In this episode: We interview filmmaker, Efram Potelle. Efram was the winner of the second season of HBO’s Project Greenlight. Along with his filmmaking partner, Kyle Rankin, he directed THE BATTLE OF SHAKER HEIGHTS (starring Shia Labeouf and produced by Ben Affleck and Matt Damon). Since then, Efram has worked on the Visual Effects for such films as PUNISHER: WAR ZONE and THE DEVIL INSIDE. He has also directed several short films, including CASE TAPE 347, which has over 6 million views on YouTube.

Efram shares some insight about the different forms of distribution out there and how they each have their advantages. Efram also talks about the good and the bad of his Project Greenlight experience and what he learned from that production.

Currently Efram is working on a new short film titled, ENDANGERED. The film has successfully raised its funds via a Kickstarter campaign and is set to be released sometime before the end of 2012… that is, of course, if humanity still exists. We hope you enjoy the interview!

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BERNIE is the latest film from Richard Linklater, starring Jack Black, Matthew McConaughey and Shirley MacLaine. The film is a true story about… well, it’s about Bernie. Bernie (Jack Black) is a mortician from a small, red-neck town in Texas. He becomes good friends with a wealthy widow (Shirley MacLaine) after he conducts the funeral service for her husband. The relationship between Bernie and the (unnamed) widow becomes unbearable by both parties and Bernie ends up killing her. Bernie then attempts to cover it up by making the rest of the community believe she is still alive. This not a spoiler as this is basically what the whole film revolves around. It’s “Weekend with Bernie” in reverse. This time Bernie does the killing. Not really, but kind of.

It was weird seeing this film in Texas. Mostly because it got a HUGE reaction to every Texas joke, most of them seemed undeserved. Richard Linklater is from Austin and is pretty much responsible for the booming film scene here, and even partially responsible for SXSW altogether (as Janet Pierson noted in the Q&A). Linklater, much like Soderbergh, is a filmmaker that has earned his stripes and is not afraid to diversify and explore various different genres. Going into this film I didn’t quite know what to expect, just that it had a fairly good cast, was a Linklater film, was based off a true story, and was a dark comedy. However, that was more than enough for me to be interested.

The film is told in a mockumentary style that is at first amusing, but quickly becomes annoying. It’s like the whole time you’re waiting for the film to start. At times it feels like you are primarily just watching a series of fake interviews. The casting and acting wasn’t the problem, it was more the structure. The continuous interviews with town folk is monotonous and boring and you just want to get back to the story.

BERNIE has its funny moments, including many of the one-liners in the interviews, and Jack Black’s performance is well-rounded and well-executed, but it just felt like the film ended before it ever really started, and not in a good way. The actual true story of BERNIE is fascinating and darkly comical. Unfortunately, it just never felt like the film really found its tone. It felt very disconnected from its audience despite the Texas crowd roaring in laughter every time there was a joke referencing Texas, or McConaughey (known Texan) popped up in a scene. It seemed like Linklater just made this film real quick on his 0ff-time and got a couple of his buddies together (that he had previously worked with in other films) and said “let’s do this!” I was underwhelmed and had hoped for more, even though I came in with zero expectations.

The 2012 SXSW Film Festival hosted a total of 132 features, consisting of 74 World Premieres, 17 North American Premieres and 11 U.S. Premieres, with 58 films from first-time directors. 138 shorts will screen as part of 12 overall shorts programs.  The nearly 275 films were selected from a record number of overall submissions, over 5,300, comprised of approximately 2,000 features and 3,300 shorts. This was a 7% increase over 2011 despite moving submission deadlines a month earlier than in previous years.

The 2012 SXSW Film Festival Award Winners:

 

Feature Film Jury Awards

DOCUMENTARY FEATURE COMPETITION
Grand Jury Winner: Beware of Mr. Baker

Director: Jay Bulger

 

NARRATIVE FEATURE COMPETITION
Grand Jury Winner: Gimme The Loot

Director: Adam Leon

 

Special Jury Recognition for Performance:

Jamie Chung – Eden

Besedka Johnson – Starlet

Nico Stone – Booster

 

Feature Film Audience Awards
DOCUMENTARY FEATURE

Winner: Bay of All Saints

Director: Annie Eastman

 

NARRATIVE FEATURE

Winner: Eden

Director: Megan Griffiths

 

*Audience Awards for Narrative Spotlight, Documentary Spotlight, Emerging Visions, Midnighters, 24 Beats Per Second, SXGlobal and Festival Favorites sections will be announced on Saturday, March 17.  The Headliner Audience Award will follow on Monday, March 19, 2012.

 

Short Film Jury Awards

NARRATIVE SHORTS

Winner: The Chair

Director: Grainger David

 

DOCUMENTARY SHORTS

Winner: CatCam

Director: Seth Keal

 

MIDNIGHT SHORTS

Winner: Don’t Hug Me I’m Scared

Directors: Rebecca Sloan & Joseph Pelling

 

SXGLOBAL SHORTS

Winner: The Perfect Fit

Director: Tali Yankelevich

 

ANIMATED SHORTS

Winner: (notes on) biology

Director: Danny Madden
MUSIC VIDEOS

Winner: Battles, “My Machines”

Director: DANIELS

 

TEXAS SHORTS

Winner: Spark
Director: Annie Silverstein

 

TEXAS HIGH SCHOOL SHORTS

Winner: Boom

Director: Daniel Matyas & Brian Broder

 

SXSW Film Design Awards presented by iStockphoto
EXCELLENCE IN POSTER DESIGN

Winner: Man & Gun

Designer: Justin Cox

 

Special Jury Recognition: Pitch Black Heist

Designer: Andrew Cranston

 

Audience Award Winner: The Maker

Designer: Christopher Kezelos

 

EXCELLENCE IN TITLE DESIGN

 

Winner: Les Bleus de Ramville

Designer: Jay Bond, Oily Film Company Inc.

 

Special Jury Recognition: X-Men: First Class

Designer: Simon Clowes, Prologue Films

 

Audience Award Winner: Bunraku

Designer: Guilherme Marcondes, Hornet Inc.

 

 

SXSW Special Awards

 

SXSW WHOLPHIN AWARD

Winner: The Black Balloon

Director: Benny Safdie & Josh Safdie

 

SXSW CHICKEN & EGG EMERGENT NARRATIVE WOMAN DIRECTOR AWARD

Winners: Megan Griffiths for Eden and Amy Seimetz for Sun Don’t Shine

 

LOUIS BLACK “LONE STAR” AWARD

Winner: Bernie

Director: Richard Linklater

 

Special Jury Recognition: Trash Dance

Director: Andrew Garrison

 

KAREN SCHMEER FILM EDITING FELLOWSHIP

Presented to: Lindsay Utz

Death to the Movies will be arriving in Austin, TX tomorrow to report on SXSW. Be sure to check-in frequently this week for reviews and updates. There are a lot of films we’re excited for this year so stay tuned!

You can also follow us on twitter for more #SXSW coverage: @death2themovies

In this episode: John and Titus discuss the polarizing similarities between “The Tree of Life” and “Melancholia”… but that’s where the similarities end.

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