Filmmakers in Focus keeps on keeping on, and this edition looks at four films that deal with some controversial issues and subjects.
A Teacher dissects a most inappropriate teacher/student relationship; Milo is, well, an "ass monster movie"; Snap takes us on "a dark and terrifying journey into the depths of the psychopathic mind"; and Unhung Hero confronts the ultimate questions - does size matter?
Click on a title below to read the conversation, then start planning your SXSW with our film schedule.
Want more Filmmakers in Focus? Read all the interviews to date on this page
Hannah Fidell on A Teacher
Image courtesy Visit Films
Tell us a little about your film.
A Teacher is about a young woman, a high school teacher, who has an affair with one of her students. It's really about a woman on the verge with an addiction and, most importantly, it's a slice of life story that shows one particularly ill-fated relationship's demise.
Why did you start making films? 
Hannah Fidell, courtesy
the filmmaker
I started making films because as I began to watch more and more movies, I realized there was a real lack of films that I enjoyed. Why not try and make a film that I'd want to see?
Have you been to SXSW before?
I screened my short film, THE GATHERING SQUALL, at SXSW in 2012 as well as another short that I produced called MAN & GUN. It's important to get out in Austin and explore...don't sit in theaters all day long. Go to Barton Springs! Go to Torchy's. Drink lots of lonestar!
Tell us a random fact (or two!) that would help our attendees get a better idea of who you are.
Originally from Bethesda, MD, I'm a graduate of Indiana University and The New School, a former Austinite and a current Brooklyn resident.
Jacob Vaughan on Milo
Image courtesy Alex Lombardi
Tell us a little about your film.
MILO is about a guy with a creature living in his ass. It's also about fear of fatherhood and commitment, and facing your personal demons. But essentially it's about a guy with a creature living in his ass.
Why did you start making films? 
Jacob Vaughan, courtesy
the filmmaker
I've always had a desire to make things, build things, take things apart. When I was young, adults saw this in me and said I should be an engineer. So I said, sure, I'll be an engineer. Of course the whole time I also loved making little movies with my parents video camera.
Cut to... me at Purdue studying aerospace engineering and hating every second of it and suddenly realizing, in the middle of my third semester, that I would rather be making films. Seemed like a long shot but I changed majors and transferred to the University of Texas at Austin. Every day since then I've always known that I made the right choice. It's a long haul and who knows if "success" will come, but I feel like I'm on the right path.
Have you been to SXSW before?
I've had a couple of features and some short films at SXSW in years past. I always have a great time. I have no tips. Enjoy.
Tell us a random fact (or two!) that would help our attendees get a better idea of who you are.
I'm the guy with the ass monster movie.
Victor Teran & Youssef Delara on Snap
Image courtesy Cima ProductionsTell us a little about your film.
A stylish psychological thriller set against the underground dub step DJ scene that takes the audience on a dark and terrifying journey into the depths of the psychopathic mind as it threatens to explode into horrific violence.
Why did you start making films? 
Youssef Delara & Victor Teran,
courtesy the filmmakers
Because we weren't smart enough to do anything else in life but we were smart enough to fake doing everything else in life.
Have you been to SXSW before? What are you most looking forward to?
We have not been to SXSW. We're most looking forward to is the famously laid back vibe compared to other film festivals around the world. We can't wait to mix it up with a bunch of people who love making and watching movies as much as we do. Selling our film wouldn't be half bad either.
Tell us a random fact (or two!) that would help our attendees get a better idea of who you are.
Youssef is famous for butchering turns of phrase e.g. people are "sick as a horse" or he'll refer to an easy joke as "low hanging fish." but he's a serious filmmaker. When we do shot lists, he enters a zone that's exactly like Neo seeing all the flashing numbers that make up the MATRIX. He'll start firing off ideas like "in super slo-mo from 40 feet overhead but on a 135mm so we're in med close up. We're going to need a Technocrane and a Phantom camera".
Victor's main cinematic goal seems to be to write increasingly more awkward sex scenes into each of his films until he finally achieves a spot-on portrayal of his own life. In addition to being a professional filmmaker, he's an amateur scientist, amateur singer/songwriter and a semi-pro litigator of anything that's debatable, big and small (his producing partners will happily agree on that - they better).
Brian Spitz on Unhung Hero
Image courtesy Strategy PR Tell us a little about your film.
One of my best friends botched wedding proposal unfortunately went viral. Upon further digging, the main reason why she said no was he wasn't big enough in the sack. Through a colorful group of investors in Germany, yup even some German Grandmothers, this crazy adventure unraveled taking us all over the world investigating this age old question of size and if it really matters.
When did you start making films? 
Brian Spitz,
courtesy the filmmakers
My best friends older brother was always casting me in his home movies -- you know the character who gets jumped by ninjas, the kid we gets the mayonnaise and skittle sandwich to the face…and so, I gradually migrated to the other side of the camera.
But for real, filmmaking is this tool, this art that allows us to connect people through these universal goose-bumps and human emotions…a laugh, a cry…and in this case, yes, a penis. Bringing people together through film has always been my goal as a storyteller I guess.
Have you been to SXSW before?
First time! SUPER EXCITED. So many cool things going on, can't wait.
Tell us a random fact (or two!) that would help our attendees get a better idea of who you are.
I accidentally crashed the Rush Hour 3 wrap party as the only guest, and then I won the cash prize raffle out of hundreds of people. Jackie Chan was not too happy with me.
