18 Films and TV Shows to Know at SXSW 2024

Dandelion

KiKi Layne stars as Dandelion in director, writer, and co-producer Nicole Riegel’s new movies about a struggling Cincinnati singer-songwriter. Fittingly, two of Cincinnati’s finest composers, Aaron and Bryce Dessner of the National, scored the film. –Matthew Strauss

Diane Warren: Relentless

Director Bess Kargman explores renowned composer Diane Warren in her new Relentless documentary. Appearing in the film are Warren, Clive Davis, Common, Gloria Estefan, Jerry Bruckheimer, Jennifer Hudson, Cher, Randy Jackson, and Quincy Jones. –Matthew Strauss

Doppelgängers³

Doppelgängers³ gets its world premiere at SXSW. The film, directed by Nelly Ben Hayoun-Stépanian, is billed as a “visual, sonic experience,” and it features music by Pussy Riot, Colin Self, and others. –Matthew Strauss

Freaknik: The Wildest Party Never Told

Freaknik: The Wildest Story Never Told tells the tale of the titular 1980s and ’90s Atlanta spring break festival for students of historically Black colleges and universities. Luther “Uncle Luke” Campbell and Jermaine Dupri are among the film’s executive producers, and Killer Mike, Lil Jon, and 21 Savage speak in the documentary. Following its SXSW premiere, Freaknik hits Hulu on March 21. –Matthew Strauss

I Saw the TV Glow

I Saw the TV Glow, the second feature from director Jane Schoenbrun, follows Owen (Justice Smith), a high schooler who becomes obsessed with a late-night TV show called The Pink Opaque that creeps into his waking life and alters his sense of reality. The film stars a couple of musicians, including Lindsey Jordan of Snail Mail and Phoebe Bridgers, plus Fred Durst (yes, that one) in a key role. I Saw the TV Glow features an original score by Alex G, and its soundtrack will also be one to watch, with artists like Caroline Polachek, Maria BC, L’Rain, and Jay Som appearing on the tracklist. You can check out Yeule’s contribution, a cover of Broken Social Scene’s “Anthems for a Seventeen Year Old Girl,” in the movie’s first trailer. –Eric Torres

Kneecap

Kneecap documents the real-life rise, in post-Troubles Belfast, of the titular Irish rap trio, who became emblems of hedonism and disaffection during their ascent in the late 2010s. Liam Óg Ó hAnnaidh, Naoise Ó Cairealláin, and JJ Ó Dochartaigh play themselves in a cast that also includes Michael Fassbender and musical-theater actor Josie Walker. –Jazz Monroe

Mogwai: If the Stars Had a Sound

This career-spanning documentary on the post-rock innovators, which premieres at SXSW, combines archival film—dating back to the band’s mid-1990s beginnings—with footage from the making of the 2021 album As the Love Continues during the pandemic. Antony Crook, a longtime Mogwai collaborator, directs. –Jazz Monroe

Omar and Cedric: If This Ever Gets Weird

Omar Rodríguez-López and Cedric Bixler-Zavala met when they were teenagers looking to form a band in El Paso; the pair would go on to helm influential prog-rock groups At the Drive-In and the Mars Volta throughout the 1990s and 2000s. That lifelong friendship and collaboration is the subject of the documentary Omar and Cedric: If This Ever Gets Weird, which uses self-shot footage from over the years to depict their rise from the underground to alt-rock fame. –Eric Torres

Ryley Walker & Friends

Mumblecore favorite Mark Duplass directs the 27-minute pilot of Ryley Walker’s new TV show. The first episode of Ryley Walker & Friends finds the guitarist spending time with Bridget St. John. Walker won’t be at SXSW for the premiere because he does not “wanna do bumps of stepped on coke w booking agent who lies about being friends w schoolboy q.” –Matthew Strauss

Sing Sing

Sing Sing, directed by Greg Kwedar, is inspired by the real-life story behind the Rehabilitation Through the Arts program at the Sing Sing Correctional Facility in New York. Following a group of inmates who collaborate on stage shows, the film is led by Colman Domingo and Paul Raci, with music by the National’s Bryce Dessner. –Eric Torres

Stax: Soulsville, U.S.A.

Brooklyn-based filmmaker Jamila Wignot explores the historic Stax Records in a documentary made for HBO and featuring music from Sultana Isham. For more on the Memphis label, read Pitchfork’s review of Soul’d Out: The Complete Wattstax Collection. –Matthew Strauss

Swamp Dogg Gets His Pool Painted

In 2018, Minneapolis filmmaker Isaac Gale and musician Ryan Olson (of Gayngs, Poliça, Marijuana Deathsquads, and more) directed Swamp Dogg’s “I’ll Pretend” video. The directors reunite with the cult musician for a film about his life in suburban Los Angeles with housemates Moogstar and Guitar Shorty. The documentary is narrated by Greg Grease and features music from Swamp Dogg, Moogstar, Ryan Olson, and Alex Epton (aka XXXChange).