SXSW 2008

AUSTIN – When documentary filmmakers make movies about subjects they are interested in, it's not uncommon for them to also learn about themselves in the process. And when a pair of documentarians who happen to be close friends decide to team up for a project, you can bet the whole process will turn into one big learning experience.

That was certainly the case for Brittany Blockman of Memphis, Tenn., and Dallas' Josephine Decker, who screened the world premiere of their film Bi the Way on Saturday night at the South by Southwest Film Festival. To make the film, the two hit the road for weeks at a time in 2005 to explore what they felt was a "boom" in bisexuality in America.

"It was a personal journey. I wasn't that comfortable with the idea of exploring bisexuality," says Ms. Decker, 26, a Highland Park High School graduate. "But I had had that thought – what would it be like? So to make a movie about it was scary. Good grief – what am I getting myself into? I'm not even sure how I feel about this myself and I have to go ask people about it?"

Any film inspecting sexuality is likely to be fitted with the "controversial" label, but Ms. Decker and Ms. Blockman were prepared. The two met on their first day at Princeton University at a time when the school was cracking down on the type of public nudity that pranksters and newly liberated college students like to unleash on campus. As a way to rebel themselves and have a little fun, the pair made a Christopher Guest-style mockumentary called Naked Princeton , which was accepted by the New York International Independent Film and Video Festival. After the movie enjoyed several sold-out screenings at the fest, it was off to Los Angeles to discuss with potential backers the idea of turning Naked Princeton into a feature film.

Ultimately, they were told to come back when they had a script for the movie, but on that trip they pitched the idea for Bi the Way and secured the seed money they needed to start their adventure. Ms. Blockman, 27, says she got the idea from watching a much-hyped episode of The O.C. in which Mischa Barton's character shares a kiss with a female friend.

"I felt like I had missed some major cultural beat," Ms. Blockman says. "Is bi cool now? Do people consider it normal? I got excited that there was a subliminal movement happening that no one was talking about."

The film is a mix of interviews with interesting characters they came across and more in-depth vignettes. Among the subjects are a teenage girl whose father doesn't accept her sexual identity, a black man nervous about how his bisexuality will be accepted in the African-American community and Jonathan Caouette, the Houston filmmaker whose 2003 film Tarnation made a big splash at the Cannes Film Festival.

After South by Southwest, the film will show at the Miami Gay and Lesbian Film Festival next month, and the pair hopes that the buzz generated on the festival circuit might lead to a spot in the prestigious Toronto International Film Festival and possibly a distribution deal.

After that, they say the future is wide open. Ms. Blockman is set to begin medical school at Tulane University in the fall. And Ms. Decker says she wants to make cartoons while she finishes a humorous novel about a malevolent 4-year-old girl.

For this weekend, though, they are celebrating the culmination of three years of hard work and trying to take a second to appreciate what they had accomplished as a team.

"It felt very good getting on the plane to come down here with our tape." Ms. Decker said with a broad smile. "I had seen a feature film through from the beginning."