South by Southwest (SXSW) Conference and Festivals dropped its initial lineup for the 30th edition of the SXSW Film & TV Festival including the Opening Night film, Feature and Short Competitions, Midnighters and XR Experience.
The festival will open with Paramount Pictures and eOne’s “Dungeons and Dragons: Honor Among Thieves,” directed and co-written by Jonathan Goldstein and John Francis Daley. A group filled with unlikely adventurers and a charming thief journey to find a lost relic, and the plot thickens as the band runs into conflict with the wrong people. The film stars Chris Pine, Michelle Rodriguez, Hugh Grant, Regé-Jean Page, Justice Smith, Sophia Lillis, Chloe Coleman and Daisy Head.
The other headliners are “Evil Dead Rise,” directed and written by Lee Cronin; “Problemista” from Julio Torres, with Tilda Swinton; and the Eva Longoria-directed “Flamin’ Hot.”
SXSW brings together thousands of fans, content creators, industry leaders and the press in an immersive look at the year’s greatest new films, TV and XR projects and provides industry exhibitions, conference sessions, comedy and music showcases, meetups, mentoring and special events. The cross-industry event will be in-person only in 2023 in Austin.
SXSW 2023 will run March 10-19, and the complete lineup will be announced in early February.
“It’s an amazing collection of films, TV series and XR experiences that promise to inspire, entertain and challenge our audiences,” remarked Claudette Godfrey, SXSW VP of film and TV. “We’re also proud to open with ‘Dungeons and Dragons: Honor Among Thieves,’ a raucous and engaging fantasy adventure, and look forward to welcoming everyone to Austin in March for what promises to be an unforgettable event.”
SXSW features films using the following categories: Headliners, Narrative Feature Competition presented by Panavision, Documentary Feature Competition, Narrative Spotlight, Documentary Spotlight, Visions, Midnighters, Global presented by MUBI, 24 Beats Per Second, Festival Favorites, and Special Screenings. TV is broken up into TV Premieres, TV Spotlight and the Independent TV Pilot Competition. IMDbPro’s Short Film Program will bring seven competition sections. The 2023 programming completes with the XR Experience Competition, XR Spotlight and XR Special Events. All categories, besides Special Screenings and TV Spotlight, can receive audience awards.
SXSW will announce Global, Visions, 24 Beats, Festival Favorites and additional films in all other sections in February. Check out the initial lineup list below.
HEADLINERS
Dungeons & Dragons: Honor Among Thieves
Evil Dead Rise
Problemista
Flamin’ Hot
NARRATIVE FEATURE COMPETITION Presented by Panavision
I Used To Be Funny (Canada)
Late Bloomers
Mustache
Parachute
Pure O
Raging Grace (United Kingdom)
Scrambled
Story Ave
DOCUMENTARY FEATURE COMPETITION
Angel Applicant
Another Body (United Kingdom, U.S.)
Geoff McFetridge: Drawing a Life
Join or Die
Pay Or Die
Queendom (France, U.S.)
Riders on the Storm (Austria)
You Were My First Boyfriend
NARRATIVE SPOTLIGHT
Bloody Hell (Canada)
Deadland
Down Low
Frybread Face and Me
If You Were the Last
Self Reliance
Upon Entry (Spain)
DOCUMENTARY SPOTLIGHT
A Disturbance in the Force
The Arc of Oblivion
Being Mary Tyler Moore
Confessions of a Good Samaritan
Great Photo, Lovely Life
The Herricanes
The Lady Bird Diaries
Last Stop Larrimah
The New Americans: Gaming a Revolution
Periodical
Who I Am Not (Romania)
MIDNIGHTERS
Aberrance (Mongolia)
Brooklyn 45
It Lives Inside
Late Night With the Devil (Australia, United Arab Emirates)
Monolith (Australia)
Talk To Me (Australia)
The Wrath of Becky
TV PREMIERES
I’m A Virgo
Mrs. Davis
Slip
TV SPOTLIGHT
Blindspotting Season 2 Premiere
INDEPENDENT TV PILOT COMPETITION
A Guide To Not Dying Completely Alone
Chuchi & Adaliz
Grown
Harbor Island
Marvin? (Netherlands)
Metal Man
Notarize Me
SHORTS PROGRAM Presented by IMDbPro
NARRATIVE SHORTS COMPETITION
Breaking Fast with a Coca Cola
The Breakthrough
Closing Dynasty
Deliver Me
Endless Sea
The Family Circus
Flores del Otro Patio (Colombia, Switzerland)
Fuck Me, Richard (Australia, U.S.)
Graveyard of Horses (China)
I Probably Shouldn’t Be Telling You This
It Turns Blue (Iran)
The Key (Belgium, France, Palestine, State of)
Leonetty
Les Battues (Canada)
Never Fuggedaboutit
Rest Stop
Scotty’s Vag
Sisters of the Rotation (Lebanon)
Slick Talk
Take Me Home
DOCUMENTARY SHORTS COMPETITION
Ball People
Birdsong (United Kingdom)
The Bus (Spain)
The Dads
El Bastón (Colombia, U.S.)
Margie Soudek’s Salt and Pepper Shakers
Mother of the Dawn
Nǎi Nai & Wài Pó (Grandma & Grandma)
Puffling (United Kingdom)
Roger J. Carter: Rebel Revolutionary
Suddenly TV (Qatar)
Where the Sun Always Shines (United Kingdom)
ANIMATED SHORTS COMPETITION
A Tiny Man (France)
Ashkasha (Argentina, Spain)
Beyond The Fringe (Spain)
Christopher at Sea (France, United Kingdom, U.S.)
The Debutante (United Kingdom)
Ice Merchants (Portugal)
Remove Hind Legs Before Consumption (Switzerland)
Sandwich Cat (Spain)
Spring Roll Dream (United Kingdom)
Sprout
MIDNIGHT SHORTS COMPETITION
Dead Enders
Every House is Haunted
The Flute (Ireland, U.S.)
Kodama
The Mundanes
Pennies from Heaven
Pussy Love (Germany)
Run
Vibrator Girl
We Forgot About The Zombies
You’re Not Home (Ireland)
TEXAS SHORTS COMPETITION
Breaking Silence
Call Me Mommy
Dressed
Exit 238
Eyestring (Argentina, U.S.)
Funny Face
La Cosecha
When You Left Me On That Boulevard
Wüm
MUSIC VIDEO COMPETITION
alt-J – ‘The Actor’ (United Kingdom)
Amanda Sum – ‘Different Than Before’ (Canada)
Arlo McKinley – ‘Stealing Dark from the Night Sky’
Ben Abraham – ‘If I Didn’t Love You’l
Diplo feat Miguel – ‘Don’t Forget My Love’
Doechii – ‘Crazy’
Drew Ashby – ‘Her’
Kuba Kawalec – ‘I Died’
Little Simz – ‘Point and Kill’
Mac Miller – ‘Colors and Shapes’
Michael Kiwanuka – ‘ Beautiful Life’
Mick Jenkins – ‘Truffles ‘ (United Kingdom, U.S.)
Mothermary – ‘Coming for You Remix’
Number One Popstar – ‘Dance Away the Pain’
Pearl Derringer – ‘Little Baby (feat. Margo Price)’
Pranav Bhasin, Rohini Maiti – ‘Screaming on the Fly’ (India)
Residente – ‘This is Not America ft. Ibeyi’
S+C+A+R+R – ‘Never Give Up’ (France)
Yeah Yeah Yeahs – ‘Wolf’
Zolita – ‘Somebody I F*cked Once’
XR EXPERIENCE
XR Experience Competition
Aespa VR Concert at Kwangya (Republic of Korea, U.S.)
Body of Mine VR
Consensus Gentium (United Kingdom)
The District VR (Germany)
El Beat (Colombia)
Find WiiLii – Ep.1 The Gate-Crasher (Republic of Korea)
Forager: Immersive Multi-sensory Experience (Canada, U.S.)
Fresh Memories: The Look (Czechia, Ukraine)
The Invited (United Kingdom)
Jailbirds- The Eye of the Artist (Belgium, France)
JFK Memento (France, U.S.)
Once a Glacier
Rockets, by Pillow (Brazil)
Stay Alive, My Son (Chapters 1 & 2) (Greece, U.S.)
Whipped Cream “The Dark” (Canada)
XR Experience Spotlight
Behind The Dish (France, U.S.)
Eggscape (Argentina)
The Eye and I Vol. I (Taiwan)
Figural Bodies (United Kingdom)
In Pursuit Of Repetitive Beats (United Kingdom)
Lou (Canada)
Mrs Benz (United Kingdom)
Shib the Metaverse
Spring Odyssey (France)
Temporal World: A Haptisonic Virtual Reality Memory World (Germany)
UnEarthed (United Kingdom)
You Destroy. We Create. (Germany)
Yuki MR (Brazil)
XR Experience Special Events
Neo-Wulin: The Era of Black Ark (China)
(In 2021, Variety parent company P-MRC made a significant investment in South by Southwest, the parent company of the SXSW festival.)
From Variety US