SXSW Film Drops First Round of Titles
Pee-wee Herman rubs shoulders with Slenderman and Preacher
By Josh Kupecki, 2:00PM, Thu. Jan. 7, 2016
SXSW Film has announced the first six films (well, technically five films and one TV show) for its 2016 lineup. Four of them are world premieres, and two have an Austin connection.
Previously announced was the Opening Night film, the world premiere of Richard Linklater's new comedy, Everybody Wants Some. Adding to the lineup is Pee-wee's Big Holiday, horror film Beware the Slenderman, and a sneak peek at the new AMC series Preacher, developed by Seth Rogen and Evan Goldberg, and based on the cult comic by Garth Ennis. If the name Athina Rachel Tsangari rings a bell, you may recall the UT alum as the co-founder and artistic director of the Cinematexas International Short Film Festival. The filmmaker brings her most recent film and festival favorite, Chevalier, to town. Austin filmmaker Jeff Nichols also has his North American premiere with sci-fi mystery Midnight Special.
The 2016 SXSW Film Festival runs March 11-19. For more information, visit www.sxsw.com. See the full list of films below.
Beware the Slenderman (World Premiere)
Director: Irene Taylor Brodsky
In this horrifyingly modern fairy tale lurks an online bogeyman and two 12-year-old girls who would kill for him. The entrance to the Internet quickly leads to its darkest basement. How responsible are our children for what they find there?
Chevalier
Director: Athina Rachel Tsangari
Screenwriters: Efthimis Filippou, Athina Rachel Tsangari
Six men on a fishing trip on a luxury yacht decide to play a game to compete. Things will be compared. Things will be measured. Songs will be butchered; blood will be tested. Friends will become rivals, and rivals will become hungry.
Cast: Yorgos Kentros, Panos Koronis, Vangelis Mourikis, Makis Papadimitriou, Yorgos Pirpassopoulos, Sakis Rouvas
Tony Robbins: I Am Not Your Guru (World Premiere)
Director: Joe Berlinger
Granted unprecedented access, Berlinger captures renowned life and business strategist Tony Robbins behind the scenes of his mega seminar Date With Destiny, pulling back the curtain on this life-altering and controversial event, the zealous participants and the man himself.
Midnight Special (North American Premiere)
Director/Screenwriter: Jeff Nichols
A father goes on the run to protect his young son and uncover the truth behind the boy’s special powers in the sci-fi thriller Midnight Special, a film as supernatural as it is intimately human.
Cast: Michael Shannon, Joel Edgerton, Kirsten Dunst, Adam Driver, Jaeden Lieberher, Sam Shepard
Pee-wee’s Big Holiday (World Premiere)
Director: John Lee
Screenwriters: Paul Reubens, Paul Rust
In Pee-wee’s Big Holiday, a fateful meeting with a mysterious stranger inspires Pee-wee Herman to take his first-ever holiday in this epic story of friendship and destiny.
Cast: Paul Reubens, Joe Manganiello, Jessica Pohly, Alia Shawkat, Stephanie Beatriz
Preacher (World Premiere)
Directors: Seth Rogen, Evan Goldberg
Screenwriter: Sam Catlin
Preacher is a supernatural, twisted, and darkly comedic drama that follows a West Texas preacher named Jesse Custer, who – along with his ex-girlfriend Tulip and an Irish vagabond named Cassidy – is thrust into a crazy world, much bigger than he is.
Cast: Dominic Cooper, Ruth Negga, Joseph Gilgun, Ian Colletti, W. Earl Brown, Lucy Griffiths
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Richard Whittaker, March 23, 2016
SXSW 2016, SXSW Film 2016, Pee-wee Herman, Preacher
