SXSW 2024 begins today! From March 7 to 17, film fans from around the world will join together for the SXSW Film & TV Festival, where over 100 feature films, short films, and music videos will play in a variety of venues across the downtown area of Austin, Texas. Geek Vibes Nation is both on the ground and on the web covering the festival, so you can expect reviews, interviews, and more from our team of trusted nerds. As festivities are kicking off, here are the team’s personal recommendations for the best of the fest that they have seen so far. From personal documentaries to period pieces, you can’t go wrong with any of these exciting films.
I Wish You All The Best
I Wish You All The Best is a beautiful square one for non-binary communities. Based on the popular novel by Mason Deaver, the film follows Ben, a teenager who is kicked out of the house after coming out to his parents as gay. He is taken in by his older sister, Hannah, where he reveals that his gender identity is actually far more complex. Ben is enrolled in a new school, gets his first job, and even falls in love – common coming-of-age tropes – while simultaneously evolving as a they/them and learning to fully embrace it. Evoking the heartfelt queer joy of Love, Simon but without contrivances that cater to straight audiences, Dorfman effortlessly weaves through the many unique facets of non-binary anxiety while still grounding the story in a moving found-family narrative. At the center is Corey Fogelmanis, whose portrayal of Ben starts quiet and slowly unfurls into the film’s north star. To say “this film will save lives” risks hyperbole, but the film is such a heartfelt achievement that it just might be true. – Larry Fried
Girls Will Be Girls
Shuchi Talati made her feature debut at Sundance earlier this year with the brilliant Girls Will Be Girls, which is coming to SXSW in the Festival Favorites section. Set in the late 1990s in India, the film captures the complexity of young female sexuality with all the sensitivity and honesty missing for so many years from this region in particular. The dual coming-of-age feature uses the framework of a multifaceted mother-daughter relationship to explore how the “virtuous” Indian culture fares against what is seen as the creeping moral decay of the West. Preeti Panigrahi and Kani Kusruti expertly bring to life our main characters with some of the best performances you are likely to see all year. Talati takes her characters and the audience through a range of complex, conflicting emotions that allow them to be fully developed and completely mesmerizing. Girls Will Be Girls acts as a welcome counterbalance to the glut of male-dominated coming-of-age films, but the film should not be reduced to that. It is a vital look at the rich inner lives of women and what is lost when it is suppressed. – Dillon Gonzales
Resynator
Alison Tavel’s debut feature documentary, Resynator, is a testament to her passion and dedication. Born out of a deeply personal narrative, the film embarks on a poignant journey, weaving together the threads of an untold father-daughter story. With his sudden demise, Alison’s connection to her father, Don Tavel, leaves her without a proper understanding of him. Resynator unfolds as a documentary, evolving from a curious resurrection project into a relentless globe-trotting quest. The film draws support from estranged family, lost friends, fellow inventors, and acclaimed musicians like Grace Potter, Peter Gabriel, Fred Armisen, Gotye, Jon Anderson, and more. As Alison delves into the project, Resynator becomes a captivating exploration of unsettling secrets and the complex truths of self-discovery.
Resynator is more than a documentary; it’s a deeply personal odyssey of discovery. The delicate moments captured on screen peel back intimate layers that have remained veiled in dust for decades, now laid bare for audiences to witness and share that’s profound. – M. N. Miller
The Black Sea
The Black Sea doesn’t ask for much. It’s a relatively unassuming adventure, centered on a New York opportunity chaser who gets stuck in a city surrounding the titular region. The film, largely improvised, is shot in a purposefully choppy docu-style manner that both grounds the film and floats the surprisingly acute humor when it’s offered. It moseys along and, while surely taking itself seriously, presents a day-by-day look at a scenario so specific that what results is just the same. The Black Sea is a breath of fresh air, the kind of film that’ll bring a smile to your face for 90 minutes and continue to amble aimlessly well after you’re gone. It’s a kind of quintessential “take it or leave it” encounter. It isn’t breaking new ground in the genre or anything, but you can hop on and hop off, no questions asked. What do you have to lose? This weightlessness, while ensuring a ceiling for the project on the whole, is more refreshing than it is restricting; just kick back and let this lowkey festival highlight roll over you. – Lane Mills
The Queen of My Dreams
The Queen of My Dreams, previously screened at the Toronto International Film Festival and the BFI London Film Festival, is set to charm audiences in Austin with its funny, inventive, and moving story of self-discovery and familial connection amidst transformative grief. The film follows Azra, a queer Pakistani-Canadian college student who travels to Pakistan after her father’s death. Azra struggles to both adjust to unfamiliar religious customs around her father’s funeral and connect with her estranged mother, Miriam. Lost in grief and disconnection, Azra finds herself exploring multiple facets of the past, from her youth in Nova Scotia to how she imagines Miriam’s young womanhood in Karachi in the late 60s. Azra’s journey not only helps her better understand Miriam but also the triumphs and challenges of being a Pakistani Muslim in both familiar and foreign environments. Director Fawzia Mirza weaves a charming tale filled with humor and heart that isn’t afraid to ask tough questions about identity, expression, and generational trauma. Amrit Kaur is delightful in the dual roles of Azra and Young Miriam, finding key points of differentiation between them while conveying an inner glow that unites them. – Brandon Lewis
The Antisocial Network
Odds are many attendees of SXSW will be familiar with 4Chan, one of the internet’s primordial message boards that quickly evolved into a hellscape of offensive slurs and copious swastikas. It has long been at the center of our culture’s collective brain rot, but The Antisocial Network is the first film to fully reckon with the lasting effects. Directed by Arthur Jones and Giorgio Angelini, the director-producer duo that tackled a microcosm of the topic in Sundance hit Feels Good Man, this Netflix documentary provides a comprehensive account of the site’s origins, its “greatest” hits of bizarre encounters, and how seemingly innocuous online trolls have actually fed nationwide campaigns of misinformation that go all the way to the January 6th insurrection. At times funny, at times harrowing, the film is both an ode to the early internet communities that made us the nerds we are today while also an evaluation of the disconnect we create when our online bubble inflates beyond our capacity. The film features a few of the site’s original users, whose testimonials range from sobered with hindsight to still uncomfortably still stuck in the illusion. – Larry Fried
The 2024 SXSW Film & Television Festival runs from March 7-17.