SXSW 09: Kinky movie? Why the hell not?

AUSTIN (KXAN) - South By Southwest is in full swing, and filmmakers are nervously awaiting the screening of their films. One film debuted at this year's SXSW covers the gubernatorial campaign of 2006, specifically following Kinky Friedman, who ran as an independent candidate and created a national stir.

It is called " Along Came Kinky" and is produced and directed by David Hartstein. The film has perfect timing as Kinky is thinking about another gubernatorial run

The start of the wild ride

Laura Stromberg was driving to New Orleans to visit some friends on a Friday afternoon. She never even thought she would be making a career move in the next few minutes.

"I heard Kinky announce that he was running [for Governor] on NPR. My family has a friend in common (with him)," Stromberg recalled.

So she grabbed her cell phone and called that friend. She asked who his press secretary was, so she could send them her resume.

"You could be his press secretary," the friend replied. 

Stromberg leapt at the chance. She faxed in her resume and just days later, she met Kinky at the legendary Hole in the Wall bar near UT's campus.

"There was no interview process," said Stromberg.

Needless to say, she got the job as press secretary and communications director of the Kinky Friedman campaign for Governor. She would become the fast-talking, quick-witted face of the campaign, helping the media to digest the candidate's numerous one-liners in a run that made national headlines.

She was not the only person that jumped at the opportunity to get involved in the gubernatorial election. David Hartstein had just moved down to Austin from New York to get his MFA at UT-Austin.

Far away from home, a friend's family took it upon themselves to adopt him.

"I was over there for some Jewish holiday and Kinky was there," recalled Hartstein. "Their grandmother had married his dad. I needed a first-year film project, and he was quite a character."

Hartstein kept Kinky in his file folder of ideas after meeting him. He knew that, coming down to Texas, he needed to tell a Texas story.

"After traveling the state a bit, I understand Texas a lot," Hartstein said. "So many different types of people in Texas, and it's all really valid."

When searching the corners of his mind for a real Texas story, Hartstein remembered that holiday dinner with Kinky. 

"I was obsessed with the notion of celebrity and politics, like Arnold Schwarzenegger and Jesse Ventura," said Hartstein. "I also was interested that voter turnout is so low in Texas. I mean, how many people vote in American Idol?"

Below is Hartstein talking about what he learned by making this documentary:

Hartstein certainly had an interesting person for his subject matter. Kinky Friedman was running for governor clad in a cowboy hat, boots and chomping a cigar. Friedman had many reasons to take on the task, and Hartstein wanted to show that in his documentary.

"If we keep nominating the same generic Democrat, we're going to keep having the same generic Democratic loss," Kinky Friedman says now, gnawing the cigar.

Friedman felt it was time to change the face of Texas politics. He mentioned people like Molly Ivons and Ann Richards, and how the Democratic Party of Texas had not been excited since then.

He was hoping with his campaign, he could garner a grassroots base and get Texas Democrats "excited again."

"For a while, the Democrats were looking like a pale imitation of the Republican party," said Friedman.

Friedman hoped to ride a rising wave of populism he had noticed and take the Governor's Mansion by storm.

 

"Herding cats"

Below is Stromberg's favorite memory from the campaign trail:

Stromberg had no clue what was in store for her on the campaign trail. She had done a little public-relations work, but nothing to this degree. Having a journalistic background helped her, but it ironically did not prepare her for the media storm.

"I was beaten up by the media and the blogs," said Stromberg. "A lot of people that attacked me were my friends. I had to realize it wasn't personal."

Stromberg was amazed at how Kinky lived, and how she somehow had to get him ready for the press' questions.

"He's very hyper and probably has ADD," said Stromberg. "It's like herding cats sometimes. He'll only give you a couple of minutes. He wants to get to the meat of the story right away. He called his press conferences 'gigs.' He would ask 'When are we going to the gig?' And I would say 'It's not a gig, it's a press conference."

She remained patient, however. And in the process of writing press releases, she would remember why she supported him in the first place.

"He is incredibly literate, creative and a great writer," said Stromberg. "He takes everything to heart. He's compassionate; his love of animals and for people is inspiring. He'll stand there until 4 in the morning until everyone shakes his hand."

 

The election gets ugly

Despite her best efforts, some things came out of debates and press conferences that she could not control. The main problem was some racist accusations on the campaign trail that came from Friedman's earlier acts, which poked fun at racists.

Many of the most public accusations were lobbed by Democrats who were angry at him for joining the race, and who admitted privately that they knew Kinky wasn't being racist. They just found it an easy to way to use his words out of context to bolster their own candidate, who they felt was endangered by Kinky's presence in the race. 

"The racist accusations were so out of line," said Stromberg. "Kinky Friedman is many things, and some of them are not pretty, but a racist he is not."

Friedman admitted: "Looking back, I probably should have done a race speech like Obama did. That's the difference between being a human being and being a politician."

There were multiple things Friedman felt could have gone better.

"During the debate, all the candidates picked on me instead of (Gov. Rick) Perry (the incumbent)," said Friedman. "When it comes to social action, I'm the one with the experence. I'm the one that tried to integrate my fraternity, who picketed the Plantation restaurant. I served in the Peace Corps for two years."

Then came Election Night. Hartstein's documentary captures the essence of that fateful day.

"Kinky [was] at Scholz Beer Garden," said Hartstein. "That really ended up a microcosm of his entire campaign, with the night starting out so optimistically and then kind of devolving into a bit of a mess. But, then Kinky comes back and ends the night with the most amazing 'non-concession' speech you'll ever hear and manages to inspire one last time and offering a great perspective on a whole thing."

What you see is what you get when it comes to Kinky Friedman. One thing everyone described him as is sincere.

"His love of Texas comes across," said Hartstein. "It's almost better than a platform. He helps people out. I never doubted his sincerity. It speaks volumes that he might want to [run for Governor] again. Running for governor of Texas is like running for governor of four different states."

 

Documentary reveals behind-the-scenes Kinky

The film will screen at South By Southwest Thursday at 7:30 at the Paramount Theatre. Hartstein is excited, obviously, to win the coveted 7:30 p.m. spot.

"I think, if anything, the film is really successful at giving the audience a great insider/full access look at two campaigns, Kinky's and Chris Bell's," said Hartstein. "There's an amazing off-the-cuff moment where the two meet on the campaign trail and neither really knows how to handle the other. Kinky's kind of too 'real' and authentic and kind of lets his guard down. Chris goes for a bit of intimidation and tries to play it cool, but that doesn't really work either. It was something you'd never see in any other campaign coverage, because it wasn't an especially big moment. But, amazing to watch nonetheless."

After seeing the documentary, Kinky found it surreal to watch the process from the outside.

"I wish I'd smile more," said Friedman.

The documentary is timely, considering Kinky might run for governor again.

"It we do decide [to run again], it's going to be pretty soon," said Friedman. "I'm leaning towards it. I'll visit every place and get them excited. So many people like Barbara Jordan, Molly Ivins, Ann Richards looked like wide-eyed liberals in their day. Now, they look like they were right on target."

"It's a shame people didn't take him seriously," said Stromberg. "I had a blast. I thought I had the coolest job in the state of Texas."