When you are making a film with no budget, decisions like the location of your main characters becomes as scientific as, “Where can I go for cheap?” Asexuality: The Making of a Movement, one of our films in production, has two characters based in Austin. 

Some people ask me why that is and the only truthful answer is that I have been flown there many times over the past two years for conferences (NAMAC and Netroots Nation) and for one of my favorite festivals, SXSW, and since we wanted some characters outside of New York, Austin seemed as good a place as any to find subjects. 

A better answer might be that Austin is an extremely progressive city where people who identify as asexual would be embraced a bit more and judged a bit less.  That’s true too but the first point is a useful one.  This year’s SXSW marks two years of production on this film and Beth, Jolene and I did it up in style with a shoot, some music and some flicks.

We had a great shoot checking in on two of our characters, an asexual woman who recently married a non asexual guy.  They are blissfully happy and the guy is 100% fine with his wife’s asexuality.  (Some of you may be having a hard time with this concept.  I would talk you through it but you’ll just have to wait to see the film.  Become a fan on Facebook.)

While in Austin, we were also able to partake in SXSW fun.  We saw some great bands.  My faves were King Khan and The Shrines, Shilpa Ray and Her Happy Hookers, The Botticellis and Dizzy Balloon.  But my greatest musical moment had to be the Kanye West show with Common, Erykah Badu and several new artists on Kanye’s label.  Though Kanye’s ego can drive you nuts—on more than one occasion, he reminded us that he “saved hip-hop” – he puts on an amazing show.

But back to media.  We saw some great social issue docs that are all completely different and well worth mentions.

Sweethearts of the Prison Rodeo: This film is about Oklahoma State Prison - the only remaining U.S. prison rodeo that is actually located on penitentiary grounds.  I’m a fan of the competition film and this is an interesting take on that genre.

RIP: A Remix Manifesto: Jolene is a huge fan of Girl Talk, a mash-up musician who makes catchy hits from sampled songs. This movie made fans of all of us and we cannot wait to go to a concert.  The film is a portrait of Girl Talk but more than that; it is a manifesto on copyright in the U.S. I wanted more Girl Talk but I guess the other stuff is important too.  The filmmakers have created a remix site where viewers can remix the film any way they like so theoretically, I could just make the film I want. I probably won’t be doing that but to all who do, I salute you.

MINE: During our stint as mentors of IFP’s Documentary Rough Cut Lab, MINE was a participating film.  Beth and Jolene had watched a previous rough cut but I had only seen a few scenes. MINE is about animals dislocated after Hurricane Katrina, a sort of Kramer vs. Kramer with pets.  I will be honest and admit that I am not an animal person and initially was skeptical whether I would get into the film.  But it is incredibly moving.  I cried two times. And it almost made me want a dog. Almost.

This concludes my SXSW/Austin wrap up. This was a great year. There were so many films I missed and desperately wanted to see: Brock Enright: Good Times Will Never Be The Same, The Way We Get By and Sorry, Thanks to name a few. But we crammed a good bit in.