SXSW Film Festival isn’t ready to call it quits. Coronavirus put the brakes on the 27th edition of the Austin-based fest, which was set to include a competition lineup that was 70 percent women-directed or co-directed. Originally scheduled to take place March 13-22, the fest is going digital. “Films that were slated for this year’s canceled South by Southwest festival will appear exclusively on Amazon Prime Video for 10 days this spring,” The Los Angeles Times reports. “Filmmakers who choose to participate will receive a screening fee and could opt in starting Thursday.”
“We are supporters of SXSW and other independent film festivals, and hope this online film festival can help give back some of that experience, and showcase artists and films that audiences might otherwise not have had the chance to see,” said Jennifer Salke, head of Amazon Studios.
Janet Pierson, SXSW’s director of film, added, “We’re inspired by the adaptability and resilience of the film community as it searches for creative solutions in this unprecedented crisis.”
Participating films will be available for free to consumers, “but they will need to sign up for a free Amazon account,” the source explains.
Amazon and SXSW are hoping to launch the streaming event later this month.
No titles have been announced so far.
You can check out our SXSW preview to learn more about some of the features we were most looking forward to seeing at the fest, including award winners “The Donut King,” Alice Gu’s portrait of a Cambodian refugee who launched a donut empire, and Katrine Philp’s “An Elephant in the Room,” a look inside Good Grief, a New Jersey-based non-profit where children attend play and group sessions addressing how to cope and live with the loss of a loved one.
The fest’s official short films selection is available to view for free via Mailchimp. Titles streaming include Geeta Gandbhir’s “Call Center Blues” and Nicole Bazuin’s “Modern Whore.” The former is a portrait of U.S. deportees and their loved ones struggling to rebuild their lives in Tijuana, Mexico, and the latter is based on activist and author Andrea Werhun’s life and experiences as a sex worker in Toronto.
