Austin has to find a way to keep its weirdos, says fitness and film star Erica Nix
https://www.statesman.com/story/ente...ts/7443840001/
If Jane Fonda can conquer film, surely Austin's own workout maven has a place on the big screen.
Erica Nix, the beloved fitness personality whose body-positive, queer-inclusive exercise experiences have kept the city moving for years, just made a movie. "Erica's First Holy Sh!t" premieres on April 29 at Distribution Hall.
The poster calls it "a psychosexual lesbian fantasia of adventure and discovery." It's also a tribute to a kind of "old Austin" that Nix says is struggling to survive.
"A lot of it is about being an artist in Austin and feeling like it's not sustainable, or you're not able to actually be here as an artist," she says.
As the synopsis reads, the film follows a version of Nix "in the wake of a divorce and reeling from the reality of the pandemic," as she "contemplates the changing tides of Austin’s value system and the plight of creatives like herself being priced out of the city."
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The laughs come amid explorations of spirituality, group sex, therapy and ad-driven self-help, Nix says. This film very much continues the tradition of queer underground cinema: "It's COVID, and we have no money," she says.
"The most obvious person to talk about is John Waters," she says on the topic of influences. "I wish we could still produce movies for as much as John Waters made them. It's pretty punk rock."
Along with Nix, the film features a cast of Austin's queer creatives, including nightlife sensation and music artist p1nkstar and longtime drag performer Christeene Vale (aka Paul Soileau).
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"For real weirdos like me, which is what Austin’s supposed to be for, that isn't the reality," she says. One example she cites: The current redevelopment plans for the Warehouse District, which would displace several LGBTQ bars that host DJs and drag performers.
Nix talks candidly about the personal struggles in recent years that have now been filtered through a cinematic lens. Around the time the film project came up, she was going through a divorce. She also was recently diagnosed with multiple sclerosis. During parts of filming, she says she couldn't walk on her left leg, or sometimes, see out of her right eye.
Her parents have been a big support, she says, including financially after she was displaced from the home she'd been renting.
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If you go
"Erica's First Holy Sh!t" world premiere
When: 7:30 p.m. doors, 8:30 p.m. screening on April 29
Where: Distribution Hall, 1500 E. Fourth St.
Tickets and more information: workoutwithericanix.com
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