SxSW 2013 - Day 2

Conversations with Danny Boyle

The first session of the day was the interview of Danny Boyle. Danny was very open, and spent the entire time discussing his late start in life directing (he was in his 40's), his previous movies, and plans for the future.

He also discussed and shows some clips from his latest picture, Trance. However, he was unable to show Trance at SxSW because the European Distributor had exclusive rights to its global premier.

As a teaser, here's the trailer for Trance.

Value 4 Value: Just Getting by in New Media

At the completion of the Boyle session, I hoped on the shuttle to the Long Center, to go see my buddy, Adam Curry. As a arrived, I ran into several fellow No Agenda Show listeners, and Adam's wife, Ms. Micky.

Adam discussed his career, and leading into how came upon the Value for Value model, now employed by the No Agenda Show. It was well executed talk, it's too bad that SxSW chose to have it at the Long Center, and Adam didn't have more time to promote it.

Documentary Shorts 1

Since I was already in the neighborhood, I decided to stay for the first half of the Documentary Shorts. Of the four, I liked the Village, the best. Unfortunately, I had to cut out early, in order to make the Nixon film, back at the Ritz.

After

This film captures a complete day (dusk to dawn) at Auschwitz, in current times, as it is visited by tourists.

The Village

A short film about a Leper Colony in Southern Brazil established in the 1940's, that is slowly vanishing, since all of the residents are now in their 80's and 90's.

Endless Day

A short narrative about a typical night in the life of a chronic insomniac.

In Hanford

An exploration of the environmental disaster that occurred in Hanford, Washington, as the result of Nuclear Arms Manufacturing.

Our Nixon

During Richard Nixon's administration, 3 of his staff members, H. R. Haldeman, Richard Ehrlichman and Dwight Chapin obsessively filmed their daily experiences with Super 8 cameras. The films were seized by the FBI, as part of the Watergate Investigation, and were subsequently placed in the National Archives, where they sat.

This documentary team went through those archives after 40 years, edited them, and produced an amazing documentary.

Our Nixon Trailer

Hey Bartender

This was an interesting documentary on the resurgence of the cocktail, in the wake of the gourmet approach, pioneered by people like Dale DeGoff (who appears in the film). I was surprised at how good this documentary was. It was interesting and entertaining.

Before Midnight

The last film of the day was the premier of Richard Linklater's latest, Before Midnight. It the the third in series of movies, preceded by, Before Sunrise, and Before Sunset. The movies involve encounters between the same two characters (who are played by the same two actors, Ethan Hawke and Julie Delpy), but are spaced 9-10 years apart in chronology.

One thing struck me as somewhat funny. Earlier in the day, Danny Boyle, had said that when he went back and looked at his films, he like most other directors, had essentially remade the same film over and over again. I had to laugh, because Before Midnight includes long sequences of the two main characters on a leisurely stroll around a Mediterranean Island, discussing their philosophy of life. Watching it, you can't help but think of Slacker.

I had originally gone, because my friend, Graham Reynolds, had done Richard's music, once again. The music however, plays a very subtle, background role. The exact opposite of something like Richard's film, Bernie.

Even though I had not seen the previous two films, Richard's style of storytelling eases you into the story, slowly. I have made a promise to myself, to watch the other two films now.