Update: “Buck Alamo” is now available on streaming platforms including Apple TV Plus and Prime Video.
From Oct. 19, 2021:
Filmmaker Ben Epstein grew up in Dallas but has long Austin ties. The city’s rapid growth and its troubadour past inspired his latest film.
“Buck Alamo” follows a “wannabe has-been” singer songwriter through a confrontation with mortality. The movie is having its North American premiere at the Austin Film Festival.
Courtesy Buck Alamo
“‘Buck Alamo’ is an ode to Austin, an ode to my family, an ode to the old Austin and kind of the new Austin and what Austin’s become and that intersection.”
“Everyone was like, ‘have you heard of Austin?’ whenever they learn I’m from Texas. And like, ‘Yeah, of course I have.’ And now it’s been a couple of years since the movie came to fruition and it’s only gotten bigger. It’s only gotten bigger.”
“The movie itself is supposed to be a visual ballad, so it does have its own experimentation when it comes to narrative structure. It’s told in four stanzas and there are times it meanders out of imagery, metaphors, allegory…”
“It’s a story about the wannabe has-beens, the artists that maybe never made it and have that big booklet of music that maybe no one will ever see.”
