#SXSW: SXSW FILM & TV FESTIVAL ANNOUNCES 2024 JURY AND SPECIAL AWARDS

The South by Southwest® (SXSW®) Conference and Festivals announced the 2024 Jury and Special Award winners of the 31st SXSW Film & TV Festival. Feature films receiving Jury Awards were selected from the Narrative Feature and Documentary Feature Competition categories, plus all other juried sections, including Shorts, Independent TV Pilots, Music Videos, Design and XR Experience Awards. Special Awards announced included the SXSW Best of Texas Award, the Kickstarter NextGen Award and the ... Read more

#SXSW: “STORMY” REVIEW

By David Baldwin If you hear the name Stormy Daniels, what do you think of? Her career as an adult entertainer in front of and behind the camera, or her involvement in a legal shitstorm with the former President of the United States? STORMY demystifies the woman behind those headlines, and chronicles the immediate fallout from her "hush money" payment becoming international news, the on-going legal saga she remains intrinsically attached to and the turmoil and toll it has taken on her ... Read more

#SXSW: “A CONVERSATION WITH SYDNEY SWEENEY”

By Mr. Will Wong Sydney Sweeney has been front and center much of late as Hollywood's new "It Girl". Whether you know her from her powerful performance as Cassie in HBO's EUPHORIA or Olivia in THE WHITE LOTUS; saw her in ANYONE BUT YOU, produced by her own production company Fifty-Fifty Films; are just learning about her from her hosting Saturday Night Live recently, chances are you were smitten by her likeability. Sweeney is at SXSW '24 this year for both an In-Conversation, and also to ... Read more

#FIRSTLOOK: NEW CLIP FROM “MONKEYMAN”

Premiering tonight at SXSW '24 we get a brand-new clip from Dev Patel's directorial debut, MONKEYMAN! https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_1PuVDh14h4 Synopsis: Oscar® nominee Dev Patel (Lion, Slumdog Millionaire) achieves an astonishing, tour-de-force feature directing debut with an action thriller about one man’s quest for vengeance against the corrupt leaders who murdered his mother and continue to systemically victimize the poor and powerless. Inspired by the legend of Hanuman, ... Read more

#SXSW: “ANY OTHER WAY: THE JACKIE SHANE STORY”

By Mr. Will Wong Michael Mabbott and Lucah Rosenberg-Lee co-direct ANY OTHER WAY: THE JACKIE SHANE STORY, which explores the fascinating story of Black trans singer Jackie Shane, raised in Nashville, but planting her roots musically in Toronto in their early '60s, where she was prominent for her soulful vocals reaching #2 on charts locally including CHUM with "Any Other Way". Outspoken and ahead of her time in her defiance against the machine, Shane was a trailblazer unafraid of her ... Read more

#SXSW: SELENA GOMEZ AT “MINDFULNESS OVER PERFECTION, GETING REAL ON MENTAL HEALTH” PANEL

By Mr. Will Wong Many of us might know Selena Gomez as a global superstar of Music and Television and without a film or TV series at SXSW '24, many might be wondering, what's the deal? Did you know that Gomez, through her Rare Impact Fund, is committed to raising $100 million dollars over the next 10 years to help give people access to the resources they need to support their mental health? Her and her mother, Producer Mandy Teefey have teamed to launch WONDERMIND, which has a mandate ... Read more

#SXSW: “AUDREY” REVIEW

By David Baldwin Ronnie Lipsick (Jackie van Beek) longs for the glory days, back when she was a talented soap star and not Mother to selfishly entitled Audrey (Josephine Blazier) and Norah (Hannah Diviney), who always comes last and is confined to a wheelchair. Her loveless relationship with her husband Cormack (Jeremy Lindsay Taylor) is not much better. But a freak accident that lands Audrey in a coma may just turn things around for Ronnie and her family, even if it leads to a plethora of ... Read more

#SXSW: “HUNTING DAZE” REVIEW

By David Baldwin Nina (Nahéma Ricci) just wants to go home. Stranded in the far North, she ends up at an isolated cabin in the woods with five guys celebrating a bachelor party. They are initially against her arrival, but gradually warm up to her. When a mysterious drifter ends up at the party, things take a sharp turn for the worst. Saying any more than that would ruin the visceral nightmare HUNTING DAZE quickly becomes. The breathless intensity rarely dissipates over the course of its ... Read more

#SXSW: “WHATEVER IT TAKES” REVIEW

By Mr. Will Wong Jenny Carchman's Documentary WHATEVER IT TAKES takes us on a twisty journey to the unlikely, unveiling a dark web of corporate corruption at eBay that threatened to destroy the brand. We meet Ina Steiner, Co-Founder and Editor of EcommerceBytes and her husband David, who run a Blog which among other things, criticized eBay and other e-Commerce platforms. After doing this, they started receiving mysterious messages and package deliveries at their home. This escalated to ... Read more

#SXSW: “ROLEPLAY” REVIEW

By Amanda Gilmore Faced with rampant sexual violence on their college campus, a group of Tulane University students spent a year creating an immersive play from their real-life experiences. Building characters and scenes based on the sexual politics of their campus, the student actors confront hard truths. Director Katie Mathews crafts an urgent Documentary about sexual assaults on campuses and the cathartic role art plays in both confronting trauma and healing from it. It’s her ... Read more