SXSW Filmmaker Hospitalized

One day at the Festival, Rooftop Films founder Mark Rosenberg tells me all about Benh Zeitlin's short film "Glory at Sea," (partially funded through the Rooftop filmmakers' fund), making sure I put it on my SXSW can't-miss list; the next, he's telling me that Zeitlin and three others from the "Glory at Sea" crew had been in a terrible car accident on their way to the Festival, and now Rosenberg's in surgery. It's the sort of sudden turnaround one hopes never to happen at a film festival, potentially compounded by the fact that the 25-year-old filmmaker doesn't have health insurance.

"They were at an intersection, and they were hit from behind," says Josh Penn, a producer on "Glory at Sea." "The car was totaled. Benh's hip was fractured in three places, and he dislocated his hip and fractured his pelvis. The day of the accident, he was in surgery to repair the fractures, but it's unclear how long the recovery process will be. Probably a relatively long time."

Screenings of "Glory at Sea" – a visually intense journey through an American landscape, patterned after the myth of Orpheus, set in the aftermath of a great storm, and shot in post-Katrina New Orleans – have gone forward, and the short won the Wholphin Award at Monday night's SXSW Film Awards ceremony.

So far, the outpouring of support has been tremendous, according to Penn. "The Festival has been really great to us, and people like Mark have really come forward to help out. ... Benh's an extraordinarily resilient guy. He began this film in October '06, and he just hasn't stopped for the last 18 months. He just finished final touches on it last Tuesday.

So considering the situation, he's remained in really high spirits." – Spencer Parsons

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E-mail Mark Rosenberg at [email protected] or Josh Penn at [email protected] for more information about how to help out.

"Glory at Sea" screens in the Reel Shorts 3 program on Friday, March 14, 2:30pm, at the Alamo South Lamar