When the end credits rolled for 51 Birch Street and I saw a thank-you to documentary filmmaker Ross McElwee, I thought, "Aha! I was right!" It is one thing to guess about potential influences while watching a film, but much more gratifying to receive concrete proof validating your suspicions. Doug Block's latest film is more of a personal journey than a traditional documentary, and his debt to McElwee is evident.

51 Birch Street is about Block's own family, and is narrated by Block. The film opens with footage of his parents that he shot shortly before his mother died, in which his mother talks about her life and her marriage quite contentedly. Block shot this footage for his personal use, with no idea of how he might use it later.

Three months after Block's mother died, his father travelled to Florida to see Kitty, who had been his secretary decades earlier. They fell in love and were married not long afterwards. Block's father then decided to sell the family home (the 51 Birch Street of the title) and move to Florida.

Werner Herzog, everyone's favorite mad genius, is not what you would call a conventional filmmaker. Among other things, his path to direction involved welding, a harrowing childhood cohabitation with Klaus Kinski, and a walk from Munich to Paris, so it's not exactly shocking that he believes "film students could learn more about cinema by walking 5,000 kilometers alone than by sitting in a classroom." What's perhaps a bit more surprising, however, is that someone is actually giving it a shot.

Lee Kazimir, a 24-year-old filmmaker from Chicago, is currently about a week into his planned trek from Madrid to Kiev, a solitary voyage that he (of course) is documenting with a small HD camera. Though the trip has been partially funded by donations to his website, Kazimir plans to travel on the cheap, sleeping mostly in a tent (which he's also carrying) or on the couches of friendly folks he meets while on the road.

While More Shoes, the film Kazimir hopes will come out of the trip, could potentially be great, doing something weird doesn't guarantee him either good footage or the talent to make people care. At best, the film could be like something by Ross McElwee: both self-aware and self-effacing, and smart without being cloying. At worst, however, it'll be a precious vanity project that no one not related to Kazimir can sit through. (And, based on the film's trailer, I have to say I'm sort of worried.)

February is such a blah month for movies. New releases are often films that people see only because nothing else good is around (Pink Panther, I am looking at you). In Austin, the SXSW film lineup just went public and it seems like forever until the fun starts in March. Still, local theaters have managed to put together some enjoyable screenings this week, including Valentine's Day (or anti-valentine) special events. In addition, both Ross McElwee and Peter Bogdanovich will be in town to show their movies and participate in Q&As, and that's not blah at all.

• This week's AFS@Dobie films, in which Austin Film Society collaborates on Dobie Theatre programming, are the feature Before the Fall, held over from last week, and the documentary Protocols of Zion. The films will play all week long at the Dobie.
• Free coffeehouse movies: Austin Java on Barton Springs is showing Fahrenheit 9/11 tonight (Friday) at 8 pm. Cafe Mundi is showing Existenz, the 1999 David Cronenberg film, on Monday 2/13 at 8 pm.
• Alamo Downtown has started a new series, Soul Cinema, on Monday nights at 7 pm. The Monday 2/13 film is tick ... tick... tick ..., a 1970 drama about a black sheriff in a rural Southern town. The cast list alone is fascinating: ex-football player Jim Brown, George Kennedy, Dub Taylor, Bernie Casey, and of all people, Fredric March. It's not available on DVD, and admission is just $1.