Southlander: Diary of a Desperate Musician

Music video director Steven Hanft makes his feature debut with the digital video project Southlander, an absurd independent film starring various beloved indie pop musicians. Rory Cochrane stars as Chance, a musician who loses his extremely rare magical synthesizer which takes the form of a white ...more

The decidedly lo-fi approach to Southlander is what makes this amateurish production watchable. Having previously lent his goofy charm to Beck music videos, director Steven Hanft brings a similar aesthetic and same lack of rules to this project. Mainly, the film is an excuse to showcase the music and personalities of indie rock superstars like Beck and Beth Orton against a backdrop of drab, washed-out Los Angeles. It also seems to be just a fun exercise for Hanft and co-writer Ross Harris to ...more