I'm really thrilled with this one-two punch of good news for SXSW 2008 premiere, Medicine For Melancholy: Barry Jenkins' downright beautiful relationship drama was recently acquired by IFC Films for a theatrical release. When? No definite date, but you can predict it will be after September, since the film was also just invited to screen in the Discovery section of the prestigious Toronto International Film Festival. The Toronto news is especially sweet and honorable, because it's rare for an American indie (without stars) to screen at the fest months following its North American premiere. Add to all of this, the fact that one of the film's two leads - comedian Wyatt Cenac - is now a featured player on The Daily Show.

The Promotion, a directorial debut by acclaimed Hollywood screenwriter Steve Conrad, was a massive crowd-pleaser at SXSW 2008. The Weinstein Company has just released the film in theaters, and to honor that, here's a look back at an interview during SXSW between Conrad and Mike Jones of Variety:

Lionsgate's new Ghost House Underground label has acquired Gregg Bishop's popular SXSW 2008 midnight movie, Dance of the Dead, according to Gregg Kilday at The Hollywood Reporter. Bishop's geek horror flick was easily one of the most beloved films in the SXSW midnight slate, and wowed audiences with its dose of John Hughes awkwardness and Sam Raimi bloodlust. Ghost House Undergound is expected to release the film in October. On a side note, Kilday's article mentions another pick-up by the company, Dave Payne's No Man's Land: The Rise of Reeker. It's worth noting that No Man's Land is a sequel of sorts to Payne's SXSW 2005 midnight movie, Reeker. This new installment has to yet to screen in public, but is currently at the Cannes Market.

David Mackenzie's acclaimed Scottish feature, Mister Foe, is finally coming to U.S. theaters on May 23. Acquired by Magnolia Pictures at Berlin 2007 (under its original title Hallam Foe), the film had its US Premiere at SXSW 2008. It's a very cool and sweet coming-of-age story, starring the always-reliable Jamie Bell. And, it features a pretty great soundtrack of Euro-rock tunes. Check out the film's U.S. trailer:

Harmony Korine's beautiful, brilliant, and fractured fairy tale Mister Lonely, opened last week to great reviews and very strong box office on one screen in New York. The film, which had its U.S. Premiere during SXSW 2008, is easily one of my favorite indie films in theaters at the moment. And, throughout the month of May, it will continue to expand in theaters around the nation. This weekend sees the film roll out through the East Coast and L.A., with many more playdates to follow. But, as is the case with IFC Films releases, you don't have to wait for theatrical engagements to watch it. Mister Lonely is currently available on demand thanks to your cable provider. Just look for your "Movies on Demand" option if you have cable. You can watch it today. And, you should. It's so good. Click here for my thoughts on the film, immediately after catching it during the premiere at Cannes last May (and being a bit dumbfounded at the time). It's safe to say that after a little time in my head, I fell deeply in love with this mystifying movie.

Guess what: the SXSWclick 2008 call for entries has begun. Submit your short-form content today, and be considered for this year's digital fest. The submission deadline is June 13. There will be great prizes, automatic entry to SXSW 2009, and an audience that includes our jury: actor Jeffrey Tambor, comedians Doug Benson and Eugene Mirman, filmmakers Mary Sweeney, Anish Savjani, Ron Mann, and many more. We look forward to seeing your shorts!

To honor this week's release of the SXSW hit, Harold & Kumar Escape from Guantanamo Bay, Jarod and Stephanie uploaded some highlights from our Harold & Kumar panel session during the festival. Check it out:

I'm incredibly excited and happy about this news: Josh Safdie's debut feature, The Pleasure of Being Robbed, has been announced as the sole American feature in this year's Director's Fortnight section at Cannes. Not only that, it's the Closing Night Film of the sidebar. The film premiered at SXSW 2008, and earned a tidal wave of good reviews, strong word-of-mouth, and even some distribution buzz. Josh and his collective of filmmaking friends/collaborators have a company called Red Bucket Films, and they've been really productive over the last few years in the realm of shorts. This feature came to life unexpectedly, and has had a rather charmed life so far. This Cannes news can only promise greater things to come. Congrats!

Thanks to the generosity of the Alamo Drafthouse, SXSW is hosting two benefit screenings on April 29, for ailing filmmaker Benh Zeitlin. Why?

Short filmmaker Benh Zietlin was in Austin, Texas March 9th, 2008 to World Premiere his film GLORY AT SEA. Unbelievably and unfortunately, Benh got in a serious car accident just hours before his screening. He shattered his hip (which has been replaced), broke his pelvis, and sprained both his ankles. While his film was showing to an enthusiastic crowd, Benh was in surgery. His medical bills have added up to about $80,000!!!!!!!!!

The SXSW staff could not be more upset and impacted by what happened to Benh. So, we wanna help out by screening some of Benh's shorts, and other acclaimed shorts by some of his friends, to raise cash for his medical bills. Click here for details on the screenings. Spread the word, and we hope to see you there!!

UPDATE: Also, if you're NYC-based, Rooftop Films will host a fundraiser for Benh on Saturday, April 26!

THIS JUST IN: SXSW world premiere competition documentary, The Matador, has announced a theatrical and DVD distribution deal with City Lights Pictures. The acclaimed film, directed by Nina Gilden Seavey and Stephen Higgins, will open in theaters later this year. City Lights (which recently created its distribution arm) was behind the releases of acclaimed documentaries Manda Bala and Everything's Cool. Congrats to the whole Matador team!

One of the biggest hits of this year's SXSW Film Conference, was easily Jeffrey Tambor's Acting Workshop. The veteran character actor wowed audiences at the panel, in which he coached Greta Gerwig and Kent Osborne through a scene and deconstructed what it means to be an actor. Many people have asked for more, and now you can get it. Tambor will host a similar workshop every Monday night at the Santa Monica Playhouse, starting June 2. As Tambor himself tells us: "The workshop assumes you already know how to act and are looking for the next step in your creativity. It's for the talented, the curious, and the brave. Sounds like a Clint Eastwood movie."

If you're interested in signing up for the class, contact Sarah Aldrich: sarah1aldrich (at) yahoo.com for more answers and details. Anyone who witnessed the SXSW workshop can tell you, it's not to be missed! If you'd like to see a short excerpt from the SXSW session (with poor audio), here's some of it:

There's been a lot of pre-release hype surrounding Forgetting Sarah Marshall's star and writer, Jason Segel. There's also been plenty of hype surrounding his penis. Not because it's an amazing penis, but because it winds up becoming a bit player in the film itself. Not to be overshadowed by his penis, Segel is a talent on the rise (catch him on the great CBS sitcom, How I Met Your Mother). Chris Lee at the Los Angeles Times tries to get to the bottom of the penis appeal in Forgetting Sarah Marshall:

Judging by reactions at its South by Southwest Film Festival premiere last month, "Sarah Marshall's" breakout performance isn't delivered by protagonist Jason Segel (of "How I Met Your Mother" and "Freaks and Geeks" fame). The movie's most captivating screen presence -- and its already much buzzed-about primary talking point -- is what a Harlequin romance novel might refer to as Segel's "manhood."

The 28-year-old comedian is presented in his full-frontal glory over the course of a cringe-worthy breakup scene that involves Segel naked, dripping wet and sobbing like a 6-foot-4 baby. No clever "Austin Powers"-style genital obfuscation with props. No artful lighting to preserve any mystery about Segel's man junk. And for emphasis, the camera cuts away from close-ups of his teary visage (he's being dumped by his girlfriend, Kristin Bell, as the titular Sarah at the time) to wider, phallus-inclusive shots three times.

At SXSW (as the Austin, Texas, film fest is known), every time Segel was shown au naturel, the totality of his package nearly brought the house down with laughter.

Filmmakers Morgan Spurlock and Jeremy Chilnick sat down with Variety during SXSW 2008, to discuss their new docu-comedy, Where in the World is Osama Bin Laden? The Weinstein Company will release the film in theaters this weekend. The interview below:

It's almost that time of year again... the time for SXSWclick, our annual summertime online shorts festival. Keep checking the SXSWclick site for updates and details. And, get your short-form content ready for another chance to win big prizes!

A TV version of Stephen Walker's documentary, Young@Heart, has already aired on UK television. But this entertaining portrait will finally have its debut in its native United States, with this week's theatrical release by Fox Searchlight. This tender and funny look at a choir of elderly New Englanders singing punk rock tunes, was a hit with SXSW 2008 audiences this year and I'm eager for the rest of the country to see what I consider to be one of the most crowd-pleasing docs so far this year. In Sunday's New York Times, Sylviane Gold profiles the film's subjects as well as Stephen Walker on the eve of the U.S. release. From the article:

Part concert film, part music video, part reportage, “Young@Heart” follows members of the chorus for seven weeks as they mug for the camera (and one another), as they rehearse their songs, as they perform them. And, in their one nod to bel canto, as they die.

Mr. Walker, whose work for the BBC has included documentaries on Hiroshima, a porn star and a Jewish wedding, first saw Young@Heart at a 2005 concert in London. It was at the insistence of Sally George, his partner in film and life, and he was less than enthusiastic.

“Initially I thought it was some kind of weird gimmick,” he said by telephone from Los Angeles, where he and the group’s founder and director, Bob Cilman, were promoting the film. “I really was prepared to leave after 10 minutes.” He stayed, awed not just by the performance but also by the clamorous reaction in a theater “packed with every single age group.”

For IFC News, Stephen Saito sat down with character actor Richard Jenkins at SXSW 2008 when his film The Visitor screened. Jenkins is great in the film, the latest of many memorable performances in his long career. Writer/director Thomas McCarthy's new drama will open in theaters on April 11. From Saito's one-on-one chat with Jenkins at SXSW 2008:

IFC: Have you ever faced a moment, like Walter does at the beginning of the film, where you became uninterested in your career?

Richard Jenkins: Well, yeah. Everyone has those moments where it's just like nothing seems to make any sense. There's a lot of self-loathing in there, a lot of embarrassment about how he's lived his life the last few years. We've all had that. Being an actor, it's not like a hard job, a lot of work, but it is filled with uncertainty, and you get to the point sometimes where you think this is... I give up. I give up.

Believe it or not, Morgan Spurlock's Where in the World is Osama Bin Laden? and Thomas McCarthy's The Visitor have some major thematic similarities. You'll have to see the films to get what I mean. Plus, both films screened at SXSW 2008 and they also both open in April. This week, they have something else in common: exclusive clips hosted on the MTV Movies Blog. Check 'em out:

The SXSW 2008 Closing Night Film, Stephen Walker's Young@Heart, opens nationwide on April 11. The documentary has got it all: laughs, tears, excitement, tenderness. Here's a music video of the elderly choir as they belt out The Ramones' "I Wanna Be Sedated," courtesy of Ray Pride:

SXSW 2008 may be three weeks behind us, but the trade reviews are still flowing in. Perhaps not shockingly, the big raves this week come for SXSW double-winner, They Killed Sister Dorothy, which earned high praise from both Variety (which says it "impresses and enthralls") and The Hollywood Reporter (which describes it as "riveting stuff, painting a vivid picture").

Meanwhile, Joe Leydon at Variety describes Bulletproof Salesman as: "Incisive, sharply observed and scrupulously nonjudgmental." Over at The Hollywood Reporter, John DeFore details Forgetting Sarah Marshall as: "another comedy that works better than its template promises and should perform well". Following up on the comedy theme at SXSW, Leydon at Variety declares that Harold & Kumar Escape From Guantanamo Bay is: "one of the ballsiest comedies to come out of Hollywood in a long time. No kidding." And, when it comes to Lou Reed's Berlin, DeFore at The Hollywood Reporter says simply that the concert film "is satisfying for devoted fans and might even win a convert or two." On these various links you'll find plenty more reviews filed from SXSW 2008.

The crew at IGN really tore it up with their extensive coverage of the SXSW Film and Music Festivals. Check out that link, and see plenty to keep you busy for hours. But, in the spirit of my earlier Simon Pegg post, I wanna keep things on the British comedy tip. Here's a video interview that IGN conducted (on a hotel bed, no less) with Forgetting Sarah Marshall co-star Russell Brand, a major comedy star in London:

The gang at Ain't It Cool News is stepping up its coverage for the comedy Run, Fatboy, Run, which opens stateside this weekend. The film screened to a packed house at SXSW 2008, and it seemed to be a great hit. It's a very funny and entertaining film. During his visit to SXSW, director David Schwimmer sat down with AICN's Capone to talk about it all:

Capone: Were you worried…you were taking about going too dark, but were you worried that right off the bat it might be harder to like Simon’s character, because, I think, at least your female audience members might not appreciate him leaving his pregnant fiancée.

David Schwimmer: Yeah, that was the big hurdle of the movie. When I read the script, I was, like, you've got to be kidding me…Three pages in, this guy's leaving, abandoning his pregnant bride. I'm, like, there's no way I'm going to forgive this character, and then, sure enough, by the end of the script, I was, like, I don't believe this, but I love this guy. I'm rooting for him. You need an actor like Simon who’s just likeable, Your heart breaks for this guy, because he’s so down on himself.

Over the phone, AICN's Quint checked in with the film's star, Austin favorite Simon Pegg, who was in the middle of doing a bunch of press. They chat about all things Pegg-related, including his upcoming role as a young Scotty in Star Trek and the impending Spaced DVD release. Also, they talked about working with Schwimmer:

Quint: So let’s talk a little bit about David Schwimmer and what he was like as a director.

Simon Pegg: He’s done a lot of TV and he’s done theater. I think as a director, he is enormously talented and a lot of that comes from the fact that he is very good with the actors. He is extremely good at second guessing how we are feeling and knowing how we are feeling and that’s important when you are an actor. You want direction and you want it to be sympathetic as much as you can and he definitely had that and you know he was working with a really good DP.

There wasn’t any kind of question of him not understanding the techniques of filmmaking, you know, he knew what an F-Stop was and he knew what the lens sizes meant and he knew what dollying left can do to a phone conversation. He was fully aware of the technicalities, so it felt very relaxed in his company as a director.

One of my most personally rewarding programming choices for SXSW 2008, was having the debut of Barry Jenkins' Medicine For Melancholy at the festival. I randomly read about the film-in-progress on a blog, contacted Barry, and he wasn't gonna be done with the film in time for our deadline. He sent me some clips, though, and I asked him to please send me the rough cut a few weeks after the deadline. He did, and I loved the finished product. When the film premiered at SXSW earlier this month, it struck a real chord with audiences and I think it's safe to say that it will be a regular fixture on the 2008 festival circuit (there are already scheduled screenings at San Francisco, Sarasota, Philadelphia, and Boston fests). For Premiere, Aaron Hillis sat down with Jenkins over some Tex-Mex and they chatted about the directorial debut as well as Jenkins' taste in film:

PREMIERE: For better or worse, how do you feel about modern black cinema today?

JENKINS: I think, for better, there are definitely more black filmmakers getting films made. For worse, those films continue to fall into two or three sorts of stereotypes, I would say. There's the hood flick, the comedy, and then at one point, we went from hood cinema to "buppie" cinema, the black yuppie cinema. So there's a whole segment of the African-American experience that isn't being told. It's definitely one of the reasons why I made Medicine for Melancholy. You never want to go into making a film with that sort of reasoning, but I can't deny that was a part of it. I felt like there are African-Americans who are middle class, in the arts scene, or who are hipsters, or who ride bikes. I can't think of a film I've seen that has black characters riding bikes.

PREMIERE: Is there anyone who has consciously influenced your filmmaking and subject matter?

JENKINS: Definitely. Claire Denis is a big influence on me. Actually, I got the idea for the film when I first saw Vendredi Soir [a/k/a] Friday Night a few years ago, just the idea of dramatizing a one-night stand, what Claire Denis did in that film. I thought, for my generation, it would be more interesting to have the characters follow each other the morning after because they wouldn't have the emotional restraint to leave it at a one-night stand. From a filmmaking standpoint, I think she's amazing; the level of metaphor her films arrive at, despite the fact that she's a very bare bones, what I call "nuts-and-bolts" filmmaker. You know, her films aren't what I would call stylish. I mean, they are, but it's a very strange style. I look at my film and it's not the case at all. Your influences don't have to [inform] your aesthetic, but when I approach a film, I think of Claire Denis, Lynne Ramsay and Lucrecia Martel. It's weird, but I basically love female filmmakers. And who's to say you can tell what a female filmmaker is by watching their films, but that's been the case with me.

The upcoming release, 21, is loosely based on the true story of MIT students who learned how to beat the blackjack system in Las Vegas. At its premiere during SXSW 2008, real-life subject Jeff Ma came with the cast/crew to do press and just have a good time.

While he was at SXSW, Jeff Ma sat down with Quint from Ain't It Cool News to discuss the film and his take on the adaptation of it all. From their great interview:

Quint: Were there any instances that were bang on exactly what it was like either in learning counting or the execution of it or the feeling of being in the moment?

Jeff Ma: There were a bunch of things. One is like the transformation that Jim goes through from being a nerdy MIT guy to all of a sudden being able to land Kate Bosworth as his girlfriend… That was something that definitely happened to me through the blackjack experience, where I became much more confident in what I was doing.

The first scene where they fly into Vegas and he looks out the window and sees the lights and everything like that, that was a feeling I certainly remember. That one scene where he is lying in bed and he calls and tries to get room service and he’s in his dorm room, not a hotel… Those kinds of things just happened all of the time, because of the craziness and sort of duality of our lives.

Quint: What about the big departures? I mean obviously they changed the race of your character.

Jeff Ma: You know what? I don’t know if… For me it wasn’t a big deal, because for about three years people had been asking me who I wanted to play me in a movie and I never was saying like “John Cho” or “Chow Yun-Fat” or “Jackie Chan…” I really wasn’t and I mean if I asked you who you would want to play you in a movie, you wouldn’t be thinking “I want the most similar person,” but you would be thinking ”Who’s cool?” or who do you think would personify your personality or who is a good actor or who is talented, so as much as I think people like to look at it at face value like that, the reality is if you ask anyone who they wanted to play you, it wouldn’t necessarily be “Who’s the most ethnically tied to me?”

I could ask three people who they want to play them and at the end I’ll ask them “So what ethnicity are you?” and they wouldn’t even know probably.

When Jim came to me for the first time, he took a lot of time to get to know me and throughout the process he really has and I don’t think many actors would do that, so I think I will always be happy about him as a decision and the cool thing too is that he’s not a huge name yet, so if he becomes a huge name, hopefully a lot of it will be because of this movie and for that reason we will sort of be forever linked together. You know what I mean? It’s like let’s imagine that Tom Cruise from RISKY BUSINESS was a real character, how cool would it be that Tom Cruise got his start from the movie that was about you?

The folks at Reelz Channel were at SXSW 2008 covering events on the red carpet and beyond. Here's one of their pieces, which includes a look at a bunch of "firsts" at SXSW this year, primarily directorial debuts. They chat with Josh Brolin, Helen Hunt, and more:

And, to answer their question at the end of this piece, the SXSW premiere of Forgetting Sarah Marshall went very, very, very well.

Simon Pegg would be a national treasure, if he wasn't English. No matter, we'll adopt him, or at least the legions of film geeks who adore his work (in the British show Spaced and the Brit flicks Shaun of the Dead and Hot Fuzz) will call him one of our own. Because, as this Sunday New York Times feature details, he is one of the geeks. It's that brand of accessibility that he injects into his latest release, Run, Fat Boy, Run, which opens in America on Friday. This underdog comedy screened to uproarious approval at SXSW 2008, and I recommend it to anyone looking for a great date movie. To most mainstream American audiences, though, this film will be the first introduction to Pegg. Get used to him, however, since he has several projects nearing completion. An excerpt from Melena Ryzik's profile:

Now Mr. Pegg, 38, is moving into celebrity-treatment territory. His forthcoming roles include the lead, with Kirsten Dunst and Jeff Bridges, in “How to Lose Friends and Alienate People,” based on Toby Young’s memoir of working at Vanity Fair, and a turn as Scotty in J. J. Abrams’s new “Star Trek” movie, due out next year.

O.K., so he hasn’t left geekdom totally behind. But no matter. It’s the Judd Apatow era of the nerd hero: “ordinary blokes doing extraordinary things,” as Mr. Pegg says. In “Run, Fat Boy, Run” he plays Dennis, an underemployed scruffy charmer who runs from his pregnant fiancée (Thandie Newton) at the altar. She has the baby, and the story picks up again several years later, when she is dating the perfect man (Hank Azaria as a rich, ripped marathon runner). To win back her affection and the respect of his son, Mr. Pegg’s character decides to compete against the boyfriend in a race. Cue the hilarious training sequence. The first feature directed by David Schwimmer, it is a triple threat of feel-good genres: first-date movie, broad physical comedy and underdog sports flick.

Christophe Honore's Love Songs is an enjoyable and tense romantic musical, and we were thrilled to have it screen as part of SXSW 2008. It's an acclaimed film, but also a hard one to categorize, which is probably why a lot of the film's American press (as it opens this weekend in New York) has focused on French actor Louis Garrel. At only 24, the "artthrob" has built a sturdy following on both sides of the Atlantic, like his actor grandfather and acclaimed director dad. For this New York Times feature from last week, Kristin Hohenadel tries to get to the bottom of what makes Louis Garrel so prolific and so... damn... sexy?

IFC News was all over SXSW 2008, recording highlights from every angle of the event. I wanted to share their first on-the-scene report, which takes a look at the Opening Night Film, 21, the red carpet chaos (what is Vanessa Hudgens saying about sushi?), and a fun glimpse at the history of the terrific Paramount Theatre in downtown Austin (home to many of our big premieres). Click here for the official page, or just watch it via YouTube below:

Aside from his duties writing about the festival for indieWIRE, among others, journalist Eric Kohn also covered SXSW for the new online mag, Stream. I recommend checking it out, as the site seems prepped for more great coverage to come. In this installment, he covers the conversations that took place during SXSW panels with both musician Moby and filmmaker M dot Strange:

Moby is a free-spirited guy. With both his music and his activism, he takes a relaxed, affable approach to the perceivably sincere goal of making the world a better place. Now there's another reason to consider his free spirit: A new program called Moby Gratis that helps, as Moby explains at the site, "independent and non-profit filmmakers, film students, and anyone in need of free music for their independent, non-profit film, video, or short." In other words, you can use his music for free...

It wasn't the only conversation taking place in Austin's Convention Center about the benefits of keeping things free. Earlier in the day, We Are the Strange director M dot Strange (an elite member of the Stream 17) sat on a panel about stolen work ("Thick as Thieves") and thoroughly endorsed the act. "I'm pro-piracy," he said, referencing the way he rejected paltry studio offers for his wacky animated film and built a cult following by giving it away on the web. His sentiments didn't offend the legal rep from Warner Bros. sitting by his side, as both men admitted that piracy for the independent filmmaker helps him get his work seen, while studios have to be more possessive about things like fan films.

Don't wanna go the montage route? The Los Angeles Times has compiled 16 great photos from the SXSW Film and Music Festivals this year. Click here to check 'em out.

Meanwhile, EW has their own SXSW photo slideshow online. But, it's just from the music festival. Good pics, nonetheless.

On the first Saturday night of SXSW, there was a moment I'll always remember at the Alamo Ritz. Coincidentally, we scheduled Harmony Korine's Mister Lonely before Mark Webber's Explicit Ills. As Korine was leaving the theater following his Q&A, the cast and crew of Explicit Ills began making their way into the theater. Among them, was Rosario Dawson, who spotted Korine from across the room and seemed shocked to see him there. "Hey, come see my movie!" she shouted. "I gotta go to dinner, I'm sorry" he responded. It didn't occur to me until about an hour later that the two of them paid their dues and got their start on the same film: Larry Clark's 1995 feature Kids (in which she starred and he wrote). It was one of those cool reunions that a festival provides. Speaking of which, here are two great video interviews that Variety conducted with Dawson and Korine during SXSW 2008:

indieWIRE's Eugene Hernandez has posted this cool video chronicling his highlights from the SXSW Music Festival. And yes, We Are Standard was a BIG highlight:

One of the only tragic and depressing things to happen during SXSW 2008, was the horrible car accident experienced by Glory At Sea filmmaker Benh Zeitlin. On his way to his first screening, he was rear-ended and forced in the hospital for emergency surgery. It cast a dark shadow over all of us as we hoped and prayed that Benh would come out of it okay. He's doing much better, and even managed to attended his third screening at SXSW (after the film won the "SXSW Wholphin Award"). But, as Karina Longworth points out, Benh missed the entire festival. So, if you're a SXSW festival filmmaker and wanna share your film with Benh, click here for information.

I really like Mike Hedge's SXSW 2008 video/photo montage. I think it gives a nice mix and sense of what the experience can be like:

Thanks to Scott Macaulay for the embed. By the way, Kent Osborne, where is yours??

from a recent announcement:

The 2008 SXSW Film Festival closed on Saturday, March 15, with a special screening of Stephen Walker's film Young@Heart. Shortly after, SXSW announced the final two audience award winners for this year's festival. SXSW is pleased to announce the audience award winners for the festival categories "24 Beats Per Second" and "Lone Star States." The winners (chosen by ballot) are: Sascha Paladino's world music documentary Throw Down Your Heart (in 24 Beats Per Second) and David Pomes' small-town drug drama Cook County (in Lone Star States). The rest of this year's festival winners were announced earlier in the week, at a ceremony on Tuesday, March 11.

SXSW 2008 has come, conquered, and gone. The few remaining out-of-towners are boarding flights Monday night and Tuesday morning. It was an insane 10 days, probably one of our best festivals ever and also one of the most emotional and rewarding. Expect a few more retrospectives in the weeks to come, but for now, here are some cool SXSW coverage links to share with you:

Of course, we've got the number one spot on our site for video coverage from various film panels, screenings, and more.

Make sure to check out the IFC thunderstorm of interviews and video clips. They really impressed us this year with the weight of coverage provided.

Our family at The Austin Chronicle brought it hard this year with their extensive SXSW recaps and previews.

indieWIRE was on the scene at SXSW, complete with reviews, features, photos, and interviews.

Variety was in full force for both the film and music festivals, highlighted by fun interviews with the likes of Rosario Dawson, Josh Brolin, Harmony Korine, and much more.

Meanwhile, The Hollywood Reporter had their fair share of video interviews and news items.

I was blown away by just how comprehensive Cinematical covered the festival, with reviews and tons of great tips.

Andrew O'Hehir has done another terrific job covering SXSW for Salon, as he filed several reports on the films both big and small.

Steve Rose from The Guardian was in attendance for the first time this year, and he's got a break-down of what he saw and experienced at SXSW.

Los Angeles Times writer Chris Lee dispatched two great articles: one about the festival's role in the industry, and the other about the marijuana-minded thread of programming.

Over at the Filmmaker blog, both Scott Macaulay and Durier Ryan make some flattering notes about the programming they witnessed during SXSW.

Spike TV has some very cool interviews with SXSW filmmakers and actors, as well as coverage from some of the hedonistic party scenes.

Ain't It Cool News has been showing us the love for over a decade now, and their SXSW 2008 coverage was among the best yet.

The IGN crew gives you a video taste of what went down during the first five days of this year's festival.

The Spout team was everywhere during SXSW 2008. And, thankfully, they have recently summarized all of their reports/reviews/interviews/fun into one post.

AP's Christy Lemire offers up the goods from her on-stage interview with actress/filmmaker Helen Hunt during SXSW.

Film Threat came to have fun and get the job done. And, you can get their nice wrap-up article here.

Austin360's Austin Movies Blog was there to capture the sights, sounds, and cinema during the film festival.

It was an honor to be among one of the first festivals covered by the new indie film site Hammer To Nail. As promised, they did a fantastic job spotlighting some of the smaller films at the festival.

The Austinist didn't miss a beat, and filed a plethora of locally-minded interviews, reviews, and more.

In their first-ever bevy of SXSW coverage, Peter and the /Film team leave no stone unturned.

As usual, the always-reliable GreenCine Daily offers up plenty of links as well as their own coverage both from main man David Hudson as well as the podcasting prodigy Aaron Hillis.

Speaking of Hillis, he also contributed a few entries about the festival on Glen Kenny's Premiere blog.

For Twitch, Peter Martin shares his Top 6 picks from the two dozen features he saw at SXSW.

I know there's much more coverage that I missed or forgot about, so please don't hold it against me. Or, even better, feel free to share the links in the comments section. Thanks so much to all of the journalists who came out to cover SXSW 2008. We hope you had as much fun as we did!

This year's festival trailers, a sequel of sorts to SXSW 2002's "Burger Hut" series, are now on YouTube. Check them out if you didn't attend the fest, or see them again if you're going through some SXSW 2008 withdrawal. Here's one of the audience favorites:

I'm off to do my part in this whole SXSW thing, so while I'm away from this blog, here are some destinations to keep you updated on what's happening:

The official SXSW Web site

The Austin Chronicle's SXSW coverage

IFC's extensive SXSW coverage

The Austin American-Statesman's Movie Blog

Variety's SXSW page

indieWIRE's SXSW page

Cinematical's dedicated SXSW coverage

UPDATED:

I made a horrible mistake and forgot two of our biggest online coverage supporters:

That's right, the fan-fucking-tastic gang at Aint It Cool News and the fun-loving geeks at Film Threat. Sorry, guys! You rock!

There's tons more, but this is just a good place to start. Keep checking all of the above sites throughout the week. See you soon!

This blog is about to go into hibernation as we officially begin SXSW 2008. What better way to start the ball rolling than with the Austin Chronicle's annual SXSW Film Issue? The cover story is all about SXSW star, Greta Gerwig, who will be at this year's festival with no less than three feature films (Baghead, Yeast, and her co-directing effort Nights And Weekends). Other helpful and great articles in this issue include interviews and looks at The Toe Tactic, Intimidad, The Order of Myths, The Black List, and many many more.

Dana Harris' great Variety blog, "The Knife," spotlights some choice Austin eateries on the eve of SXSW 2008. Take it from Dana, she's a foodie and a native Texan.

On Wednesday night at The Belmont, the Austin Film Society hosted a fun mixer for filmmakers and members on the eve of the eve of SXSW 2008. A good assortment of this year's filmmakers are already in town, so many of them stopped by. Jarren and I dropped in, and had a fun time. Among the SXSW 2008 gang in attendance on Wednesday:

<

I dunno if politics and war will necessarily "dominate" SXSW 2008, but there is certainly a thread running through many of the features. From Harold & Kumar to Crawford to Stop-Loss, there are a bounty of social and political discussions happening in the films at this year's festival. For this weekend's Austin American-Statesman, Chris Garcia, Michael Barnes, and John DeFore unlock some of the details behind this assortment.

We've announced the lineup of interviews and special guests for this year's Studio SX. What is Studio SX? It's a special interview space in the Film and Interactive Trade Show, where filmmakers and artists chat in a TV studio setting in front of a live audience (which can include you). Stop by, grab a seat, and enjoy the discussions. Plus, after the festival, we will post various interviews on our site. Click here for the schedule during the SXSW Film Conference.

Today, the Guardian takes a look at the SXSW 2008 premiere documentary, Heavy Load, which is a wonderfully touching and raucous rock doc about the UK band of the same name. From the preview piece: