SXSW: The Photoblog

I didn't manage to snap any celebrity photos at SXSW this year, unfortunately. I saw Richard Linklater at the Hell on Wheels screening but he was surrounded by a small crowd. And I didn't go to many parties, because I am a delicate flower who needs at least a little rest during festivals. Despite this, I did capture some interesting images during SXSW.

The photo above is one of my favorite SXSW venues, Alamo Drafthouse on South Lamar, all decked out for opening night. That sign on top of the marquee is actually a slide being projected to a big white screen; I think the original intent was to show movies in that parking lot, but that hasn't yet happened. There were a few times during the festival where I had to fight the urge to duck into another theater at Alamo and veg out to part of Children of Men, Black Snake Moan or Pan's Labyrinth, but I resisted and saw lots of new features and documentaries instead.

I noticed fewer people than last year in costume outside the Austin Convention Center (where the SXSW conference is held) promoting festival movies. However, two of the guys profiled in Confessions of a Superhero were out there, and everyone seemed to want to get a picture.



Alamo Downtown was also a popular SXSW venue. This is the line for Flakes, which Scott Weinberg and I watched together and then flipped a coin to see who would review. The director, Michael Lehmann (Heathers), sat right behind me in the theater, but I couldn't bring myself to twist around in my seat and blind him with a flash.



Here's a shot of nearly the entire cast and crew from Hannah Takes the Stairs, at the Q&A following the film's world premiere at the Paramount. You don't usually see this many people onstage for a Q&A. Don't ask me to list all their names in order because I know I will get it wrong; director Joe Swanberg is the third on the right, between Mark Duplass and Greta Gerwig. Gerwig confessed she was wearing the same belt she had on during part of Hannah Takes the Stairs.



I can't resist including this photo from the horror panel on Sunday, because Scott Weinberg has a demonic look in his eye. He's on the left in the Longhorns baseball cap, next to Scott Glosserman (director of Behind the Mask: The Rise of Leslie Vernon) and producer Laura Moews (Cabin Fever).



Twisted: A Balloonamentary definitely was the swag hit of this year's festival, with lots of little balloons on cards and even kits you could use to make balloon sculptures. Someone in the SXSW press room had a lot of time on their hands, and used the balloons to make sure we knew where we were:



Studio SX is a feature of the conference that takes place on the trade show floor. Inside a small glass room, filmmakers and other notable persons are interviewed live, and video is shot to post to the SXSW website later (the 2007 footage isn't available yet). This year, I was asked to interview some chick named Karina Longworth -- seriously, I don't think the Studio SX organizers realized that Karina used to be my editor when they matched us up. I'm not sure what I asked Karina that caused her to give me the perplexed look shown above. And yes, those are feathers in the tables in front of us, which reminded me of The Texas Chainsaw Massacre, which I'm sure was not the intent.



I hesitated to post the following photo because it is unflattering to me. However, this is one of the few times that all three of the Cinematical film writers at SXSW were in the same place at the same time: James Rocchi, myself, and Scott Weinberg in the front of Alamo on South Lamar. (Thanks to Will Goss of eFilmCritic for taking the photo for me.) Can you tell that this was taken on the last day of the festival? If you've got some fabulous photos from SXSW this year posted to the web, please feel free to share your link in the comments. I want to see what I missed.