okay so let's talk about um east austin a little bit because we haven't really got anything from not necessarily a texas perspective but an east austin perspective east austin is really shown from this and what made that statement a purpose for you

I think, you know, there is an incredible community in East Austin and it's still here.

And to me, you know, as somebody that in many respects is a transplant, you know, I have had roots in Austin, you know, of my family since the 80s, but it was never me that was specifically in these places.

um it was my grandfather it was my father and i would hear these stories of a place that i had never known and so to be able to discover it for myself and to try to understand what they saw and try to try to contextualize it with my own world view in the world that i see was really important to me and in that process you know i was able to make community with so many people over here in east austin and to learn the history you know for me and this film you know again it is it is not something that i feel like is my responsibility nor my place to tell people how to feel about it or to tell you in these very specific ways.

But what I can do is show you the feelings that I have felt from myself and from the other folks that I have been in community with in this area.

um and to also highlight the resiliency that i see in spite of everything um and so i personally also actually live in east austin still so it's like you know i literally you know i'm i'm here i walk around you know i go by and so you know again it was like i wanted to make something that wasn't uh divorced from the material reality of the place that i lived and so many people that live within austin in general but in east austin in particular have so many stories of places that have disappeared or family businesses that no longer are able to function within the communities that they've served for decades.

A place that comes to mind right off the bat would be Hoover's, which is closed down unofficially in May, but that was a place that had served this community for so many years and also just fantastic food.

want to inspire in the future? Like how you have inspirations? Is there anybody like, say, a future daughter, future son or you have a son already or a daughter already?