Austin Bound!
Well, the day finally came. We had been holding our breath for weeks knowing that our film “Rainbow Around the Sun” had been selected to world premiere at South By Southwest, but couldn’t spread the word until the official slate was released. So Tuesday morning, I jumped out of bed like a kid on Christmas and hopped on the ol’ worldwide interweb, searching for any news. Let me tell you something, for a first time filmmaker from Oklahoma City, it’s a pretty big thrill to see your name on Indiewire and the Hollywood Reporter. Even better, though, was the thrill of seeing the names of other films that I recognized:
“Older Than America.”
“Woodpecker.”
“The New Year Parade.”
“The Marconi Brothers.”
Yes, no less than FIVE films from the IFP Rough Cut Lab Class of 2007 were having either world or regional premieres at SXSW this year. I couldn’t believe it. While I hold a strong affinity for all these films and filmmakers, to be honest I only have an inkling of what their films are like. We only got to taste the little pink spoons of each others films at the Lab; later at the IFP Market, we heard each others’ sales pitches and got to know one another better, but our exposure to the films was limited to 3-4 minute trailers or scene selections. I’ve been dying to see how Alex Karpovsky balanced documentary footage with his own quirky ideas about that woodpecker down in Arkansas, and aching to experience the 90 minute gem that Tom Quinn whittled down from his endless hours of footage in Philadelphia. I hoped that we would all cross paths at some festival down the road, but I never expected it to be this many, this soon.
So the final schedule is released on February 15th, and I hope that I can make it to all these films. I hope they can make it to ours. Then I hope we can all go out for a beer together, and toast to each other’s accomplishment. The first round’s on Amy.
-Kevin Ely
co-director, “Rainbow Around the Sun”
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Oh I’m buying huh? Better start saving my quarters now Ely! Congratulations to all of the SXSW premieres and FYI, one our 2005 Lab Fellows, Jennifer Phang, will also be screening her film HALF LIFE there. She had a very well recieved premiere at Sundance last month, so be sure to support her too!