As with previous SXSW Film Festivals, the Department of Radio-Television-Film filmmaking community is once again well-represented at this year's festival, which will be held March 11-19.  In addition to having faculty members lead panel groups (Sharon Strover and Andrew Garrison), the department alumni, current students, and faculty members have contributed to the below films.  Click on the film title for SXSW screening times.

RTF FEATURE FILMS in SXSW

Where Soldiers Come From
Director: Heather Courtney (MFA alum)

From a snowy small town in Northern Michigan to the mountains of Afghanistan and back, the film follows the four-year journey of childhood friends and their town, forever changed by a faraway war. (World Premiere)

Five Time Champion
Director & Writer: Berndt Mader (MFA alum)

A film about love, hope, petty theft, adultery, and the boundless opportunities presented by science.
Cast: Betty Buckley, Dana Wheeler Nicholson, Jon Gries, Ryan Akin, Robert Longstreet (World Premiere)

INCENDIARY: The Willingham Case
Directors: Steve Mims (RTF Lecturer) & Joe Bailey, Jr.

Cameron Todd Willingham: A martyr for anti-death penalty activists, a 'monster' for right-wing politicians and a flash point for an astonishing twenty-first century fight between science and folklore. (World Premiere)

ATTENBERG
Director: Athina Rachel Tsangari (MFA alum)

Marina, 23, is growing up with her architect father. Finding the human species strange and repellent, she keeps her distance. Instead she chooses to observe life through the songs of Suicide, the documentaries of Sir David Attenborough, and the sex-ed lessons she receives from her only friend, Bella. 
A stranger comes to town and challenges her to a foosball duel. Her father meanwhile prepares for his exit from the 20th century, which he considers “overrated.” Caught between the two men and Bella, Marina investigates the mysteries of the human fauna.

RTF SHORT FILMS in SXSW

FATAKRA
Director: Soham Mehta (MFA alum)
Sparks fly as a family reunites.

Noc na Tanečku (Night at the Dance)
Director: Annie Silverstein (current MFA student)
A profile of the last days of a Czech dance hall in rural Texas—and the old-timers who come there to polka.

Christeene, "Bustin' Brown"
Director: PJ Raval (MFA alum and RTF assistant professor)
In “Bustin’ Brown,” the fourth installment of the CHRISTEENE Video Collection, CHRISTEENE confronts the ever-present bastardization of anal sex from mainstream bourgeois heterosexuals by returning “da buh-hole” to its rightful owners.

Chainsaw Found Jesus
Director: Spencer Parsons (MFA alum)
A suburban fairytale about uneasy dreams, an unexpected play date, and a search for whale songs. Mistakes are made. Rocks could be thrown. Officer Schnauzer, are you gonna arrest somebody?

Parachute Kids
Director: Allen E. Ho (current MFA student)
A story about a troubled Asian American youth during Christmas in Los Angeles.