Texas Shorts

D: Various

Since Austin is good enough to open its borders every spring to a horde of film-industry outsiders, it seems only fair that filmmakers from the city get a chance to show them how things are done here in Texas. So, in addition to a host of local features, including the Zellner Bros.’ Goliath and René Pinnell and Claire Huie’s The King of Texas, SXSW also offers the Texas Shorts collection. This year’s movies are as varied as the state from which they sprang, running the gamut from loving cultural documentaries (Sergio Carvajal and Andrew Ruwan’s “Quinceanera”) and loopy satires (Will Elliott’s “Peterson’s Savings and Loan”) to intense dramas about cuckolded hit men and imaginative cancer victims (Stephen Acevedo’s “Shot” and Chronicle contributor Toddy Burton’s “The Aviatrix”). Jeanne Stern’s beautifully animated “Sprout” provides the series a sense of wonder and whimsy, while Byron Brown’s “A New Toy” is a splash of comic absurdity designed to make audiences drop their prejudices and bask in a different kind of reality, even if only for five minutes.

Saturday, March 15, noon, Alamo South Lamar

This article appears in March 14 • 2008.

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