SXSW Film

Texas Shorts

Shorts Program

A shorts program leaves one wondering about the form's essence: Is it poetry? A moment exploded? A feature condensed? A punch line? The answer, of course, is all of the above. The best here is Miguel Alvarez's haunting "Mnemosyne Rising," about a man alone in a spaceship who learns he's about to go home just as strange visions begin. A 20-minute mini feature, its look is ambitious, its truth sublime. Another standout is Jason William Marlow's "The Big Bends," about a dying man holed up in the desert whose meaningless life intersects with that of illegal immigrants. Meanwhile, "Honorarium" – about a controversial speaker's visit to a college – is so crisp and professional it leads to the question, "Why isn't Austin auteur Steve Mims making more features?" Add "Better Safe Than Sorry"'s fiery squirrel, Anne S. Lewis' nursing home visit guide in "Tough Crowd," portrait-of-a-poet "El Abuelo," and obsessive love in "Now or Never," and short film nirvana awaits.

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Saturday, March 20, 1:15pm, Lamar 3