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A Shorts-centric Preview of SXSW 2025
With more than 21 S/W alums featured in the 2025 SXSW lineup, let’s dive into their films and see what they have in store!
The 2025 edition of SXSW Film & TV started yesterday, and as usual, the lineup is always an exciting time for our S/W family. Over the years, it has become customary to see many of our alums included in the program, with films in the shorts, features and TV categories. Some projects have already been selected at other festivals, while others are being shown to their first audience at SXSW – it all makes for a very inspiring experience for the industry and independent film lovers.
Just like any festival, a full program can be overwhelming. So below you will find the projects of our S/W alums, we’d pay close attention to those… just saying…
SHORTS
This year, 11 alums are bringing their short films to Austin! We’re super happy to see all these familiar names across SXSW’s five short film competitions – Narrative, Documentary, Animated, Midnight, and Texas.
An Ongoing List of Things Found in the Library Book Drop, Usually Being Used as Bookmarks by Kayla Abuda Galang
Synopsis: Library worker Daniel catalogs an assortment of forgotten objects left in returned books.
Screening: Texas Short competition
Baba I’m Fine by Karina Dandashi
Synopsis: A teen navigates heartbreak through social media while spending Friday out with her father.
Screening: Narrative Short Competition
Synopsis: A motorcycle rebel spirals deeper into her erotic hallucinations to escape the grip of a sultry serpent woman.
Screening: Midnight Short Competition
Mine! by Lou Morton
Synopsis: Set in the early 20th century Midwest USA, deep underground a group of coal miners make an incredible discovery.
Screening: Animated Short Competition
One Day This Kid by Alexander Farah
Synopsis: “One Day This Kid” depicts a deftly-composed array of small yet pivotal moments that introduce Hamed, a first-generation Afghan-Canadian man, as he takes steps toward establishing an identity of his own while always conscious of his father’s shadow.
Screening: Narrative Short Competition
Shanti Rides Shotgun by Charles Frank
Synopsis: On Manhattan’s jam-packed streets, NYC’s most iconic driving instructor prepares students for the road ahead.
Screening: Documentary Short Competition
The Dream Machine by Jimmy Marble
Synopsis: After the death of her beloved husband, a grieving widow chooses to participate in a program called The Dream Machine, a technology that renders our deepest fantasies a reality.
Screening: Animated Short Competition
Synopsis: An impromptu sing-off will decide the best singer in the bar tonight.
Screening: Narrative Short Competition
TV or The Disturbance on Forest Hill Road by Frederic Siegel
Synopsis: A police patrol is involuntarily drawn into a vortex of fictional worlds, triggered by the intense TV consumption of a little boy.
Screening: Animated Short Competition
Synopsis: A girl with a gastrointestinal disorder attends her family’s Passover Seder for the first time since being put on a feeding tube. There, she’s confronted by pushy family members, malfunctioning medical devices, and a room of food she can’t eat.
Screening: Narrative Short Competition
Synopsis: Two outcasts who work at a small town’s local video store must solve the mysteries of the town’s dark past when one of them goes missing. Will Hannah find her way to Jules or will she, too, become just another flickering image on the screen?
Screening: Midnight Short Competition
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Features
It’s the name of the game, most of the filmmakers we get to feature on S/W end up leaving the short film world to make features. Given SXSW’s reputation as a prime destination for independent cinema, especially for filmmakers making their first or second features, we weren’t surprised to spot 13 of our alums in the different feature film categories. Some of those films have already premiered elsewhere, earning a spot in the coveted Festival Favorite section, while the others are showcased across various categories, from Headlines and 24 Beats Per Second to Visions, Spotlights, and even the Competition.
Ash by Flying Lotus
Synopsis: A woman wakes up on a distant planet and finds the crew of her space station viciously killed. Her investigation into what happened sets in motion a terrifying chain of events.
Screening: Headliner
Brother Verses Brother by Ari Gold
Synopsis: A radically personal one-shot musical odyssey about combative twin musicians hunting the streets of San Francisco for their dying poet father
Screening: 24 Beats Per Second
Synopsis: A lonely Gravedigger who stinks of corpses finally meets her dream man, but their affair is cut short when he tragically drowns at sea. Grief-stricken, she goes to morbid lengths to resurrect him, resulting in grave consequences and unlikely love.
Screening: Visions
Synopsis: Suburban dad Craig has his life turned upside down by the arrival of a new neighbor. As Craig’s attempts to make a friend spiral out of control, their blossoming relationship threatens to ruin both of their lives.
Screening: Festival Favorite
Synopsis: Set in a post-apocalyptic future, O’Dessa is a rock opera about a farm girl on a quest to recover a family heirloom. Her journey leads her to a dangerous city, where she must use the power of destiny and song to save her true love’s soul.
Screening: Narrative Spotlight
Synopsis: Set against the Greek isles, British composers Lola and Philip’s relationship lingers in silence as she struggles to reclaim her voice. When she meets magnetic Elena and brings her into the fold, tensions rise, forcing Lola to confront her dark past.
Screening: Narrative Spotlight
Selena y Los Dinos by Isabel Castro
Synopsis: Selena y Los Dinos explores the life and legacy of Selena Quintanilla, the Queen of Tejano music. Through archival footage and interviews, the film highlights her rise to stardom and her family’s commitment to preserving her enduring impact.
Screening: 24 Beats Per Second
Synopsis: Having fled the Yugoslav war and settled in the UK, Vlad strives for success with his Balkan band, whilst trying to reconnect with his only daughter.
Screening: Narrative Spotlight
The Perfect Neighbor by Geeta Gandbhir
Synopsis: A seemingly minor neighborhood dispute in Florida escalates into deadly violence. Police bodycam footage and investigative interviews expose the consequences of Florida’s “stand your ground” laws.
Screening: Festival Favorite
The Python Hunt by Xander Robin (Produced by Lance Oppenheim)
Every year, the Florida government asks the general public to compete in an invasive python removal contest in the Everglades. For ten nights, an eclectic group of hunters confront the dangerous terrain, nocturnal creatures and their own tiny demons.
Screening: Documentary Feature Competition
Synopsis: 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.
Screening: Festival Favorite
Your Higher Self by Annie St-Pierre
Synopsis: By observing the sessions of fifteen life coaches, Your Higher Self offers an offbeat philosophical essay around this booming profession, a true mirror of the values of our time. In a form that plays on distance to frame the intimate, the plot playfully explores the new sacralization of individual emancipation. Between an empathetic gaze and the unveiling of the absurd, Your Higher Self is a cinematic reflection on the universal and perpetual quest of all human beings: the search for meaning.
Screening: Visions
Zodiac Killer Project by Charlie Shackleton
Synopsis: Having tried and failed to make a true crime documentary, filmmaker Charlie Shackleton walks the viewer through what could have been.
Screening: Festival Favorite
***
Television
In recent years, SXSW has renamed itself as SXSW Film & TV, allowing a bigger space for television projects. We’re thrilled to see two familiar names in two different categories dedicated to episodic content.
Synopsis: After desecrating a sacred temple, some hooligans must face the supernatural consequences of their hate crime. Dui Shaw takes the dark side of contemporary South Asia and gives it a supernatural spin.
Screening: TV Spotlight
Stars Diner by Fidel Ruiz-Healy & Tyler Walker (Produced by Mary Neely)
Synopsis: Stars Diner isn’t the best choice for a quick steak & eggs. Run by ex-party girl Wendy, unhinged chef Milius, and odd busboy Willard, this Fresno greasy spoon must overcome unpaid bills and a once-in-a-lifetime volcanic eruption.
Screening: Independent TV Pilot Competition
