Films and Shows at SXSW by Austin Residents and Veterans

Dear Mr. Brody

Features

Dear Mr. Brody Keith Maitland's followup to SXSW 2016 critical and audience smash Tower pulls apart the myths and stories surrounding the bizarre life of Michael Brody Jr., the margarine heir who tried to give away millions of dollars. (Festival Favorites: available from noon, March 16: 2,000 seat limit)

Through the Plexi-Glass: The Last Days of the San José Lawyer, hotelier, and documentarian Liz Lambert has been working on her history of the South Congress institution for nearly two decades, and now her look at a changing city through the keyhole of one motel is complete. (Visions, World Premiere: available from 4pm, March 16)

Inbetween Girl Austin filmmaker Mei Makano tells a story of teen awakening as young Angie (Emma Galbraith) finds hooking up secretly with the school hunk comes at a cost. (Visons: available from 4pm, March 18; 2,000 seat limit, only available in the U.S.)

Language Lessons Writer/director Natalie Morales stars in this Zoom observational comedy about the friendship that blossoms online between a Spanish-language teacher and her initially unwilling student (Mark Duplass). (Narrative Spotlight: available from 2pm, March 17. Filmmaker Q&A, March 18, 6:30pm)

Without Getting Killed or Caught Tamara Saviano's bio-documentary of the tragic and convoluted relationship between three legends of Texas music: Guy Clark, Susanna Clark, and Townes Van Zandt. (2020 Spotlight, World Premiere: available from 10am, March 18; 2,000 seat limit)

Woodlands Dark and Days Bewitched: A History of Folk Horror Former Alamo Drafthouse and Fantastic Fest booker Kier-La Janisse casts a spell on folk horror, the genre most commonly associated with spooky British classics like The Wicker Man but now undergoing a global renaissance. (Midnighters, World Premiere: available from 8pm, March 16. Filmmaker Q&A, March 17, 9:30pm)

Episodic

Sasquatch The Duplass brothers executive produce this chilling new true crime drama from Hulu, which asks: Did a bigfoot kill three men in rural California? (Episodic Premiere, World Premiere: available from March 16, 10am; 5,000 seat limit)

Shorts

"Malignant" Local filmmakers Morgan Bond and Nickolas Grisham, aka CamLock Films, take a road trip to West Texas as a woman tries to get her mom out of a dubious health retreat. (Texas Shorts Competition, World Premiere: available from 4pm, March 16)

SXSW Online 2021 runs March 16-20. Follow our coverage at austinchronicle.com/sxsw.