03/21/2006 09:08:00 AM 
INTERACTIVE
The place where the terms "Blogging" and "Weblog" were first coined, the SXSW Interactive Festival is largely a conference on the technical side of the web, focusing this year primarily on new technologies and trends in the interactive space such as Web 2.0 applications such as Flickr and Del.Icio.Us. With panels and seminars on new programming languages like CSS and AJAX, the conference attracted thousands of attendees from all sectors of the web, but by all accounts, this years SXSW Interactive was the festival of blogging and social networking, as evidenced by the preponderance of bloggers stumbling around downtown Austin and the massive sums of money being spent on lavish afterparties by hot web properties like MySpace.
FILM
A film festival that sits well outside the orbit of LA excess, the SXSW Film Festival is nevertheless a hotbed of emerging talent as well as a showcase for some established names in cinema. Home to acclaimed director Richard Linklater, Austin has a small but strong film scene, including several studios and a large student filmmaker population.
This year's festival included a few high-profile films in the program, from American Dreamz starring Hugh Grant and Mandy Moore, to A Prairie Home Companion by Robert Altman, V For Vendetta, and a special surprise preview screening of hometown hero Linklater's A Scanner Darkly based on the novel by Philip K Dick.
Alongside the big features, SXSW featured several programs of shorts, including "Bump, Tick, Scratch" by filmmaker Micah Perta as well as countless indie films and documentaries. Here is a top ten list of SXSW Official Selections from Indiewire:
"Al Franken: God Spoke", directed by Nick Dood & Chris Hegedus
"Americanese," directed and written by Eric Byler
"The Cassidy Kids", directed by Jake Vaughan, written and produced by Bryan Poyser
"Dance Party, USA," directed by Aaron Katz
"Darkon", directed by Andrew Neel and Luke Meyer
"Gretchen", directed by Steven Collins, produced by Jay Van Hoy, Lars Knudsen, and Anish Savjani
"Jam", directed by Mark Woolen
"LOL," directed, produced, shot and edited by Joe Swanberg
"Maxed Out", directed by James Scurlock
"Oilcrash," directed by Basil Gelpke and Ray McCormack
"Summercamp!," directed by Bradley Beesley and Sarah Price
MUSIC
The SXSW Music Festival is one of the largest industry events in the United States, attracting around 1500 bands and performers to Austin to play and network with thousands upon thousands of industry employees, record label owners, journalists and registrants from all over the globe. Expensive and available in limited numbers, registrations for SXSW are only the tip of the iceberg however as many brands and companies opt to host unofficial events around Austin coinciding with SXSW. While nearly all of downtown Austin's major music venues (and there are A LOT of them) are the sole domain of the SXSW badge-holder, there are loads of off-site venues and pop-up spaces hosting incredible programs of bands and djs throughout the week.
While the conference features panels and a tradeshow galore, the real action is away from the Austin Convention Center at venues where indie bands share stages with some of the biggest names in music and the buzzbands of 2006 are minted This year featured high-profile gigs from legends like Morrissey, Echo and the Bunnymen, Beastie Boys, and Flaming Lips alongside up-and-comers Tapes N Tapes, Wolfmother, Mystery Jets, Simian Mobile Disco (featuring Test Icicles and Mystery Jets producer James Ford), Islands (ex-Unicorns), Influx faves Love Is All, Serena Maneesh, and Pink Mountaintops.
Some of the most exciting events took place at unofficial parties however, many of which were sponsored affairs financed by brands ranging from Red Bull to Levi's and Sony Connect, who partnered with publications and all manner of liquor and beer companies to carry off some incredibly ambitious programming.
For instance, Sony worked with Vice to put on a two-day show spread over three venues in East Austin featuring around 70 performers ranging from old-school Texan punk Roky Erickson to metal revivalists Pelican to rap star Cadence Weapon. Their third event together on Saturday night featured live performances from The Stills, Wolfmother, Favourite Sons, and a surprise set from ZZ Top singer Billy Gibbons.
Even more ambitious and arguably more popular was the pop-up FADER/LEVI'S TRADING POST on the eastern edge of 6th Street, which is ground zero for SXSW. Held for the third year running, this space hosted daytime events with bands and djs ranging from Tapes N Tapes to NYC's Fixed DJs, the legendary Charlatans, Love Is All, Ghostface and many many more. With copious free beer from Red Stripe, SoCo and Lime, and "Freevis" seeded to talent via appointment, the Trading Post was packed with celebrities, artists and SXSW attendees every day of the conference. Occassional nighttime performances in the space included shows by Fader-affiliated band Editors and a showcase of artists signed to Stones Throw Records.
All in all it was a dizzyingly good time down in Austin. Here's hoping that by this time next year we can all have a few clones to help us catch all the great seminars, keynotes, screenings and concerts down at SXSW.
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