SXSW Online 2021 Preview
One year ago, the cancelation of South by Southwest 2020 occurred right at the onset of one of the worst health crises in modern record. At the time, we don’t think anyone could have fully grasped how dire a worldwide pandemic would be, but the cancellation of an internal event that draws 400,000 people annually from around the globe was certainly an alarm bell of how out of control such a global event could be and did become.
In the wake of such grave uncertainty for film festivals, the fine folks running the show down in Austin are putting on SXSW Online 2021, an all digital incarnation of the beloved event featuring the same core pillars of prior festivals (minus the ‘Interactive’ segment). The short notice cancellation of the 2020 festival made for an understandably different experience from what we have come to love about SXSW, and while that will be true again this year, we can say with great appreciation that we are grateful for the festival’s continuation so that one day we can return to Austin and eat Torchy’s Tacos and zip around on Bird scooters once again.
For the second year in row, we’ll be experiencing SXSW from the remote isolation of our living rooms, covering as much as we can for the next few weeks. Before the festival kicks off on March 16th, we want to highlight a smattering of films that are on our radar and that we think should be on yours too. Below you’ll find handpicked selections from the festival’s 75 feature menu that we think are among the most interesting offerings. Whether they feature familiar faces, one-of-a-kind premises, or word-of-mouth buzz, these are the films you should check out for SXSW Online 2021.
Alone Together
Charli XCX’s fourth studio album How I’m Feeling Now was a gift early on in the pandemic. Conceived entirely within quarantine, the English pop star created an eleven track album in forty days through an online collaborative process with her fans. The result was a product that leveraged global circumstance and a virtual community to make an album born out of the digital era. Alone Together traces this creative process with the hope of shining a light on the ordeal we’ve all been living through this past year. Up until this point, most films have tried to address the COVID-19 pandemic and it’s widespread social impacts with half-baked, surface level ideas that illicit more annoyed eye-rolls than eye-opening revelations. Given the creative nature of Charli herself, Alone Together has the opportunity to bring insight to where there previously was not.
—Greg Arietta
Spine of Night
Animated films don’t tend to populate the late-night sections of festivals, which is why Spine of Night initially caught our eye. As we dove deeper into its cast of Richard E. Grant, Lucy Lawless, Patton Oswalt, Betty Gabriel, and Joe Manganiello it only became more appealing. Described as an ultra-violent, fantasy epic with an ode to the memorable artistic styles of Ralph Bakshi and Frank Frazetta, Spine of Night pits a group of heroes from different eras against ancient dark magic that looks to be a unique thrill.
—Kevin Conner
WeWork: or the Making and Breaking of a $47 Billion Unicorn
In the summer of 2019, the WeWork saga was rampant. Adam Neumann, the six foot five CEO and Silicon Valley cartoon character, had in essence peddled an office space subleasing company as a technology company, two wildly different businesses with two wildly different valuations. Any outsider with a bare grasp of reality could have told you this, but within the occupational cult of WeWork and through his own charisma, Neumann was able to convince investors that his company was worth $47 billion. The kicker was that in the span of a few weeks, as the company was on the verge of IPO-ing to public, it all went up in flames. WeWork: or the Making and Breaking of a $47 Billion Unicorn traces the rise and fall of the infamous co-op office space company, but more importantly examines the radical and reckless ideology of tech start ups post-financial crisis. A truly scathing presentation in all that should be prescribed for anyone vaguely interested in the absurdity of the false gods in tech.
—Greg Arietta
Potato Dreams of America
SXSW has a little local Seattle flavor this year with Wes Hurley’s Potato Dreams of America, an autobiographical tale about a gay boy growing up in the collapsing USSR and his family’s subsequent immigration into 1990’s Seattle. Reportedly shot half in Seattle and half in Russia, the film’s intriguing logline, local connection, and status as a recipient of the prestigious Creative Capital Grant are more than enough to have Potato Dreams of America on our list to watch this year.
— Kevin Conner
The Sparks Brothers
While we wait for The Last Night in Soho, we can all satiate our appetites for an Edgar Wright delight with The Sparks Brothers, a documentary about the titular brother duo who make up the pop rock group known as Sparks. Touted as the greatest band you’ve never heard of, the Sparks are a band who created twenty-five albums over five decades and did so to the tune of their own drum, influencing a number of artists and creatives along the way. Wright has emphasized his desire to convey the importance of the Sparks in the history of music and to ultimately make their case as one of the greats. If you’re like me, millennial ignorance will have made you a blank slate for Wright’s proposition, but within the span of two hours, Wright will certainly make you a believer in the inalienable brilliance of Russell and Ron Mael.
Read Our Full Review Out of Sundance Here
—Greg Arietta
The Lost Sons
If past festival experience were any indication, some of the most outrageous and shocking films in a lineup are counterintuitively documentaries. Think Grey Gardens, Grizzly Man, and The Wolfpack to name a few. This year, The Lost Sons is shaping up to be promisingly outrageous. Billed as the true story of the mysterious disappearance of a baby in 1960s Chicago and the abandonment of a toddler over a year later, The Lost Sons boasts a riveting stranger-than-fiction premise that has us eager with anticipation.
—Kevin Conner
Midnighter Shorts
The allure of headliners consistently draws the attention of festival crowds, but there is something to be had with the most neglected offerings: shorts. Not bound by a three act structure nor the need to hold your attention for 90 minutes, shorts offer some of the most creative, unique, and focused cinematic experiences at any festival, and while there are narrative, documentary, animated, and Texas shorts at this year’s SXSW, my personal favorite is the midnighter shorts section. In this category, the weird, strange, and spooky come out to play with genre mashing, high concept premises that are equally likely to make you laugh or make your hair stand up on end. This spectrum of possibilities is what gives midnighters the most promise, and with thirteen shorts in this year’s selection, there’s bound to be something noteworthy.
—Greg Arietta
Violet
After anticipating a premiere at last year’s festival, Justine Bateman’s Violet now finds itself weaving its Olivia Munn, Luke Bracey, and Justin Theroux led tale to SXSW 2021 audiences. Munn stars as a film executive who discovers her inner-voice is lying to her. Director/Writer Justine Bateman is quoted as saying, “this is the film I wish I had watched 30 years ago. I would have become my true self a lot faster,” and that is more than enough to have us queuing up for this one.
—Kevin Conner
Other films of note: Clerk. Swan Song. Tom Petty, Somewhere You Feel. Violation.
