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South By Southwest Festival 2013: Short Film Line-up

Celia Rowlson Hall The Audition

The 2013 South By Southwest Festival Short Film Line-up has been announced. South By Southwest (SXSW) is “a set of film, interactive and music festivals and conferences that take place every spring (usually in March) in Austin, Texas, United States…Each of the three parts runs relatively independently, with different start and end dates.” SXSW is “delighted to present 109 films, including 69 world premieres, 14 North American and 5 U.S. Premieres.” This year’s South By Southwest Film Festival runs for March 8-17, 2013.

The short film listing for the 2013 South By Southwest film festival is below:

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Narrative Shorts

A selection of original, well-crafted films that take advantage of the short form and exemplify distinctive and genuine storytelling. The winner of our Grand Jury Award in this category is eligible for a 2014 Academy Award nomination for Best Narrative Short.

THE AUDITION
Director: Celia Rowlson-Hall

A young woman auditions for the role of “Clipboard Woman”

Black Metal
Director: Kat Candler

After a career spent mining his music from the shadows, the actions of one fan creates a chain reaction for the lead singer of a black metal band.

Boneshaker
Director: Frances Bodomo

An African family, lost in America, travels to a Louisiana church to find a cure for its problem child.

Cavalier
Director: Steven Schardt

An alcoholic father, recently served restrictive custody papers, kidnaps his son to go on a road trip.

Chiralia (Germany)
Director: Santiago Gil

Around an isolated lake, the experience of a tragedy travels like a wave through space and time, from person to person, from memory to imagination.

Dotty (New Zealand)
Directors: Mick Andrews, Brett O’Gorman

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A stubborn old lady struggles to send a text message to her daughter.

Ellen Is Leaving (New Zealand)
Director: Michelle Savill

On the eve of departing overseas, Ellen makes the fateful decision to gift her boyfriend a new girlfriend.

Indoor (UK)
Directors: Simon Atkinson, Adam Townley

An eleven year old boy, unable to fly his kite alone, befriends a peculiar girl who can not leave her caravan.

It’s Not You, It’s Me
Director: Matt Spicer

A young woman’s relationship takes a dark turn when every sound her boyfriend makes starts to annoy her.

Kelly
Directors: Nathan Honnold, Alex Zhuravlov

Kelly, a female entrepreneur, gives personal advice and insight into business and beauty. She finds inspiration in her personal experiences and in her role model Mary Kay.

LaDonna
Directors: Nathan Honnold, Alex Zhuravlov

An elderly couple finds excitement in breaking and entering.

MOBILE HOMES (USA/France)
Director: Vladimir de Fontenay

MOBILE HOMES tells the story of a young woman, trapped in sex trafficking, and her son who explores an unlikely way out.

MOUSSE (Sweden)
Director: John Hellberg

What could be easier than robbing a small bookie place on the outskirts of town?

Natives
Director: Jeremy Hersh

Rachel, a young Manhattanite, is so in love with her girlfriend’s Native American roots that she begin to lose sight of their relationship.

Necronomica
Directors: Kyle Bogart, Cliff Bogart

A friendship is tested as two Black Metal bandmates lose hope that they will ever achieve their ultimate goal: To be the most evil band in the world.

#PostModem
Directors: Jillian Mayer, Lucas Leyva

/#PostModem is a comedic satirical sci-fi pop-musical based on the theories of Ray Kurzweil and other futurists. It’s the story of two Miami girls and how they deal with the technological singularity, told in a series of cinematic tweets.

SEQUIN RAZE
Director: Sarah Gertrude Shapiro

Behind the scenes of a hit reality TV show, a jaded producer and a spurned beauty queen face off in mental mortal combat. One driven by cash rewards and ambition, the other clinging to her last shred of dignity. Only one can leave victorious.

Shale
Director: Jed Cowley

John, a stubborn shale pit owner, and his once dutiful wife, Sheila, have a grave confrontation after months of separation.

Si Nos Dejan
Director: Celia Rowlson-Hall

If they let us, we will love each other all our lives.

SKIN
Director: Jordana Spiro

A child taxidermist, an outsider in his small town, is entranced by a girl who finds his work beautiful. But just as their relationship begins to progress, he does something that drastically changes everything.

The Slaughter
Director: Jason B. Kohl

A pig farmer tests his unemployed son’s resolve to join the family business.

Social Butterfly (France/USA)
Director: Lauren Wolkstein

A 30-year-old American woman enters a teenage party in the South of France. Some of the guests wonder who she is and what she is doing there.

Top Floor
Director: Aaron David DeFazio

When Ron, a high powered hedge fund manager, finds out that his biggest investor may be pulling out of the fund, his world begins to collapse on him, as he juggles fatherhood, his ex-wife, and one very big secret.

Weighting
Directors: Dustin Bowser, Brie Larson

A relationship ends.

When We Lived in Miami
Director: Amy Seimetz

Filmed in Miami during Hurricane Isaac, When We Lived in Miami is a hypnotic short about the lengths one woman will go to keep her family from falling apart.

Documentary Shorts

Unfiltered slices of life, from across the documentary spectrum.

After (UK)
Director: Lukasz Konopa

‘After’ is a film about contemporary life in Auschwitz. In an observation from dusk till dawn, it portrays the theatre of everyday life around the grim confines and captures the energies and activities of a world fascinated by this former concentration camp.

Contents of C______’s Box, in no particular order
Director: Ian Berry

An exploration of a failed relationship through a box of mementos.

Endless Day (Germany)
Director: Anna Frances Ewert

This film is about an insomniac’s inner journey through a sleepless night.

Flutter (USA/Canada)
Director: Dara Bratt

Flutter is a short observational documentary about an ordinary man obsessed with the extraordinary.

I Kill
Directors: David White, Paul Wedel

The kindest slaughter: a short documentary about one man’s bloody job.

In Hanford
Director: Chris Mars

In Hanford is artist Chris Mars’s fantastic exploration of real incidents in Hanford, Washington, where the local environment was poisoned as a result of cold war era nuclear arms manufacture.

Introducing: Bobby.
Director: Roger Hayn

A character portrait of a debt-ridden man with a violent past in pursuit of a fresh start.

The Knife Maker
Director: Keith “keef” Ehrlich

Writer turned knife maker Joel Bukiewicz discusses the human element of craft–the potential for a skill to mature into an art. In sharing his story, he alights on the real meaning of handmade—a movement whose riches are measured in people, not cash.

KRS ONE: Brooklyn to the Bronx
Director: Brimstone, Joshua Moise

Hip Hop pioneer, KRS-One, takes us through his years as a homeless teenager in New York City. Traveling from Brooklyn to the Bronx, he begins to visualize his steps to becoming an MC.

Magnetic Reconnection (Canada)
Director: Kyle Armstrong

A short documentary film contrasting the Northern Lights with the harsh landscapes and decaying manmade debris littered throughout the northern Canadian town of Churchill, Manitoba.

The Other Dave
Director: Pasquale Greco

Life changes people; especially when it involves 1 billion volts of electricity. “Super Dave” Manning, was on his way to a pro golf career when lightning struck and permanently changed his perception of reality.

Recollections (Japan)
Director: Nathanael Carton

A community of tsunami survivors hold onto their existence through pictures recovered from the debris.

The Roper
Directors: Ewan McNicol, Anna Sandilands

A black man with hip-hop and zydeco roots hard-grafts through the local, all-white rodeo circuits in the Deep South as he dreams of competing in the National Finals Rodeo in Las Vegas.

SLOMO
Director: Josh Izenberg

Depressed and frustrated with his life, Dr. John Kitchin abandons his career as a neurologist and undergoes a radical transformation into SLOMO, trading his lab coat for a pair of rollerblades and his IRA for a taste of divinity.

The Village (Brazil)
Director: Liliana Sulzbach

The daily life of the dwellers of a microtown in the the south of Brazil which is about to vanish.

Vladimir Putin In Deep Concentration
Directors: Dana O’Keefe, Sasha Kliment

Vladimir Putin is the most powerful man in the world

Animated Shorts

An assortment of stories told using a mix of traditional animation, computer-generated effects, stop-motion, and everything in-between. The winner of our Grand Jury Award in this category is eligible for a 2014 Academy Award nomination for Best Animated Short.

The Blue Umbrella
Director: Saschka Unseld

It is just another evening commute until the rain starts to fall, and the city comes alive to the sound of dripping rain pipes, whistling awnings and gurgling gutters. And in the midst, two umbrellas—one blue, one not—fall eternally in love.

Cicada Princess
Director: Mauricio Baiocchi

Cicadas spend a long time planning…

The Event (USA/UK)
Director: Julia Pott

Love and a severed foot, at the end of the world.

The Gold Sparrow
Director: Daniel Stessen

In a black and white world artists must defend their color.

Kishi Bashi – ”I Am The Antichrist To You”
Director: Kishi Bashi

A surreal stop motion collaboration between avante-pop/violinist Kishi Bashi and acclaimed animator Anthony Scott (Coraline, Paranorman). An abandoned puppy awakes in a post-apocalyptic world with vivid memories of his love and all that he lost.

Marcel, King of Tervuren
Director: Tom Schroeder

Greek tragedy enacted by Belgian roosters.

Oh Willy…(Belgium/France/ Netherlands/Luxembourg)
Directors: Emma De Swaef, Marc James Roels

Forced to return to his naturist roots, Willy bungles his way into noble savagery.

Old Man
Director: Leah Shore

For more than 20 years Charles Manson has refused to communicate directly with the outside world. Until Now.

The Places Where We Lived
Director: Bernardo Britto

A man wakes up with a weird feeling. His parents are selling his childhood home.

Shelved (New Zealand)
Director: James Cunningham

Two loser robots discover they are being replaced… by humans

Return to Shorts Menu

Bite-sized bits for all of your sex, genre, and hilarity needs.

The Apocalypse
Director: Andrew Zuchero

Four uninspired friends try to come up with a terrific idea of how to spend their Saturday afternoon. The Apocalypse.

BOY FRIENDS
Director: Hugo Vargas-Zesati

A man disturbed by a dream awakens to realize his unconscious has called his self-awareness into question. When confronting himself, misfortune brings the temporal world into perspective.

Cats
Director: Michael Reich

A master groomer explains the sensual methods of dog grooming to his young and beautiful apprentice. Her mind begins to wander into a profane dream that melds the grossness of dog bathing with voyeuristic and domineering sexuality.

Child Eater (USA/Iceland)
Director: Erlingur Thoroddsen

A simple night of babysitting takes a horrifying turn when Helen realizes the boogeyman really is in little Lucas’ closet.

Dance Till You Drop
Directors: Eric M. Levy, Juan Cardarelli

She thought the house was safe, but under the right circumstances, anything can be dangerous. Even a dance montage.

Follow
Director: Owen Egerton

Follow is a dark thriller centered on a young couple’s dangerous bedroom games.

Hell No
Director: Joe Nicolosi

Hell No is a new type of terror, a reality-based horror film that pits real smart people in terrifying horror situations…

Play House
Director: Brandon LaGanke

Harold’s crumbling family is bound only by his unconditional love for them.

Root
Director: Caleb Johnson

A young woman has an affair that leaves a hideous mark. Her attempts to remove it only make it worse.

Two Fingers – ‘Vengeance Rhythm’ (UK)
Director: Chris Ullens

This is the story of a very angry teddy bear.

Under the Lion Crotch(Hong Kong)
Director: Wong Ping

Daily life living in Hong Kong.

A range of classic, innovative, and stylish work showcasing the scope of music video culture.

? (Alt-J) – ”Breezeblocks”
Director: Ellis Bahl

CHRISTEENE – “Big Shot”
Director: PJ Raval

Daniel Bedingfield – ”Secret Fear”
Director: Daniel Bedingfield

Flying Lotus – ”Until The Quiet Comes”
Director: Kahlil Joseph

Foster The People – ”Houdini”
Director: DANIELS

HEALTH – ”Tears”
Directors: David Altobelli, Jeff Desom

Keaton Henson – ”Small Hands”
Director: Joseph Mann

Killer Mike – ”Reagan”
Directors: Daniel Garcia, Harry Teitelman

Lushlife – “Magnolia”
Directors: Jesse Lamar High, Nik Harper

Mikhael Paskalev – ”I Spy”
Director: André Chocron

Modeselektor – “Evil Twin”
Director: Dent.De.Cuir

Moones – ”Better Energy”
Director: Peter Sluszka

Righchus – ”Stroker’s Row’’
Director: Taylor Engel

Rudimental – ”Feel The Love”
Director: Bob Harlow

Slugabed – ”Sex”
Director: Chris Ullens

Sóley – “Bad Dream”
Directors: Ellen Ragnarsdóttir, Raam Reddy

Starcadian – ”HE^RT”
Directors: Rob O’Neill, Starcadian

The Shoes – ”Time To Dance”
Director: Daniel Wolfe

Vitalic – ”Stamina”
Director: Saman Keshavarz

Wax Tailor Feat Aloe Blacc – “Time To Go”
Directors: Darcy Prendergast, Seamus Spilsbury

Wild Belle – ”Keep You”
Director: Melina Matsoukas

Willow – ”Sweater”
Director: Filip Sterckx

Texas High School students offer a glimpse of a bright future for Texas filmmaking.

Adam Mosley – Who I Am
Director: Jake Wangner

Adam Mosley is an amateur Fort Worth skateboarder. He spends his days rolling across the pavement learning new tricks. Take a quick look into his daily life.

Again
Director: Jade Basinski, Pearl Basinski

A sweet lullaby.

The Benefactress
Director: Alina Vega

Everything’s coming apart at the seams.

CaNnibal
Directors: Sophia Haid, Ivan Kumamoto

The can man can.

Charlie Hughes
Directors: Kyle Matthew, Hirsh Elhence

What did you do to mom?

The Cigarette Burns Slowly
Director: Connor Clift

Two individuals who work the night shift together decide to take a cigarette break. Chemistry unfolds.

Don’t Be Afraid Ashley
Director: Makena Buchanan

Don’t be afraid Ashley, It’s just a dark empty theater, there’s no one here but your friends.

Drop
Director: Zenzele Ojore

“Drop” is an experimental narrative that tells the story of a young drowning victim, her journey through the “in-between” and the many memories of her past to reach her alternate peace.

Dropoff
Director: Conner Miller

A man on the run—but from what?

THE EXCHANGE
Director: Louis J. Zylka

One night, a robbery took place at a museum and someone got murdered. It’s up to Detective Bones to solve this crime.

Gas Giant
Director: Andrew Haworth

Gas Giant is a stop motion animated short about a man who wakes up on his lawn and realizes he’s 50 feet tall.

GBFF
Director: Atheena Frizzell

More than anything else in the world, Reese wants a gay best friend. She sets out to get one but her plan goes terribly awry.

The Magic Lasso
Director: Amy Harvie

The Magic Lasso is a thriller about a young girl who wakes up from a coma in a post-apocalyptic hospital and the abandoned characters she discovers there.

Obsession
Director: Stephen Mendoza

Obsession is a thriller about a disturbed young woman who finally has the evening she has been dreaming of with the object of her affection.

Outbreak
Director: Maddison Lopez

What would the average high school student do to survive a zombie apocalpyse?

Partner
Directors: James Bradford, Max Montoya

Girl, you’ll be a woman soon.

Robert Cossman, Deceased
Director: Alexander Marking

The story around a mysterious briefcase

Sir Gawain & the Green Knight
Directors: Callan Harrison, Aidan Anders

Sir Gawain & the Green Knight is a hand cut paper animation chronicling the adventures of Sir Gawain and his attempts to uphold the code of chivalry.

Skin To Bone
Directors: Taha Dawoodbhoy, Brandon Torio

Skin To Bone is a fan made music video to the song “Skin To Bone” by Linkin Park. The video delves into the dark meeting behind the song.

TRAPPED (A Slenderman Short Film)
Directors: Jonathan Munoz, Kyle Curtis

An adaptation to the Slenderman urban legend. Inspired by the hit PC game SLENDER

True Story
Director: Miles Andres

Based on a true story.

Zipper
Director: Rachel Davis

A girl find a body and a zipper catches her attention….

Source: Sxsw

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Rollo Tomasi

Rollo Tomasi is a Connecticut-based film critic, TV show critic, news, and editorial writer. He will have a MFA in Creative Writing from Columbia University in 2025. Rollo has written over 700 film, TV show, short film, Blu-ray, and 4K-Ultra reviews. His reviews are published in IMDb's External Reviews and in Google News. Previously you could find his work at Empire Movies, Blogcritics, and AltFilmGuide. Now you can find his work at FilmBook.
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