SXSWorld
Issue link: https://sxsw.uberflip.com/i/81859
Colorful Characters Highlight Narrative Feature Competition Films by Jette Kernion populating this year's SXSW Narrative Feature Competition fi lms. Audiences found the eight movies absurd, touching, intense and occa- sionally just plain strange. Writer-director Robbie Pickering's fi rst feature, Natural Selection, won SXSW Jury Awards for Narrative Feature, Breakthrough Performances (Rachael Harris, Matt O'Leary), Editing, Screenplay and Score, plus an Audience Award for Best Narrative Feature. In the fi lm, after her hus- band suff ers a stroke (in eyebrow-raising circumstances), Linda agrees to fi nd his illegitimate son in Florida and drive him to their suburban Texas home. Th e combination of squeaky-clean suburban housewife Linda and disreputable Raymond forms the basis of this often absurdly funny road-trip movie. Jon Gries, also seen in Lone Star States fi lm Five Time Champion, is memorable as Linda's long-suff ering brother-in-law. A n Irish sociopath, a devout Christian housewife, Atlanta teens in trouble, recuperating soldiers, frustrated parents and parents-to- be were all among the many colorful and fascinating characters bution rights shortly before SXSW, and Fly Away is now available on video-on-demand and DVD. Th e teenagers in 96 Minutes face a diffi cult predicament: two young men have just carjacked two young women, shooting one, and no one knows what to do next. Aimee Lagos' feature directorial debut jumps between a tense situation and the teens' lives earlier that day: the privileged pre-law student, the woman who dumped a cheating boyfriend, the high- school senior confl icted about the gang members in his family and the abused teen who would do anything to join his cousin's gang, including car theft. Evan Ross won a SXSW Breakthrough Acting Performance jury prize for his role as the reluctant accessory to his cousin's crimes. Th e crimes in Charlie Casanova are determined by chance, through a deck of cards the narrator uses in lieu of spiritual or moral guidance. Charlie is an egotistical hedonist with a grudge against the world, slick Irish yuppie by day, dangerous psychotic by night. Writer-director Terry McMahon admits his movie is not easy to watch, and the humor is so dark it ventures into disturbing. McMahon found most of his cast, crew and other resources on Facebook, resulting in the fi rst Irish fi lm in the SXSW Narrative Feature Competition. American Animal shows us an equally Fly Away Director Janet Grillo (center) with cinematog- raphers Sandra Valde-Hansen and Danny Daneau. 96 Minutes (from left) Christian Serratos, Evan Ross, Brittany Snow, Aimee Lagos and David Oyelowo. original character, this time confi ned to a Los Angeles apartment. Jimmy may be terminally ill, but he believes that he is the most evolved human in the world, devel- oping his own vocabulary and refusing to deal with outside infl uences other than movies. He can't believe that his roommate James (Brendan Fletcher) intends to leave their perfect environment and take a job. Matt D'Elia not only wrote and directed American Animal but also stars as Jimmy and shot the movie in his own apartment. Josh Lucas's unnamed main character in Feature Narrative Competition Charlie Casanova Director Terry McMahon. Happy New Year (from left) K. Lorrel Manning, Michael Cuomo, Tina Sloan, David Ross and Jose Yenque. low-key but no less momentous to her. She's pregnant for the fi rst time and wants advice from her mother, who's "off the grid" in Arizona. Sarah prefers the company of technological devices over human beings—she's more excited about how her home pregnancy test is designed than by its results. But as Sarah journeys to fi nd her mother, her beloved gad- getry simply can't follow. Filmmakers Annie Howell and Lisa Robinson are behind this light-hearted drama about smart women who behave believably, if not predictably. Fly Away also shows a mother-daughter relationship in unusual cir- cumstances—teenage daughter Mandy (Ashley Rickards) is severely autistic, and her mother Jeanne (Beth Broderick) is increasingly unable to manage her near-adult charge. Written and directed by Janet Grillo, Fly Away deals with the challenges of autism in a straightforward yet poignant way, with a touch of humor. New Video bought the distri- Th e road trip Sarah Sparks takes in Small, Beautifully Moving Parts is 46 SXSW ORLD / M AY – J UNE 201 1 his life during a dismal autumn and harsh winter. James Cromwell pops in for a few scenes as an ancient mariner who plays bagpipes on the pier. Director Chris Eyre gives the cast the space they need without a spare line of dialogue. Elliot Davis's beautifully bleak shots of a Michigan bay won a SXSW Jury Award for Best Cinematography. Sergeant Cole Lewis (Michael Cuomo) is another man trying to A Year in Mooring is also secluded, devoted to restoring a wreck of a sailboat ominously called the Hesperus. He has fl ashbacks to a tragic past as he tries to rebuild the boat and rebuild his life, having suff ered physical injuries during his last duty tour of the Middle East. In Happy New Year, Lewis ends up unexpect- edly sent to the V.A. hospital's psychiatric ward, where he encounters veterans from more than one war. Happy New Year is about Lewis' trans- formation, but the story itself also was transformed by writer-director K. Lorrel Manning from his off -Broadway play. If you missed any of these features at SXSW, visit sxsw.com/fi lm for news about distribution deals that could bring these movies to a theater or video outlet near you. ■ DUSTIN FINKELSTEIN STEPHIEN PUN KARL CAPELLI JAY CONLON