Episode
EP047 - Life Is One Big Circle @ the AFS party at SXSW
- Podcast
- Doc Walks
- Published
- Apr 2, 2026
- Duration seconds
- 4086
- Processing state
not_requested
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Summary
This is one packed parking lot full of filmmakers! Why? Because it's SXSW—and time once again for Austin Film Society's annual party. And we're throwing you right into the thick of it, to connect with both visiting and local doc-makers making the scene, We kick it all off with the cutest damn Willie Nelson cameo you can imagine… no not the nonagenarian multi-hyphenate hero, but a baby goat named for the GOAT. Follow that with a controversial AI take from our old pal Bart Weiss, and this hometown shindig is off to a typically "weird" Austin start. Inside the party, we link up with Bianca Giaever and Ora de Kornfeld, the directors behind STALIN BOYS—a comedy doc about middle school boys in Marathon, TX who are deeply, unapologetically obsessed with Joseph Stalin. Their short took two awards at the fest and is heating up the circuit on its way to NY Times Op-Docs. We connect with Dallas drone-ster Monika Watkins, an alum of the AFS Doc Intensive. She has a lot to say about overcoming grief through vulnerability and making art—with updates on her animated short DABNEY, and intro'ing a new project: LOVE MO'. We finally meet Bradley Jackson, whose narrative feature STAGES is premiering here with Austin musician David Ramirez in the lead. Then our intrepid co-producer Dayton Thompson makes his on-camera debut and bumps into Bev Chukwu, who drops the line of the night—"Life is one big circle." Quick shots of Sarah-Ann Mockbee, Amy Bench, Chelsea Hernandez, and a dog named Buster—plus conversations with Jonathan Green, Riley Engemoen, and Samuel Diaz Fernandez round out the episode. And we close out with Sarah Kuck who offers insight into the Austin Doc Makers Club and kicking off a new chapter with the Video Consortium (so much to discuss here and a signal that we need to book…