SXSW Film

Explicit Ills

"You depressed?" 7-year-old Babo asks Rocco. "Yeah," Rocco replies as he takes a drag. "You want a piece of gum instead?" "Sure." "I'm depressed, too," Babo admits. "Oh yeah?" Rocco asks. "What have you got to be depressed about?" Babo quickly answers: "The world." Actor Mark Webber's writing and directorial debut, Explicit Ills, is a multitiered story of real life in a fucked-up world. And Babo, played by incredible newcomer Burgos, is a wise sage. His mom (Dawson) is the victim of a backward health-care system; his best friend, Rocco (Dano), is struggling to pay his rent. Tangents form with druggies/escapists Michelle and Jacob (Shaw and Pucci), a couple attempting perfection, and high school love, but the moral is in the telling. Craftily shot by Patrice Lucien Cochet and executive produced by Jim Jarmusch, Explicit Ills isn't glamorous, but it is a hopeful glimpse of a common thread.

Explicit Ills won the Audience Award for Narrative Feature and the Special Jury Award for Cinematography.