In 2000, Mark Hogancamp was beaten into a coma by five men outside of a bar in Kingston, NY. Unable to continue

Book about Marwencol produced by the filmmakers

paying for medical help, Hogancamp began to create a new world in his backyard as a form of physical and emotional therapy during his recovery (which is ongoing). The resulting 1/6th scale Belgian village, named Marwencol, is a fantasy oasis set in the middle of World War II peopled with lifelike dolls, many based on real people in Hogancamp’s life. And this town has, in turn, become the subject of a new documentary of the same name.

 

The story of Marwencol begins when Hogancamp’s alter ego crash-lands in a European field and is drawn into an almost-empty village by a group of beautiful women. He makes this place his home, beginning a narrative that continues and grows day by day as new dolls and storylines are introduced. This "second" world has rescued Hogancamp, helping him to deal with an attack that still haunts him and keeps him from fully functioning outside the village.

Mark Hogancamp at his White Columns art show in New York City.

And then there are the photographs. Moving and beautifully realized, Hogancamp has taken thousands of photographs of Marwencol, chronicling its stories, and capturing them with a stunning sincerity. Drawing on our popular ideas of everything from war nostalgia to pulp exploitation cinema (there’s a river scene reminiscent of the original Inglorious Bastards movie), the “discovery” of the photographs have led to an appreciation in the art world of Hogancamp’s work.

Three weeks ago, when director James Benning was in San Francisco, he spoke briefly about his love for folk artists such as Vivian Girls creator Henry Darger. At the same time he pointed out that we’re too apt to label this work as primitive; the so-called folk art that really rises to the top needs no context, it’s successful in and of itself. While Hogancamp’s story is deeply moving, and in the documentary he comes across as intelligent and endearing, it’s the work itself that elevates the story. Director Jeff Malmberg features Hogancamp's photographs heavily, which is a good choice, especially considering Hogancamp remains reluctant to leave his home, so this is a rare chance to see his images of the town writ large.

Jeff Malmberg, Director

Malmberg treats the story behind the photos with a deft touch, guiding the audience through unfolding revelations about Hogancamp’s life, while showcasing the photographs in a way that allows their artistry to glow. The story also evokes the vivid connection adults lose between themselves and the world of make-believe, the complex imaginative narratives that once lived inside us, and the real connection we once felt with dolls and other inanimate objects.

Marwencol is the well-deserved winner of the SXSW Jury Prize for Best Documentary Feature (I predict there will be a screening in San Francisco and other cities soon). Director Malmberg and co-producer Chris Shellen were in attendance in Austin, and were selling a small book of Mark E. Hogancamp’s photographs. This isn't currently available for sale online, but check back at the Marwencol website in the coming weeks.

Every April, the city of Austin explodes into a rush of crowds dodging from tech event to film screening to music performance (to barbeque) as part of the annual South by Southwest (SXSW) festival. As Link TV’s Director of New Media I occasionally have to make the personal sacrifice of braving the crowds to keep Link TV on top of the latest tech trends. This has paid off through the many partnerships that were created last year that are now a part of our new project ViewChange.org.

At Link we’re often asked why not all of our programming is available online. It’s because we are largely an acquisitions broadcaster, which means that instead of only creating original programming, we often license the best content available from other countries around the world. These documentary and film rights are usually sold piece by piece to cable, satellite, and online, as well as “territory” by territory. That last point is why, for instance, Hulu is not available outside the US, and the BBC iPlayer is not available in the US. The rights have been carved up and sold to different regions and different platforms.

Because SXSW is a unique combination of film and technology, several panels dealt with the topic of online distribution. Industry icons Mark Cuban (owner of HDNet, Magnolia Pictures, Landmark Cinemas and the Dallas Mavericks) and Avner Ronen (owner of Boxee, a free media center application which will soon have Link TV programming) are notorious for their outspokenness, and together are also known for a public spat they had last year, which continued throughout the session, with Cuban arguing for cable- and satellite-based on-demand services, which are profitable, and Ronen pushing for online distribution.

	Hands up if you watch Hulu: Cuban and Ronen panel at SXSW

Monday marked the public launch of AnyClip, a movie quote service which allows visitors to search for any scene from “any film” (caveat: they have indexed thousands of films, but not all films). After their successful private launch at TechCrunch last year, they were forced to reexamine the idea that they would be able to present actual video clips for their entire quote library online. This was an initial criticism I had for the site. The same rights restrictions that limit Link TV’s site are in play for AnyClip, and until they can guarantee a certain dollar figure in revenue to the studios, they will have to rely on text-only quotes.

 

	AnyClip's vice president of product and technology Nate Westheimer

Homing in on this feature could be lucrative for them, if they can partner with technology platforms like Blu-ray to provide quick search within films, or with other streaming services with larger libraries who would find the search tools useful. For instance, in another SXSW panel Peter Becker (Criterion) asked, “Why can’t you type ‘You know how to whistle don’t you?’ into Netflix and get the exact scene from To Have and Have Not?” If Netflix partnered with Anyclip, that could happen. But deeper than that, users can tag scenes with descriptions, for instance “Rocky training montage” or “When Harry Met Sally orgasm scene.”

 

Deeper than that, you can also find, for instance, all the scenes from boxing movies that involve trainer-athlete relationships. That could be a great tool for discovery, or displaying related content. AnyClip probably wouldn’t advocate this, but the potential for mash-up artists to create the ultimate, say, cross-movie training montage is fantastic. Now that there are multiple potential revenue models for AnyClip, they might find some more traction in the industry.

 

Read more about AnyClip at VentureBeat.

 

That’s it for tech right now. Up next: Film.