2023 South by Southwest Film & TV Festival

Last updated
2023 South by Southwest Film & TV Festival
Location Austin, Texas, U.S.
Festival dateMarch 10–19, 2023
Website www.sxsw.com
2022

The 2023 South by Southwest Film & TV Festival took place from March 10 to 19 at several venues in Austin, Texas, as part of the larger South by Southwest annual event. [1] The film program opened with fantasy heist comedy film Dungeons & Dragons: Honor Among Thieves and closed with biographical sports drama film Air . [2] [3] The television program opened with satirical black comedy series Swarm and closed with comedy drama series Beef . [4]

Contents

Official Selection

Feature films

Headliners

TitleDirector(s)Production country
Air (closing film) Ben Affleck United States
Bottoms Emma Seligman
Dungeons & Dragons: Honor Among Thieves (opening film) Jonathan Goldstein and John Francis Daley
Evil Dead Rise Lee Cronin
Flamin' Hot Eva Longoria
John Wick: Chapter 4 Chad Stahelski
Joy Ride Adele Lim
Problemista Julio Torres
Tetris Jon S. Baird

Narrative Feature Competition

TitleDirector(s)Production country
I Used to Be Funny Ally Pankiw Canada
Late Bloomers Lisa SteenUnited States
Mustache Imran J. Khan
Parachute Brittany Snow
Pure ODillon Tucker
Raging Grace Paris Zarcilla United Kingdom
Scrambled Leah McKendrick United States
Story Ave Aristotle Torres

Documentary Feature Competition

TitleDirector(s)Production country
Angel ApplicantKen August MeyerUnited States
Another Body Sophie Compton and Reuben Hamlyn
Geoff McFetridge: Drawing a LifeDan Covert
Join or DiePete and Rebecca Davis
Pay or Die Rachael Dyer and Alexander Ruderman
Queendom Agniia GaldanovaFrance, United States
Riders on the StormJason Motlagh and Mark OltmannsAustria
You Were My First Boyfriend Cecilia Aldarondo and Sarah Enid HageyUnited States

Narrative Spotlight

TitleDirector(s)Production country
Americana Tony Tost United States
Appendage Anna Zlokovic
BlackBerry Matt Johnson Canada
Bleeding Love [a] Emma WestenbergUnited States
Cora Bora Hannah Pearl Utt
DeadlandLance Larson
Down Low Rightor Doyle
Fitting In [b] Molly McGlynn Canada
Frybread Face and Me Billy Luther United States
Hail Mary Rosemary Rodriguez
Hypnotic Robert Rodriguez
If You Were the Last Kristian Mercado
The Long Game Julio Quintana
National Anthem Luke Gilford
Northern Comfort Hafsteinn Gunnar Sigurðsson Germany, Iceland, United Kingdom
Only the Good SurviveDutch SouthernUnited States
Peak SeasonHenry Loevner and Steven Kanter
Self Reliance Jake Johnson
This Closeness Kit Zauhar
Upon Entry Alejandro Rojas and Juan Sebastián VásquezSpain
War Pony Gina Gammell and Riley Keough United States

Documentary Spotlight

TitleDirector(s)Production country
A Disturbance in the Force Jeremy Coon and Steve KozakUnited States
The Arc of Oblivion Ian Cheney
Art for Everybody Miranda Yousef
Being Mary Tyler Moore James Adolphus
Black Barbie: A Documentary Lagueria Davis
Citizen SleuthChris Kasick
Confessions of a Good Samaritan Penny Lane
Great Photo, Lovely LifeAmanda Mustard and Rachel Beth Anderson
The HerricanesOlivia Kuan
The Lady Bird Diaries Dawn Porter
Last Stop Larrimah Thomas Tancred
The New Americans: Gaming a Revolution Ondi Timoner
PeriodicalLina Lyte Plioplyte
Satan Wants You Steve J. Adams and Sean Horlor Canada
This World Is Not My OwnPetter Ringbom and Marquise StillwellUnited States
Who I Am Not Tünde Skovrán Romania, Canada, South Africa, Germany, United States
Wild Life Elizabeth Chai Vasarhelyi and Jimmy Chin United States
You Can Call Me Bill Alexandre O. Philippe

Global

TitleDirector(s)Production country
Ek Jagah Apni Ektara CollectiveIndia
Kite Zo A: Leave the Bones Kaveh Nabatian Canada, Haiti
My Drywall CocoonCaroline FiorattiBrazil
The Ordinaries Sophie LinnenbaumGermany
Sister & Sister Kattia González ZúñigaPanama

Festival Favorites

TitleDirector(s)Production country
Fancy Dance Erica Tremblay United States
Food and Country Laura Gabbert
Fremont Babak Jalali
Going Varsity in MariachiAlejandra Vasquez and Sam Osborn
Is There Anybody Out There?Ella Glendining
It's Only Life After All Alexandria Bombach
Kokomo City D. Smith
Little Richard: I Am Everything Lisa Cortés
No Ordinary CampaignChristopher Burke
Plan C Tracy Droz Tragos
Polite Society Nida Manzoor United Kingdom
Robert Irwin: A Desert of Pure FeelingJennifer LaneUnited States
The Starling Girl Laurel Parmet
Still: A Michael J. Fox Movie Davis Guggenheim
Theater Camp Molly Gordon and Nick Lieberman

Midnighters

TitleDirector(s)Production country
AberranceBaatar BatsukhMongolia
Brooklyn 45 Ted Geoghegan United States
Furies Veronica Ngo Vietnam
It Lives Inside Bishal DuttaUnited States
Late Night with the Devil Colin and Cameron Cairnes Australia, United Arab Emirates
Monolith Matt Vesely Australia
Talk to Me Danny and Michael Philippou
The Wrath of Becky Matt Angel and Suzanne CooteUnited States

24 Beats Per Second

TitleDirector(s)Production country
299 Queen Street West Sean MenardCanada
Hung Up on a Dream: The Zombies Documentary Robert Schwartzman United States
Joan Baez: I Am a Noise Miri Navasky, Karen O'Connor, and Maeve O'Boyle
Louder Than You ThinkJed I. Rosenberg
Love to Love You, Donna Summer Roger Ross Williams and Brooklyn Sudano
Max Roach: The Drum Also Waltzes Sam Pollard and Ben Shapiro
RebeliónJosé Luis Rugeles GraciaColombia
Revival69: The Concert That Rocked the WorldRon ChapmanUnited States

Visions

TitleDirector(s)Production country
The Angry Black Girl and Her Monster Bomani J. StoryUnited States
Anhell69Theo Montoya
The Artifice Girl Franklin Ritch
CaterpillarLiza Mandelup
Chronicles of a Wandering Saint Tomás Gómez BustilloArgentina, United States
Molli and Max in the Future Michael Lukk LitwakUnited States
Tobacco Barns Rocío MesaSpain, United States
Until Branches Bend Sophie Jarvis Canada, Switzerland
With Love and a Major Organ Kim Albright Canada
The Young Wife Tayarisha Poe United States

Television

TV Premiere

TitleShowrunner(s)Production countryNetwork
A Small Light Joan Rater and Tony Phelan United States National Geographic
American Born Chinese Kelvin Yu Disney+
Beef (closing series) Lee Sung Jin Netflix
The Big Door Prize David West Read Apple TV+
I'm a Virgo Boots Riley Amazon Prime Video
Love & Death David E. Kelley HBO Max
The Luckiest Guy in the World Steve James ESPN
Lucky Hank Paul Lieberstein and Aaron Zelman AMC
Mrs. Davis Tara Hernandez and Damon Lindelof Peacock
Rabbit Hole Glenn Ficarra and John Requa Paramount+
Slip Zoe Lister-Jones The Roku Channel
Swarm (opening series) Donald Glover and Janine Nabers Amazon Prime Video

TV Spotlight

TitleShowrunner(s)Production countryNetwork
Blindspotting (season 2) Rafael Casal United States Starz
DemascusTearrance Chisholm and Kirk Moore AMC
Shatter Belt James Ward Byrkit Amazon Prime Video

Independent TV Pilot Competition

TitleShowrunner(s)Production country
A Guide to Not Dying Completely AloneKevin YeeUnited States
Chuchi & AdalizAshley Soto Paniagua
Grown Jocko Sims
Harbor IslandCalvin Lee Reeder
Marvin?Anton van der Linden and George GottlNetherlands
Metal ManTomas PaisUnited States
Notarize MeErika Rankin

Awards

The following awards were presented at the festival: [7]

Grand Jury

Audience Awards

Notes

  1. Bleeding Love was previously titled You Sing Loud, I Sing Louder on its premiere. [5]
  2. Fitting In was previously titled Bloody Hell on its premiere. [6]

References

  1. Matesco, Laura (March 8, 2023). "SXSW 2023: Everything you need to know about the festival event taking place in March in Austin, Texas". EnVols. Retrieved April 22, 2025.
  2. D'Alessandro, Anthony (January 11, 2023). "SXSW Lineup Includes 'Dungeons & Dragons' On Opening Night, 'Evil Dead Rise', Eva Longoria's 'Flamin' Hot', A24's 'Problemista' & More". Deadline Hollywood . Retrieved April 22, 2025.
  3. Grobar, Matt (March 13, 2023). "Ben Affleck's Nike Pic 'Air' Set To Close SXSW". Deadline Hollywood. Retrieved April 22, 2025.
  4. Bergeson, Samantha (February 1, 2023). "SXSW 2023 Announces Opening and Closing Night TV Selections with Donald Glover's 'Swarm' and Lee Sung Jin's 'Beef'". IndieWire . Retrieved April 22, 2025.
  5. Bilington, Alex (January 16, 2024). "'Bleeding Love' Trailer w/ Ewan McGregor & Daughter Clara McGregor". First Showing. Retrieved April 22, 2025.
  6. Bradley, Laura (March 18, 2023). "Maddie Ziegler's SXSW 'Traumedy' 'Bloody Hell' Is Brilliant—With a Period Twist". The Daily Beast . Retrieved April 22, 2025.
  7. Bergeson, Samantha (March 14, 2023). "'Raging Grace' Tops SXSW Winners List, with IndieWire's Janet Pierson Award to 'Parachute' Producer". IndieWire. Retrieved April 22, 2025.