Leitman, who first came to SXSW in 1996 with Wildwood, New Jersey, returns to Austin for the world premiere of her latest documentary, Alma. An investigation of the relationship between a daughter (Margie) and her mentally ill mother (Alma) in the South, the film combines the emotional force of psychodrama with the twists, turns, and upturned secrets of a mystery novel.

It was Margie herself who initiated the project, approaching Leitman (they had already known each other for over a decade) with the idea of doing a documentary about her mother, about whom she had always loved to tell stories. The production was continuously encountering the unexpected, the parameters of the project ever-changing. For example, as Leitman explains, "It started as a piece about the past between Margie and her mother, but Alma's mental health forced us into the present."

Leitman spent three and a half years with the family, not only documenting but also sharing the intimate and at times unbearably painful process of discovery and emotional exploration between mother and daughter. During those years, the traditional barriers between chronicler and subject began to erode away. "I felt at times like I was part of their family," Leitman says, "that I was Margie's sister and Alma's mother." She sees this as the chief difference between documentary and fiction film. "It's what makes a movie like this so much harder than a narrative, where at the end of the day there is a space of relief when cast and crew can step out of character and go home to their 'real lives.' In documentary, your story is real life."