Animated Shorts program includes Sundance winner Don Hertzfeldt’s ‘World of Tomorrow’ and the new Pixar short ‘Lava.’
The South by Southwest (SXSW) Film Conference and Festival has unveiled its Short Film and Midnighters lineup for the 2015 edition of the event. Now in its 22nd year, SXSW runs March 13-21 in Austin, Texas.
For the shorts program, 106 films were selected -- 11 of them animated -- from a record 4,935 submissions, including Sundance winner World of Tomorrow, directed by Don Hertzfeldt, and the new Pixar short, Lava, directed by James Ford Murphy.
This year's Midnighters lineup of 11 genre films includes nine world-premiering thrillers, sci-fi, dark comedies and horror movies.
ANIMATED SHORTS
An assortment of stories told using a mix of traditional animation, computer-generated effects, stop motion and everything in between. The winner of the Grand Jury Award in this category is eligible for a 2015 Academy Award nomination for Best Animated Short.
All Your Favorite Shows!
Director: Danny Madden
Anything you wanna watch in the palm of your hands! Crazy convenient. Crazy. . . (World Premiere)
Bottom Feeders
Director: Matt Reynolds
A hand drawn animation documenting a parasitic reproductive cycle. (World Premiere)
Butter Ya'Self
Director: Julian Petschek
A banana and a hot dog bun are famous.
Half Wet (UK)
Director: Sophie Koko Gate
We are all born as wet as a banana, 75% water.
LAVA
Director: James Ford Murphy
Inspired by the isolated beauty of tropical islands and the explosive allure of ocean volcanoes, LAVA is a musical love story that takes place over millions of years.
PALM ROT
Director: Ryan Gillis
An old crop-duster discovers a mysterious crate floating in the Florida Everglades. Bringing the crate onto his airboat is just the first in a series of decisions he learns to regret.
Pig
Director: Steven Subotnick
The pig is everything. (North American Premiere)
Roadtrip (Germany)
Director: Xaver Xylophon
Julius can't sleep. To get his head empty he decides to go on a roadtrip, but somehow he can't manage to leave. A hand drawn film about failure, insomnia, a red motorbike, pretty bargirls, the desolateness of Berlin and waterproof socks.
teeth (UK/Hungary/USA)
Directors: Daniel Gray, Tom Brown
The point of no return cannot be crossed twice.
whole (Denmark)
Director: William Reynish
whole is a film about heartache. (U.S. Premiere)
World of Tomorrow
Director: Don Hertzfeldt
A little girl is taken on a mind-bending tour of her distant future.
MIDNIGHTERS
The Corpse of Anna Fritz (Spain)
Director: Hèctor Hernández Vicens, Screenwriters: Hèctor Hernándes Vicens, Isaac P. Creus
Anna Fritz, a famous and beautiful actress, has died recently. Three young men sneak into the morgue to see her naked. Fascinated by her beauty, they decide to become the last people to have sex with her. Cast: Alba Ribas, Cristian Valencia, Bernat Saumell, Albert Carbó (World Premiere)
Deathgasm (New Zealand)
Director/Screenwriter: Jason Lei Howden
New kid in town Brodie and bad-boy Zakk quickly bond over their mutual admiration of heavy metal. But when these two metal thrashing losers unwittingly summon malevolent forces, their dreams of stardom may just have to be put on hold. Cast: Milo Cawthorne, James Blake, Kimberley Crossman, Stephen Ure (World Premiere)
The Diabolical
Director: Alistair Legrand, Screenwriters: Alistair Legrand, Luke Harvis
When a single mother and her two young children are tormented by an increasingly strange and intense presence, she turns to her science teacher boyfriend to help take on the violent forces that paranormal experts are too frightening to face. Cast: Ali Larter, Arjun Gupta, Max Rose, Merrin Dungey, Chloe Perrin, Kurt Carley, Patrick Fischler, Wilmer Calderon, Tom Wright, Laura Margolis (World Premiere)
Excess Flesh
Director: Patrick Kennelly, Screenwriters: Sigrid Gilmer, Patrick Kennelly
Obsessed with her sexy roommate, Jill violently imprisons Jennifer in their apartment in a twisted attempt to bring them closer together. Cast: Bethany Orr, Mary Loveless, Wes McGee, Sheresade Poblet, Jill Jacobson, Dana L. Wilson, Kristin Minter, Robert Maffia, Jules Bruff, Juan Riedinger (World Premiere)
HANGMAN
Director: Adam Mason, Screenwriters: Adam Mason, Simon Boyes
Returning from vacation, the Miller family find their home has been broken into. After cleaning up the mess they continue with their lives, shaking off the feeling of being violated. But little do they know the nightmare has just begun. Cast: Jeremy Sisto, Kate Ashfield, Ty Simpkins, Ryan Simpkins, Amy Smart, Ross Partridge, Vince Ventresca, Bruno Acalinas, Ethan Harris-Riggs, Jamie Lee (World Premiere)
He Never Died
Director/Screenwriter: Jason Krawczyk
Jack is a man battling his eternal struggle with cannibalism. There are very few reasons to live when you can't die. Cast: Henry Rollins, Steven Ogg, Kate Greenhouse, BooBoo Stewart, Jordan Todosey (World Premiere)
The Invitation
Director: Karyn Kusama, Screenwriters: Phil Hay, Matt Manfredi
While attending a dinner party at his former home, a man thinks his ex-wife and her new husband have sinister intention for their guests. Cast: Logan Marshall-Green, Tammy Blanchard, Michiel Huisman, Emayatzy Corinealdi, Lindsay Burdge, John Carroll Lynch, Mike Doyle, Michelle Krusiec, Karl Yune, Jordi Vilasuso (World Premiere)
The Nightmare
Director: Rodney Ascher
The Nightmare is an original horror documentary from the Oscar winning producer of Undefeated, the producer of Jiro Dreams of Sushi, and the producer of The Pact and is directed by Rodney Ascher, the acclaimed director of the Room 237.
Pod
Director/Screenwriter: Mickey Keating
A family intervention goes horrifically awry within the snowy confines of an isolated lake house. Cast: Lauren Ashley Carter, Dean Cates, Brian Morvant, Larry Fessenden, John Weselcouch (World Premiere)
Turbo Kid (Canada / New Zealand)
Director/Screenwriter: RKSS Collective
In a post-apocalyptic future, The Kid, a young solitary scavenger obsessed with comic books must face his fears and become a hero when he meets a mysterious girl named APPLE.
Cast: Michael Ironside, Munro Chambers, Laurence Leboeuf, Edwin Wright, Aaron Jeffrey
We Are Still Here
Director/Screenwriter: Ted Geoghegan
In the cold, winter fields of New England, there sits a house that wakes up every 30 years and demands a sacrifice. Cast: Barbara Crampton, Andrew Sensenig, Larry Fesseden, Lisa Marie, Monte Markham (World Premiere)
The full 2015 SXSW Film Conference and Festival screening lineup can be viewed here: http://sxsw.com/film/screenings/2015-lineup.
Source: South by Southwest Film Conference and Festival
Formerly Editor-in-Chief of Animation World Network, Jennifer Wolfe has worked in the Media & Entertainment industry as a writer and PR professional since 2003.
