Video Nostalgia at SXSW

Rewind This A scene from the documentary “Rewind This!”

AUSTIN, Tex. â€" While the interactive leg of the South by Southwest festival touted the latest technological tools, select festival films were more comfortable basking in the nostalgic glow of tech history. These films either look back on, or involve, old video formats in their storytelling, in effect using the retro to usher in the new.

The documentary “Rewind This!,” directed by Josh Johnson, looks at the impact that videocassettes, and the VHS format, had on the way people consumed movies. It includes interviews with several filmmakers, video store operators, archivists, collectors and enthusiasts who explain how videotape laid the groundwork for the igital age.

Magnet Releasing A scene from “V/H/S/2.”

The horror anthology sequel “V/H/S/2″ plays off the scrappy appeal, as well as the messiness, of the VHS format. The film’s segments are tied together by a narrative involving two private investigators who break into a home and find a number of video screens and a stack of videotapes. As one investigator watches the tapes, she sees that each contains horrifying acts. While the filmmakers often relied on advanced digital equipment, like small cameras mounted on people and even dogs, the vignettes aim for the kind of lo-fi, DIY aesthetic that has helped video endure even as it evolves.

Alex Lipschultz A scene from Andrew Bujalski’s “Computer Chess.”

The drama “Computer Chess,” from the Austin filmmaker Andrew Bujalski, aims the highest (or lowest) in capturing the look of a dated format. Mr. Bujalski and his crew used black-and-white tube cameras from the early ’70s to shoot his period story about computer programmers who compete to see who can write the best chess software. The film screened on Monday at the Austin Convention Center, mere rooms away from panels and exhibition halls on the latest digital enhancements.

After the screening, Mr. Bujalski spoke about how he had been making movies for years on 16 millimeter and how, at festivals, he was often asked why he didn’t shoot on video. So a contrarian streak in him led to make a movie on video, but in one of the most outdated an challenging ways possible. In an entry on his blog, the cinematographer Matthias Grunsky wrote about how he had to use a screwdriver to adjust the video levels before each take. The result is a film that takes a complex look at technology’s past and the surprising similarities with technology’s present.