South by Southwest, the annual festival of film, music and interactive technology — now including sessions on video-gaming, comedy and food trends — again takes over the city of Austin, Texas, March 13-22.
The Texas-size festival of creative endeavor continues to grow its reach, demonstrating the vitality — and complexity — of American pop culture.
And that reach extends to Hawaii.
Hawaii International Film Festival programming director Anderson Le attends "South By" each year to find films he’ll earmark for HIFF — films like Maui-born filmmaker Destin Cretton’s "Short Term 12," a Grand Jury Award winner at SXSW in 2013.
Musicians attend SXSW to pick up buzz and make deals. In past years, island-music diva Anuhea and ska-rockers Pimpbot played in festival showcases, as have reggae artist Mike Love and hip-hop producer Mr. Carmack.
Hawaii’s Michael Camino, now a member of London’s Skinny Lister, will play a high-profile showcase March 18 in the Austin Convention Center. In 2013, SXSW also was good to Skinny Lister: After NPR’s Bob Boilen heard them busking in a hotel lobby, the band was invited to play on the public radio network’s "Tiny Desk Concert" series.
Jasper Wong and four other regulars from the street-art festival Pow! Wow! Hawaii will join artists from Austin in an official SXSW showcase of street art. The goal, said Wong, founder of the Hawaii event, is to "build bridges" between Pow! Wow! and SXSW, gain exposure and observe the way a citywide festival is conducted.
Interactive programs attract the highest numbers of Hawaii attendees, as techies and creatives converge to network with peers from across the nation.
Russell Castagnaro, president and general manager of ehawaii.gov, the state government’s official website, will be attending SXSW for the third time. Among his interests: the "gamification" of government Web portals to increase their usability. Ehawaii.gov transformed the online portal to Hawaii’s government services in 2013, using these interactive techniques.
WHILE much of HIFF’s Asia-Pacific film programming is scouted elsewhere, Le says SXSW ranks with Colorado’s annual Sundance Film Festival for discovering indie films, documentaries, music-centric movies and "midnight" films.
Well-known movies premiering at SXSW 2014 include "Chef," starring Jon Favreau, which was partially filmed in Austin, and "Veronica Mars," a crowd-funded sequel to the cult TV series.
"It’s a genre-oriented fest," Le said. "Like Sundance, but with great barbecue."
It opens with the world premiere of "BRAND: A Second Coming," a documentary on Russell Brand, the British comedian and actor turned video blogger and political activist. Brand will appear at the festival. Other speakers include Ava DuVernay, director of Oscar-nominated "Selma," RZA, director of "The Man with the Iron Fists" and founder of the legendary hip-hop act Wu-Tang Clan, and Brian Grazer, Academy Awardwinning producer of "A Beautiful Mind."
"You need to attend festivals to have face time with different people, to take the pulse of what’s going on," Le said. "The panels are a great way to meet people, to get ideas."
Le is also looking to SXSW as a cloudy crystal ball that might hold clues as to "how technology is changing the distribution landscape for film and how it’s changing the methods independent filmmakers use to get their work out there."
SXSW MUSIC is now in its 29th year, billing itself as "the world’s leading music industry event." It offers daytime panels, talks, a trade show and Music Gear Expo, along with a series of showcase performances at the Austin Convention Center.
At night, showcase performances offer a crazy kaleidoscope of choices, with more than 2,200 regional, national and international acts on more than 100 stages. SXSW was once known mainly for alt-country music, but hip-hop has become a major aspect.
Showcase artists this year include DJ-producer A-Trak, eccentric hip-hop artist Prince Paul, electronic music artists Zeds Dead, legendary Americana songwriter Ray Wylie Hubbard and indie rockers Delta Spirit.
"Nobody gets paid," Skinny Lister’s Camino said flatly, whether they are a name brand or unknowns. Bands can choose between a minimal showcase stipend and badges that let members attend other SXSW events; most choose the badges.
"You go there hoping to build attention for the band," Camino said. "In 2013 we played five different official shows, and we did busking every day." It was busking — in that Austin hotel lobby — that got the band its NPR gig. The band also found a European booking agent at SXSW that year.
"If you just play your one show and leave, it’s not going to work for you," Camino said. "But if you work your ass off, it will pay off. We left South being glad we did it."
THE INTERACTIVE stream presents itself as an incubator for sharing ideas, promoting cutting-edge technology and digital creativity. Programming ranges from hands-on training sessions to big-picture analysis, with a trade show featuring recruiters and job seekers.
Among the intriguing titles: "The Share Economy Is Failing — Abort or Retry?" with Gadi Ben-Yehuda, a Washington, D.C.-based consultant who’s worked as an "innovation analyst" in the public and private sectors.
Inaugurated last year, Southbites — also the name of a SXSW-sponsored food-truck lot that operates throughout the festival — is a stream of culinary-themed sessions. Celebrity chef David Chang (Momofuku) tops a lineup presenting panels such as "The Future of Food? A Personal Growing Revolution."
Also expanding is the SXSW Gaming Expo, a free three-day exhibition that showcases innovations in video games and other aspects of geek culture, along with technology that might appeal to gaming-industry types in Las Vegas and beyond.
Phil Tripp, the liaison between SXSW and Hawaii, Australia and New Zealand, said festival attendees will find ample opportunities to listen "to the great thought leaders and industry creatives."
"You may go for music, but you’ll end up rubbing elbows with hackers, poster artists, game developers or comedians," he said. "There’s so much to discover."
———
On the Net:
» SXSW.com
