Jodie Foster, Katie Couric, Malcolm Gladwell Join SXSW 2019 Speaker Lineup

Journalist and cancer awareness activist Katie Couric, one of the speakers added to the SXSW speaker lineup today (Photo courtesy of www.couricpodcast.com)

One of Hollywood’s most subversive icons has just been added to the SXSW Conference with the addition of a masterclass by Jodie Foster. She is part of a roster announcement that also includes reporter Katie Couric and futurist Malcolm Gladwell, while Austin filmmaker PJ Raval will deliver this year’s Film keynote speech.

Raval had a breakthrough year with Call Me Ganda, a documentary investigating the death of of Filipina trans woman Jennifer Laude. With a U.S. Marine as the prime suspect, it has arguably been the highest profile work of his career, and now he returns to Austin for his SXSW appearance before the film receives its broadcast premiere this summer.

Although he will not have a feature at the festival, several of today’s announced speakers will, including Gladwell, who doubles down on the themes from his self-driving car doc Autonomy in a conversation with Aurora Innovation CEO Chris Urmson. Meanwhile, a trio of female filmmakers with movies at SXSW – including Austinite Chelsea Hernandez (Building the American Dream) – will discuss the female gaze in cinema. Plus, actress-turned-director Olivia Wilde will host a gathering of the cast and crew of her SXSW feature, Booksmart.

SXSW 2019 runs March 8-17. Now, here’s the list of today’s added speakers and sessions:

KEYNOTE SPEAKERS

• PJ Raval (Trinidad, Call Her Ganda)
• Spotify Chief Content Officer Dawn Ostroff, Gimlet President Matthew Lieber, and Anchor CEO Michael Mignano on the future business potential of audio against video

FEATURED SESSIONS

ENTERTAINMENT INFLUENCERS

• MasterClass with Jodie Foster and David Rogier
• You’re Wrong, Leonard Maltin!! with Leonard Maltin and Jessie Maltin
• Noah Hawley (Fargo, Legion) in conversation with Bryn Elise Sandberg

FILM

• Booksmart Women featuring director Olivia Wilde, producer Jessica Elbaum, screenwriter Katie Silberman, and cast members Kaitlyn Dever, Beanie Feldstein and Billie Lourd. Moderated by Variety’s Jenelle Riley
• The Female Gaze with author and Fandango correspondent Alicia Malone and filmmakers Chelsea Hernandez (Building the American Dream), Karen Maine (Yes, God, Yes), and Kestrin Pantera (Mother’s Little Helpers)

FUTURE WORKPLACE

• The Job: Work and Its Future in a Time of Radical Change with Ellen Shell
• Author Safi Bahcall (Loonshots: How to Nurture the Crazy Ideas That Win Wars, Cure Diseases, and Transform Industries)

HEALTH & MEDTECH

• CRISPR: Exploring the Line Between Human and Nature featuring Alito Charo, Rachel Haurwitz, Elliot Kirschner and Dan Rather
• Making the Fight Against Cancer Even More Personal
• Journalist and Stand Up 2 Cancer co-founder Katie Couric

MEDIA & JOURNALISM

• President of NBC News Noah Oppenheim in conversation with Los Angeles Times reporter Stephen Battaglio and NBC News investigative journalists Carol Lee and Ken Dilanian

SOCIAL & GLOBAL IMPACT

• Model and entrepreneur Ashley Graham
• The War for Kindness: Building Empathy in a Fractured World with empathy researcher Jamil Zaki

TECH, INDUSTRY, & ENTERPRISE

• Self-Driving Cars: The Future Is When? featuring Malcolm Gladwell, Chris Urmson (CEO of Aurora Innovation) and NBC News correspondent Jo Ling Kent