SXSW Review: 'Sweaty Betty' Is A Joyfully Unique Debut From Joe Frank And Zack Reed

The DSLR camerawork in “Sweaty Betty” lingers, follows, and edges in where it can, across the row houses of Washington D.C. We only glimpse the man operating it, but the neighborhood’s close-knit, largely black population treats him as a friend and ally – especially when it’s game day and the Washington Redskins need some recorded support. Not quite found footage, not quite documentary, local directors Joe Frank and Zack Reed’s first film may well be the most warmhearted blend of those genres to date. Following two single fathers, and a 1,000 pound pig and its owner on the other side of town, it tackles how communities glue together from day to day – in passing conversation and slight, pivotal shifts.

Reed and Frank have described the film as having actually happened, “more or less”. Given the events that transpire (an untrained dog is dropped off with two friends and single fathers, Rico and Scooby, and an enormous pig, Miss Charlotte, is touted by her owner Floyd as the...