SXSW Film Festival Lineup (Online)

  • March 16, 2021
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The SXSW Festival is many things with not just a little bit but a lot for everyone. With SXSW's Film Festival Lineup available online, this year might be the most accessible since the film program started in 1994. From its beginning as a side event for the music-centric festival in one of the U.S towns most know for music, the film festival has grown to become a destination all its own. And with this year's recent Oscar nominations there is reason to believe that the international stage for independent film is growing as well.  

As for filmgoers seeking new, innovative, and diverse movie experiences, 2021 SXSW features  40 female directors and 53 films from first-time filmmakers. Plus, online audiences will be able to catch their choices from 75 features including 57 World Premieres, 8 Documentary Features, 3 International Premieres,3 Headliners, 4 North American Premieres, 1 U.S. Premiere, Plus, 84 Short Films including Music Videos, 5 Episodic Premieres, 6 Episodic Pilots, 20 Virtual Cinema projects, 14 Title Design entries, and 30 Special Events. That's more than enough to fill up a week of festival going from your couch while you adjust to Day Light Savings. Just don't forget to go outside now and then.  

Documentary Feature Competition:

I2021 SXSW Film, Introducing, Selma BlairIntroducing, Selma Blair, Director: Rachel Fleit, Producers: Mickey Liddell, Pete Shilaimon, Troy NankinIntroducing, Selma Blair is a deeply intimate and raw portrait of the actress after she is diagnosed with Multiple Sclerosis and makes a valiant, risky effort to try to slow the progression of her disease. For the acclaimed, yet often supporting actress, her starring role has finally arrived – she just has to show up and fully embrace herself. (World Premiere)

2021 SXSW Film, Kid Candidate
Kid Candidate, Director: Jasmine Stodel, Producers: Jasmine Stodel, Chevis LaBelle, William Dorrien-Smith
Kid Candidate tells the story of Hayden Pedigo, a 24-year old experimental musician and his unlikely run for Amarillo city council after his Harmony Korine inspired spoof campaign video went viral. (World Premiere)

2021 SXSW Film, Lily Topples The World - Credit Steve Price
Lily Topples The World, Director: Jeremy Workman, Producers: Jeremy Workman, Robert J. Lyons
Lily Topples The World follows 20-year-old Lily Hevesh — the world’s most acclaimed domino toppler and the only woman in her field — in a coming-of-age story of artistry, passion, and unlikely triumph. Executive produced by Kelly Marie Tran. (World Premiere)

2021 SXSW Film, Not Going Quietly - Credit Michael Dwyer People's Television
Not Going Quietly, Director: Nicholas Bruckman, Screenwriters: Nicholas Bruckman, Amanda Roddy, Producer: Amanda Roddy
When a young father chances to meet a powerful senator on an airplane, their exchange goes viral, sparking one of the most unlikely political movements in a generation. (World Premiere)

2021 SXSW Film, The Oxy Kingpins
The Oxy Kingpins, Director: Brendan FitzGerald, Producers: Drea Bernardi, Brendan FitzGerald, Nick August-Perna
The Oxy Kingpins covers the untold story of how a network of pharmaceutical manufacturers, distributors, and retailers worked together to orchestrate and perpetuate the opioid crisis that has killed over half a million people in America. (World Premiere)

2021 SXSW Film, The Return: Life After ISIS
The Return: Life After ISIS (Spain, United Kingdom), Director/Screenwriter: Alba Sotorra Clua, Producers: Alba Sotorra Clua, Vesna Cudic
Shamima Begum (UK) and Hoda Muthana (US) made it into worldwide headlines when they left their countries as teenagers to join ISIS. Now they want to return but their countries don’t want them back. (World Premiere)

2021 SXSW Film, Subjects of Desire
Subjects of Desire (Canada), Director/Screenwriter: Jennifer Holness, Producers: Jennifer Holness, Sudz Sutherland
Subjects of Desire is a thought provoking film that examines the cultural shift in beauty standards towards embracing (or appropriating) Black aesthetics and features, deconstructing what we understand about race and the power behind beauty. (World Premiere)

2021 SXSW Film, United States vs. Reality Winner
United States vs. Reality Winner, Director: Sonia Kennebeck, Producer: Ines Hofmann Kanna
A state of secrets and a ruthless hunt for whistleblowers – this is the story of 25-year-old Reality Winner who disclosed a document about Russian election interference to the media and became the number one leak target of the Trump administration. (World Premiere)


Narrative Feature Competition: 


SXSW 2021 Film Here Before Here Before (United Kingdom), Director/Screenwriter: Stacey Gregg, Producers: Sophie Vickers, Julia GodzinskayaAfter new neighbors move in next door, a bereaved mother begins to question her reality in this unsettling psychological thriller. Cast List: Andrea Riseborough, Martin McCann, Jonjo O’Neill, Eileen O’Higgins (World Premiere)

SXSW 2021 Film I’m Fine (Thanks For Asking)
I’m Fine (Thanks For Asking), Directors: Kelley Kali, Angelique Molina, Screenwriters: Kelley Kali, Angelique Molina, Roma Kong, Producers: Roma Kong, Angelique Molina, Kelley Kali, Capella Fahoome, Deon Cole
When a recently widowed mother becomes houseless, she convinces her 8-year-old daughter that they are only camping for fun while working to get them off the streets. Cast List: Kelley Kali, Wesley Moss, Deon Cole, Brooklynn Marie, Steven Ira Scipio, Andrew Galvan, Lamar Usher, Brian Brooks II, Jacolyn Holmes, Xing-Mai Deng (World Premiere)

SXSW 2021 Film Islands Islands (Canada)Director/Screenwriter: Martin Edralin, Producer: Martin Edralin, Priscilla Galvez Joshua, a shy Filipino immigrant on the cusp of 50, has lived in the comfort of his parents’ home his entire life. With his parents now in old age, he pleads with God for a companion, terrified of being alone after they pass. Cast List: Rogelio Balagtas, Sheila Lotuaco, Esteban Comilang, Vangie Alcasid, Pablo Quiogue, Isys Szuky, Maximus Szuky (World Premiere)

SXSW 2021 Film Our Father Our Father, Director/Screenwriter: Bradley Grant Smith, Producers: Alex Thompson, Ian Keiser, Steven Callas
In a last ditch attempt to foster a meaningful bond, estranged sisters Beta and Zelda go in search of their mysterious Uncle Jerry. Cast List: Baize Buzan, Allison Torem, Austin Pendleton, Corey Hendrix, Tim Hopper, Ann Whitney, Keith Kupferer, Guy Massey, Lance Baker, D’Wayne Taylor (World Premiere)

A true story about a gay boy growing up in the collapsing USSR, his courageous mail-order bride mother, and their adventurous escape to Seattle in the 90s. Cast List: Marya Sea Kaminski, Dan Lauria, Tyler Bocock, Lea DeLaria, Sera Barbieri, Hersh Powers, Jonathan Bennett, Sophia Mitri Schloss, Cynthia Lauren Tewes, James Grixoni* (World Premiere)

SXSW 2021 Film The End Of Us The End Of Us, Directors/Screenwriters: Henry Loevner, Steven Kanter, Producers: Claudia Restrepo, Henry Loevner, Steven Kanter, Lovell Holder
After a savage breakup, two exes must continue living together when California issues its stay-at-home order for COVID-19. Now they’ll try to move on without moving out. Cast List: Ben Coleman, Ali Vingiano, Derrick DeBlasis, Gadiel Del Orbe, Kate Peterman, Colin Weatherby, Caroline Kwan, Will Neff, Jesse Benjamin, Claudia Restrepo (World Premiere)

SXSW 2021 Film The Fallout The Fallout, Director/Screenwriter: Megan Park, Producers: David Brown, Shaun Sanghhai, Rebecca Miller, Cara Shine, Joannie Burstein, Todd Lundbohm, Giulia Prenna
High schooler Vada navigates the emotional fallout she experiences in the wake of a school tragedy. Relationships with her family, friends and view of the world are forever altered. Cast List: Jenna Ortega, Maddie Ziegler, Niles Fitch, Will Ropp, Lumi Pollack, John Ortiz, Julie Bowen, Shailene Woodley (World Premiere)

In 1960s San Francisco, a once-promising catholic school girl, Celina Guerrera (Lorenza Izzo), sets out to rise above the oppression of poverty and invest in a future for herself that sets new precedents for the time. Cast List: Lorenza Izzo, Bryan Craig, Chrissie Fit, Simu Liu, Steven Bauer, Liza Weil, Cranston Johnson, Alejandra Miranda, Shalim Ortiz, Lincoln Bonilla (World Premiere)


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