Eva Longoria's Flamin' Hot Heads up SXSW Audience Award Winners
Snacks and sports win big this year with the crowds
By Richard Whittaker, 2:20PM, Thu. Mar. 23, 2023
If there's one thing we know about SXSW, it's that it's not really over until the audience has its say. Now it has, at least when it comes to film, with Eva Longoria's Flamin' Hot leading the list of audience award winners from this year's Film & TV Festival.
Following on from last week's grand jury awards, audiences picked the story of the invention of the Flamin' Hot Cheeto and the man behind that story, Richard Montañez, as their favorite headliner.
That wasn't the only narrative win for a film taken from real life about Mexican American underdogs coming out on top. Austin filmmaker Julio Quintana took home the title in the narrative spotlight section for The Long Game, drawn from the history of the Del Rio San Felipe High School Mustangs and how they revolutionized the racist world of golf in the 1950s.
Plus, Texas sports stories kept up their winning streak with The Herricanes, Olivia Kuan's Houston-based retelling of the first women's full tackle football league, taking the gold in the Documentary Spotlight section
Congratulations to all the winners. Now, here's the full list:
HEADLINERS
Flamin’ Hot
D: Eva Longoria
NARRATIVE FEATURE COMPETITION presented by Panavision
Mustache
D: Imran J. Khan
DOCUMENTARY FEATURE COMPETITION presented by ACE91
Geoff McFetridge: Drawing a Life
D: Dan Covert
NARRATIVE SPOTLIGHT
The Long Game
D: Julio Quintana
DOCUMENTARY SPOTLIGHT
The Herricanes
D: Olivia Kuan
VISIONS
Tobacco Barns
D: Rocío Mesa
MIDNIGHTERS
It Lives Inside
D: Bishal Dutta
GLOBAL presented by MUBI
Ek Jagah Apni
D: Ektara Collective
24 BEATS PER SECOND
Louder Than You Think
D: Jed I. Rosenberg
FESTIVAL FAVORITES
No Ordinary Campaign
D: Christopher Burke
SHORTS FILM PROGRAM PRESENTED BY IMDbPro
Narrative Shorts"Closing Dynasty"
D: Lloyd Lee Choi
Documentary Shorts
"Nǎi Nai & Wài Pó" ("Grandma & Grandma")
D: Sean Wang
Animated Shorts
"Sandwich Cat:
D: David Fidalgo
Midnight Shorts
"Dead Enders"
D: Fidel Ruiz-Healy, Tyler Walker
Texas Shorts
"Breaking Silence"
D: Amy Bench, Annie Silverstein
Music Video Competition
Drew Ashby – "HER"
D: Chris Scholar, Bevin Brown
TV PROGRAM
TV PremieresThe Luckiest Guy in the World
D: Steve James
TV Spotlight
Blindspotting Season 2 Premiere
Showrunner: Rafael Casal
D: Rafael Casel, Jess Wu Calder,
Independent TV Pilot
Notarize Me
D: Erika Rankin
XR EXPERIENCE
XR Experience Competition"JFK Memento"
D: : Chloé Rochereuil
XR Experience Spotlight
M"LK: Now is the Time"
D: Limbert Fabian
XR Experience Special Events
"Neo-Wulin: The Era of Black Ark"
D: Screenwriter: Guanyu
"Ristband"
D: Anne McKinnon, Roman Rappak
"Soundwaves: A Metaverse Music Concert"
D: YOOM, Active Theory
Catch up with all of The Austin Chronicle's SXSW 2023 coverage.
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