SXSW | Film Festival Today

SXSW Review: “The Prank” Is Quite the Cool Stunt

March 15, 2022

SXSW Review: Finely Crafted “I Love My Dad” Is Almost Too Much

March 14, 2022

SXSW 2022 Is Live: Interview with “Long Line of Ladies” Directors Rayka Zehtabchi and Shaandiin Tome

March 10, 2022

SXSW 2021 Recap

March 26, 2021

SXSW Review: Episodes 1 and 2 of “Them” Show Promise

March 24, 2021

SXSW Review: “Sasquatch” Is a Monster-Hunt Docuseries That Showcases the Intriguing, but Sometimes Frustrating, Aspects of Investigative Journalism

March 24, 2021

SXSW Review: “United States vs. Reality Winner” Makes the Case for Whistleblowers

March 23, 2021

SXSW Review: “The Oxy Kingpins” Reveals the True Villains of the Opioid Crisis

March 23, 2021

SXSW Review: Mother Earth Strikes Back in “Gaia”

March 23, 2021

SXSW Review: “R#J” Is a Fresh Take on the Classic “Romeo and Juliet” Tragedy, Told Through Modern Technology

March 22, 2021

SXSW Review: “Soy Cubana” Offers Music as Diplomacy

March 22, 2021

Film Review: “The Worst Ones” Offers Raw, Emotional Complexity
By Hannah Tran
March 24, 2023
The Worst Ones (Lise Akoka/Romane Gueret, 2023) 3 out of 4 stars. Laid out in a gripping opening sequence of “auditions,” The Worst Ones follows four teens from a poor neighborhood in France after they are cast in a film by Belgian director Gabriel, who gives them roles that amplify their reputation as troubled kids. The title is a phrase we hear early on when one of the child performers asks why the crew wanted to cast “the worst ones.” It’s a ... >>
SXSW Interview with “Fancy Dance” Director Erica Tremblay
By Christopher Llewellyn Reed
March 17, 2023
Director Erica Tremblay’s Fancy Dance premiered at Sundance 2023 (where I reviewed it), and tells the story of Jax (Lily Gladstone) and her niece, Roki (Isabel Deroy-Olson) as they simultaneously look for Roki’s missing mother, Tawi, while evading officials from Child Protective Services on their way to an annual powwow. Tremblay hails from the Seneca-Cayuga nation in which the story takes place, and the film is filled with authentic details ... >>
SXSW Interview with “Queendom” Director Agniia Galdanova and Producer Igor Myakotin
By Christopher Llewellyn Reed
March 16, 2023
Director Agniia Galdanova’s new documentary, Queendom, just premiered at SXSW 2023 (where I reviewed it). It follows transgender Russian performance artist and activist Gena (known as Gena Marvin on social media) from Magadan in Russia’s Far East, where she grew up, to Moscow and beyond as she struggles against her country’s prejudices and growing crackdown on dissent. I sat down with Galdanova and her producer, Igor Myakotin, at the festival. ... >>
XR Beats from SXSW 2023
By Christopher Llewellyn Reed
March 15, 2023
VR, AR, MR … XR … so many acronyms to describe a form of enhanced reality that is very much still in flux in this now-third decade of the 21st century. Many film and technology festivals have, for at least about 10 years now, been showcasing the state of the art as its stands in the very moment. SXSW has now rebranded the section devoted to such work the “XR Experience” exhibition. Here at the 2023 festival, I had an opportunity to walk ... >>
SXSW Review: “If You Were the Last” Goes from Lost to Saved in a Lovely Final Act
By Christopher Llewellyn Reed
March 13, 2023
If You Were the Last (Kristian Mercado, 2023) 3 out of 4 stars. If You Were the Last, from director Kristian Mercado and writer Angela Bourassa—both making their feature-film debuts—is the rare kind of film that turns tired clichés into something surprisingly fresh, reinventing itself in the final act to become something quite lovely. Depending on one’s tolerance for rom-com tropes foregrounded in what is essentially a two-person chamber ... >>