With so many main movie festivals on the calendar, what units SXSW aside?
“I believe lots of festivals are for movie,” SXSW VP movie & TV Claudette Godfrey mentioned throughout a current dialog with IndieWire. “We present movie, and we additionally present films.”
That ethos has turned SXSW into one of many premiere stops on the American movie pageant circuit, with lineups that may alternate between arthouse debuts, studio blockbusters, and bizarre midnight films with out ever coming throughout as contradictory.
The pageant has already unveiled two eclectic waves of 2026 programmingtogether with the opening night time choices of Boots Riley’s “I Love Boosters” and David E. Kelley’s “Margo’s Obtained Cash Troubles” and loads of first-time filmmakers. Now, IndieWire can solely reveal the ultimate 13 films and exhibits becoming a member of the 2026 lineup.
How would the programmers describe the spirit of this yr’s lineup?
“I might say that this yr’s lineup is definitely very sturdy on comedy. That’s one thing that actually spoke to us as a workforce,” senior programmer Peter Corridor mentioned. “I don’t know if it’s that there have been extra comedies being made or folks have began to comprehend that SXSW is a pageant that actually celebrates and may launch comedies. So, we actually sparked lots of them this yr. They’ve lots of darkish humorousness, lots of methods to simply accept the kind of harsh world round us and nonetheless discover gentle in it. I believe that’s in lots of the movies that we’re taking part in.”
He continued, “And as at all times, I believe that we have now a extremely nice sense of discovery, notably this yr, lots of first-time filmmakers, lots of filmmakers which can be making films which have that kind of intangible SXSW high quality the place you simply understand it while you see it. It’s this kind of risk-taking in lots of ways in which I believe actually resonates with us.”
Godfrey emphasised that the pageant’s programming course of focuses on discovering distinctive movies that reveal clear authorship above all else, with the aim of displaying audiences one thing they haven’t seen earlier than.
“In our submissions pool, issues are simply getting increasingly more samey with all of the streamers and other people making an attempt to make one thing that can get purchased and that type of factor,” she mentioned, including that she goals to program movies that do the other of that. “But when it’s one thing that actually has a definite perspective I’ve by no means seen earlier than, or if it’s one thing that we’ve seen one million occasions, however that’s achieved in a singular method that feels prefer it has a director’s type of imaginative and prescient. After which I at all times just like the actually bizarre and loopy and issues… I believe it’s extra in regards to the vibe than the movies.”
SXSW returns to Austin from March 12 – 18. Take a look at the ultimate 13 movies of the 2026 Movie and TV Competition lineup, an IndieWire unique, beneath. Movie descriptions are supplied by the pageant.
NARRATIVE SPOTLIGHT
Unforgettable options receiving their World, North American, or U.S. premieres.
Lifeless Deer Excessive
Director: Jo Rochelle, Producer/Screenwriter: Joshua Roark
Created by academics, Lifeless Deer Excessive follows a workforce of highschool slam poets and their English trainer as they put together for a nationwide poetry competitors one yr after a tragic taking pictures modified their lives ceaselessly. Forged: 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
On this darkly comedian folktale, an affable foxhunter encounters a speaking Fox who gives him a chance to remodel his fiancée into the proper girl. Forged: Jai Courtney, Emily Browning, Damon Herriman, Claudia Doumit, Sam Neill, Miranda Otto, Olivia Colman (Worldwide Premiere)
Love Language
Director/Screenwriter: Joey Energy, Producers: Bert Hamelinck, Allison Hironaka, Ari Lubet, Colin Jost, Jeff Grosvenor
An aspiring writer with a facet hustle writing marriage ceremony vows for different folks reconnects along with her long-time crush, solely to be taught he’s the fiancé of one in every of her new shoppers. Forged: Chloë Grace Moretz, Anthony Ramos, Manny Jacinto, Isabel Might, Lukas Gage, Billie Lourd, Chloe Fineman, Zach Zucker, Morgan Jay, Bobbi Althoff, Marchánt Davis, Dan Perrault (World Premiere)
A Secure Distance (Canada)
Director: Gloria Mercer, Producers: Nic Altobelli, Aidan West, Gloria Mercer, Screenwriter: Aidan West
After a girl is deserted by her boyfriend within the forest, she befriends a pair of infamous fugitives on the run from the regulation, and turns into dangerously entangled of their relationship. Forged: Bethany Brown, Tandia Mercedes, Cody Kearsley, Chris McNally (World Premiere)
DOCUMENTARY SPOTLIGHT
Unbelievable options receiving their World, North American, or U.S. premieres.
Child/Ladies
Administrators: Alyse Walsh, Jackie Jesko, Producers: Melissa Leardi, Alex Waterfield
Set in post-Dobbs Arkansas, child/women follows three teenagers residing in a Christian maternity house as they navigate being pregnant and early motherhood. The movie gives an intimate, unfiltered have a look at girlhood and motherhood colliding within the American South. That includes Grace Dulaney, Ariana Inexperienced, Olivia Malott, Audra Dulaney, Brian Rivera, Paula Woods (World Premiere)
FESTIVAL FAVORITE
Acclaimed standouts from festivals all over the world.
Large Ladies Don’t Cry (New Zealand)
Director/Screenwriter: Paloma Schneideman, Producers: Vicky Pope, Thomas Coppell
Rural New Zealand, 2006. Over one transformative summer season, 14 year-old Sid Bookman discovers want, identification and the web, as she imitates the folks she longs to be beloved by. Forged: Ani Palmer, Rain Spencer, Noah Taylor (Texas Premiere)
Chasing Summer season
Director: Josephine Decker, Producers: Rob Guillermo, Ray Maiello, Nihaar Sinha, Houston King, Sam Pressman, Paula Paizes, Screenwriter: Iliza Shlesinger
After dropping each her job and boyfriend, Jamie retreats to her small Texas hometown the place mates and flings from a fateful highschool summer season flip her life the wrong way up. Forged: 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 Woman Scout Cookie season, and 4 tenacious women attempt to be a top-selling “Cookie Queen,” navigating an $800 million enterprise wherein innocence and ambition collide. That includes Nikki B., Olive G., Shannon Elizabeth S., Ara E. (Texas Premiere)
Joybubbles
Director: Rachael Morrison, Producer: Sarah Winshall
Within the Nineteen Fifties, a boy discovers he can management the worldwide phone system by whistling a magic tone. Born blind and hungry for connection, his obsession with the phone sparks a subculture that shapes the way forward for hacking within the twentieth century. That includes Joybubbles, Steve woznak, Toni Enngressia (Texas Premiere)
VISIONS
Audacious, risk-taking artists who reveal innovation and creativity.
Sinner Supper Membership
Administrators: Daisy Rosato, Nora Kaye, Producers: Sophie Sagan-Gutherz, Jackie Monoson, Screenwriters: Nora Kaye, Daisy Rosato
An NYC buddy group reunites to throw an “eviction funeral” for Genevieve; because the night time progresses and a warmth wave traps them collectively, their long-ignored issues boil over. An improvised homosexual mumblecore ghost story shot on an iPhone in six days. Forged: Ashil Lee, Elise Kibler, Genevieve Simon, Jayae Riley Jr., Nora Kaye, Sophie Sagan-Gutherz, Daisy Rosato (World Premiere)
24 BEATS PER SECOND
Vibrant movies showcasing the sounds, tradition, and affect of music and musicians.
Phases
Director: Ryan Sales space, Producers: Val Hill, Morgan Stevenson Cooper, Russell Wayne Groves, JOLENE, Screenwriter: Bradley Jackson, Dan Steele
A yr after the tumultuous break-up of his band, Ben Garza units off on his first ever solo tour. Life on the highway is totally different now, as Ben learns alongside his ride-or-die tour supervisor, Rita and his spotlight-stealing opening act, Jessie. Forged: 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 Large Hat
Director/Screenwriter: Austin Sayre, Producers: Stephanie Moore, David Broad, Aaron Colussi, Jay Newberg, Diana Zuniga, Cherry Brown, Austin Sayre
Expertise 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 that means of success. That includes 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
Thrilling new collection from all over 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 greatest buddy dies, an getting older hippie who went to Woodstock in 1969 and by no means left should lastly reckon with a life formed by peace, love, and an excessive amount of weed. Forged: Corbin Bernsen, Stephen Tobolowsky, Barbara Hershey, Susan Ruttan, Maggie Lawson, Willie C. Carpenter, John Glover, Lee Wilkof, Lea Delaria, Jilian Medford