With so many major film festivals on the calendar, what sets SXSW apart?

“I think a lot of festivals are for film,” SXSW VP film & TV Claudette Godfrey said during a recent conversation with IndieWire. “We show film, and we also show movies.”

That ethos has turned SXSW into one of the premiere stops on the American film festival circuit, with lineups that can alternate between arthouse debuts, studio blockbusters, and weird midnight movies without ever coming across as contradictory.

The festival has already unveiled two eclectic waves of 2026 programming, including the opening night selections of Boots Riley’s “I Love Boosters” and David E. Kelley’s “Margo’s Got Money Troubles” and plenty of first-time filmmakers. Now, IndieWire can exclusively reveal the final 13 movies and shows joining the 2026 lineup.

How would the programmers describe the spirit of this year’s lineup?

“I would say that this year’s lineup is actually very strong on comedy. That’s something that really spoke to us as a team,” senior programmer Peter Hall said. “I don’t know if it’s that there were more comedies being made or people have started to realize that SXSW is a festival that really celebrates and can launch comedies. So, we really sparked a lot of them this year. They have a lot of dark sense of humor, a lot of ways to accept the sort of harsh world around us and still find light in it. I think that’s in a lot of the films that we’re playing.”

He continued, “And as always, I think that we have a really great sense of discovery, particularly this year, a lot of first-time filmmakers, a lot of filmmakers that are making movies that have that sort of intangible SXSW quality where you just know it when you see it. It’s this sort of risk-taking in a lot of ways that I think really resonates with us.”

Godfrey emphasized that the festival’s programming process focuses on finding unique films that demonstrate clear authorship above all else, with the goal of showing audiences something they haven’t seen before.

“In our submissions pool, things are just getting more and more samey with all the streamers and people trying to make something that will get bought and that kind of thing,” she said, adding that she aims to program films that do the opposite of that. “But if it’s something that really has a distinct point of view I’ve never seen before, or if it’s something that we’ve seen a million times, but that’s done in a unique way that feels like it has a director’s kind of vision. And then I always like the really weird and crazy and things… I think it’s more about the vibe than the films.”

SXSW returns to Austin from March 12 – 18. Check out the final 13 films of the 2026 Film and TV Festival lineup, an IndieWire exclusive, below. Film descriptions are provided by the festival.

NARRATIVE SPOTLIGHT

Unforgettable features receiving their World, North American, or U.S. premieres.

Dead Deer High

Director: Jo Rochelle, Producer/Screenwriter: Joshua Roark

Created by teachers, Dead Deer High follows a team of high school slam poets and their English teacher as they prepare for a national poetry competition one year after a tragic shooting changed their lives forever. Cast: Zack Kozlow, Holden Goyette, Kyla Brown, Christian Cruz, Ayanna Berkshire, Joseph Bertót, Madelyn Grace, Aaron Cammack, Julia Prud’homme, Audrey Kennedy Kozlow (World Premiere)

The Fox (Australia)

Director/Screenwriter: Dario Russo, Producers: Kristina Ceyton, Samantha Jennings, Carly Maple  

In this darkly comic folktale, an affable foxhunter encounters a talking Fox who offers him an opportunity to transform his fiancée into the perfect woman. Cast: Jai Courtney, Emily Browning, Damon Herriman, Claudia Doumit, Sam Neill, Miranda Otto, Olivia Colman (International Premiere)

Love Language

Director/Screenwriter: Joey Power, Producers: Bert Hamelinck, Allison Hironaka, Ari Lubet, Colin Jost, Jeff Grosvenor  

An aspiring author with a side hustle writing wedding vows for other people reconnects with her long-time crush, only to learn he is the fiancé of one of her new clients. Cast: Chloë Grace Moretz, Anthony Ramos, Manny Jacinto, Isabel May, Lukas Gage, Billie Lourd, Chloe Fineman, Zach Zucker, Morgan Jay, Bobbi Althoff, Marchánt Davis, Dan Perrault (World Premiere)

A Safe Distance (Canada)

Director: Gloria Mercer, Producers:  Nic Altobelli, Aidan West, Gloria Mercer, Screenwriter: Aidan West 

After a woman is abandoned by her boyfriend in the forest, she befriends a pair of notorious fugitives on the run from the law, and becomes dangerously entangled in their relationship. Cast: Bethany Brown, Tandia Mercedes, Cody Kearsley, Chris McNally (World Premiere)

DOCUMENTARY SPOTLIGHT

Incredible features receiving their World, North American, or U.S. premieres.

Baby/Girls

Directors: Alyse Walsh, Jackie Jesko, Producers: Melissa Leardi, Alex Waterfield

Set in post-Dobbs Arkansas, baby/girls follows three teens living in a Christian maternity home as they navigate pregnancy and early motherhood. The film offers an intimate, unfiltered look at girlhood and motherhood colliding in the American South. Featuring Grace Dulaney, Ariana Green, Olivia Malott, Audra Dulaney, Brian Rivera, Paula Woods (World Premiere) 

FESTIVAL FAVORITE

Acclaimed standouts from festivals around the world.

Big Girls Don’t Cry (New Zealand) 

Director/Screenwriter: Paloma Schneideman, Producers: Vicky Pope, Thomas Coppell 

Rural New Zealand, 2006. Over one transformative summer, 14 year-old Sid Bookman discovers desire, identity and the internet, as she imitates the people she longs to be loved by. Cast: Ani Palmer, Rain Spencer, Noah Taylor (Texas Premiere)

Chasing Summer

Director: Josephine Decker, Producers: Rob Guillermo, Ray Maiello, Nihaar Sinha, Houston King, Sam Pressman, Paula Paizes, Screenwriter: Iliza Shlesinger
After losing both her job and boyfriend, Jamie retreats to her small Texas hometown where friends and flings from a fateful high school summer turn her life upside down. Cast: Iliza Shlesinger, Garrett Wareing, Lola Tung, Tom Welling, Megan Mullally, Aimee Garcia, Cassidy Freeman, Jeff Perry (Texas Premiere)

Cookie Queens

Director: Alysa Nahmias, Producers: Gregory Kershaw, Michael Dweck, Alysa Nahmias, Jennifer Sims

It’s Girl Scout Cookie season, and four tenacious girls strive to be a top-selling “Cookie Queen,” navigating an $800 million business in which innocence and ambition collide. Featuring Nikki B., Olive G., Shannon Elizabeth S., Ara E. (Texas Premiere)

Joybubbles

Director: Rachael Morrison, Producer: Sarah Winshall

In the 1950s, a boy discovers he can control the global telephone system by whistling a magic tone. Born blind and hungry for connection, his obsession with the telephone sparks a subculture that shapes the future of hacking in the 20th century. Featuring JoyBubbles, Steve Wozniak, Toni Engressia (Texas Premiere) 

VISIONS

Audacious, risk-taking artists who demonstrate innovation and creativity.

Sinner Supper Club

Directors: Daisy Rosato, Nora Kaye, Producers: Sophie Sagan-Gutherz, Jackie Monoson, Screenwriters: Nora Kaye, Daisy Rosato

An NYC friend group reunites to throw an “eviction funeral” for Genevieve; as the night progresses and a heat wave traps them together, their long-ignored problems boil over. An improvised gay mumblecore ghost story shot on an iPhone in six days. Cast: Ashil Lee, Elise Kibler, Genevieve Simon, Jayae Riley Jr., Nora Kaye, Sophie Sagan-Gutherz, Daisy Rosato  (World Premiere)

24 BEATS PER SECOND

Vibrant films showcasing the sounds, culture, and influence of music and musicians.

Stages

Director: Ryan Booth, Producers: Val Hill, Morgan Stevenson Cooper, Russell Wayne Groves, JOLENE, Screenwriter: Bradley Jackson, Dan Steele

A year after the tumultuous break-up of his band, Ben Garza sets off on his first ever solo tour. Life on the road is different now, as Ben learns alongside his ride-or-die tour manager, Rita and his spotlight-stealing opening act, Jessie. Cast: David Ramirez, Leslie Grace, JOLENE, Jake McMullen, Rafael Casal, Abner Ramirez, Amanda Sudano Ramirez, Jerry Ferrara, Marc Menchaca, David Strathairn (World Premiere)

The Man with the Big Hat

Director/Screenwriter: Austin Sayre, Producers: Stephanie Moore, David Broad, Aaron Colussi, Jay Newberg, Diana Zuniga, Cherry Brown, Austin Sayre

Experience the unraveling of fame’s illusions as 1970’s Texas singer-songwriter Steven Fromholz embarks on a soul-stirring journey of self-discovery and the true meaning of success. Featuring Lyle Lovett, Ray Benson, Terry Lickona, Butch Hancock, Bobby Bridger, Mike Williams, Dan McCrimmon, Janey Lake, Darcie Jane Fromholz, Felicity Rose Fromholz (World Premiere)

TV PROGRAM

TV SPOTLIGHT

Exciting new series from around the world

Woodstockers

Showrunner: Corbin Bernsen, Director: Oliver Bernsen, Producer: Zoe Rosenberg, Screenwriters: Corbin Bernsen, Joshua Michael Stern, Henry Bernsen

When his marriage collapses and his best friend dies, an aging hippie who went to Woodstock in 1969 and never left must finally reckon with a life shaped by peace, love, and too much weed. Cast: Corbin Bernsen, Stephen Tobolowsky, Barbara Hershey, Susan Ruttan, Maggie Lawson, Willie C. Carpenter, John Glover, Lee Wilkof, Lea Delaria, Jilian Medford