Blip Festival: Reformat the Planet
Director: Paul Owens.
A documentary look at the movement known as ChipTunes, a vibrant underground scene based around creating new, original music using old video game hardware. (World Premiere)
Heavy Load
Director: Jerry Rothwell.
Heavy Load are a punk outfit subject to the combustible flux of ego, ambition, fantasy, expectation and desire that fuels any emerging band. But they're also, uniquely, made up of musicians with and without learning disabilities. (World Premiere)
Heavy Metal in Baghdad
Director: Eddy Moretti and Suroosh Alvi.
Playing heavy metal in a Muslim country has always been a difficult proposition, but after Saddam's regime was toppled, there was a brief moment for the band in which real freedom seemed possible. (U.S. Premiere)
Nerdcore Rising
Director: Negin Farsad.
"Nerdcore" is the newest, dorkiest wave of hip-hop, born out of the internet and made possible by computer-obsessed geeks. (World Premiere)
Of All The Things
Director: Jody Lambert.
A Filipino concert promoter has been begging Dennis Lambert (one of the most successful and gifted songwriter/producers of the '70s and '80s) to come tour for decades. Thirty-five years after the release of his solo album, he finally agreed. (World Premiere)
Rainbow Around the Sun
Directors: Kevin Ely and Beau Leland. Writers: Matthew Alvin Brown and Kevin Ely. Starring: Matthew Alvin Brown, Jamie Buxton, Doug Van Liew, Brian Stockton.
A rock musical about the healing power of creativity. Matthew Alvin Brown stars as Zachary Blasto, a hard-drinking, talented songwriter and performer who envisions madcap musical fantasies in order to avoid dealing with the downward spiral of his personal life. (World Premiere)
Throw Down Your Heart
Director: Sascha Paladino.
Cameras follow American banjo virtuoso Bela Fleck on his journey to Africa to explore the little known African roots of the banjo, and record an album. (World Premiere)
The Upsetter: The Life & Music of Lee "Scratch" Perry
Directors: Ethan Higbee and Adam Bhala Lough.
The fascinating story of Lee "Scratch" Perry, a visionary musician and artist from poor rural Jamaica who soon became of the most influential artists in reggae and dub. (World Premiere)
Wesley Willis's Joyrides
Director: Chris Bagley and Kim Shively.
A portrait of the self-proclaimed rock 'n' roll star and Chicago city artist, Wesley Willis. (Regional Premiere)
The Wrecking Crew
Director: Denny Tedesco.
You heard them playing on the Beach Boys hits, on the Mamas and the Papas' recordings, on Frank Sinatra records, on Monkees' singles, and they were Phil Spector's Wall of Sound. Most likely, you never heard their name. If you knew who they were, you called them "the Wrecking Crew." (World Premiere)
SXSW Film Festival 2008 – Emerging Visions
SXSW Film Festival 2008 – Narrative Feature Competition
SXSW Film Festival 2008 – Documentary Feature Competition
SXSW Film Festival 2008 – Spotlight Premieres
Human Rights Watch Film Festival 2008 – London
Berlin Film Festival 2008 – Competition Line-Up
Envisioning Russia: A Century of Filmmaking