The Screening Room

A pair of strong docs at SXSW, Crawford and Tulia, Texas, present complex looks at small-town Texas life. Crawford, directed by Austin's David Modigliani, looks at what happened when a president looking for a frontier image moved into a town of 700 people. Tulia, made by Californians Cassandra Herrman and Kelly Whalen, tracks the infamous 1999 drug sting that saw a since-disgraced undercover officer put 39 black residents behind bars (all were released when the case's many holes, including an arresting officer with a criminal record, were exposed; you can read more in Nate Blakeslee's excellent book). Both films do an admirable job of avoiding yokel stereotypes and leaving room for their stories and characters to develop. You'll be hearing a lot more about both: they're slated to play the AFI Dallas International Film Festival later this month.

Josh Brolin strolled into the Dobie Saturday around 2 p.m., just as the lights were dimming for his short film, X. He looked like a man who didn't really want to be noticed and didn't want to take any attention away from the feature attraction, an excellent and socially illuminating documentary called Tulia, Texas But once both films were done, he shuffled up to the front of the theater and took some questions.

I just got back from a nice chat with the co-directors of Bi the Way, Brittany Blockman and Dallas' Josephine Decker. For their film, the pair took a roadtrip across the country exploring what they thought was a shift in how American viewed bisexuality.
"We set out in the middle of a cultural war. The country was really divided," Ms. Decker, a 1999 Higland Park High School graduate, says of their feelings when they set off to make their film in 2005. "I was expecting to hear people say, 'No way! Those people are going to hell!' and then other people to say, 'whatever.' But people were more centered. I was more surprised to how open America was."
Almost more amazing was that the women, who met on their first day of school at Princeton University, were able to spend several months in a car together and remain friends in the end. They'll be celebrating their film (and friendship) tonight at its premiere and later a party at The Enchanted Forest that they say will feature burlesque dancers, beatboxing and body painting. What's not to like? As for the premiere, Ms. Blockman says they are trying to get 100 people to makeout before the film. Unfortunately I'm going to miss that spectacle (I'll be watching Helen Hunt's directorial debut, Then She Found Me) but I'm going to the party tonight, so I'll be sure and investigate how they, um, madeout in that endeavor. Sorry.

A great number of films at SXSW will also be rolling through Dallas later this month for the AFI Dallas International Film Festival. Among them is Intimidad, a slight but bracingly intimate portrait of a determined Mexican family navigating the global economy and trying to make enough dough to raise their young daughter. The film was directed by David Redmon and Ashley Sabin. Redmon, a Dallas area native who made the docs Mardi Gras: Made in China and Kamp Katrina, has a sharp eye for stories that fold highly personal stories into larger economic issues.

AUSTIN - Last night I caught Super High Me, one of several films at SXSW about pot and the smoking thereof (others include Harold and Kumar Escape From Guantanamo Bay, Humboldt County). The premise of this doc is a direct rip-off of Morgan Spurlock's Super Size Me: Comedian Doug Benson, a regular toker, decided to abstain for 30 days, then do nothing but smoke for the following 30. He visits doctors and a shrink to determine how much his daily herb effects his daily functioning, and comes to the conclusion that he really, really likes smoking pot.
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