:00:00. > :00:26.Time now on BBC News for Talking Movies.
:00:27. > :00:34.Hello and welcome to Texas in our special South by Southwest Film
:00:35. > :00:41.Festival addition. In today's programme, the opening night film
:00:42. > :00:47.from a visionary American director. Did eat live up to expectation? Most
:00:48. > :00:53.girls out there have the same formula. This has a different one.
:00:54. > :01:02.The action big budget films also came to town. It takes them on a
:01:03. > :01:10.ride. It is designed to be seen big and loud. It totally normalises the
:01:11. > :01:16.image of the average American Muslim and the average American Mexican
:01:17. > :01:31.immigrant. And Melissa Leo playing and activist. The question of
:01:32. > :01:36.religious freedom. And storytelling devices. All that and more in this
:01:37. > :01:48.special South by Southwest Film Festival addition of Talking Movies.
:01:49. > :01:51.Austin has been enveloped by South by Southwest Film Festival, a
:01:52. > :01:57.sprawling interactive media music and film festival that overwhelms
:01:58. > :02:08.the city. This year, 130 features were showcased. South by Southwest
:02:09. > :02:15.Film Festival opened amid great excitement with stars arriving to
:02:16. > :02:20.the premiere of song the song. It is very much a local tale involving in
:02:21. > :02:36.the correct that lovers in the backdrop of the music scene.
:02:37. > :02:42.Struggling Song writers. I played somebody who is trying to find some
:02:43. > :02:48.sort of transcendence and he does that through sexual encounters,
:02:49. > :02:56.drugtaking, any heightened experience. It is somebody who is
:02:57. > :03:05.very manipulative but also somebody who is a little bit lost himself. A
:03:06. > :03:14.very powerful, very wealthy but very destructive, self-destructive
:03:15. > :03:20.person. Song the song has many of the landmarks of its director. The
:03:21. > :03:27.story that is more impressionistic than leapfrog. For some it had an
:03:28. > :03:35.intoxicating effects. He is one of the most unique, original humans I
:03:36. > :03:43.have ever met. He is so brilliant and just his own person. This is one
:03:44. > :03:51.of the most unique experience I have ever had. He makes beautiful films.
:03:52. > :03:58.What is interesting about Jerry is he makes them differently from the
:03:59. > :04:06.usual format. Most films have the same formula and Terence Malik has a
:04:07. > :04:11.different formula. Terence Malik does not do interviews. He has
:04:12. > :04:21.become a mythical figure. He withdrew from filmmaking in the
:04:22. > :04:27.1970s. Since the tree of life, his most recent films have not brought
:04:28. > :04:39.him much claim. Would this restore his reputation? Critics for the most
:04:40. > :04:46.part hand it. -- panned. What is it you do? More enthusiasm for the
:04:47. > :04:57.Hollywood studio movies. Baby Driver was well liked. Aislinn Derbez as
:04:58. > :05:04.the getaway driver. It is really fun for everyone. Very fun movie feature
:05:05. > :05:17.movie, a date movie, a movie he can go with your friends. Baby Driver is
:05:18. > :05:22.made by British direct Edgar Wright. It is something he cannot live
:05:23. > :05:33.without and that is the movie you see. Also banning some decent
:05:34. > :05:43.reviews was Atomic Blonde in which Charlize Theron plays a lethal MI6
:05:44. > :05:56.James Bond spy on assignment. The Room, dubbed the Citizen Kane of
:05:57. > :06:03.current movies, brought credit to its star producer and director James
:06:04. > :06:10.Franco. The narrative films are a bit of a mishmash but several had
:06:11. > :06:17.immigrant themes. A portrait of a young Nigerian American working on
:06:18. > :06:23.Wall Street weighed down by obligations to his immigrant family.
:06:24. > :06:27.In telling the story of this particular guy who I found
:06:28. > :06:37.fascinating - at once an American on who dreams of artwork mobility, and
:06:38. > :06:42.African, an African-American. You get the experience through that
:06:43. > :06:55.particular lens, the Niger in America. And finally, the story of a
:06:56. > :06:58.Muslim Lesbian immigration lawyer whose love for a Mexican American
:06:59. > :07:05.woman and her interest in wrestling puts it in conflict with a very
:07:06. > :07:10.traditional Pakistani mother. In the light of the rising views, her film
:07:11. > :07:17.has been perceived in political terms. I was making a story about
:07:18. > :07:21.Muslims and Mexicans before Donald Trump made it popular to talk about
:07:22. > :07:27.Muslims and Mexicans in the same sentence. I set out to tell a story
:07:28. > :07:35.that reflected the people I know. The truth I know, the love that I
:07:36. > :07:44.see. Now in a bit more detail. This year there were documentaries about
:07:45. > :07:52.blacks being shot by police. This seems a routine aspect of life in
:07:53. > :08:01.America today. One focuses on one particular incident. Shots fired. In
:08:02. > :08:06.Milwaukee and Wisconsin April 2013 31-year-old is napping in a public
:08:07. > :08:13.park. Citizens call police complaining he looked suspicious. An
:08:14. > :08:19.altercation between him and a police officer ended in him being shot to
:08:20. > :08:24.death. He was diagnosed schizophrenic. Direct Eric Young
:08:25. > :08:32.found elements of this story troubling so he made contact with
:08:33. > :08:37.Hamilton's family. I work as a journalist in Milwaukee. I travel
:08:38. > :08:42.all around. I had done some stories on social activism so I knew a lot
:08:43. > :08:46.of the main players in social movements and went to one of the
:08:47. > :08:55.rallies at the Hamilton families had. They knew and could vouch for
:08:56. > :09:02.me. I kind of trying to explain. They just thought I was another
:09:03. > :09:07.newsgroup but I kept coming to all the rallies and talking to them more
:09:08. > :09:11.and they got a better sense of what I was tried to do. Do you have any
:09:12. > :09:24.reservations about being a white person telling a story rooted in
:09:25. > :09:30.African-American context. Am I missing something? Were our my blind
:09:31. > :09:36.spots? We tried to consult with people and do the best you can but
:09:37. > :09:44.it is definitely something that crossed my mind and it was a
:09:45. > :09:49.concern. It is a documentary that shows more than a family 's grief.
:09:50. > :09:53.In the film, frustration built as a city of the walk it takes months at
:09:54. > :10:00.a time to respond to these tragedy officially. During that period the
:10:01. > :10:05.family became more politically active. Our film is unique cause we
:10:06. > :10:10.were really on the ground right after this happened following the
:10:11. > :10:15.family, trying to reset the narrative in the media about their
:10:16. > :10:20.loved one and about fighting for justice and this family is really
:10:21. > :10:25.unique in that they are kind of leaving the social movement in
:10:26. > :10:29.Milwaukee. They got community members to come out once a week and
:10:30. > :10:40.they would talk about what the plan was for the week. In the film, we
:10:41. > :10:44.see the formation of the coalition for Justice as they rally against
:10:45. > :10:49.police and even quarrelled with others over political tactics. The
:10:50. > :10:52.director says his agenda was less political and more about the
:10:53. > :10:57.training and family driven to action by the loss of a loved one. My main
:10:58. > :11:02.thing was really to show from families Perspex if because it is
:11:03. > :11:10.easy for people to sit at an judge this family. -- perspective. If you
:11:11. > :11:16.got to know this family anybody can relate to this family. Nate and
:11:17. > :11:22.Maria are really good people and a lot of fun and even despite the
:11:23. > :11:26.tragedy they maintained a sense of humour and were able to have a good
:11:27. > :11:32.time. What would you do if that happened? Given that there are
:11:33. > :11:38.numerous instances of police shooting television airways are
:11:39. > :11:43.often seek with these tragedies and some believe the public has become
:11:44. > :11:49.numb. And a documentary make any difference? Nate Hamilton believes
:11:50. > :11:55.in the films ability to impact individuals more than anything else.
:11:56. > :11:59.Everything in this film will show our self expression and the love we
:12:00. > :12:05.have for our family and the love that has grown from the community.
:12:06. > :12:10.Seeing this film you can say I have seen this family, I can see me in
:12:11. > :12:16.this family, I can see myself marching in protest and talking to
:12:17. > :12:21.officials the same way this family was with courage, dignity and
:12:22. > :12:25.self-respect. The story raises question about how the Milwaukee
:12:26. > :12:30.police department handle this racially charged case. The film has
:12:31. > :12:35.topicality because at the end of last month, the new Attorney General
:12:36. > :12:39.Jeff Sessions indicated the Federal government will pull back on
:12:40. > :12:44.investigating police department that may have violated the civil rights
:12:45. > :12:50.of minorities. Eric Young says he finds Jeff Sessions rhetoric
:12:51. > :12:54.terrifying. He has only been in the White House for a few weeks but a
:12:55. > :13:00.ready president Trump with his policies is changing the way the
:13:01. > :13:06.rest of the world sees America. Deceptions of Americans and how they
:13:07. > :13:16.match with reality. Mainland looks at these perceptions. Her
:13:17. > :13:22.documentary follows to Chinese teenagers, they travel to the US to
:13:23. > :13:25.study in the State of Maine. They are part of a bigger phenomenon of
:13:26. > :13:35.economic leap privileged students from China on study of broad
:13:36. > :13:39.programmes in the US. There is an enormous wave of Chinese students
:13:40. > :13:44.coming to the US and to other parts of the world who seek higher
:13:45. > :13:48.education so they can experience American culture and learn the
:13:49. > :13:53.language. The goal is to go to college in the US and afterwords it
:13:54. > :13:59.is more of an open? . Do they go back or stay? Mainland touches on
:14:00. > :14:03.the differences between Chinese and American culture is. It is the
:14:04. > :14:11.subject matter familiar to the direct Miao Wang,, because she moved
:14:12. > :14:14.to the US when she was 13. How happiness varies between the two
:14:15. > :14:20.countries. How the Chinese happiness is different from American
:14:21. > :14:24.happiness. In America a lot of times people go to a sports game and feel
:14:25. > :14:34.really happy but in China most people just do not... That has to be
:14:35. > :14:37.some kind of basic, fundamental security... Like financial security
:14:38. > :14:43.before people can really feel like they can allow themselves to feel
:14:44. > :14:48.happy and I think in some ways she appreciates levels of the
:14:49. > :14:58.American... That sort of carefree in S. Carefree nurse. It shows that it
:14:59. > :15:04.is a sobering experience for the students to come to America.
:15:05. > :15:17.They had this idealistic American dream which is you can probably
:15:18. > :15:27.become wealthy, have a nice life here he is. But in a lot of ways,
:15:28. > :15:33.they are worse than China. Mainland took three years to make and was
:15:34. > :15:37.shot in the US and China. The director lets the visuals speak for
:15:38. > :15:45.themselves. At South by Southwest, it won an award for Excellence in
:15:46. > :15:51.Observational Humour. I watched a famous movie called High School
:15:52. > :16:03.Musical and decided to study in America. One Austin resident who
:16:04. > :16:13.loomed large was Mao Glenn Murray Ohare, and activists atheist. -- an
:16:14. > :16:17.activist atheist. She was once lauded as the most hated woman in
:16:18. > :16:25.America. Now there is a movie about her rise and very lurid fall. The
:16:26. > :16:32.film shows her as a larger than life figure. Her actor applauds her
:16:33. > :16:38.achievements. In the early 1960s single-handedly with the help of her
:16:39. > :16:42.young son got Christian prayer out of public schools in the United
:16:43. > :16:46.States of America by taking it to The Supreme Court where it was found
:16:47. > :16:53.to be indeed an infringement on the Constitution. You have just ruined a
:16:54. > :17:00.television show. She became a media star and was a difficult women
:17:01. > :17:07.according to many accounts off. -- woman. She had an interesting
:17:08. > :17:10.relationship with her father. He was too religious and she needed
:17:11. > :17:14.something to strike out against. As she got older and became more and
:17:15. > :17:19.more committed to the notion and got more and more informed about all of
:17:20. > :17:25.it, she also went on later in her life to form the American Atheist
:17:26. > :17:30.Association. The director said he was interested in the dynamics of
:17:31. > :17:34.her family life. I wanted to tell a story about a woman who had a very
:17:35. > :17:40.complex relationship with her family. A person who really believed
:17:41. > :17:45.in something and was seduced by the limelight and greed and ended up
:17:46. > :17:53.pushing away many of those people that loved her the most. Hello. A
:17:54. > :17:56.former employee was her downfall. Knowledgeable that the American
:17:57. > :18:00.atheist empire had sizeable funds, she saw an opportunity. She was
:18:01. > :18:07.kidnapped along with her son and granddaughter and they were all
:18:08. > :18:12.murdered by him in 1985. He was a career criminal. He was fascinating
:18:13. > :18:15.and deeply charming. And I think very much they had this rather
:18:16. > :18:20.extraordinary and bizarre relationship. O'Hare. And her
:18:21. > :18:26.relatives were mutilated and buried and it was indeed a gruesome. There
:18:27. > :18:31.were documentaries made about her, but this new film is a fictionalised
:18:32. > :18:41.account. Liberties were taken, but the director says a lot was true. A
:18:42. > :18:45.lot comes directly from interviews. We are lucky to have quite a few
:18:46. > :18:51.books that she wrote and plenty of articles and TV appearances to pull
:18:52. > :18:54.from. Religious conservatives who believe there is a place for prayer
:18:55. > :19:00.in public schools probably will not rush to see this movie, but to her
:19:01. > :19:03.supporters, this film shows her achievements still have great
:19:04. > :19:07.topical relevance. The question of religious freedom has come up again
:19:08. > :19:14.in our world, I don't think it actually died away. I think it gives
:19:15. > :19:18.pause to many of the things she says and what she says in the film. She
:19:19. > :19:21.is not asking people to stop their religion, she is not asking people
:19:22. > :19:26.to believe what she believes, she does not want to be rolled over into
:19:27. > :19:32.someone else's belief and me to do things according to someone else's
:19:33. > :19:39.belief. That is it. And after all, that is truly the American way.
:19:40. > :19:43.Nobody can hurt me. As a festival, South by Southwest is jampacked with
:19:44. > :19:47.corporate branding. But, some subversive works to emerge from
:19:48. > :19:51.other commercial infrastructure. For example, this year was Rat Film, a
:19:52. > :20:00.truly idiosyncratic documentary which defies easy categorisation.
:20:01. > :20:08.Tristan Daley reports. In his first documentary feature, Rat Film, Mr
:20:09. > :20:12.Anthony uses the rat to explore different topics, like housing the
:20:13. > :20:26.scammer nation, and current methods of pest control. -- discrimination.
:20:27. > :20:32.It takes place in Baltimore and uses the rat as a tool. I don't have
:20:33. > :20:36.strong feelings for the rat, but I do believe in the rat as a vessel
:20:37. > :20:41.for ideas and histories of people. That is what I am interested in, not
:20:42. > :20:46.actually the rat. Anything that cuts across boundaries and moves people.
:20:47. > :20:50.I could have made a film about garbage routes. Anything but
:20:51. > :20:54.transverse is distance and people and geography has the potential to
:20:55. > :21:00.create really strange connections. -- transverses. The film shows how
:21:01. > :21:09.the scammer nation contributed to the rise of rat populations in poor
:21:10. > :21:19.neighbourhoods in Baltimore. Videogame perspectives showed the
:21:20. > :21:22.perspective of the rats. The rat is a theme throughout. But critics
:21:23. > :21:29.could say it lacks coherence. There are so many ideas. I don't want to
:21:30. > :21:34.be confined to a mythical linear narrative that will give catharsis
:21:35. > :21:41.and resolution at the end. Anything that I try to push back on, that
:21:42. > :21:47.expectation of solution and a payoff and coming out of the film learning
:21:48. > :21:51.what we have to do next. I think the most effective a film can be is that
:21:52. > :21:55.you come out feeling radically different and not knowing what to
:21:56. > :22:00.do. And that is the most important step, I think. Open interpretation
:22:01. > :22:06.seems to be Theo Anthony's biggest priority. Watching Rat Film, it is
:22:07. > :22:10.easy to think that the animals are being used to show something
:22:11. > :22:15.profound. Fight he says there is no singular interpretation. It is
:22:16. > :22:22.whatever you bring to it. If you want to see people running around
:22:23. > :22:26.Baltimore killing or helping rats, it has that. If you want to learn
:22:27. > :22:30.about how a city is mapped and modelled and built, you can do that
:22:31. > :22:37.as well. The film premiered to positive reviews. It seems fitting
:22:38. > :22:42.that this should screen at South by Southwest, which is known for its
:22:43. > :22:45.mixed media brand. And any hopes this home-grown project will for a
:22:46. > :22:47.wrench into the expectations of the audience about what a documentary
:22:48. > :23:04.film should be. Well, that brings this special South
:23:05. > :23:08.by Southwest Film Festival edition of Talking Movies to a close. We
:23:09. > :23:13.hope you enjoyed the show. You can always find us on line and at
:23:14. > :23:19.Facebook. From me and the rest of the Talking Movies crew, it is
:23:20. > :23:21.goodbye, as we leave you with one of the music video is shown here at
:23:22. > :23:57.South by Southwest. -- videos. #Girl, you're too young, don't give
:23:58. > :24:00.up on life. Don't, don't give up on life. Don't stop believing#. #Girl,
:24:01. > :24:02.you're too young, don't give up on life. Don't, don't give up on life.
:24:03. > :24:05.Don't stop believing#. The cloud has slowly crept
:24:06. > :24:08.across the UK through the day Not rain for all, but this
:24:09. > :24:13.was the view through Friday There will be some rain around
:24:14. > :24:18.for many of us this weekend,