Get the scoop on filmmakers presenting work at SXSW Film! Today's Filmmakers in Focus hones in on the artists behind three of the high profile premieres in our Narrative Spotlight category.
Click on a title below to read the conversation, and head to the film schedule now to start assembling your plan for SXSW Film.
Interested in reading more? Head to this page for a list of all the interviews to date!
- John Sayles on Go For Sisters
- Walter Strafford on Kilimanjaro
- Daisy von Scherler Mayer on Some Girl(s)
John Sayles on Go For Sisters
Image from Go For Sisters courtesy John Castillo
Tell us a little about your film.
Two women who grew up so tight they could 'go for sisters' drift apart, then are reunited after twenty years when one is assigned to be the parole officer for the other (just out of jail and fighting a drug habit).
Awkward enough, but then the parole officer's son is kidnapped south of the border and she needs help from the other side of the law.
Why did you start making films?
John Sayles, courtesy
John Castillo
There were so many interesting people and stories around me in the world that I had never seen on screen.
Have you been to SXSW before? What are you most looking forward to?
I've been to the music festival, and seen movies, but never had a film actually in the festival.
Looking forward to some real barbeque and immersion in Barton Springs.
Tell us a random fact (or two!) that would help our attendees get a better idea of who you are.
This is the eighteenth film I've made, and the one with the most inadequate budget.
I also write novels, which cost only your time and a couple reams of paper.
- Add Go For Sisters to your schedule here
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Walter Strafford on Kilimanjaro
Image from Kilimanjaro courtesy Ryan Piers WilliamsTell us a little about your film.
Kilimanjaro depicts a man's struggle to escape his routine existence. With this story, I wanted to champion those who strive to live a less ordinary life. Kilimanjaro is my first feature film as a writer-director. We shot for twenty days last summer with six of the shooting days being in my studio apartment!
Why did you start making films? 
Walter Strafford,
courtesy Kilimanjaro
I started making films because I was enthralled by classic movies especially "The Godfather" and I wanted to try to cast the same spell on others.
Have you been to SXSW before? What are you most looking forward to?
I have never been to SXSW before. In fact, I've never been to any major film festival as a filmmaker. I am most looking forward to checking out other films and meeting my fellow filmmakers; as well as having the chance to screen Kilimanjaro before a larger audience.
Looking forward to some real barbeque and immersion in Barton Springs."
Tell us a random fact (or two!) that would help our attendees get a better idea of who you are.
I grew up in a very small town (technically a village) in rural Ohio called Gallipolis. Pronunciations vary.
My parents are physicians who raise goats as a hobby. My father's truck bears the bumper sticker, "Dairy Goats are delightful."
Daisy von Scherler Mayer on Some Girl(s)
Image from Some Girl(s) courtesy Kristin KlierTell us a little about your film.
Based on Neil LaBute's play, the film follows a young man (Adam Brody) as he travels around the country trying to make amends with his ex-girlfriends before he gets married. The five scenes are as different as the women in them (Emily Watson, Zoe Kazan, Jennifer Morrison, Mia Maestro and Kristen Bell) funny, painful, thoughtful and, with LaBute, always surprising.
Why did you start making films? 
Daisy von Scherler
Mayer, courtesy
Some Girl(s)
I couldn't break into theater directing. I grew up backstage in NYC. My mother, Sasha von Scherler, was a favorite of Joe Papp's and brought me to rehearsals. I remember the exact moment, watching Papp, when I was, maybe, seven years old, that I decided to be a director when I grew up. Of course, I always loved movies, made a Super 8 horror film in high school and studied film a bit in college but my real goal was theater.
Then after graduation, my best friend, Harry, suggested we write a movie for me to direct. I thought that sounded hard but also fun. And Party Girl was just that, working hard and having fun. From then on, I was hooked on filmmaking but I am still trying to have that much fun doing it. This film, Some Girl(s) came close!!
Have you been to SXSW before?
No but have always wanted to!
Tell us a random fact (or two!) that would help our attendees get a better idea of who you are.
Allergic to shellfish. Married Mom of two. Love: Louis CK, expensive jeans and Christine Amanpour. Hate: Garrison Keillor, The Doors and spiritual chain letters.
