It was our first time at SXSW, but we truly hope it won't be our last. We had a great time from food trucks (I'm looking at you Chi'lantro) to pedicabs to great films and great company to Allen's boots and tacos, tacos, tacos. We really felt embraced by the festival community - as well as the people of Austin, who are eerily and authentically nice!
Our world premiere at the Stateside Theatre was a thrill, and Jim Fouratt filmed our Q&A! Cat and Elizabeth's re-telling of the now infamous bowling ball dropping story is not to be missed! You can watch it here. Then we were on to The Violet Crown Cinema - where all the chairs are pretty much couches or beds (meaning AMAZING!). The audience for this Q&A asked some pretty insightful questions about the nature of documenting such revolutionary work, and how Elizabeth can surpass the London performance. Laura Flanders filmed! You can watch it here.
Also, we started an instagram account in honor of SXSW; here are a few highlights!
Born to Fly World Premiere at the Stateside Theatre!
Catherine, Mickey Cottrell (Inclusive PR), Elizabeth Streb, and Jonah Blechman (Inclusive PR) after a long day of interviews.
Laura Flanders, Elizabeth Streb and Catherine Gund
Associate Producer Jessica Ruffin playing it cool next to the robot-headed monster.
But SXSW wasn't all running around downtown Austin taking selfies, we also had a couple great dinners hosted by filmmaker (and B2F archival camera person!) Ellen Spiro and longtime supporter of contemporary artists and Art Matters Board Member Laurence Miller. Like SXSW and so many aspects of Austin, Spiro's and Miller's homes both demonstrated a creative convergence of art, comfort, and forward-thinking. Laurence Miller has converted his home into an exhibition space for artists to explore the domestic through their practice - it's called testsite. The current installation is by artist John Cooper - who wove garden hoses throughout the house - creating a maze that brought out the kid in all of us.
Sadie, Catherine, and Jessica at testsite.
Andrea Mellard (The Contemporary Austin) and Catherine enjoying testsite.
Elizabeth Streb also presented a talk at the Contemporary Austin - Jones Center. We were thoroughly impressed by the innovative architecture in the Community room. And we were even more impressed by the number of people who pushed their way through downtown traffic in order to hear Elizabeth speak.
All in all a great success. Looking forward to Cleveland this weekend and Full Frame on April 3rd!
Visit #borntoflymovie on Instagram for more great pics!