Welcome to Now Streaming in Austin, highlighting locally-made titles to watch while self-quarantining.
Austin is our home, and right now it is hurting, and we are hurting, and even though we are all here we still miss it so much. A short video by the team at Big Flavor Films has crystalised all those emotions.
The small production house, founded by director, director of photography, and editor Brian Monnone, usually specializes in commercial work, capturing muscle cars in motion, and music videos for acts including Jonathan Terrell, Ben Danaher, and Tylor & the Train Robbers. But their latest project is a remarkable document chronicling the emptiness of downtown in the middle of the coronavirus lockdown, from the UT Tower to South Congress, and Dirty Sixth to the Long Center.
Explaining the video via the team’s Facebook page, Monnone wrote, “Austin feels empty right now, even lonely. But that emptiness isn’t without purpose. We put this video together to remind everyone why we are all staying home, why we are ‘social distancing.’ Please share this to remind each other the REAL meaning of our self-isolation everywhere.”
The video has become a sensation, with over a quarter of a million views in under three days. It’s not just because of the remarkable footage, but also because of the words that close the three minute short, words that remind us why we’re doing it. “It isn’t the end of the world. It is the most remarkable act of global solidarity we may ever see.”
Austin, Texas, March 20-23, 2020
• YouTube (Link)
This article appears in March 27 • 2020.
