Looking Ahead to SXSW

With Sundance behind us, and the press release detailing the feature film lineup, we’re turning our attention to SXSW. It looks like we’ll have the opportunity to catch a couple of the films we missed at Sundance like Eighth Grade, Generation Wealth, and American Animals. On the whole, this sounds like a promising year. Below are a few of the films we’re most excited about. Note: summaries from the SXSW press release.

Features

Thy Kingdom Come (directed by Eugene Richards)
A cancer patient mad at God; a Klansman seeking redemption; a mother blamed for her baby’s death; an elderly woman never not in love; a priest who doesn’t pass judgment, who listens: Interwoven, unscripted stories of life in a small mid-America town. Cast: Javier Bardem, Callie Eldred, Tasia Moore, Joshua Collins, Adam Watters, Samantha Jo Chism Watters, Melvin Kemp, Melvin Cook, Kathryn Von Glahn, Eric Eudy (World Premiere)

A Quiet Place (directed by John Krasinski)
If they can’t hear you, they can’t hunt you. Cast: Emily Blunt, John Krasinski, Noah Jupe, Millicent Simmonds (World Premiere)

First Reformed (directed by Paul Schrader)

We will get a chance to screen this film before SXSW as part of a Reel Spirituality event at Fuller Seminary. Look for a post about this around 2/27. The pastor of a small New England church (Ethan Hawke) spirals out of control after a soul-shaking encounter with an unstable environmental activist and his pregnant wife (Amanda Seyfried) in this taut, chilling thriller. Cast: Ethan Hawke, Amanda Seyfried, Cedric Kyles, Michael Gaston, Philip Ettinger, Victoria Hill.

Friday’s Child (directed by A. J. Edwards)
Fresh out of foster care at age 18, a young drifter turns to petty crime to survive, and discovers an impossible love in an unlikely friend. Cast: Tye Sheridan, Imogen Poots, Jeffrey Wright, Caleb Landry Jones (World Premiere).

First Match (directed by Olivia Newman)
Hardened by years in foster care, a teenage girl from Brooklyn’s Brownsville neighborhood decides that wrestling boys is the only way back to her estranged father. Cast: Elvire Emanuelle, Yahya Abdul-Mateen II, Colman Domingo, Jharrel Jerome, Jared Kemp (World Premiere)

Credit: Bruce Francis Cole

Jinn (directed by Nijla Mu’min)
A shape-shifting, pepperoni-loving, black teenage Instagram celebrity explores her identity and sexuality in the midst of her mother’s conversion to Islam. Cast: Zoe Renee, Simone Missick, Kelvin Harrison, Jr., Hisham Tawfiq, Kelly Jenrette, Dorian Missick, Ashlei Foushee, Maya Morales, Damien D. Smith (World Premiere).

Anchor and Hope (directed by Carlos Marques-Marcet)
When the best friend of a bohemian lesbian couple agrees to be their surrogate, the three friends set out on an unconventional journey to start a family. Cast: Natalia Tena, Oona Chaplin, David Verdaguer, Geraldine Chaplin (North American Premiere)

Cam (David Dastmalchian) challenging younger brother Abbie (Joshua Burge) to finish the entire gallon of milk. | Credit: Adam J. Minnick

Relaxer (directed by Joel Potrykus)
Y2K is approaching fast, but Abbie can’t get off the couch until he beats an unbeatable level on Pac-Man. Cast: Joshua Burge, David Dastmalchian, Andre Hyland, Adina Howard, Amari Cheatom (World Premiere)

DOCS

Ali & Cavett: The Tale of the Tapes director Robert S. Bader with Dick Cavett | Credit: Cal Vornberger

Ali & Cavett: The Tale of the Tapes (directed by Robert Bader)
The life and times of Muhammed Ali shown through the lens of his numerous appearances on The Dick Cavett Show. The film features new interviews with Dick Cavett, Rev. Al Sharpton, and Larry Merchant, as well as archival material from the Cavett Show. (World Premiere)

Drew Kostic | Credit: 4th Row Films

Brewmaster (directed by Douglas Tirola)
Brewmaster follows a young ambitious New York lawyer who struggles to chase his American dream of becoming a brewmaster and a Milwaukee-based professional beer educator, as he attempts to become a Master Cicerone. (World Premiere)

Keifer Sykes

Chi-Town (directed by Nick Budabin)
An underdog basketball player from Chicago goes on a meteoric rise to become one of the best college point guards in the nation. But while he pursues dreams of the NBA, his success contrasts with the effects of gun violence on his friends back home. (World Premiere)

Satan performing in This One’s For The Ladies | Credit: Determined Pictures LLC

This One’s For The Ladies (directed by Gene Graham)
This One’s For The Ladies explores the sexual and social identity of contemporary black America through intimate, eye opening and often hilarious accounts from women and men who find love and community in the underground world of exotic dancing. (World Premiere)

Senior Airman Logan Ireland on patrol in Kandahar, Afghanistan. | Credit: Logan Ireland

TransMilitary (directed by Gabriel Silverman and Fiona Dawson)
At a time when transgender people are banned from serving in the U.S. military, four of the thousands of transgender troops risking discharge fight to attain the freedom they so fiercely protect. (World Premiere)

The Gospel of Eureka (directed by Michael Palmieri and Donal Mosher)
Faith, love and civil rights collide on voting day in a small Southern town that hosts a famous performance of the last days of Christ and an infamous gospel drag show. The new documentary by the award winning directors of October Country. (World Premiere)

Credit: Humza Deas

Social Animals (directed by Jonathan Green)
A daredevil photographer, an aspiring swimsuit model, and a midwest girl next door are all looking for the same things from their Instagram accounts––a little love, acceptance and, of course, fame––and they’ll do just about anything to get it. (World Premiere)