SXSW 2026 Locks Final Lineup, Expands to 120 Features and 90 World Premieres
- Horror Movies Uncut
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South by Southwest has officially locked in the final additions to its 2026 Film & TV Festival lineup, and if you thought this year’s slate couldn’t get any bigger, think again. The March 12–18 edition of South by Southwest now stands at a staggering 120 features, including 90 world premieres, alongside 52 short films, 20 music videos and a robust TV and XR program that continues to blur the line between cinema and immersive storytelling.
With 13 additional projects rounding out the slate, SXSW’s 33rd edition looks like one of its most stacked yet. According to Claudette Godfrey, VP of Film & TV, the final selections “capture the creative fearlessness and storytelling ambition that filmmakers bring to SXSW year after year.” If history tells us anything, that ambition usually translates into breakout titles, buzzy premieres and at least a handful of films that will dominate the cultural conversation for months.
In the Narrative Spotlight section, the world premiere of “Dead Deer High” arrives with timely weight. Directed by Jo Rochelle, the film follows a team of slam poets preparing for nationals one year after a tragic school shooting. On the international front, Australia’s “The Fox” brings dark comedy and folklore energy with a cast that includes Jai Courtney, Emily Browning and Sam Neill, while “Love Language,” starring Chloë Grace Moretz and Anthony Ramos, offers romantic entanglements with sharp comedic bite.
The Documentary Spotlight continues SXSW’s tradition of emotionally charged nonfiction storytelling. “Baby/Girls,” set in post-Dobbs Arkansas, delivers an intimate portrait of teen motherhood inside a Christian maternity home, while “Joybubbles” dives into the origin story of an unlikely 20th-century hacking pioneer who shaped early telecommunications culture.
Festival Favorite titles like New Zealand’s “Big Girls Don’t Cry” and Josephine Decker’s “Chasing Summer” expand the slate with coming-of-age drama and small-town chaos, respectively, while “Cookie Queens” takes viewers inside the surprisingly high-stakes world of Girl Scout cookie sales.
In Visions, SXSW’s playground for bold experimentation, “Sinner Supper Club” arrives as an improvised gay mumblecore ghost story shot on an iPhone in six days. It’s the kind of scrappy, risk-taking energy that SXSW has built its identity on for decades.
Music-driven storytelling continues in 24 Beats Per Second, with “Stages” chronicling a solo tour after band heartbreak, and “The Man with the Big Hat” unpacking the life and myth of Texas singer-songwriter Steven Fromholz. Meanwhile, the TV Spotlight section introduces “Woodstockers,” a new series following an aging hippie confronting the consequences of a life shaped by peace, love and excess.
Beyond features and episodic programming, the XR Experience program remains one of the most forward-thinking components of the festival, highlighting immersive projects that push storytelling beyond the traditional screen. Awards for narrative, documentary, shorts and XR will be announced March 18, alongside the festival’s Special Awards, with Academy Award-qualifying status once again in play for select short film winners.
As always, SXSW promises more than just screenings. Conference sessions, music showcases, comedy events and cross-industry meetups will fill Austin with creatives and industry leaders from around the globe. For filmmakers chasing discovery and audiences hungry for something new, this year’s lineup feels engineered for collision.
We’ll be on the ground in Austin from March 12–18 covering premieres, interviews, and all the genre standouts that demand your attention. If this final wave is any indication, SXSW 2026 isn’t just closing out its lineup — it’s setting the tone for the year ahead.