SXSW FILM & TV FESTIVAL EXPANDS 2026 PROGRAM WITH 13 ADDITIONAL TITLES
NARRATIVE SPOTLIGHT
Unforgettable features receiving their World, North American, or U.S. premieres.
Dead Deer High
Director: Jo Rochelle, Producer/Screenwriter: Joshua Roark
Created by teachers, Dead Deer High follows a team of high school slam poets and their English teacher as they prepare for a national poetry competition one year after a tragic shooting changed their lives forever. Cast: Zack Kozlow, Holden Goyette, Kyla Brown, Christian Cruz, Ayanna Berkshire, Joseph Bertót, Madelyn Grace, Aaron Cammack, Julia Prud’homme, Audrey Kennedy Kozlow (World Premiere)
The Fox (Australia)
Director/Screenwriter: Dario Russo, Producers: Kristina Ceyton, Samantha Jennings, Carly Maple
In this darkly comic folktale, an affable foxhunter encounters a talking Fox who offers him an opportunity to transform his fiancée into the perfect woman. Cast: Jai Courtney, Emily Browning, Damon Herriman, Claudia Doumit, Sam Neill, Miranda Otto, Olivia Colman (International Premiere)
Love Language
Director/Screenwriter: Joey Power, Producers: Bert Hamelinck, Allison Hironaka, Ari Lubet, Colin Jost, Jeff Grosvenor
An aspiring author with a side hustle writing wedding vows for other people reconnects with her long-time crush, only to learn he is the fiancé of one of her new clients. Cast: Chloë Grace Moretz, Anthony Ramos, Manny Jacinto, Isabel May, Lukas Gage, Billie Lourd, Chloe Fineman, Zach Zucker, Morgan Jay, Bobbi Althoff, Marchánt Davis, Dan Perrault (World Premiere)
A Safe Distance (Canada)
Director: Gloria Mercer, Producers: Nic Altobelli, Aidan West, Gloria Mercer, Screenwriter: Aidan West
After a woman is abandoned by her boyfriend in the forest, she befriends a pair of notorious fugitives on the run from the law, and becomes dangerously entangled in their relationship. Cast: Bethany Brown, Tandia Mercedes, Cody Kearsley, Chris McNally (World Premiere)
DOCUMENTARY SPOTLIGHT
Incredible features receiving their World, North American, or U.S. premieres.
Baby/Girls
Directors: Alyse Walsh, Jackie Jesko, Producers: Melissa Leardi, Alex Waterfield
Set in post-Dobbs Arkansas, baby/girls follows three teens living in a Christian maternity home as they navigate pregnancy and early motherhood. The film offers an intimate, unfiltered look at girlhood and motherhood colliding in the American South. Featuring Grace Dulaney, Ariana Green, Olivia Malott, Audra Dulaney, Brian Rivera, Paula Woods (World Premiere)
FESTIVAL FAVORITE
Acclaimed standouts from festivals around the world.
Big Girls Don’t Cry (New Zealand)
Director/Screenwriter: Paloma Schneideman, Producers: Vicky Pope, Thomas Coppell
Rural New Zealand, 2006. Over one transformative summer, 14 year-old Sid Bookman discovers desire, identity and the internet, as she imitates the people she longs to be loved by. Cast: Ani Palmer, Rain Spencer, Noah Taylor (Texas Premiere)
Chasing Summer
Director: Josephine Decker, Producers: Rob Guillermo, Ray Maiello, Nihaar Sinha, Houston King, Sam Pressman, Paula Paizes, Screenwriter: Iliza Shlesinger
After losing both her job and boyfriend, Jamie retreats to her small Texas hometown where friends and flings from a fateful high school summer turn her life upside down. Cast: Iliza Shlesinger, Garrett Wareing, Lola Tung, Tom Welling, Megan Mullally, Aimee Garcia, Cassidy Freeman, Jeff Perry (Texas Premiere)
Cookie Queens
Director: Alysa Nahmias, Producers: Gregory Kershaw, Michael Dweck, Alysa Nahmias, Jennifer Sims
It’s Girl Scout Cookie season, and four tenacious girls strive to be a top-selling “Cookie Queen,” navigating an $800 million business in which innocence and ambition collide. Featuring Nikki B., Olive G., Shannon Elizabeth S., Ara E. (Texas Premiere)
Joybubbles
Director: Rachael Morrison, Producer: Sarah Winshall
In the 1950s, a boy discovers he can control the global telephone system by whistling a magic tone. Born blind and hungry for connection, his obsession with the telephone sparks a subculture that shapes the future of hacking in the 20th century. Featuring JoyBubbles, Steve Wozniak, Toni Engressia (Texas Premiere)
VISIONS
Audacious, risk-taking artists who demonstrate innovation and creativity.
Sinner Supper Club
Directors: Daisy Rosato, Nora Kaye, Producers: Sophie Sagan-Gutherz, Jackie Monoson, Screenwriters: Nora Kaye, Daisy Rosato
An NYC friend group reunites to throw an “eviction funeral” for Genevieve; as the night progresses and a heat wave traps them together, their long-ignored problems boil over. An improvised gay mumblecore ghost story shot on an iPhone in six days. Cast: Ashil Lee, Elise Kibler, Genevieve Simon, Jayae Riley Jr., Nora Kaye, Sophie Sagan-Gutherz, Daisy Rosato (World Premiere)
24 BEATS PER SECOND
Vibrant films showcasing the sounds, culture, and influence of music and musicians.
Stages
Director: Ryan Booth, Producers: Val Hill, Morgan Stevenson Cooper, Russell Wayne Groves, JOLENE, Screenwriter: Bradley Jackson, Dan Steele
A year after the tumultuous break-up of his band, Ben Garza sets off on his first ever solo tour. Life on the road is different now, as Ben learns alongside his ride-or-die tour manager, Rita and his spotlight-stealing opening act, Jessie. Cast: David Ramirez, Leslie Grace, JOLENE, Jake McMullen, Rafael Casal, Abner Ramirez, Amanda Sudano Ramirez, Jerry Ferrara, Marc Menchaca, David Strathairn (World Premiere)
The Man with the Big Hat
Director/Screenwriter: Austin Sayre, Producers: Stephanie Moore, David Broad, Aaron Colussi, Jay Newberg, Diana Zuniga, Cherry Brown, Austin Sayre
Experience the unraveling of fame’s illusions as 1970’s Texas singer-songwriter Steven Fromholz embarks on a soul-stirring journey of self-discovery and the true meaning of success. Featuring Lyle Lovett, Ray Benson, Terry Lickona, Butch Hancock, Bobby Bridger, Mike Williams, Dan McCrimmon, Janey Lake, Darcie Jane Fromholz, Felicity Rose Fromholz (World Premiere)
TV PROGRAM
TV SPOTLIGHT
Exciting new series from around the world
Woodstockers
Showrunner: Corbin Bernsen, Director: Oliver Bernsen, Producer: Zoe Rosenberg, Screenwriters: Corbin Bernsen, Joshua Michael Stern, Henry Bernsen
When his marriage collapses and his best friend dies, an aging hippie who went to Woodstock in 1969 and never left must finally reckon with a life shaped by peace, love, and too much weed. Cast: Corbin Bernsen, Stephen Tobolowsky, Barbara Hershey, Susan Ruttan, Maggie Lawson, Willie C. Carpenter, John Glover, Lee Wilkof, Lea Delaria, Jilian Medford
(World Premiere)
COMPETITION AWARDS
The Narrative Feature Competition, the Documentary Feature Competition, and Special Awards will be announced on Wednesday, March 18 along with all the Short Film Program winners, which are eligible for Jury Awards within their respective screening categories, and XR Experience Competition. 2026 Special Awards include the SXSW Best of Texas Award, Redbreast Unhidden Award, Vimeo Staff Pick Award, Agog Immersive Impact Award, and the Janet Pierson Champion Award presented by Indiewire. All film categories, except Special Events, will be eligible for category-specific Audience Awards, which will be certified by the accounting firm of Maxwell Locke & Ritter and announced via sxsw.com the following week.
SXSW is proud to be an official qualifying festival for the Academy Awards® Short Film competition. Winners of our Best Animated, Best Narrative and Best Documentary Short Film categories become eligible for Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences awards (Oscars). Any British Short Film or British Short Animation that screens at SXSW is eligible for BAFTA nomination. Films are also eligible for the Independent Spirit Awards, more information on eligibility.
Written by the SXSW press team.