What’s the old saying about March roaring in like a lion? In Austin this year, it seems especially appropriate: Blooming mountain laurels perfume the air with their sweet-tart aroma, bluebonnets have started to appear on the roadsides, and if you explore downtown, you’ll sense the electric buzz forming as shopkeepers, bartenders, restaurants, theaters, and hotels prepare for the wildly popular event known as the South by Southwest Music, Film, and Interactive Festival, which runs March 9-18 this year.

Last year, the event’s 25^th anniversary, the festival’s official registration surged 40 percent over 2010 numbers (with a total fest attendance of 286,000 people!). Here are more impressive numbers: More than 2,000 musical acts performed on 92 stages across the city; the interactive contingent drew almost 20,000 registered attendees (from 53 foreign countries!); and the film contingent attracted more than 66,000 film fans who flocked to see 140 features and 153 shorts. According to organizers, SXSW was directly and indirectly responsible for injecting some $168 million into the Austin economy. (And these figures don’t even begin to consider the impact of the hundreds of unofficial events, concerts, parties, and attractions offered during the festival.)

For the past decade, I’ve experienced SXSW on the fringes, ducking into free day parties and big concerts at Auditorium Shores, standing in line for movie tickets, and enjoying the crush of visitors from around the world who descend upon Austin each year. But this year, I have a film pass (available in limited numbers for $70 in-store at Waterloo Records), and I plan to see as many films as my schedule allows. With 132 feature films and countless shorts and other events to choose from, these next weeks should be action-packed. (See my colleague Jane Wu’s blog for details on some of the festival’s films with Lone Star ties.)

I visited recently with SXSW Film Conference and Festival Director Janet Pierson about the event’s growth, maturation, and significance, and why choosing a film you’ve never heard of may be the most direct route to inspiration.

“Since the Film and Interactive Festival started in 1994, the independent film world has changed profoundly,” Pierson says. “The digital revolution has made a huge difference. In the mid-1990s, there were hundreds of films made every year; now there are thousands. When people made films in 35 millimeter, making a movie cost hundreds of thousands of dollars and took a long time. But thanks to digital advances, cameras became less expensive, and filmmakers could edit well on their laptops. This year, we moved the deadline for submissions up to mid-November, because the number has been steadily increasing year-to-year. This year, we received more than 5,000 submissions, a 7% increase from last year.

“As film festivals go, and I’m including fests such as Cannes, Toronto, and Sundance, we skew toward American-made films. We’re neither a regional film festival nor an international film festival. We look for balance, so our films range from comedies to documentaries, dark dramas, and may feature themes as ‘small’ as two people walking down the road.”

While Pierson acknowledges that the Film Festival is primarily a “badge event” designed for film industry folks (film badges cost $595), she says it’s still possible to see some of the movies with a pass or by purchasing individual tickets ($10)—as long as seats are still available. “We want full theaters, and the venues vary tremendously,” she says. “I mean, if you don’t have a badge, you’re not going to get into the world premiere of The Cabin in the Woods (the directorial debut of Drew Goddard, the writer behind the hit TV show Lost), but you can easily see certain films at the Vimeo or Canon. Or try the Alamo South Lamar—sometimes it’s crowded and sometimes it’s not.

“We’ve vetted everything,” she told me, “and we think it’s all great. Take a chance on something you’ve never heard of. Success for us is when we’ve inspired people.”

I’m ready!

The SXSW Film Conference & Festival 2012 begins in Austin on Friday, March 9 (along with SXSW Interactive) and runs through the 17^th. SXSW Film brings together up-and-coming and veteran filmmakers, industry dealmakers, actors and celebrities of all stripes, serious film geeks, and avid moviegoers with a taste for discovery. Since its inception in 1994, the conference and fest has emerged as a major player on the U.S. and international film festival circuit, with small-budget indie films given equal buzz with premieres of more mainstream releases.

Although SX Film is global in its movie offerings, there are usually a few Made-in-Texas or Set-in-Texas film screenings.  Here is a list for those wanting a more Tex-centric movie experience. (See Lori Moffatt’s blog, Pass to Inspiration for tips on getting the most out of your SX Film viewing, whether you have a badge, film pass, or purchase tickets at the venue.)  Also, don’t be surprised if you see the director, cast or film crew in attendance at these films. (And that includes some of the bigger premieres, like Killer Joe and Bernie.)

The Imposter  Documentary-thriller about a missing San Antonio teen, found alive in Spain three years later but may not be who he appears, unbeknownst to his own family. The Imposter has received critical acclaim since its premiere at this year’s Sundance Film Festival, and is scheduled for theatrical release later this year.

Killer Joe  Texans Matthew McConaughey and Thomas Haden Church star in a dark comedy set in Dallas County involving a crazy cop who moonlights as a hit man. Directed by William Friedkin (of The Exorcist, The French Connection fame). Premiered at the Venice Film Festival and Toronto Film Festival. SXSW U.S. Premiere. If you go, get there early—this is the only SX screening, and some of the stars, including Matthew McConaughey are scheduled to be there.

Trash Dance  Austin sanitation workers perform a choreographed dance performance using garbage trucks on an abandoned airport runway in this quirky documentary.  SXSW World Premiere.

America’s Parking Lot   Directed by Austinite Jonny Mars, a documentary about how America’s Team’s move to Cowboy Stadium profoundly affects two rabid Cowboys fans. SXSW World Premiere, and in case you miss it, also screens at Dallas International Film Festival, April 12-22.

Blue Like Jazz  Set in suburban Houston, a college student leaves his religious upbringing for “the most godless campus in America” in the Pacific Northwest.  Based on the New York Times bestseller, A Million Miles in a Thousand Years by Donald Miller, who also funded the film with help from donations via Kickstarter.  SXSW World Premiere.

Bernie   A dark comedy about an assistant funeral director in Carthage who befriends—and later disposes of—the town’s richest widow.  Shot in Austin, Bastrop, Smithville, Georgetown, and Carthage, directed by renowned filmmaker and Bastrop resident Richard Linklater, and starring Jack Black, Shirley MacLaine, and Matthew McConaughey. As with Killer Joe, this is the only SX showing, and some of the cast—Jack Black and Matthew McConaughey, along with Richard Linklater, will be in attendance.

Texas Shorts:  Nine short films with a total 93 minutes run time. The subjects range from The Guessing Game, set in a retirement home where a resident’s birthday reveals more than his age, to Tumbleweed, “The true and historically accurate tale of one tumbleweed that did not tumble.”

As Siskel and Ebert used to say, “See you at the movies!”