South by Southwest just gave everyone an early Christmas present. The Film & TV Festival just announced that I Love Boosters, the newest film from Boots Riley, will receive its world premiere as the 2026 opening night selection.
The festival has already announced a plethora of panels and a jammed schedule of speakers, as well as the first bands for the fest (March 12-18), and now Film & TV joins the roster. As always, this is just the first of the lineup announcements, so expect more titles to be announced in January.
Riley, who previously brought both his feature debut, Sorry to Bother You, and his sitcom series for Prime, I’m a Virgo, to SXSW, returns with his second feature. In signature acidic satirical and astute fashion for the musician turned filmmaker, it’s about a band of shoplifters called the Velvet Gang who view their actions as a community service, and stars Keke Palmer, Naomi Ackie, Taylour Paige, Poppy Liu, Eiza Gonzalez, LaKeith Stanfield, Don Cheadle, and Demi Moore.
Claudette Godfrey, SXSW VP of Film & TV, explained that the festival team is “beyond thrilled” to host the premiere and Riley’s return. She added, “Boots has created another wildly original and boundary-pushing vision that’s deliciously unpredictable. We can’t wait for our audience to be sucked into his singular, subversive world where razor-sharp social commentary meets fearless, surreal storytelling and eye-popping imagery – all powered by a ridiculously stacked cast of some of the most talented actors on the planet. I Love Boosters is audacious, entertaining, and guaranteed to get our festival off to an unforgettable start.”
SXSW and SXSW EDU 2026 badges are available now via sxsw.com.
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