Film Threat 2008 SXSW Guide

Just a short time before George W. Bush announced his intentions to run for the Presidency, the New Haven-born hopeful bought a ranch in tiny Crawford, Texas. From this suitably folksy pulpit, he engineered that down-home, aw-shucks presidential campaign persona that captivated/divided the nation, and then there were those hanging chads and...well, you know the rest. CRAWFORD follows, through the eyes of the town's citizenry themselves, the crazy arc that accompanied two subsequent presidential terms: the press corps filming the same appropriately rural hay bale over and over again, the proliferation of Bush souvenir shops, flocks of tourists, and, later, the arrival of Cindy Sheehan and 20,000 riled-up protesters. The film is an examination of what happens when a town of 705 is thrust into the spotlight, and the irrevocable growing pains that linger in town long after the fuss has died down.