The Freak Goes On

SXSW FILM

• The Freak Goes On

  SXSW Film: an introduction

  BY KIMBERLEY JONES

• Letting the Freak Brothers Flag Fly

  Gilbert Shelton on his iconic comic's long, strange trip to the screen

  BY MARGARET MOSER

• Kismet in Kashmere

  Thunder Soul brings the generations back together

  BY KATE X MESSER

• To 'Mars,' With Love

  Reinventing the romantic comedy, to infinity and beyond

  BY BELINDA ACOSTA

• Quiet on the Set

  Less talk, more action: Aaron Katz and Cris Lankenau sound off on Cold Weather

  BY JAMES RENOVITCH

• Rant, Revisited

  A new doc explores the life and times of underground comic Bill Hicks

  BY RICHARD WHITTAKER

• Jerry's Kids

  A new generation dances Jerome Robbins' 'ballet in sneakers' to the big screen

  BY ROBERT FAIRES

• Bizarre Love Triangle

  Bryan Poyser's comedy of catharsis, Lovers of Hate

  BY MARC SAVLOV

• 'I Like Films About Naked People Yelling at Each Other'

  What turns Lovers of Hate producer Megan Gilbride on

  BY MARC SAVLOV

• Muhammad Was a Punk Rocker

  How a fictional music genre blossomed into a real movement

  BY MARJORIE BAUMGARTEN

• Riding the New Range

  The Ride goes to the rodeo

  BY RICHARD WHITTAKER

• We Are Having a Hootenanny

  And Stephin Merritt is not the life of the party

  BY MELANIE HAUPT

• Country Bear Jamboree

  Malcolm Ingram finds his people, and films 'em, too

  BY KATE X MESSER

• Artist in Exile

  Can Bahman Ghobadi ever go home again?

  BY MARC SAVLOV

• Small Town, Big Find

  The energy debate gets personal in Haynesville

  BY JOE O'CONNELL

In this age of click-on connectivity, the counterculture is readily available over the counter, and the underground is so above ground it might as well be billboarded. Still, the freak goes on. We're talking genuine freaks, and their kissing cousins, the rebels, the outcasts, the iconoclasts. We've chosen to champion a dozen-plus films in these pages that in turn champion trailblazers in art, music, politics, the pleasures of the flesh, and more. So what are you waiting for? Get yr freak on.

Venue Guide

Alamo Drafthouse at the Ritz (320 E. Sixth)

Alamo Drafthouse South Lamar (1120 S. Lamar)

G-Tech theatre (Austin Convention Center, Exhibit Hall 5)

The Hideout (617 Congress)

Paramount Theatre (713 Congress)