Austin’s South By Southwest (SXSW) Film, Music, and Interactive Media festival takes place from March 13 – 22, 2009.  Texas Public Radio, NPR, and KUT-Austin will all be providing coverage of the festival’s various disciplines.

See photos taken at SXSW      See more photos taken at SXSW

Mine

Director/Producer Geralyn Pezanoski, Jesse Pullins

Director/Producer Geralyn Pezanoski spent three years following the stories of families that lost pets in the wake of Hurricane Katrina.  After the storm hit, hundreds of pets were rescued and adopted by families across the country.  Some of them were reunited with their families and owners, others were not.  Pezanoski’s film, “Mine” won an audience award as Best Doucmentary at the 2009 South By Southwest film festival.  Jesse Pullins is one of the film’s subjects.  His family is still living in Houston while he works in New Orleans and searches for his dog, JJ.  Nathan Cone spoke to Pezanoski and Pullins in Austin.

Listen to an extended interview with Geralyn Pezanoski and Jesse Pullins:
16:59

 

Mine
SXSW Screening Times:
Saturday, March 21, 4:30 p.m. at the Austin Convention Center.

Related Links:
Mine on Facebook.
Visit the film’s Official Website.
Watch the film's trailer.

 

Mark Reeb, Nathan Harlan, John Bryant

The Overbrook Brothers

The comedy “The Overbrook Brothers” premiered to a full house this week at the South By Southwest Film Festival.  The movie is about two feuding brothers that discover they’re both adopted, and embark on a cross-country journey to find out the identity of their birth parents.  Along the way, there are break-ins, snake bites, and an impassioned manuscript about gay knights in the 1500s.  John Bryant is the Austin-based writer and director of “The Overbrook Brothers.”  The film stars Mark Reeb and Nathan Harlan.

Listen to an extended interview with John Bryant, Mark Reeb, and Nathan Harlan:
13:28

The Overbrook Brothers
SXSW Screening Times:
Saturday, March 21, 10:00 p.m. at The Paramount Theatre.

The Overbrook Brothers on Facebook.
Visit the film’s Official Website.

 

Short Films

Texas Public Radio’s Nathan Cone speaks this week to the talent behind two short films screening at the festival.

Rebecca Rodriguez is a 27-year-old writer for Nylon magazine, and a San Antonio native.  Her debut short film, “The Better Half,” is about a man that keeps a mysterious pair of mannequin legs in his bedroom.  Encounters with three women gradually reveal his fixation.  Rodriguez spoke to Nathan Cone from her current home in Brooklyn.

Listen to an extended interview with Rebecca Rodriguez:
8:21

The Better Half
SXSW Screening Times:
Sunday, March 15, 11:30 a.m. at the Alamo Drafthouse Lamar.
Tuesday, March 17, 2:00 p.m. at the Alamo Drafthouse Lamar.
Thursday, March 19, 7:30 p.m. at the Alamo Drafthouse Lamar.

Related Link:
The Better Half on Facebook

See the trailer:

The Better Half trailer from Bleak Umbrella on Vimeo

 

	Carol Parker, Brenden Cicoria, Edward Kelley

Despite being recognized with an award at San Antonio’s Josiah Youth Media Festival last year, Edward Kelley and Brenden Cicoria were still taken by surprise when their short animated film, “Fresh Fruit,” was chosen to screen at the SXSW Film festival.  Cicoria and Kelley are seniors at St. Mary’s Hall.  Their instructor is Carol Parker.  The three sat down in the studio with Nathan Cone to talk about “Fresh Fruit,” a film about an apple and a pear discussing topics ranging from the end of the world to the meaning of existence. However, their secret lives are destroyed when interrupted by a hungry human.

Listen to an extended interview with the filmmakers:
5:50

Fresh Fruit
SXSW Screening Times:
Sunday, March 15, 6:00 p.m. at Austin’s Carver Center.
Saturday, March 21, 11:30 a.m. at the Alamo Drafthouse Lamar.

See the film now:

Fresh Fruit from Ed Kelley on Vimeo