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Reviewed by Elliot V. Kotek
(from the 2011 South by Southwest Film Festival)

Directed/Written by: Anlo Sepulveda
Starring: Anis Mojgani, Roberta Colindrez, Tony Jackson and Jacqueline Leal

“Otis Under Sky” consists of multiple story lines about young individuals, each of whom puts some merit in faith while battling their day-to-day realities.

Otis (Anis Mojgani), a loner artist type obsessed with 2012 and VHS videotapes, and Ursula (Roberta Colindrez), a lesbian seemingly struggling with the concepts of trust and fidelity in her relationship, sit at the center of the film, providing an odd-yet-endearing focal point for this unconventional story.

With a raw shooting style and lo-fi sound in the dialogue exchanges, “Otis” feels a little like a student project at times, finding its feet by juxtaposing slide shows, songs and hyper-realizations of urban landscapes against subtle, personal scenes where individuals share their innermost thoughts with the audience via cats and computers.

At only 77 minutes, the film somehow manages to feel a little on the long side following the shift of dynamics with the return of Ursula’s girlfriend, but the relationship at the heart of the film is both romantic and refreshingly unique, and there are enough original and artistic elements on display that one can’t help but fall under “Otis’” spell.

With his first narrative feature, Anlo Sepulveda will emerge from SXSW as someone to watch, especially on the local level. That he needed (and raised) $4,000 on Kickstarter to finish the score, sound mix and color correction after being accepted into the festival only makes the achievement more wondrous, and “Otis” should continue to charm itself through the rest of the year’s festival circuit.

Photo courtesy South by Southwest