South by Southwest Film 2005: A Field Journal

One film at the festival boasting more established talents is The Ballad of Jack and Rose. Written and directed by Rebecca Miller (Personal Velocity), the film also stars her husband, Daniel Day-Lewis. He plays Jack, an ex-hippie and the lone survivor of a commune he helped establish on a remote island off the eastern coast of America. Jack lives alone with his daughter Rose (Camilla Belle), and the two of them enjoy an isolated, but idyllic partnership far from the mainland. Their way of life is threatened, however, by the encroachment of housing developers and the deterioration of Jack’s heart ailment. To stop the developers, Jack undertakes a one-man, guerilla war against the builders, threatening builders with his shotgun and demolishing one house with a bulldozer. To address his illness, he brings over Kathleen (Catherine Keener) from the mainland with her two sons in order to help maintain the household and look after Rose, who meanwhile is growing fitfully into young adulthood. The story revolves around this awkward familial pairing, but more specifically contemplates the destruction of Jack and Rose’s previously happy co-existence. Jack’s efforts to stop the builders become increasingly futile, and he must come to grips with the inexorable advance of progress. For her part, Rose must confront the impending death of her father and the uncertainty of entering a world from which she has been heretofore sheltered. The Ballad of Jack and Rose artfully balances the characters’ respective states of grief in the face of change, as they turn at last to each other for reassurance. This bond between father and daughter goes beyond familial affection, however, as the film shows their jealousies and intimacies as an expression of a barely contained (and in one scene, briefly indulged) Electra complex. The scene doesn’t play for shock value, however, but rather underscores the intensity generated by Jack and Rose’s shared resistance to the world around them. Through their flawed idealism, they’re a pair of tragic holdouts, coming lately and painfully to the reality of a world they had once kept at bay.

The Comedians of Comedy

The Comedians of Comedy is the result of an entirely differently kind of idealism. The film documents a tour organized by comedian Patton Oswalt, who takes to the road with his friends, Brian Posehn, Zach Galifianakis, and Maria Bamford. The group tours indie rock venues, however, rather than conventional comedy clubs. As Oswalt explains, the idea behind the switch is to develop a different sense of comedy among audiences. His idea is to foster a following for himself and his fellow comedians more akin to the fan following of rock bands, who might be more willing to appreciate experiment and development, rather than demand a consistent punchline or catch phrase. Oswalt and company are quick to indict the “safe” comedy of those artists who play for easy laughs in order to secure sitcom and movie deals. Beyond this aesthetic stance, though, the film’s narrative is content simply to record the shenanigans of the comedians as they move from town to town. Visiting comic book shops in their spare time, the comedians spend their time on stage offering up jokes about skinhead abortions, dead puppies, and voting for undeserved anal rape over George Bush. Clearly, there’s very little about the comedy showcased that’s intended for prime time audiences, which makes for material that’s both refreshing and, for most of the indie-minded audience, pretty funny. The Comedians of Comedy is a godsend, finally, for anyone who waxes suicidal at the mention of Jeff Foxworthy’s “you might be a redneck” routine. Its jokes are for outsiders, by outsiders — an indie ethos that, for South by Southwest’s audiences, was only too well received.

FESTIVAL AWARDS:

NARRATIVE COMPETITION FEATURE

JURY AWARD FOR BEST NARRATIVE FEATURE
Hooligans, directed by Lexi Alexander, produced by Gigi Pritzker, Deborah Del Prete, Donald Zukerman

SPECIAL JURY AWARD
Cavite, directed by Ian Gamazon & Neill Dela Llana, produced by Ian Gamazon, Neill Dela Llana, and Quynn Ton

DOCUMENTARY FEATURE

JURY AWARD FOR BEST DOCUMENTARY FEATURE
Cowboy del Amor, directed by Michele Ohayon, produced by Michele Ohayon

SPECIAL JURY AWARD
THE BOYS OF BARAKA, directed by Heidi Ewing and Rachel Grady, produced by Heidi Ewing, Rachel Grady

ANIMATED SHORT

JURY AWARD FOR BEST ANIMATED SHORT
ORPHEUS & THE UNDERWORLD, directed by Nathan Jurevicius, produced by Rosie Allimonos, ABC

SPECIAL JURY AWARD
ELEGY, directed and produced by Nadine Takvorian.

REEL SHORTS

JURY AWARD FOR BEST REEL SHORTS
The Raftman’s Razor, directed by Keith Bearden, produced by Brad Buckwalter

SPECIAL JURY AWARD
ALL WHITE PEOPLE ARE FRENCH, directed and produced by Katja Straub

TEXAS SHORT

JURY AWARD FOR BEST TEXAS SHORTS
Termination, directed and produced by Paul Alvarado-Dykstra

SPECIAL JURY AWARD
Once and Future Asshole, directed by Spencer Parsons, produced by Jason Cortlund, Kyle Henry

MUSIC VIDEO

JURY AWARD FOR BEST MUSIC VIDEO
Badly Drawn Boy, The Year of the Rat, directed by Monkmus, produced by Douangta Inthavixay, executive producer: Sandy Hunter, Jamie Watson

SPECIAL JURY AWARD
Slipknot Vermillion, directed by Tony Petrossian, produced by Ben Oswald

HIGH SCHOOL COMPETITION

COMIC, David McGinnis

AUDIENCE AWARDS

LONE STAR STATES
The Education of Shelby Knox, directed by Marion Lipschutz, Rose Rosenblatt, Produced by Marion Lipschutz, Rose Rosenblatt; executive producer: Sally Jo Feiffer, Cara Mertes

EMERGING VISIONS
THE PUFFY CHAIR, directed by Jay Duplass , produced by Mark Duplass, executive producer: Larry Duplass, Cindy Duplass, co-producer: Kathryn Aselton, Jen Tracy

DOCUMENTARY FEATURE
COWBOY DEL AMOR, directed by Michele Ohayon, produced by Michele Ohayon

NARRATIVE FEATURE
HOOLIGANS, directed by Lexi Alexander, produced by Gigi Pritzker, Deborah Del Prete, Donald Zukerman