SXSWorld
Issue link: https://sxsw.uberflip.com/i/81862
Flight of the Conchords (from the New Zealand region) at the Red Eyed Fly, SXSW 2006. " I still think of SXSW as a place for local and regional acts," says Swenson. "Over the years, we've just added more and more regions." build a career, and international outreach is key to that." Th at has been a two-way street, with foreign companies and trade associations looking to do more and more each year. "It's one-stop shopping for American contacts," says longtime SXSW international consigliere Ed Ward. "No other event can off er that. With America having a strong technological leadership position, they can check out the state of the art while off ering their own products. What's been par- ticularly strong over the years is the presence of the international export agencies, government and quasi-governmental bodies who consider culture to be an exportable product. Th ey're a strong presence in the trade shows and on panels. Th at's why Popkomm and MIDEM are important events for SXSW: the crew goes there to recruit customers." "Doom-and-gloom" was 2002's buzzword—until everybody actu- ally went to see some bands. At the record industry "buzz" level, it was the year of Norah Jones. But it's possible the reduced business action made the showcases more fun. "Despite all the doom-and-gloom talk," SXSW veteran David Menconi of the Raleigh News-Observer wrote, "I heard more jawdropping, unexpected, drop-dead amazing music here this year than any other in recent memory." On the fi lm side of 2002, there was a world premiere that Fort Worth Star-Telegram and Texas Monthly critic Christopher Kelly had to see alone. "I couldn't seem to persuade any of my friends to attend Spellbound with me," he says. "You want to see a documentary about a spelling bee?," Kelly would ask. "If it was any good, it would have been at Sundance," people replied. "I carried forth solo, and within minutes was enraptured by this tory," says Matt Dentler, then a coordinator under Lee, who replaced Nancy Schafer in 2000. "We thought Spellbound was a good fi lm, but we had no idea it would be that big. Th e screenings of the fi lm drew larger crowds with each passing day. I remember getting a call that John Sayles, who was attending that year, wanted to reserve seats, because word-of-mouth was so great. When it won the jury prize, I remember thinking 'Th is fi lm is a sensation.' Little did we know, it would become an even bigger one." Spellbound would go on to receive an Oscar nomination for Best Documentary feature, and is listed on IMDB's Box Offi ce Mojo site as the 21st highest-grossing documen- tary of all-time. In 2004, Dentler succeeded Lee. Th e roots of his main legacy were planted in 2005, when Andrew Bujalski's Mutual Appreciation, Jay and Mark Duplass's Th e Puff y Chair and Joe Swanberg's Kissing on the Mouth all screened. Th ese naturalistic, sometimes improvised small dramas brought to mind the likes of John Cassavetes and Richard Linklater— the umbrella term "Slackavetes" was even proposed by journalist and fi lm director Jamie Stuart. alternately heartbreaking and harrowing movie about a group of kids competing at the Scripps Howard National Spelling Bee," Kelly con- tinues. "As the closing credits rolled, the audience—most of us in tears—erupted in the most enthusiastic round of applause I've ever heard before or since at the festival. All at once, the fi lm portion of SXSW no longer seemed a poor cousin to Sundance, but a vibrant, scrappy entity entirely its own." "I think it was the fi rst—but not the last—sleeper hit in SXSW his- SXSW ORLD / M ARCH M USIC 201 1 11 DUSTIN DOWNING