With two narrative features, a new Binge series, three shorts and three documentaries about everything from simulated film sex to Excel spreadsheets, these films and series will soon proudly represent Australia at the prestigious SXSW festival in Austin, Texas.
Here’s what’s playing in the program.
SXSW Features
The Surfer
Director: Lorcan Finnegan
A man returns to the idyllic beach of his childhood to surf with his son, but is humiliated by a group of powerful locals and drawn into a conflict that rises with the punishing heat of the summer and pushes him right to his breaking point. Stars Nicolas Cage.
The Surfer premiered at Cannes last year, and will show in the Festival Favourite section of SXSW. It’s being distributed by Madman Entertainment in Australia.
We Bury The Dead
Director: Zak Hilditch
From writer/director Zak Hilditch (1922, These Final Hours), We Bury The Dead is a gripping thriller set after a military experiment decimates the people of Tasmania. Daisy Ridley (Star Wars: Episode VII – The Force Awakens) stars as Ava, a desperate woman who joins a ‘body retrieval unit’ in the hopes of finding her husband alive. Ava’s search takes a chilling turn, however, when the corpses she’s burying start showing signs of life… As she journeys to the south of Tasmania in search of her husband, Ava is forced to confront the undead – and make peace with her own unfinished business.
We Bury The Dead will screen in the Narrative Spotlight section of SXSW.
ScreenHub: We Bury the Dead review: gruesomely hilarious Tasmanian survival thriller
SXSW Documentaries
Spreadsheet Champions
Director: Kristina Kraskov
Spreadsheet Champions follows six students as they put their Excel-lent skills to the ultimate test in Microsoft’s most prestigious and difficult competition category. A heartwarming tale of formulas and friendship, Spreadsheet Champions reveals the far-reaching influence of spreadsheets in today’s world and the power of young minds to shape our future. Who will triumph, who will fail, who will EXCEL?
Spreadsheet Champions will screen in the Documentary Spotlight section of SXSW.
Make it Look Real
Director: Kate Blackmore
Claire Warden is a trailblazing intimacy coordinator, helping directors and actors craft convincing on-screen intimacy while safeguarding personal boundaries. Hired for a new Australian film, TightropeClaire is unsure how the director, Kieran Darcy-Smith, will respond to her presence on set. As she choreographs scenes, designs modesty garments and navigates the complexities of nudity riders, she sees tensions rise when one of the actors grows uneasy about performing a proposed threesome. Claire and Kieran must collaborate to reimagine the scene balancing the actors’ comfort with the artistic demands of the story.
Make it Look Real is screening in the Documentary Spotlight section of SXSW.
Deeper
Director: Jennifer Peedom
In a remote part of New Zealand, lies a cold, dark and mysterious cave system with the potential to be the deepest dived cave in the world. It’s here that explorer and hero of the Thai cave rescue Richard “Harry” Harris is searching for a sense of self. There’s no question that this is the highest stakes dive he has ever attempted. Underground, underwater, with a finite amount of gas to breathe, it’s a dangerous game to play. So what drives Harry to continue in his pursuit when he knows the cost – not just to himself, but to those he loves – and will he make it back to them?
Deeper is acclaimed filmmaker Jennifer Peedom’s fourth documentary feature. It will screen in the Documentary Spotlight section of SXSW.
ScreenHub: Most anticipated Australian films 2025
-SXSW Shorts
Last Call
Director: Winnie Cheung
Claudia Chow lives for the rush – reckless rides, wild nights, and adrenaline-fuelled chaos. But her mind is haunted by visions of a seductive Serpent Woman, whispering, ‘your body is my body’. When a high-speed crash sends Claudia spiralling between reality and illusion, her nights grow darker and more unhinged. The Serpent Woman’s voice becomes impossible to ignore, leading Claudia on a journey of desire, destruction and transformation.
Last Call is a co-production between the US, Australia and Hong Kong. It will show in the Midnight Short Competition at SXSW.
Baggage
Director: Lucy Davidson
Animation. Three girlfriends check in their baggage at the airport, but one is carrying a little more than the others. As they travel along the conveyor belt to security, can she hide what’s inside?
Baggage is a co-production between Australia and the UK, and will screen in the Animated Short Program at SXSW.
I’m The Most Racist Person I Know
Director: Leela Varghese
When a romantic gesture towards a bartender backfires, Lali unexpectedly finds herself offered a pity date by another bartender, Ana. What starts as an awkward encounter turns into a genuine connection as they bond over shared experiences as women of color. As they grow closer, Lali finds herself falling for Ana. But when the conversation takes an unexpected turn, Lali must confront her prejudices towards Ana and … herself.
I’m The Most Racist Person I Know will screen in the Narrative Short program at SXSW.
SXSW Series
Mix Tape
Showrunner: Jo Spain
Director: Lucy Gaffy
In Sheffield, 1989, teenagers Daniel and Alison meet at a house party, and bond over their love for music. Daniel is popular, Alison is a wallflower. When they meet on the dance floor, their lives are forever changed. The relationship they forge that night will follow them forever, and leave them wondering what could have been.
Twenty years later, Daniel is in Sheffield and Alison in Sydney. Both are married, with children nearly grown. Life looks differently for both of them than how’d they’d imagined it at seventeen.
Daniel, powerless to the strong hold the memory of Alison still has on him, reaches out to her in the hope that they might be able to rekindle that spark.
Mix Tape is screening in the TV Spotlight section of SXSW. It will stream on Binge in Australia later this year.
SXSW takes place from 7-5 March, 2025. For more information, see the SXSW website. Our local version of the festival, SXSW Sydney, takes place later in the year, and will reveal its program closer to the event date.
For more festival film picks that we’re looking forward to this year, see here.
Related News :