There's no point even bothering to attend the South by Southwest Film Festival if you're not open to discovering movies you haven't heard about -- and may never get the chance to see again. Sure, I was plenty glad to see "Harold & Kumar Escape From Guantánamo Bay" a month before the rest of the world, but that's not what I'm talking about. Despite the Indiewood premieres, the ever-larger hordes of attendees and the expanding media presence, SXSW still feels like a showcase (and trade show) aimed at people who love movies more than the movie business, and whose definition of "independent film" still includes some elements of anti-Hollywood subversion and rebellion.

While the spring weather in central Texas was a little disappointing this year (it finally cracked 70 degrees -- on the day I was heading back to New York), and I was so busy I never checked out Austinites' numerous barbecue recommendations, this was a terrific SXSW for unsung and off-the-radar motion pictures. Of course my list of 10 discoveries is entirely subjective, and it also has an element of randomness, because nobody can see everything at a fest of this size (in accordance with my usual festival tradition, I've got one movie on my list I didn't see). It's weighted in favor of documentaries, seven to three, which isn't a surprising ratio given the crapshoot nature of narrative features at SXSW (and most other festivals that aren't Cannes or Sundance).

» Continued