Something to Talk About

By now surely you've heard the mumbelore of mumblecore, but in case not, a brief summation: A few years back, some kids started making movies – low-budget, DIY, somewhat shoegazing. If they didn't know one another already, then they found each other – in fact, a lot of them found each other here in Austin, at SXSW, where producer Matt Dentler was an early champion of core 'corers Andrew Bujalski, Joe Swanberg, and the Duplass brothers. So the story goes, the term "mumblecore" was tossed about – jokingly, among friends and libations – at SXSW 05. For better or worse, the name stuck, and the movement stuck, too. With last year's wide release of SXSW alumni Bujalski's Mutual Appreciation and Swanberg's Hannah Takes the Stairs – which rocketed our cover girl, Greta Gerwig, to most-photogenic-face-of-the-movement status (sorry, boys – we think you're real purdy, too) – the movement gained national recognition, an edifying series at New York's IFC Center, and, predictably enough, a nasty backlash. Love it or hate it, mumblecore is here to stay, as evidenced by this year's Festival program book.

Here in these pages, you'll find mumblecore and a lot more; SXSW continues its tradition of premiering terrific docs, as well as bolsters its growing reputation as a launching pad for comedies, and we've got something to say about all of it.

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For continuing SXSW coverage, check out the Screens blog, Picture in Picture, at austinchronicle.com/pip.

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