Yesterday, the line-up for 2021s SXSW festival was announced, and I have searched through the great array of content to select 10 of the initial standouts to look out for. The festival, due to the Covid-19 pandemic, will be online this year and I will be providing in-depth coverage throughout March. As usual with SXSW, the festival will present a wide variety of genre fare and content from across the mediums, and it will be fascinating to see it come together. Many of the standouts this year are either music documentaries, or TV content, but there are also some really fascinating narrative features too.
Demi Lovato: Dancing with the Devil (Opening Night Film) (Documentary)
“Demi Lovato: Dancing with the Devil is a powerful YouTube Originals documentary event, exploring every aspect that led to Lovato’s nearly fatal overdose in 2018, and her awakenings in the aftermath.”
Tom Petty, Somewhere You Feel Free (Centrepiece Film) (Documentary)
“Drawn from a newly discovered archive of 16mm film showing Tom Petty at work on his 1994 record Wildflowers, considered by many including Rolling Stone to be his greatest album ever, Somewhere You Feel Free is an intimate view of a musical icon.”
Alone Together (Closing Night Film) (Documentary)
“Charli XCX, a popstar in quarantine, embarks on a whirlwind creative and romantic journey while making an album in 40 days that unites a community around the world.”
The Fallout (Narrative Film)
“High schooler Vada navigates the emotional fallout she experiences in the wake of a school tragedy. Relationships with her family, friends and view of the world are forever altered. Cast List: Jenna Ortega, Maddie Ziegler, Niles Fitch, Will Ropp, Lumi Pollack, John Ortiz, Julie Bowen, Shailene Woodley”
Introducing, Selma Blair (Documentary)
“Introducing, Selma Blair is a deeply intimate and raw portrait of the actress after she is diagnosed with Multiple Sclerosis and makes a valiant, risky effort to try to slow the progression of her disease. For the acclaimed, yet often supporting actress, her starring role has finally arrived – she just had to show up and fully embrace herself.”
Language Lessons (Narrative Film)
“A Spanish teacher and her student develop an unexpected friendship. Cast List: Natalie Morales, Mark Duplass, Desean Terry, Christine Quesada”
Swan Song (Narrative Film)
“An aging hairdresser (Udo Kier) escapes his nursing home and embarks on an odyssey across his small town to style a dead woman’s hair for her funeral, rediscovering his sparkle along the way. Cast List: Udo Kier, Jennifer Coolidge, Linda Evans, Michael Urie, Ira Hawkins, Stephanie McVay”
How it Ends (Narrative Film)
“On the last day on Earth, one woman goes on a journey through LA to make it to her last party before the world ends, running into an eclectic cast of characters along the way. Cast List: Zoe Lister-Jones, Cailee Spaeny, Nick Kroll, Olivia Wilde, Helen Hunt, Lamorne Morris, Fred Armisen, Bradley Whitford, Charlie Day, Whitney Cummings”
The Girlfriend Experience (Television)
“The third instalment of The Girlfriend Experience is set in the London tech scene. Iris, a neuroscience major, begins to explore the transactional world of The Girlfriend Experience and quickly learns that client sessions provide her with a compelling edge in the tech world. Cast List: Julia Goldani Telles, Oliver Masucci, Frank Dillane, Daniel Betts, Armin Karima, Tobi Bamtefa, Jemima Rooper”
Made For Love (Television)
“Based on Alissa Nutting’s tragicomic novel, Made for Love is a dark, absurd, and cynically poignant story of divorce and revenge following Hazel Green (Cristin Milioti), a thirty-something woman on the run after 10 years in a suffocating marriage. Cast List: Cristin Milioti, Billy Magnussen, Dan Bakkedahl, Noma Dumezweni, Augusto Aguilera, Caleb Foote and Ray Romano.”
Howe's World of Film and TV 