The 2011 South-By-Southwest Festival kicks off today, with a slate of films that includes some of the most hotly anticipated movies of the year.
Mel Gibson's "The Beaver," which many feared would never see the light of day after all of the actor's personal and legal troubles, will finally make its world premiere on Wednesday night. In it Gibson stars as a man struggling with depression, who finally finds a way to communicate with the people around him: via a beaver hand puppet. It'll be interesting to see the reaction to the film, but we won't really know what Gibson's future looks until the masses get a chance to vote with their dollars.
"Source Code," starring Jake Gyllenhaal as a soldier who must keep reliving the last eight minutes of another man's life until he can stop the deadly bombing that killed him and countless others, also makes its debut. It's directed by Duncan Jones (aka Zowie Bowie), whose last film was the critically-acclaimed "Moon."
Among the other films on offer are the alien chase comedy "Paul," starring Simon Pegg and Nick Frost; "Super," a very dark comedy starring Rainn Wilson as a regular guy who turns himself in a super hero to rescue his wife from a drug dealer; and "Win Win," a very funny and touching film starring Paul Giamatti as a lawyer/wrestling coach whose life becomes entangled with that of a client's estranged grandson.
And it wouldn't be SXSW without a healthy dose of the rock music, with bands like the Foo Fighters and Le Tigre being among those starring in documentaries. This year's SXSW Film Festival runs from March 11 to 20, you can go to their YouTube page to check out all kinds of trailers and music videos, and below is the full slate of films:
Narrative Feature Competition
96 Minutes
Director & Writer: Aimée Lagos
Four young lives. One night. One terrifying event. These 96 minutes will change everything.
Cast: Brittany Snow, Evan Ross, Christian Serratos, J. Michael Trautmann, and David Oyelowo (World Premiere)
A Year in Mooring
Director: Chris Eyre, Writer: Peter Vanderwall
In his first leading dramatic role, Josh Lucas walks an isolated line between solitude and redemption. This quiet cinematic journey tells a of tale grief, solace and peace.
Cast: Josh Lucas, Ayelet Zurer, James Cromwell, Jon Tenney, Taylor Nichols (World Premiere)
American Animal
Director & Writer: Matt D'Elia
Jimmy - eccentric, delusional, dying - feels betrayed when roommate James gets a job. During one night of drinks, drugs and women, a classic battle of wills ensues as James prepares for work and Jimmy goes mad.
Cast: Matt D'Elia, Brendan Fletcher, Mircea Monroe, Angela Sarafyan (World Premiere)
Charlie Casanova (Ireland)
Director & Writer: Terry McMahon
A ruling class sociopath knocks down a working class girl in a hit-and-run and uses a deck of playing cards to determine his fate.
Cast: Emmett J. Scanlan, Leigh Arnold, Damien Hannaway, Ruth McIntyre, Tony Murphy (World Premiere)
Fly Away
Director & Writer: Janet Grillo
A poignant yet humor filled story about a single mother of a teenager with autism, confronting her child’s future. What will sustain her daughter, and herself? A parent/child love story, when love means letting go.
Cast: Beth Broderick, Ashley Rickards, Greg Germann, JR Bourne, Reno (World Premiere)
Happy New Year
Director & Writer: K. Lorrel Manning
A war torn marine returns home to face his fiercest battle yet --- the one against himself.
Cast: Michael Cuomo, JD Williams, Monique Gabriela Curnen, Tina Sloan, Alan Dale (World Premiere)
Natural Selection
Director and Screenwriter: Robbie Pickering
When a dutiful, albeit barren, housewife discovers that her ailing husband has an illegitimate son, she sets out to find the young man and reunite him with her husband before he dies.
Cast: Rachael Harris, Matt O'Leary, Jon Gries, John Diehl (World Premiere)
Small, Beautifully Moving Parts
Directors & Writers: Annie J. Howell & Lisa Robinson
Technology-obsessed Sarah Sparks is pregnant and ambivalent, afraid she relates better to machines than to people. Looking for answers, she hits the road in search of her estranged mother, now living off the grid.
Cast: Anna Margaret Hollyman, André Holland, Sarah Rafferty, Susan Kalechi Watson, Mary Beth Peil (World Premiere)
Documentary Feature Competition
A Mouthful
Director: Sally Rowe
Considered a rising star of haute cuisine, Paul Liebrandt found his career stalled in New York’s austere environment post 9/11. Paul struggles over the next decade as he tries to make his way back to the top. (World Premiere)
Better This World
Directors: Katie Galloway & Kelly Duane de la Vega
Two childhood friends from Midland, Texas cross a line that changes their lives forever. The result: eight homemade bombs, multiple domestic terrorism charges and a high stakes entrapment defense hinging on a controversial FBI informant. (World Premiere)
The City Dark
Director: Ian Cheney
The film chronicles the disappearance of darkness, following astronomers, cancer researchers, ecologists and philosophers in a quest to understand what is lost in the glare of city lights. (World Premiere)
Dragonslayer
Director: Tristan Patterson
Killer Films presents the transmissions of a lost kid, falling in love, in the suburbs of Fullerton, California. Featuring skateboarding, the usual drugs, and stray glimpses of unusual beauty. (World Premiere)
Fightville
Directors: Michael Tucker & Petra Epperlein
A documentary about the art and sport of fighting: a microcosm of life, a physical manifestation of that other brutal contest called the American Dream. (World Premiere)
Kumaré (U.S.A/India)
Director: Vikram Gandhi
A documentary about a man who impersonates a wise Indian Guru and builds a following in Arizona. (World Premiere)
Last Days Here
Directors: Don Argott & Demian Fenton
The film follows middle-aged rocker Bobby Liebling, lead singer of the cult hard rock/heavy metal band Pentagram, as he leaves his parents' basement in search of the life he never lived. (World Premiere)
Where Soldiers Come From
Director: Heather Courtney
From a snowy small town in Northern Michigan to the mountains of Afghanistan and back, the film follows the four-year journey of childhood friends and their town, forever changed by a faraway war. (World Premiere)
Headliners
Big names, big talent: Headliners bring star power to SXSW, featuring red carpet premieres and gala film events with some major and rising names in cinema.
U.S. & World
13 Assassins
Director: Takashi Miike, Writers: Shoichirou Ikemiya & Daisuke Tengan
Distressed by the Lord’s murderous rampage, top Shogun official Sir Doi secretly calls on esteemed samurai Shinzaemon Shimada to assassinate the evil Naritsugu. Outraged by Lord Naritsugu’s vile acts, Shinzaemon willingly accepts the dangerous mission.
Cast: Koji Yakusho, Takayuki Yamada, Yusuke Iseya, Goro Inagaki, Masachika Ichimura
Ain't It Cool News 15th Anniversary Screening
Harry Knowles will curate a surprise screening in honor of the 15th Anniversary of his popular cult website Ain't it Cool News.
The Beaver
Director: Jodie Foster, Writer: Kyle Killen
Two-time Academy Award® winner Jodie Foster directs and co-stars with two-time Academy Award® winner Mel Gibson in an emotional story about a man on a journey to re-discover his family and re- start his life. Plagued by his own demons, Walter Black was once a successful toy executive and family man who now suffers from depression. No matter what he tries, Walter can’t seem to get himself back on track…until a beaver hand puppet enters his life.
Cast: Cast: Mel Gibson, Jodie Foster, Anton Yelchin, Jennifer Lawrence, Cherry Jones (World Premiere)
Conan O'Brien Can't Stop
Director: Rodman Flender
Did Conan O'Brien go on tour to connect with his fans or fill a void within himself? Rodman Flender’s documentary captures an artist trained in improvisation at the most improvisational time of his career. (World Premiere)
Paul
Director: Greg Mottola, Writers: Simon Pegg & Nick Frost
Simon Pegg and Nick Frost reunite as two geeks who meet an alien named Paul (Seth Rogen) on a pilgrimage to America’s UFO heartland. Their road trip will alter our universe forever.
Cast: Simon Pegg, Nick Frost, Jason Bateman, Kristen Wiig, Bill Hader, Blythe Danner, John Carroll Lynch, with Sigourney Weaver, and Seth Rogen as Paul (North American Premiere)
Source Code
Director: Duncan Jones, Writer: Ben Ripley
When soldier Captain Colter Stevens (Jake Gyllenhaal) wakes up in the body of an unknown man, he discovers he’s part of a mission to find the bomber of a Chicago commuter train. In an assignment unlike any he’s ever known, he learns he’s part of a government experiment called the “Source Code,” a computer program that enables him to cross over into another man's identity in the last 8 minutes of his life..
Cast: Jake Gyllenhaal, Michelle Monaghan, Vera Farmiga, Jeffrey Wright (World Premiere)
Super
Director & Writer: James Gunn
In this outlandish dark comedy, James Gunn has created what is perhaps the definitive take on self-reflexive superheroes.
Cast: Rainn Wilson, Ellen Page, Liv Tyler, Kevin Bacon, Michael Rooker (U.S. Premiere)
Win Win
Director: Tom McCarthy, Writers: Tom McCarthy & Joe Tiboni
Tom McCarthy, acclaimed writer/director of The Visitor and The Station Agent, once again explores the depths and nuances of human relationships in his new film about the allegiances and bonds between unlikely characters.
Cast: Paul Giamatti, Amy Ryan, Bobby Cannavale, Jeffrey Tambor, Burt Young, Melanie Lynskey, Alex Schaffer, Margo Martindale, David Thompson
Spotlight Premieres
Shining a light on new documentary and narrative features receiving their World, North American or U.S. Premieres at SXSW.
A Bag of Hammers
Director: Brian Crano, Writers: Brian Crano & Jake Sandvig
An offbeat comedy about two misfit best friends incapable of growing up, whose direction is tested by an abandoned child, worn beyond his years; together they invent the family they've always needed.
Cast: Jason Ritter, Jake Sandvig, Chandler Canterbury, Rebecca Hall, Carrie Preston (World Premiere)
Becoming Santa
Director: Jeff Myers
In an effort to rekindle his Christmas spirit, Jack decides to spend this season as Santa Claus, but the role of Kris Kringle is more complex than he thinks. (World Premiere)
Beginners
Writer & Director: Mike Mills
When Oliver (Ewan McGregor) meets the irreverent and unpredictable Anna (Mélanie Laurent) only months after his father Hal (Christopher Plummer) has passed away, this new love floods Oliver with memories of his father who – following 44 years of marriage – came out of the closet at age 75 to live a full, energized, and wonderfully tumultuous gay life.
Cast: Ewan McGregor, Christopher Plummer, Mélanie Laurent, Goran Visnjic, Kai Lennox (U.S. Premiere)
Bob and The Monster
Director: Keirda Bahruth
A highly compelling portrait of outspoken indie-rock hero Bob Forrest, through his life-threatening struggle with addiction, to his transformation into one of the most influential and controversial drug counselors in the US today. (World Premiere)
Detention
Director: Joseph Kahn, Writers: Joseph Kahn & Mark Palermo
A downtrodden 17-year-old girl is sent to detention where she must survive a slasher film killer and save the world in time for prom.
Cast: Josh Hutcherson, Dane Cook, Shanley Caswell, Spencer Locke, Aaron David Johnson (World Premiere)
Elevate
Director: Anne Buford
From a basketball academy in Senegal, to the high-pressure world of American prep schools, the film documents the extraordinary personal journeys of four particularly tall West African Muslim teenage boys with NBA dreams. (World Premiere)
Fambul Tok
Director: Sara Terry
Victims and perpetrators of Sierra Leone’s brutal war come together for the first time in an unprecedented reconciliation program of grassroots truth-telling and forgiveness ceremonies. (World Premiere)
Fubar: Balls to the Wall (Canada)
Director: Michael Dowse, Writers: David Lawrence, Paul J. Spence
Documentarian Farrel Mitchner explores the lives of headbangers Dean Murdoch and Terry Cahill.
Cast: Paul J. Spence, David Lawrence (U.S. Premiere)
Girl Walks Into a Bar
Director & Writer: Sebastian Gutierrez
A sharp-witted comedy that follows a group of apparent strangers in interlocking stories taking place in ten different bars during the course of one evening in Los Angeles.
Cast: Carla Gugino, Zachary Quinto, Danny DeVito, Josh Hartnett, Rosario Dawson (World Premiere)
The Innkeepers
Director & Writer: Ti West
Hotel clerks by day, amateur ghost hunters by night, the last two employees of the historic Yankee Pedlar Inn set out to prove that their place of business is as haunted as its reputation.
Cast: Sara Paxton, Pat Healy, Kelly McGillis (World Premiere)
It's About You.
Director: Kurt Markus
First-time filmmakers, photographer Kurt Markus and son, Ian, document John Mellencamp’s 2009 summer tour and recording of his latest album. This film celebrates the visual beauty and power of Super8 film and the human voice. (World Premiere)
LBF (Australia)
Director & Writer: Alex Munt
A pop-art film based on the novel “Living Between Fucks” by Cry Bloxsome. It follows Goodchild, a young writer back home for his ex-girlfriend's funeral, The Dead Girl. Love, Loss & Desperation.
Cast: Toby Schmitz, Bianca Chiminello, Gracie Otto, Septimus Caton, April Rose Pengilly (World Premiere)
The Other F Word
Director: Andrea Blaugrund Nevins
When the most anti-authoritarian among us become the ultimate authorities... we might just have to use The Other F Word. (World Premiere)
PressPausePlay (Sweden)
Directors: Victor Köhler & David Dworsky
A Film about Hope, Fear and Digital Culture. (World Premiere)
Something Ventured
Directors: Dan Geller & Dayna Goldfine
Apple. Intel. Genentech. Cisco. Atari. This film tells the story of a handful of risk-takers who alongside visionary entrepreneurs created these revolutionary companies, and in the process ignited the industry known as venture capital. (World Premiere)
Square Grouper
Director: Billy Corben
A colorful portrait of Miami's pot smugglin' scene of the 1970s, populated with redneck pirates, a ganja-smoking church, and the longest serving marijuana prisoner in American history. (World Premiere)
Undefeated
Directors: Dan Lindsay & T.J. Martin
A volunteer coach helps a neglected inner-city football team in their quest to win the first playoff game in the high school's history. (World Premiere)
Yelling to the Sky
Director & Writer: Victoria Mahoney
As her family falls apart, seventeen year old Sweetness O’Hara is left to fend for herself in a neighborhood where her survival is uncertain.
Cast: Zoe Kravitz, Jason Clarke, Antonique Smith, Gabourey Sidibe, Tim Blake Nelson (U.S. Premiere)
You Instead (Scotland)
Director: David Mackenzie, Writer: Thomas Leveritt
Two rival musicians find themselves handcuffed together at the world renowned music festival, T in the Park, where they are both scheduled to perform.
Cast: Luke Treadaway, Natalia Tena, Sophie Wu, Ruta Gedmintas, Kari Corbett (North American Premiere)
Emerging Visions
Innovation and creativity from new and emerging feature filmmakers, showcasing raw talent in documentary and narratives of varying premiere status.
Bad Fever
Director & Writer: Dustin Guy Defa
A humorless loner attempts to win the admiration of a drifter with his debut performance at the local comedy club.
Cast: Kentucker Audley, Eléonore Hendricks, Annette Wright, Allison Baar (World Premiere)
The Ballad of Genesis and Lady Jaye
Director: Marie Losier
A portrait of the life and work of ground-breaking performance artist and music pioneer Genesis Breyer P-Orridge (Throbbing Gristle, Psychic TV) and his wife Lady Jaye, centered around their sexual transformations for their “Pandrogyne” project. (North American Premiere)
Bellflower
Director & Writer: Evan Glodell
A love story with apocalyptic stakes.
Cast: Evan Glodell, Jessie Wiseman, Tyler Dawson, Rebekah Brandes, Vincent Grashaw
The Catechism Cataclysm
Director & Writer: Todd Rohal
Father William Smoortser drops his bible into a toilet at a rest stop just before embarking on a day- long canoe trip, breaking loose all glorious hell.
Cast: Steve Little, Robert Longstreet, Walter Dalton, Miki Ann Maddox, Koko Lanham, Rico
Caught Inside (Australia)
Director: Adam Blaiklock, Writers: Adam Blaiklock & Matt Tomaszewski
AA surfing holiday turns deadly when a group of friends fight over a beautiful woman.
Cast: Ben Oxenbould, Daisy Betts, Sam Lyndon, Simon Lyndon, Peter Phelps (North American Premiere)
Convento (Portugal)
Director: Jarred Alterman
Artist Christiaan Zwanikken resurrects deceased wildlife by reanimating the skeletal remains with servomotors and robotics. He breeds these new species in a 400-year-old monastery in Portugal, restored from ruins and converted into his laboratory. (North American Premiere)
The Dish & The Spoon
Director: Alison Bagnall, Writers: Alison Bagnall, Andrew Lewis
In this poignant comedy, Rose (Greta Gerwig), reeling from her husband's affair, collides and forms an unexpected bond with a marooned teenager from England (exciting newcomer Olly Alexander) in a boarded-up Delaware beach town.
Cast: Greta Gerwig, Olly Alexander, Eleonore Hendricks, Amy Seimetz, Adam Rothenberg (World Premiere)
Fuck my Life (Chile)
Director & Writer: Nicolás López
Love in the times of Facebook is worst than love in the times of cholera.
Cast: Ariel Levy, Lucy Cominetti, Andrea Velasco, Paz Bascuñan, Leonor Varela (U.S. Premiere)
Green
Director & Writer: Sophia Takal
An intimate friendship between two women dissolves as they are drawn into an irrational, destructive spiral of jealousy and paranoid fantasy in this haunting examination of the female psyche.
Cast: Kate Lyn Sheil, Sophia Takal, Lawrence Michael Levine (World Premiere)
The Key Man
Director & Writer: Peter Himmelstein
Bobby Scheinman is an insurance salesman struggling to provide for his family. Enter Vincent and Irving, two con men who convince Bobby to join them for a moneymaking scheme that quickly spirals out of control.
Cast: Jack Davenport, Hugo Weaving, Brian Cox, Judy Greer, Ben Shenkman (World Premiere)
New Jerusalem
Director: R. Alverson, Writers: R. Alverson & Colm O'Leary
Ike (Will Oldham), an Evangelical Christian, befriends Sean, an Irish immigrant, and attempts to ensure his salvation. A meditation on the allure and limitations of modern utopian belief.
Cast: Will Oldham, Colm O'Leary, Thomas Bowles, Walter Scott, Roxanne Ferris (North American Premiere)
No Matter What
Director & Writer: Cherie Saulter
The story of Nick and Joey, two best friends living in the crumbling landscape of rural Florida, whose lives and friendship are changed by the journey to find Joey’s mother.
Cast: Matt Webb, Waylan Gross, Amy Seimetz (World Premiere)
Our Day Will Come (France)
Director: Romain Gavras, Writers: Romain Gavras & Karim Boucherka
Two outcast redheads set off on a roadtrip of hate, violence and self-destruction. The time for revenge has come…
Cast: Vincent Cassel, Olivier Barthelemy (U.S. Premiere)
Riscado (Brazil)
Director: Gustavo Pizzi, Writers: Gustavo Pizzi & Karine Teles
What's the importance of luck in life? Is luck part of the craft?
Cast: Karine Teles, Camilo Pellegrini, Dany Roland, Otavio Muller (North American Premiere)
Septien
Director & Writer: Michael Tully
A reclusive sports hustler returns home to his family farm after years of absence to reunite with his two eccentric, unhinged and emotionally damaged brothers.
Cast: Robert Longstreet, Onur Tukel, Michael Tully, Rachel Korine, Mark Darby Robinson
Silver Bullets
Director & Writer: Joe Swanberg
Filmmaking and life converge around a werewolf film.
Cast: Kate Lyn Sheil, Ti West, Amy Seimetz, Joe Swanberg, Jane Adams (North American Premiere)
Surrogate Valentine
Director: Dave Boyle, Writers: Dave Boyle, Joel Clark, & Goh Nakamura
Musician Goh Nakamura is hired to teach TV actor Danny Turner how to walk and talk like a rock star for his new movie.
Cast: Goh Nakamura, Chadd Stoops, Lynn Chen, Mary Cavett, Joy Osmanski (World Premiere)
Turkey Bowl
Director & Writer: Kyle Smith
Ten friends gather to play an annual game of touch football in this real-time comedy.
Cast: Morgan Beck, Adam Benic, Kerry Bishé, Troy Buchanan, Tom DiMenna (World Premiere)
Weekend (England)
Director & Writer: Andrew Haigh
A one-night stand that becomes something else, something important - a (sort of) love story between two guys trying to take control of their lives.
Cast: Tom Cullen, Chris New (World Premiere)
Lone Star
Texas proud! Documentaries and Narratives with a special connection to the Lone Star State.
Apart
Director: Aaron Rottinghaus, Writers: Aaron Rottinghaus & Josh Danziger
Young love is derailed by a rare psychological disorder known as icd-10 F24.
Cast: Olesya Rulin, Josh Danziger, Michael Bowen, Bruce McGill, Joey Lauren Adams (World Premiere)
blacktino
Director & Writer: Aaron Burns
Sad, fat, black, latino, nerd. It doesn't get any worse than that.
Cast: Austin Marshall, Devyn Ray, Tiger Sheu, Danny Trejo, Jeff Fahey (World Premiere)
Building Hope
Director: Turk Pipkin
Filmmaker Turk Pipkin’s promise to help build the first high school for a remote African community connects Americans and Kenyans in this true story.(World Premiere)
Five Time Champion
Director & Writer: Berndt Mader
A film about love, hope, petty theft, adultery, and the boundless opportunities presented by science.
Cast: Betty Buckley, Dana Wheeler Nicholson, Jon Gries, Ryan Akin, Robert Longstreet (World Premiere)
Incendiary =: The Willingham Case
Directors: Steve Mims & Joe Bailey, Jr.
Cameron Todd Willingham: A martyr for anti-death penalty activists, a 'monster' for right-wing politicians and a flash point for an astonishing twenty-first century fight between science and folklore. (World Premiere)
Inside America (Austria)
Director & Writer: Barbara Eder
A portrait of six teenagers during their senior year at Hanna High School in Brownsville and “a relentless, downbeat but convincing indictment of a small Texas high school.”
Cast: Raul Juarez, Aimeé Lizette Saldivar, Zuleyma Jaime, Luis De Los Santos, Carlos Benavides, Patty Barrera (U.S. Premiere)
My Sucky Teen Romance
Director & Writer: Emily Hagins
In a culture that is currently overrun with romanticized vampires, it is up to four geeky teenagers to defend their friend and beloved sci-fi convention from a group of very real, blood-thirsty vampires.
Cast: Elaine Hurt, Patrick Delgado, Santiago Dietche, Lauren Lee, Tony Vespe (World Premiere)
Otis Under Sky
Director: Anlo Sepulveda, Writers: Anlo Sepulveda, Anis Mojgani, Roberta Colindrez
Otis is a socially inept web artist who struggles to connect with people. He falls into unrequited love with Ursula, and his world is turned upside down.
Cast: Anis Mojgani, Roberta Colindrez, Tony Jackson, Jacqueline Leal, Ruth Sepulveda (World Premiere)
Wuss
Director & Writer: Clay Liford
A high school teacher is severely beaten by his own students. Too embarrassed to inform the authorities, he plots his own revenge.
Cast: Nate Rubin, Alicia Anthony, Alex Karpovsky, Jonny Mars, Tony Hale (World Premiere)
Beats
Showcasing the sounds, culture and influence of music and musicians, with an emphasis on documentary.
Benda Bilili! (France)
Directors: Renaud Barret & Florent de La Tullaye
Ricky dreams of making Staff Benda Bilili the best band in Congo Kinshasa. Roger wants to join these stars of the ghetto. Together, they must avoid the pitfalls of the street and believe in music. (U.S. Premiere)
Foo Fighters
Director: James Moll
The definitive documentary of the last great American rock n’ roll band: chronicling Foo Fighters’ 16 year history from their first club gigs to the recording of their new album in Dave Grohl's garage. (World Premiere)
Who Took the Bomp? Le Tigre on Tour
Director: Kerthy Fix
A concert film that follows a feminist electronic band across 4 continents and 10 countries and provides an unusual peek behind the curtain of the contemporary pop machine. (World Premiere)
Live at Preservation Hall: Louisiana Fairytale
Director: Danny Clinch
The film documents the collaboration between New Orleans's legendary Preservation Hall Jazz Band and American rock band My Morning Jacket, demonstrating the power of Preservation Hall to inspire a whole new generation of musicians. (World Premiere)
Love Shines (Canada)
Director: Douglas Arrowsmith
Love Shines follows Canadian singer-songwriter Ron Sexsmith as he makes his latest studio album with legendary producer Bob Rock. (U.S. Premiere)
NYMAN IN PROGRESS (Germany/England)
Director: Silvia Beck
A documentary about composer and artist Michael Nyman, who at 65, surprises the world with a new insight into his creativity. (U.S. Premiere)
Outside Industry: The Story of SXSW
Director: Alan Berg
Four guys living on next to nothing created a music event in the hopes of giving bands a way of connecting with music insiders. The result was the biggest music industry event in the world. (World Premiere)
Sound It Out (England)
Director: Jeanie Finlay
A documentary portrait of the very last record shop in Teesside. A distinctive, funny and intimate film about men, the North of England and the irreplaceable role of music in our lives. (World Premiere)
Taken By Storm: The Art of Storm Thorgerson and Hipgnosis
Director: Roddy Bogawa
Real? Surreal? Iconic? Impossible? The album art of Storm Thorgerson is so far deeply embedded into our psyche, it’s hard to believe it all came from one mind. (World Premiere)
Upside Down: The Creation Records Story (England)
Director: Danny O'Connor
The definitive and fully authorized documentary of the highs and lows of the UK's most inspired and dissolute independent record label - Creation Records. (North American Premiere)
SX Global
A diverse panorama of international filmmaking talent, including premieres, interactive documentaries and shorts
Andante (Israel)
Director & Writer: Assaf Tager
In a post-industrial world people are no longer able to dream. Sarah, the single surviving dreamer, sets out to the only place that can provide answers to her strange night visions: the dream factory.
Cast: Sarah Adler, David Fire, Liron Levo, Nicole Veronica (North American Premiere)
Armadillo (Denmark)
Director: Janus Metz
Following a group of Danish solders on a 2009 tour of Afghanistan, Janus Metz’s acclaimed documentary is a gripping, visually stunning probe into the psychology of young men in the midst of a senseless war.
Beats of Freedom (Poland)
Directors: Leszek Gnoinski & Wojciech Slota
A captivating film about the birth of rock music in Poland.
El Ambulante (Argentina)
Directors & Writers: Eduardo de la Serna, Lucas Marcheggiano and Adriana Yurcovich
A traveler arrives at a village and proposes to make a feature film - but only the villagers will act in the film.
El Bulli - Cooking in Progress (Germany)
Director: Gereon Wetzel
The starred chef Ferran Adrià is known as the best, most innovative and craziest cook in the world. Every year, the restaurant closes for six months and Adrià and his creative team retire to their cooking laboratory in Barcelona, to create a new menu for the following season. Everything is allowed – except copying themselves.
Heaven Hell (Czech Republic)
Director: David Calek
A documentary film dealing with human diversity that doesn't necessarily lead to hell even though it might seem like that from the outsider's point of view. (U.S. Premiere)
IDFA DocLab presents: New Documentary Narratives
For the third year in a row, SXSW has invited IDFA DocLab (www.idfa.nl/doclab) to organize a panel and a special live cinema screening. IDFA DocLab is the new media program of the International Documentary Film Festival Amsterdam. Since 2008, IDFA DocLab showcases the many new and unexpected forms of documentary storytelling made possible by digital technology. In Europe, the program has become a platform for transmedia and multiplatform projects, ranging from interactive webdocs to documentary media art.
My Life With Carlos (Chile/Germany/Spain)
Director: German Berger-Hertz
The film chronicles the journey of a son (director German Berger-Hertz) trying to learn the truth about his father, who was killed in 1973 in Pinochet's Chile.
Reindeer Spotting (Finland)
Director: Joonas Neuvonen
Without moralizing the film shows the real life of a group of friends in the Arctic Circle, dabbling in petty crime and hard drugs. Disturbing, brutal and beautifully honest. Trainspotting in Santa Land. (North American Premiere)
Self Made (England)
Director: Gillian Wearing
A diverse group of British people respond to an ad from artist Gillian Wearing. Taking part in an experiment with Method acting, they find themselves for the first time confronting their innermost personal truths.
Viva Riva! (Democratic Republic of Congo)
Director & Writer: Djo Tunda Wa Munga
The first major film out of the Democratic Republic of Congo, the story follows fast-living hustler Riva. While being pursued by Kinshasa’s dangerous underworld, Riva finds himself inextricably drawn to a gangster’s seductive, kept woman.
Cast: Patsha Bay, Manie Malone, Hoji Fortuna, Marlene Longage, Diplome Amekindra, Alex Herabo (U.S. Premiere)
WAY OF THE MORRIS (England)
Directors: Tim Plester & Rob Curry
Filmmaker Tim Plester journeys from the English village green to the killing fields of The Somme, in search of a connection with the much-maligned native dance traditions that run deep in his blood. (World Premiere)
Festival Favs
Acclaimed standouts and selected previous premieres from festivals around the world.
Being Elmo: A Puppeteer’s Journey
Director: Constance A. Marks
The Muppet Elmo is one of the most beloved characters among children across the globe. Meet the unlikely man behind the puppet - the heart and soul of Elmo - Kevin Clash. Narrated by Whoopi Goldberg, this documentary includes rare archival footage and offers a behind-the-scenes look at Sesame Street and the Jim Henson Workshop.
CAVE OF FORGOTTEN DREAMS (France)
Director: Werner Herzog
Filming in 3D, Herzog captures the wonder and beauty of one of the most awe-inspiring sites on earth.
Ceremony
Director & Writer: Max Winkler
Sam Davis convinces his former best friend to spend a weekend with him to rekindle their friendship at an elegant beachside estate but he is forced to realize how complicated love and friendship can be.
Cast: Michael Angarano, Uma Thurman, Reece Thompson, Lee Pace, Jake Johnson
The First Movie (Canada/England)
Director: Mark Cousins
What’s it like to be a child in war – not when the conflict is raging, but when the war tide is out, as it were, when kids are telling stories or playing games?
Hesher
Director: Spencer Susser, Writers: Spencer Susser & David Michôd
Loud music. Pornography. Burning shit down – just a few of Hesher’s favorite things. And it’s just this kind of anarchy that’s needed to shake the burdens of sorrow from a boy and his father.
Cast: Natalie Portman, Joseph Gordon-Levitt, Rainn Wilson, Devin Brochu, Piper Laurie
How to Die in Oregon
Director: Peter D. Richardson
The film tells the complex stories of terminally ill Oregonians, their families, doctors and friends, as they decide whether to end their life by lethal overdose under Oregon’s Death with Dignity Act.
In a Better World (Denmark)
Director: Susanne Bier, Writer: Anders Thomas Jensen, based on a story by Susanne Bier and Anders Thomas Jensen
Golden Globe® Award winner and Academy Award® nominee for Best Foreign Language Film, and told from the two very different worlds of an idyllic Danish town and an African refugee camp, a doctor and his family are faced with conflicts that force them to make difficult choices between revenge and forgiveness.
Cast: Mikael Persbrandt, Trine Dyrholm, Ulrich Thomsen, Markus Rygaard, William Jøhnk Nielsen
Incendies (Canada)
Director & Writer: Denis Villenueve
Academy Award® nominee for Best Foreign Language Film and adaptation of Wajdi Mouawad’s acclaimed play, Incendies tells the story of two siblings who set out to the Middle East to understand the life of their deceased enigmatic mother, who has left them with a mystery only they can piece together.
Cast: Lubna Azabal, Mélissa Désormeaux-Poulin, Maxim Gaudette, Rémy Girard
Page One: A Year Inside The New York Times
Director: Andrew Rossi
Unprecedented access to the New York Times newsroom yields a complex view of a media landscape fraught with both peril and opportunity.
POM Wonderful Presents: The Greatest Movie Ever Sold
Director: Morgan Spurlock
Morgan Spurlock (Oscar nominee, Super Size Me) explores the world of product placement, marketing and advertising in POM Wonderful Presents: THE GREATEST MOVIE EVER SOLD, a film fully financed through product placement.
ROAD TO NOWHERE
Director: Monte Hellman, Writer: Steven Gaydos
Illusion is the First of all Pleasures.
Cast: Shannyn Sossamon, Tygh Runyan, Dominique Swain, Cliff De Young, Waylon Payne
Sound of My Voice
Director: Zal Batmanglij, Writers: Zal Batmanglij and Brit Marling
A young couple infiltrate a cult that meets in the San Fernando Valley.
Cast: Brit Marling, Christopher Denham, Nicole Vicius
TABLOID
Director: Errol Morris
Errol Morris further redefines and pushes the boundaries of documentary film with the tale of Joyce McKinney and the infamous “Case of the Manacled Mormon."
Terri
Director: Azazel Jacobs, Writer: Patrick deWitt
A moving and often funny film about a big kid in a small town that doesn’t seem to have room for anyone who is different.
Cast: Jacob Wysocki, John C. Reilly, Creed Bratton, Olivia Crocicchia, Bridger Zadina
Wasted on the Young (Australia)
Director & Writer: Ben C. Lucas
An incident at a high school party sets off a dramatic chain of events and two brothers must place their lives at the mercy of popular opinion.
Cast: Oliver Ackland, Adelaide Clemens, Alex Russell (U.S. Premiere)
Special Events
Live Soundtracks, cult re-issues and much more. Our Special Events section offers unusual, unexpected and unique film event one-offs.
The Cameraman
Directors: Edward Sedgwick & Buster Keaton, Writer: Clyde Bruckman
Buster Keaton plays a bumbling street photographer who tries his hand as a newsreel cameraman to impress a girl. Austin jazz/rock band Bee vs. Moth plays their original score live. Presented in partnership with the Alamo Drafthouse.
Cast: Buster Keaton, Marceline Day, Harold Goodwin, Sidney Bracey, Harry Gribbon
Fubar (Canada)
Director: Michael Dowse, Writers: Dave Lawrence, Paul J. Spence, Michael Dowse
SXSW presents the cult classic Fubar to celebrate the screening of SXSW 2011 Official Selection, Fubar: Balls to the Wall.
Cast: Dave Lawrence, Paul J. Spence, Gordon Skilling, Andrew Sparacino, Tracy Lawrence
The National Parks Project (Canada)
A stunning collection of short films that represents the breadth of Canada's artistic talent and diversity of the country’s landscape, as it’s never been seen before.
Live music by NPP musicians. (U.S. Premiere)
Red Riding Hood - Special Screening
Director: Catherine Hardwicke, Writer: David Leslie Johnson
Catherine Hardwicke will be present for Q&A following this special screening of her latest film, on Thursday, March 10 at midnight. In the film, a werewolf terrorizes a small village, especially when the people discover that, by day, the beast could be anyone. And one young woman discovers that she has a unique connection to the wolf that makes her both suspect…and bait.
Cast: Amanda Seyfried, Gary Oldman, Billy Burke, Shiloh Fernandez, Max Irons
The Rime of the Modern Mariner (England)
Director & Writer: Mark Donne
A documentary set to a spellbinding live musical score - which examines the nature of relationship between a nation state and the seas in a globalized world.
Cast: Mark Donne, Carl Barat (The Libertines), Anthony Rossomando (The Klaxons) (U.S. Premiere)
