award for Best Original Screenplay, many people are excited to see what Peele has in store next. Us is set to release in theaters on March 22nd, with a 100% already on Rotten Tomatoes from its world wide premiere at SXSW. Let’s just say, THE BUZZ IS OUT!
Interactive is the new nest of indie developers and content creators, who simply want to share their creative vision with as many people as possible. One virtual cinema debut that I was able to experience, Forest, which was listed under Virtual Cinema and created by Kelsey Boncato and Daniel Oldham, brought the viewer, on a visual and musical journey through a world that defied the laws of time and space, separating the ego from oneself in order to experience a world very unlike our own. Using the HTC Vive, the user is set in a boundless world of white, traveling towards black and white trees, ferns and mushrooms of magnificent scale and lively animation. You begin to understand the world and in that moment everything changes, bringing me to the realization that when we think we have everything figured out, the rules will change. This experience separated the superego and ego and humbles the user to understand their place in a microcosm of the real world. Projects like these allowed viewers to hold a piece of the art, to be included with it and with the viewer in mind rather than the traditional outside looking in. SXSW has become a powerhouse for new and innovative ideas like these for markets such as film, gaming, entertainment and music. Every year the purpose and idea of SXSW changes but it remains to be one of the greatest think tank events of the world. I wasn’t sure what to expect from SXSW but it by far blew up every expectation and has rejuvenated my own personal and professional attitude towards creativity and technology and the symbiotic relationship between the two.
Here is a list of films I saw at SXSW:
Personal Rating = * (star)
Personal Favorite = Bold
- Yes, God, Yes ****
- Pet Sematary ***½
- Apollo 11 *****
- Villains ****½
- Teen Spirit ***½
- Come As You Are *****
- Sword of Trust ***½
- The Art of Self Defense ****½
- Porno ***½
- Frances Ferguson ****
Animated Shorts Program:
- The Coin
- Facing It
- Guaxuma
- Las Del Diente
- Je Sors Acheter Des Cigarettes
- Obon
- Slug Life
- Wild Love
- Reneepoptosis
- Skybaby
Title Design Program:
- Aquaman
- Babylon Berlin
- Black Panther
- Bonanza Festival 2018
- Bucketheads
- Castle Rock
- Curtiz
- The Darkest Minds
- Deadpool 2
- Game Night
- A Handful of Dust
- La Casa de las Flores
- Lost In Space
- Motherland
- Mowgli
- Novoland Eagle Flag
- OFFF CDMX
- Personality
- Phenoms
- Sacred Games
- Semi Permanent 2018
- Smoke
- Spider-Man Homecoming
- Spider-Man: Into The Spider-Verse
- Take Your Pills
- TEDx Sydney 2018: Humankind
- Touch of Class
- Unspeakable
- Veneno: The First Fall
- Villains
