SXSW 2022 - Bad Axe, Mama Bears, and Not Even For A Moment Do Things Stand Still

Author: [email protected] (Charlene Goto, Erin Lim, Bitch Talk Podcast, Angela Tabora, Go-To Productions, David Siev, Daresha Kyi, Tammi Terrell Morris, Suzanne Brennan Firstenberg, Jamie Meltzer, Not Even For A Moment Do Things Stand Still film, Bad Axe fil
Published: Wed 23 Mar 2022
Episode Link: None

Welcome to day 4 of our SXSW Film Festival coverage! We're excited to bring you a group of beautifully made, deeply impactful documentaries, and equally satisfying conversations.

Bad Axe is a documentary shot in 2020 as an Asian-American family struggles to keep their restaurant alive in the midst of a pandemic, Neo-Nazis, and Trump's rural America. Director David Siev explains the complications of switching between being a member of the family versus the director of this film, and how this project taught him more about his family- especially his father- than he ever could have imagined.

In the documentary Mama Bears, we're introduced to a group of evangelical Christians (aka Mama Bears) that love and support their LGBTQ+ children despite the the risk of losing friends, family, and their faith communities. Director Daresha Kyi and participant Tammi Terrell Morris explain power in community, one's ability to transform and grow, and the importance in showing an African American family in this film.

The short documentary film Not Even For A Moment Do Things Stand Still highlights an art installation by Suzanne Brennan Firstenberg, where she memorializes every American death from Covid-19 by planting a white flag in the National Mall. Shot in September of 2021, we get an intimate glimpse as family members and loved ones visit the site, and deal with mourning and closure in the midst of an unfolding tragedy. By the end of the installation's two week run, she had planted 701,133 flags. Director Jamie Meltzer and artist Suzanne Brennan Firstenberg describe how the film so beautifully captures the essence of Suzanne's vision, what it was like to film families during their most intimate moments of grief, and the importance of seeing the monumental scope of Covid-19 but still recognizing the personal significance in every life it's effected.

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SXSW 2022 - Bad Axe, Mama Bears, and Not Even For A Moment Do Things Stand Still