SXSW Film Reviews

Gibtown

Some communities exist only for the dreamers among us. They are places far from the drudgery of the workaday world, where imagination can thrive: Never-Never Land, Avalon, Shangri-La. Now, add Gibsonton, Florida, to the list. Thanks to this warm, intimate documentary by Melissa Shachat, we're allowed a glimpse of a town where the neighbors are marvels -- they might be giants or eaters of fire -- and their back yards are filled with Ferris wheels and costumed monkeys. Gibsonton -- Gibtown to the locals -- is the refuge of longtime carnival and circus workers when they aren't on the road. This is the place they call home, and Shachat takes us inside their trailers and houses to gather their memories of a lifetime of bringing joy and amazement to burgs across the country. And she captures it on film just in time; most of the residents are elderly and bemoan the lack of a new generation that is willing to keep the carnival tradition alive. They're the last of their line. That gives a pervasive wistfulness to Shachat's vibrantly colored film, but one also senses that, like Brigadoon, this magical village and the dreamers who people it will always exist somewhere beyond the mists. (Bad Dog, 3/15, 5:45pm)