Following the unveiling of the full programme for the 33rd edition of South by Southwest (SXSW, 12-18 March) in Austin, Texas, it’s clear that Europe maintains a visible presence across several key sections of the Film & TV Festival. British and French productions lead the European contingent this year, joined by works from Ireland, Germany, Iceland and Poland, among others.

In the Headliner section, British cinema steps into the spotlight with Pretty Lethal, directed by Vicky Jewson. The action-packed thriller follows five ballerinas who, while stranded in a remote forest, are forced to weaponise their years of rigorous training when they take refuge in a sinister roadside inn. Anchored by a high-profile cast including Uma Thurman, the film will have its world premiere at SXSW.

The Narrative Spotlight section includes the French production Mam by Nan Feix, a US-premiering feature that traces the unlikely partnership between a self-taught Texan chef and a Vietnamese waitress in New York City, mixing romance, comedy and culinary ambition. The film was the winner of the Culinary Zinema Award at last year’s San Sebastián. In Documentary Spotlight, France is again represented with The Way We Move, directed by Vanessa Dumont and Nicolas Davenel, which will enjoy its world premiere. The doc centres on renowned ASL interpreter Amber Galloway and her mission to make live music accessible to the deaf community, culminating in a journey towards the Austin City Limits music festival.

Genre cinema finds a home in the Midnighter section, with Hokum by Irish filmmaker Damian McCarthy (Caveat [+leggi anche:
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intervista: Damian Mc Carthy
scheda film], Oddity [+leggi anche:
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scheda film]). The supernatural horror flick follows a novelist drawn into unsettling folklore while staying at a remote inn, confronting both spectral forces and unresolved personal trauma. It stars Adam Scott, Peter Coonan and David Wilmot.

Several European-linked titles also feature among the Festival Favorites. Time and Water by Icelandic documentarian Sara Dosa (The Seer and the Unseen [+leggi anche:
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intervista: Sara Dosa
scheda film]) offers a poetic meditation on climate change and memory through the work of Icelandic author Andri Snær Magnason, blending archival material, family history and environmental reflection. Meanwhile, Erupcja [+leggi anche:
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scheda film], set in Warsaw, directed by Pete Ohs, and starring Charli XCX and Lena Gora, presents an offbeat romantic comedy that intertwines emotional upheaval and an unexpected volcanic eruption.

The Visions section showcases UK-based experimentation with The Peril at Pincer Point, directed by Jake Kuhn and Noah Stratton-Twine. The movie, starring Jack Redmayne and Alyth Ross, follows a struggling sound designer sent to a remote island in search of the perfect audio recording, where local legends and creative obsession blur the line between myth and reality.

Finally, Europe’s presence extends into the Global section, notably with the documentary Do You Love Me [+leggi anche:
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intervista: Lana Daher
scheda film] by Lebanese helmer Lana Daher. Constructed entirely from archival footage, the film serves as a cinematic love letter to Beirut. Germany is represented by Thanks for Nothing by Stella Marie Markert, a darkly comic coming-of-age story about a group of teenagers living in a self-organised anarchist home, grappling with abandonment, autonomy and the looming pressures of adulthood.

The Global selection also includes Scarlet Girls by Paula Cury, a lyrical documentary addressing the realities of unsafe abortion in the Dominican Republic, giving voice to women and girls living under a total ban on the procedure, as well as American Doctor by Poh Si Teng, a vérité non-fiction work following three physicians of different faiths whose shared commitment to healing leads them from a besieged hospital in Gaza to the corridors of political power in the United States.

Here is the list of European (co-)productions in the festival’s sections:

Headliner

Pretty Lethal – Vicky Jewson (UK)

Narrative Spotlight

Mam – Nan Feix (France)

Documentary Spotlight

The Way We Move – Vanessa Dumont, Nicolas Davenel (France)

Midnighter

Hokum – Damian McCarthy (USA/Ireland)

Festival Favorites

Time and Water – Sara Dosa (USA/Iceland)
Erupcja [+leggi anche:
recensione
scheda film] – Pete Ohs (USA/Poland)

Visions

The Peril at Pincer Point – Jake Kuhn, Noah Stratton-Twine (UK)

Global

Scarlet Girls – Paula Cury (Dominican Republic/Germany/Mexico)
Do You Love Me [+leggi anche:
recensione
intervista: Lana Daher
scheda film] – Lana Daher (France/Lebanon/Germany/Qatar)
Thanks for Nothing – Stella Marie Markert (Germany)
American Doctor – Poh Si Teng (USA/Denmark/Malaysia/Qatar)

Narrative Short Competition

Gamberra – Marine Auclair March (Spain)
Talk Me – Joecar Hanna (USA/Spain)
A Shot at Art – Ilke Paddenburg (Netherlands)

Documentary Short Competition

Glacier’s Requiem – Saddiq Abubakar (UK)
Air Horse One – Lasse Linder (Belgium/Switzerland)
Not Scared, Just Sad – Isabelle Mecattaf (Bulgaria/Lebanon)
How To Catch A Butterfly – Kiriko Mechanicus (Netherlands)

Animated Short Competition

Hag – Anna Ginsburg (UK)
Im Auto Tapes und Butterbrot – Kiana Naghshineh (Germany)
In the Beginning – Ala Nunu (Poland/Portugal/Spain)

Midnight Short Competition

Jealous People Are Ugly People – Theo James Krekis (UK)

XR Experience Competition

Cycle – Matunda Groenendijk, Amit Palgi (Netherlands)
loss·y – Lisa Jamhoury (UK)
Lionia Is Leaving – Volodymyr Kolbasa (Slovakia)
The Forgotten War – Hayoun Kwon (South Korea/France)
Inter(mediate) Spaces – Chloé Lee (Germany)
The Baby Factory Is Closed – Deepa Mann-Kler (UK)
Ascended Intelligence – Karen Palmer (Saudi Arabia/UAE/UK)
Frustrain: Trainman – Pavel Pavlyukov (Estonia/France)
Crafting Crimes: The Mona Lisa Heist – Chloé Rochereuil (France)
Winterover – Nir Saar, Ido Mizrahy (Canada/Israel/Luxembourg)
A Deception of Senses – John Volpato, Valentina Temporin (Italy)

XR Experience Spotlight

The Dollhouse – Charlotte Bruneau, Dominic Desjardins (Canada/Luxembourg)
Insider Outsider – Philippe Cohen Solal (France)
The Great Orator – Daniël Ernst (Netherlands)
Dark Rooms – Laurits Flensted-Jensen, Mads Damsbo (Denmark/Germany/Taiwan)
Lost Love Hotline – Niki Harman (UK)
Out of Nowhere – Kris Hofmann, Andreas Wuthe (Austria/Germany)
Reality Looks Back – Anne Jeppesen, Omid Zarei (Denmark)
Fillos do Vento: A Rapa – Brais Revalderia, Maria Fernanda Ordonez Morla (Spain)
Lesbian Simulator – Iris van der Meule (Netherlands)
A Long Goodbye – Kate Voet, Victor Maes (Belgium)
Lacuna – Maartje Wegdam, Nienke Huitenga Broeren (Netherlands)
Spectacular: The Art of Jonathan Yeo in Augmented Reality – Jonathan Yeo (France/UK)