SXSW 2021: 11 most anticipated films

Like many festivals this year, South By Southwest (or just SXSW for those into initialisms) is going virtual. With Austin’s city limits still off the cards for Antipodean travellers, this provides us with the perfect opportunity to head to one of the biggest indie happenings of the year from the comfort of our lounge rooms in Sydney.

Founded in Austin, Texas in 1987, the music, film and comedy conference provides an opportunity for creatives to come together and make something a bit special. The launching pad for many indie artists, our interest is squarely on the film. We’re not called The Reel Bits for nothing.

Here’s a selection of films we’re looking forward to seeing — and discussing — at SXSW this year. For more details on what’s happening between 16-20 March, check out the official SXSW site.

Playing as part of the Narrative Feature Competition, this world premiere movie follows a recently widowed mother who convinces her daughter that they aren’t homeless, they’re just camping out. Featuring a lead performance by co-director Kali, as well as being produced by co-star Deon Cole, this sounds like it will have us reaching for the tissues as often as it will crack us up.

It’s hard to have a festival in 2021 and not have the pandemic dangling over us. Director Nanfu Wang takes a personal approach to explore the origins of the virus in China and traces its deadly spread across the United States. Brooke Heinz, who will be helping me cover SXSW this year, has said this is one of her most anticipated films of the festival.

The heightened realism of this utterly charming and semi-autobigraphical film from Wes Hurley — who recently produced the documentary Yes I Am narrated by Zachary Quinto — should catch your eye immediately. Following his numerous LGBTQIA+ themed shorts, Hurley takes a leaf out of A Christmas Story and traces his voyage with his mother from Soviet Vladivostok in the 1980s, coming out in America and the very strange journey in between. Disarmingly funny, this is sure to be a cult favourite.

Australia’s representation at SXSW sees Indigenous actress, writer and filmmaker Leah Purcell adapting her own acclaimed play/novel (and Henry Lawson’s classic short story). It’s an Australian western thriller starring Purcell, Rob Collins, Sam Reid, Jessica De Gouw, and Malachi Dower-Roberts. We could not be more into this.

Natalie Morales’ Language Lessons may have been the biggest surprise of the Berlinale. We all need to find connection, especially over the last year, and at its corazón this is what this charming spin on the ‘lockdown film’ does. While it’s not the first Zoom/phone based drama, and it certainly won’t be the last, it might be the most heartfelt. Filled with genuine surprises and emotional turns, this is one video call where you won’t want to have a sneaky browser open. Check out our full review.

You know the films: Clerks, Mallrats, Chasing Amy and more recently Red State, Tusk and the Jay and Silent Bob Reboot. Having gone from indie filmmaker to comic book writer (Green Arrow, Daredevil), TV director (Supergirl) and podcast kingpin, his longtime friend and fellow creative Malcolm Ingram has taken a look at his life and near-death. To quote Smith himself, “If you’re remotely into me and my dopey movies, then this fantastic film is a must-see!” Can’t argue with that.

The versatility of that obscure playwright Bill Shakespeare knows no bounds. Romeo and Juliet is arguably the most reinterpreted (and misinterpreted) of the Bard’s 37 plays: this should not be anyone’s #relationshipgoals. Williams is the first to bring the play to life as a mobile shot feature with a diverse cast, mixing in the original dialogue with more social media influenced references. After all: it’s been about 25 years since Baz Luhrmann ‘modernised’ the play.

This Canadian/Filipino film follows a middle-aged man who has lived with his parents his whole life. Their declining health has him worried that he won’t find a partner before they pass. We were totally intrigued by one Letterboxd review that said “A film so Filipino that line dancing is a major narrative device.” Sure!

Few stones, bubbling brooks or hollowed out trees are left unturned in this comprehensive examination of folk horror. While this is the directorial debut for Kier-La Janisse, she is not stranger to horror fans. Janisse is the founder of international horror school The Miskatonic Institute of Horror Studies, the author of House of Psychotic Women and numerous other tomes, and festival director of CineMuerte Horror Film Festival (1999-2005) in Vancouver and Monster Fest in Melbourne. Taking just over three hours, Janisse guides us through the origins of folk horror films, from the times before the unholy British trinity of Witchfinder General, Blood on Satan’s Claw and, of course The Wicker Man through to examples of American folk horror. The exhaustive analysis includes films from Japan, Brazil, and South Africa, as well as a fairly deep look at Australia’s connections between invasion and country. With a folk horror revival led by Midsommar, this is the place to start building those watchlists.

This fascinating documentary subject takes place in the city of Ciudad Juárez in Mexico, a place know for its high crime rate against women. A group of ‘Luchadoras’ — or female wrestlers for the uninitiated — decide to take matters into their own hands, redefining the image of women in Mexico. A timely and engaging topic.

We lost the lead singer of seminal punk rock band X-Ray Spex back in 2011 to breast cancer. Yet her daughter has spent a few years travelling across the globe to get a better understanding of her mother and her career, engaging with archives and a host of celebrities. The massive group of interviewees include Ruth Negga, Kathleen Hanna , Thurston Moore , Vivienne Westwood , Pauline Black , Neneh Cherry , Jonathan Ross , Bruno Wizard , Ana Da Silva, and Youth. Surely this is the definition of the intersection of art, music and film that SXSW is built on?