SXSW

SXSW Interview: Hao Wu on his award-winning documentary People’s Republic of Desire

After winning the Documentary Feature category at the South by Southwest Film Awards earlier this week, People’s Republic of Desire from filmmaker Hao Wu is poised to become one of the most important watches of 2018. For his third documentary on different layers of Chinese culture, Wu takes a very close and unnerving look at…

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Interview: Olivia Wilde talks A Vigilante at SXSW World Premiere

Larry Heath caught up with actress Olivia Wilde while at SXSW to talk about about her role in the new film A Vigilante, where she stars as a vigilante who helps victims escape their domestic abusers. Directed by Australia’s Sarah Daggar-Nickson, A Vigilante held its world premiere earlier this week at SXSW. ———- This content…

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Interview: Young Aussie actress Geraldine Viswanathan talks about making her US debut in the anticipated comedy Blockers

The anticipated comedy Blockers hits Australian screens later this month, and one of the stars in the film is Australia’s own Geraldine Viswanathan, who makes her US film debut in the role. While at the Red Carpet World Premiere at SXSW over the weekend, we caught up with Geraldine to talk about the role and…

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SXSW Film Review: The World Before Your Feet (USA, 2018) is like the greatest ever walk in the park

Ringo Starr told people to stop and smell the roses. Ferris Bueller also reminded us that life moves pretty fast and encouraged us to stop or we’d miss it. Matt Green is someone who is doing just that. This 37-year-old former engineer is walking every street in New York City’s five boroughs. It’s a journey…

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SXSW First Impressions: Hereditary (USA, 2018) is as close to evil as a horror movie has ever been

When light finally filled the theatre at Austin’s Alamo Drafthouse Cinema I could see that the older man sitting next to me was visibly shaken. In fact, I could see many people who looked like they were in desperate need of a good, long hug and maybe a bathtub full of bright yellow rubber ducks…

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SXSW Tuesday: Aussie buzz act G-Flip plays her first ever show and Steve Aoki brings Interactive to a close as the music gets rolling

Tuesday marked the fifth day of SXSW for 2018, and as is tradition, it served as the changeover point for the festival between “interactive” and “music”, whole “film” continues throughout the week. Red River Street between 8th and 10th seemed to be one of biggest hotbeds of activity for the Tuesday, with two venues in…

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SXSW Interview: Jermaine Fowler & Armie Hammer talk Boot Riley’s debut feature Sorry To Bother You

We caught up with Jermaine Fowler and Armie Hammer at SXSW to talk about their new film Sorry To Bother You. Watch the full interview below, where we learn more about the characters, and the political messages found in the film, which is the directorial debut of musician Boots Riley (The Coup, Street Sweeper Social…

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SXSW Interview: Camila Mendes and Brett Dier talk The New Romantic, sex and sugar babies

Earlier this week, I sat down with rising young stars Camila Mendes (Riverdale) and Brett Dier (Jane The Virgin), to talk about their roles in the brilliant new film The New Romantic, which premiered at SXSW in Austin, Texas. The indie film is Camila’s first feature film role and looks at the realities of dating…

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Mark Hamill regrets bad mouthing Rian Johnson’s treatment of Luke Skywalker in The Director and The Jedi

Earlier today at SXSW, the new documentary The Director and the Jedi held its premiere, with a few very special guests in attendance. The documentary is available as part of the home release of Star Wars: The Last Jedi, which is in stores this month. Mark’s hesitance with the evolution of the character and poignant…

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SXSW Film Day Four: The Last O.G., Boundaries, a Star Wars documentary and more!

The fourth day of SXSW Film Festival kicked off with a special screening of the new documentary The Director and The Jedi, which is being released with the Blu-Ray home release of Star Wars: The Last Jedi. Mark’s hesitance with the evolution of the character and poignant scenes with Carrie Fisher proved highlights of the…

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SXSW Film Review: Boots Riley holds no punches in kafkaesque comedy Sorry to Bother You (USA, 2018)

Boots Riley has over two decades of powerful, biting and important work behind him as emcee of The Coup, so Sorry for Bothering You, his directorial debut, isn’t as big of a leap as it appears to be for the artist. Well, it’s not big in the sense that smart political satire is anything new…

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Highlights of SXSW’s Music Monday: Australia House, British Embassy, Choose ATL, Vevo and more!

The first ever Australia House kicked off its formal SXSW run in a big way, pulling in megastar Hugh Jackman for a discussion on the cross-section of social good and market forces. Word must have got out as well, because his 2pm discussion with Global Citizen CEO Hugh Evans attracted some enormous queues, from which…

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SXSW Interview: Olivia Noelle talks new music, a love for SZA and more

Hailing from Brooklyn, New York, Olivia Noelle has been whipping up quite the amount of traction, thanks to a pop sensibility that has made her music catchy as hell, not to mention a live presence that has just continued to grow in strength and charm. We caught up with Olivia at SXSW, where she was scheduled to…

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SXSW Film Review: Brothers’ Nest (Australia, 2018) is dark, twisted and completely unpredictable

If you thought the family in Animal Kingdom had problems, wait until you meet Australia’s newest dysfunctional family. In the new film from Director Clayton Jacobson, starring both himself and his brother Shane Jacobson, we spend some time getting to know the real life brothers as they play fictional brothers Jeff and Terry – reuniting…

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Interview: Jade Bird on SXSW, playing with Willie Nelson, Something American and her first visit to Australia

When in Australia recently for a very well received promo trip, British songwriter Jade Bird stopped by AU HQ in Sydney to have a chat with us about her debut trip Down Under. “Live is my thing,” she says of her upcoming shows through the UK. “I can have my banter and I can also have…

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SXSW Day Three: The Vevo & Australia Houses Launch, Ready Player One premieres, Elon Musk answers questions, Tumblr Parties and more

It’s Day Three of SXSW, and from the launch of the first music venues that will run through the week, to a talk from a leader of innovation, and the world premiere of a Hollywood Blockbuster, it was the most jam-packed 24 hours yet at the festival, snaking through Austin, Texas with irrepressible energy. Vevo…

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A headline set from Ludacris packs out the first night of Vevo House at SXSW

The best shows are when they are intimate like this, and we can do whatever the fuck we want”, shouted ATL hip hop veteran Ludacris as he headlined the frenzied first night of the Vevo House at SXSW. For the next three nights, Vevo will be posted up at 508 Bar & Pelons Tex Mex…

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Aussies Abroad: Our Golden Friend announce showcases in NYC and at SXSW

Our Golden Friend have emerged as one of Melbourne’s premiere artist management companies and with SXSW off an running, the music festival has provided the perfect platform for the company to show off their talented roster. Bringing Jade Imagine, RVG, Totally Mild and Jess Ribeiro to Texas, Our Golden Friend will be hosting a must-attend party at the Australia…

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SXSW Interview: Stars Blake Jenner, Jared Abrahamson & Director Bart Layton talk American Animals

At its SXSW premiere last night, we caught up with stars Blake Jenner and Jared Abrahamson, as well as Director Bart Layton to chat about their acclaimed new film American Animals. Read our review of the film HERE. The film is released in the US on 1st June 2018. ———- This content has recently been ported from…

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The world premiere of Blockers headlines SXSW Day Two, plus pop ups for The Terror, Westworld and more!

It’s day two of SXSW in Austin, Texas – and with the Westworld Pop-Up event taking place just outside of town and getting everyone talking, here’s a look at a few of the other highlights from the day (since, sadly, we weren’t able to get tickets to Westworld ourselves; tickets went out the door in…

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Why Elon Musk really wants to go to Mars, and nine other things we learned at his SXSW Q&A

Announced last night, not long after his surprise appearance at the Westworld panel, the hero of the tech world, the man responsible for Tesla and SpaceX and his own voice on South Park (a rare claim to fame if there ever was one), Elon Musk packed the ACL Moody Theatre at SXSW today for a…

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SXSW Film Review: Alt-Right: Age of Rage (USA, 2018) is a brutal documentary about a divided US

In Australia we had John Safran playing provocateur and spending time with white nationalists in his book, Depends What You Mean By Extremist. In the US, a SXSW documentary takes a similar approach with filmmaker, Adam Bhala Lough embedding himself with some representatives from political extremes in Alt Right: Art of Rage. The film ultimately…

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SXSW Interview: Antifa leader Daryle Lamont Jenkins talks about Alt-Right: Age of Rage

To further explore Alt-Right: Age of Rage, a new documentary by Adam Bhala Lough receiving its world premiere at this year’s SXSW, we chat to Daryle Lamont Jenkins. Jenkins, one of the most prominent and recoginsable figures of the antifa (or “anti-fascist”) movement in America has a lot to say about the increasingly salient clash…

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SXSW Film Review: American Animals (USA, 2018) is a masterful, original take on the heist & true crime genres

American Animals is the scripted film debut from writer/director Bart Layton, who walked away with a BAFTA for his debut effort, the documentary The Imposter. Knowing he comes from a documentary background is unsurprising when you see this film, which screened at Sundance earlier this year to a good deal of critical acclaim, and continued…

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SXSW Interview: Armie Hammer reflects on working with Geoffrey Rush and Stanley Tucci for Final Portrait

Fresh from shooting hot dog cannons at the Academy Awards (yes, that actually happened), we caught up with actor Armie Hammer at SXSW to talk about his work in the acclaimed film Final Portrait (which we gave four stars right here). We talk about the voyeuristic experience the movie employs, particularly in the scenes between Hammer…

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Ready Player One to hold surprise world premiere tomorrow night at SXSW

As has become tradition at SXSW,  a major Hollywood film has announced a last minute premiere at the Austin, Texas festival. As many predicted (including ourselves), due to its large, unexpected presence at the festival, this year that film is Steven Spielberg’s Ready Player One. Based on the global bestseller by Ernest Cline, the film…

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Young Fathers, Ready Player One and more make a splash on the first night of SXSW 2018

And SXSW is off once again! The annual Austin, Texas festival kicked off its Interactive and Film streams tonight with a series of film screenings and special events all over the city. The New York Times Magazine took over Irene’s with one of the night’s biggest parties, steadily building up anticipation as a lively queue…

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The Roots announce super jam session with Ludacris, Rapsody and more at Bud Light’s SXSW party

There are very few names in music that define the very concept of collaboration more than The Legendary Roots Crew (AKA The Roots), so when you’re an enormous brand celebrating “music, friendship, and collaboration” at SXSW you’d be remiss not to call upon the iconic band to lead the party. That’s what Bud Light are…

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Muse to team up with NIN and Jet at SXSW to take on The Beatles with Dr Pepper’s Jaded Hearts Club Band

Once again, Rachael Ray will be hosting her annual Feedback party at SXSW, set to take over Stubb’s BBQ on Saturday 17th March from 10am to 4pm. It’s going to be a packed, incredibly diverse line up of big acts throughout the day, including hip hop veterans Salt-n-Pepa, masterful party starter Girl Talk, and the…

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Fader Fort announces SXSW return with a new location and a growing lineup

Returning for its 17th time at SXSW, the famous Fader Fort will once again be bringing the ruckus to the enormous festival with hot-ticket hip hop and R&B acts mixed up with a little variety. Running from March 14th to March 16th, the Fort will change spots and move on over to 1501 East 7th…

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