This existential journey began innocently enough with "Steal This Movie," directed by Robert Greenwald. A dramatization of the life and times of Abbie Hoffman, the film resurrects the tumultuous sixties in all its conflicted glory. Starring Vincent D'Onofrio as Abbie and Janeane Garafalo as his lover-then-wife Anita, "Steal This Movie" is the sad but inspirational tale of the radical political organizer who became a poster boy (and later an outcast) of the youth movement.

Hoffman's infamous battles with the government, as well as his own manic-depressive illness, came to a head during the famous Chicago Seven trial and led to his going underground and adopting a new identity. Tracing Hoffman's years as a fugitive and the destruction of his family while illuminating his contributions as an American patriot, "Steal This Movie" is an important addendum to our nation's civic history.

On the contemporary side of this political continuum sprouts the provocative documentary "Grass," directed by Ron Mann and narrated by noted hemp advocate Woody Harrelson. Using clips from several decades of anti-drug footage and lampooning the stereotypes employed in these propagandistic efforts, Mann inserts plenty of humor, eye-popping graphics, old songs and new electronic compositions alongside alarming statistics about America's ongoing war with marijuana. While Mann clearly made this film with dope supporters in mind, his satirical statement has a compelling message that should not be dismissed too quickly.

Besides the many new directors who are present in Austin and actively participating in the festival and its conference, SXSW is also honoring some older filmmakers with carefully chosen showings of their collected works. The D.A. Pennebaker retrospective includes such documentaries as "The War Room," "Searching for Jimi Hendrix" and his seminal contribution, "Don't Look Back." This groundbreaking doc spotlights a youthful Bob Dylan in the midst of his first (and most famous) international ascent.

Filming in 1965, Pennebaker's handheld camera captured the claustrophobic troubadour's maiden tour of England. Surrounded by manager Albert Grossman, singer Joan Baez, road manager Bob Neuwirth and a host of characters drawn to his public persona, Dylan willfully participated in this revealing-yet-enigmatic examination of his life as a protest singer turned pop sensation. With new commentary supplied by Pennebaker and Neuwirth, as well as five live audio tracks never before released and other additions on DVD, this artifact remains essential viewing.

The festival's Monte Hellman tribute featured such oft-forgotten films as "Cockfighter," "Ride in the Whirlwind" and his classic 1971 effort, "Two-Lane Blacktop," starring James Taylor, Warren Oates and Beach Boy Dennis Wilson. This nihilistic road film provides a gritty, sweeping and panoramic view of self-styled American wanderers on the open highway who race against each other but are actually striving to outdistance their own identities. With deadpan acting from Taylor and Wilson and a tour-de-force performance by Warren Oates, "Two-Lane Blacktop" bravely comments on the emptiness of the "generation gap" and ponders questions left unanswered by other period films like "Easy Rider."

Director Tom Putnam mines a much more humorous vein in "Shafted," a blaxploitation parody complete with Kung Fu action. The flick stars Morgan Rusler as Steven Byzinsky, a newly released mental patient who thinks he's a certain black superhero. With a hilarious ensemble cast, a Gary Coleman cameo and a soundtrack straight out of the seventies, "Shafted" is a low-budget romp that references (or steals) everything from "Superfly" to Sergio Leone. Campy, rude and ridiculous, "Shafted" is the "Austin Powers" of blaxploitation films.

For a mockumentary fix, try Stephen Kessler's "The Independent," a bright, bittersweet comedy starring Jerry Stiller as exploitation filmmaker Morty Fineman. At the tail end of a long-descending career, perfectionist/cult-figure Fineman solicits the help of his estranged but well-meaning daughter (wonderfully played by the ever-present Garafalo). With Stiller in fine form and talking-head "interviews" with directors Ron Howard, Peter Bogdanovich and Roger Corman, "The Independent" plays with reality in lively and entertaining fashion. Extending the gag, the filmmakers have even produced an extensive Morty Fineman "filmography" that's worth checking out.

But the best film I've seen this week is John Swanbeck's "The Big Kahuna," an insightful look into the lives of three industrial-lubricant salesmen stuck at a convention in Wichita, Kansas. Extending the classic premises established in "Death of a Salesmen" and "Glengarry Glen Ross," this 1999 film serves as a prime vehicle for Kevin Spacey, Danny DeVito and relative newcomer Peter Facinelli ("Supernova," "Can't Hardly Wait"). This film will ring astoundingly true for anyone who's ever had to sell anything for a living. For everyone else, it will merely serve as a fast-talking, thought-provoking entertainment.