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Posts with tag crawford

SXSW Review: Crawford

Filed under: Documentary », SXSW », Theatrical Reviews », Cinematical Indie »


I've seen a lot of documentaries in the past few years about the decline of small towns and rural areas, how the population has dwindled and local businesses have closed shop and so forth. So it was strange to watch the opening sequences in the documentary Crawford, where the small Texas town starts to flourish when George W. Bush (then-governor, now President) buys a ranch in the area.

Crawford examines the effects on the town and its residents from the day Bush bought the Prairie Chapel Ranch in 1999 through 2007. At first, everyone in the town couldn't have been happier, especially once Bush became U.S. President. Businesses thrived as tourists and media flocked to the town, the local school band traveled to Washington, DC to perform at the inauguration, and the minister of the Baptist church felt confident that any day now, the First Family might join his congregation. However, a lot of things can change in half a decade, and Cindy Sheehan's 2005 protest in Crawford triggers even more radical effects.

SXSW Watch: 'The Matador' and 'Crawford' Trailers

Filed under: Documentary », SXSW », Fandom », DIY/Filmmaking », Trailers and Clips »



As we count down to this year's South by Southwest Film Festival, Cinematical will be previewing a bunch of the films due to premiere in Austin in early March. To remain updated on all things SXSW, make sure you check this page often, as all of our coverage will be housed there. Today, we have two more trailers to show you for two more documentaries premiering at the festival. Why so many docs, Erik? Well, SXSW is known for their docs. It's like going to a restaurant where all the food is good, but they're known for, say, their BBQ ribs. Well, SXSW is a wonderful fest that's known for their docs.

Above you'll find the trailer for The Matador; a documentary that follows David Fandila's journey throughout Spain and Latin America in a quest to become the world's top-ranked bullfighter. The Matador was shot in high-definition over the course of three years and, as the synopsis points out, "The Matador is a story of love of a son for his father, of audiences for their heroes, of a people for a passionate and violent ritual and of the bullfighter's paradoxical love for the beast that he must kill to create his art." This one looks beauiful, and a definite must-see.

After the jump, we check out a doc called Crawford, which revolves around the people of Crawford, Texas and what happened to their small, quiet town once a man named George W. Bush decided to move in.

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