Filmmaker In Focus: Anchor and Hope, The Breaker Upperers, Half the Picture, If I Leave Here Tomorrow: A Film About Lynyrd Skynyrd, and Meow Wolf: Origin Story
The 2018 SXSW Film Festival is rapidly approaching and we can't wait to have you here! Before you make your way down to Austin, TX get to know films from our lineup a little bit better with selections from Visions, Festival Favorites, Narrative Spotlight, and 24 Beats Per Second. Dive into our Q&A with directors of Anchor and Hope, The Breaker Upperers, Half the Picture, If I Leave Here Tomorrow: A Film About Lynyrd Skynyrd, and Meow Wolf: Origin Story below to get a behind-the-scenes look at each film and add to your personalized schedule.
Anchor and Hope
Director/Screenwriter: Carlos Marques-Marcet
When the best friend of a bohemian lesbian couple agrees to be their surrogate, the three friends set out on an unconventional journey to start a family. Cast: Natalia Tena, Oona Chaplin, David Verdaguer, Geraldine Chaplin.
Q: What motivated you to tell this story?
CMM: To think about why it is so hard today to bring together our personal needs with the difficulties to engage in a life project with more people.
Q: What do you want the audience to take away from this film?
CMM: To get rid of demons through laughs and to make them think through emotions.
Q: What other film/filmmaker are you excited to see at SXSW this year?
CMM: Support the girls, Relaxer, Wobble Palace, and The rider.
The Breaker Upperers
Directors/Screenwriters: Jackie van Beek, Madeleine Sami
Two women run a business breaking up couples for cash but when one develops a conscience their friendship unravels. Cast: Jackie van Beek, Madeleine Sami, Celia Pacquola, James Rolleston, Ana Scotney.
Q: What motivated you to tell this story?
JVB/MS: Excited to explore the idea - What if we could outsource the responsibility of ending relationships to somebody else?!
Q: What do you want the audience to take away from this film?
JVB/MS: 1. Don't pick on weirdos and 2. you can achieve anything you put your mind to.
Q: What other film/filmmaker are you excited to see at SXSW this year?
JVB/MS: The New Romantic.
Half the Picture
Director/Screenwriter: Amy Adrion
Half the Picture is a feature length documentary about the dismal number of women directors working in Hollywood, featuring top female directors sharing their experiences in the industry.
Q: What motivated you to tell this story?
AA: The numbers of working women directors have been abysmal for decades. With Half the Picture, I wanted to celebrate the work and fortitude of successful women directors and also ask the question, is there hope for women in this business?
Q: What do you want the audience to take away from this film?
AA: I want audiences to leave the theater with a fuller appreciation of the work of women directors. For those who are storytellers (really, all of us), I want them to come away from the film with a deeper resolve and fire in their soul to tell their own authentic stories.
Q: What other film/filmmaker are you excited to see at SXSW this year?
AA: Nijla Mu’Min’s Jinn, Suzi Yoonessi’s Unlovable, Lynn Shelton’s Outside In, Alexandria Bombach’s On Her Shoulders which won a directing award at Sundance, Lauren Greenfield’s Generation Wealth, Chloe Zhao’s The Rider which my friend Alex O'Flinn edited and I’ve been dying to see for months. I'm looking forward to Lena Dunham’s talk - she's brilliant and hilarious. My kids are Cartoon Network junkies and are excited about the sneak peak of Teen Titans Go! To the Movies.
If I Leave Here Tomorrow: A Film About Lynyrd Skynyrd
Director: Stephen Kijak
The story of Lynyrd Skynyrd; The Greatest American Rock Band Ever. We fly beyond Free Bird to celebrate the life & times of leader Ronnie Van Zant, from boogie-woogie beginnings in Jacksonville’s Shantytown to a tragic end in a Mississippi swamp.
Q: What motivated you to tell this story?
SK: I had always been fascinated by what I imagined to be certain mythic aspects to Skynyrd's origins - when CMT approached me to make the film, I could not resist the opportunity.
Q: What do you want the audience to take away from this film?
SK: I want them to hear and see Skynyrd as if for the first time - I think there's a lot people don't know about where the band came from and who Ronnie Van Zant really was. We also wanted the film to connect to our present American moment, so I hope there will be a lot to think and talk about.
Q: What other film/filmmaker are you excited to see at SXSW this year?
SK: Hearts Beat Loud, Never Goin' Back, Sorry To Bother You, The Rider, Won't You Be My Neighbor, and Elvis Presley The Searcher.
Meow Wolf:Origin Stories
Directors: Morgan Capps, Jilann Spitzmiller, Screenwriters: Jilann Spitzmiller, Morgan Capps, Christina Procter
A group of artists, punks, and weirdos create a subversive DIY collective to disrupt the art establishment in Santa Fe, NM, which in the face of internal turmoil evolves into a cultural phenomenon on the path to becoming a global creative empire.
Q: What motivated you to tell this story?
JS: When something is rocking your town, and you are a storyteller, the impulse calls to share the phenomenon with the world. Meow Wolf is transforming the art, social and economic scene in Santa Fe, NM and I believe their story will be inspiring to anyone who doesn't fit into the box and has the urge to create the world they want to live in.
Q: What do you want the audience to take away from this film?
JS: I want them to remember that the Beast lives inside all of us, and that it's important to heed its call.
Q: What other film/filmmaker are you excited to see at SXSW this year?
JS: On Her Shoulders, Won't You Be My Neighbor, and Chulas Fronteras.
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Anchor and Hope - Photo courtesy of film
The Breaker Upperers - Photo by Matt Klitscher
Half the Picture - Photo courtesy of film
If I Leave Here Tomorrow - Photo by Emerson-Loew
Meow Wolf: Origin Story - Photo courtesy of film
By Neha Aziz
03/6/2018