The 25th South by Southwest (SXSW) Film Festival in Austin, Texas has announced the first 132 features we can expect to see in its lineup this year, with The Quiet Place set to open the festival, directed by an alumni of The Office.
Across the festival’s nine days, no less than 132 features will be shown, and you can expect quite a few more titles – including some last minute surprises – to be announced closer to the date. The final lineup will include 44 films from first-time filmmakers, 86 world premieres, 11 North American premieres and 5 U.S. premieres. The 132 projects were selected from a pool of 2,458 feature-length submissions, with an even bigger pool of 8,160 projects being submitted this year.
Janet Pierson, Director of Film commented on the event, saying “2018 marks the 25th edition of the SXSW Film Festival and my tenth year at the helm. As we look back on the body of work of talent discovered, careers launched and wonderful films we’ve enjoyed, we couldn’t be more excited about the future. This year’s slate, while peppered with works from many of our alumni, remains focused on new voices, new directors and a range of films that entertain and enlighten.”
Notable highlights of the festival include films from various genres, from feature films and documentaries, all the way to more abstract and artistic visions.
The Bill Murray Stories: Life Lessons Learned From A Mythical Man centres around one man’s journey to find meaning in actor Bill Murray’s encounters and adventures with everyday people, featuring rare and unseen footage from the comedy icon. The film is directed by Tommy Avallone and written by Max Paolucci and Tommy Avallone.
Blockers revolves around three parents who discover their daughters’ pact to lose their virginity on prom night, which leads them on a wild mission to intercept this pact in a bid to be the ultimate blockers. The film is directed by Kay Cannon and written by Brian Kehoe, Jim Kehoe, Jon Hurwitz, Hayden Schlossberg and Ebden Russell.
The Dawn Wall is directed by Josh Lowell and Peter Mortimer, and follows legendary free climber Tommy Caldwell, as he tries to get over his heartbreak by scaling the immensely challenging – and terrifying- Dawn Wall of El Capitan.
Fast Color is directed by Julia Hart as a genre-bending supernatural drama, as a woman is forced to go on the run when her extrordinalry abilities are discovered.
A Quiet Place is directed by The Office‘s John Krasinski, and stars actress Emily Blunt alongside Krasinksi himself in a horror flick that centres around the slightest sound edging you one step closer to danger – and death. The film will open the festival.
Warriors of Liberty City premieres as part of an episodic project centred around the Liberty City Warriors, a youth football program founded by Luther Campbell, better known as Uncle Luke from 2 Live Crew. The project is directed by Evan Rosenfeld and Andrew Cohn.
With over 130 projects announced and on the way, the SXSW film festival will be on from 9-18 March 2018, and is sure to be screening something that tickles your fancy. For the full lineup of projects, you can click here.
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