Following its acclaimed world premiere at SXSW 2009, Ben Steinbauer's Winnebago Man has traveled around the world, picking up awards and fans all over the place. In the second installment of our SXSW Stories feedback series, read what Ben has to say about his SXSW experience, and the premiere that started it all.

"We had finished editing our documentary just three days before the festival and were elated not only to be finished, but that our main character, an 80-year-old hermit, had agreed to come to Austin for the world premiere! But as our first screening approached, we started getting nervous. It was our first time we’d be showing the film to an audience beyond our friends, and we had no idea who would show up or what they’d think of the movie. What happened exceeded our wildest expectations—-there was a line of people around the block, and our screenings were packed with distributors, festival programmers and press, along with enthusiastic audiences. For our indie doc, SXSW was the best premiere we could have hoped for."

Ben Steinbauer, Producer/Director - Winnebago Man

Photo of Ben Steinbauer and Jack Rebney by Cassie Wright.