SXSW announced its 2022 line-up today, a total of more than 100 projects. Following is the list of nonfiction features and episodics, broken down by section:
Documentary Feature Competition:
BAD AXE
Director: David Siev
Producers: Jude Harris, Katarina Vasquez, David Siev
A real-time portrait of 2020 unfolds as an Asian-American family in Trump’s rural America fights to keep their restaurant and American dream alive in the face of a pandemic, Neo-Nazis, and generational scars from the Cambodian Killing Fields.
CLEAN
Director: Lachlan McLeod
Producers: David Elliot-Jones, Charlotte Wheaton
A fly-on-the-wall insight into the world of trauma cleaning through the journey of larger-than-life business owner Sandra Pankhurst and the workers at Melbourne’s Specialised Trauma Cleaning Services.
IT’S QUIETER IN THE TWILIGHT
Director: Billy Miossi
Producers: Alissa Shapiro, Matt Reynolds
In an unremarkable office space, a select group of aging engineers find themselves at the leading edge of discovery. Fighting outdated technology and time, Voyager’s flight-team pursues humankind’s greatest exploration.
MAMA BEARS
Director: Daresha Kyi
Producers: Laura Tatham, Daresha Kyi
An intimate exploration of two “mama bears”—conservative, Christian mothers who have become fierce advocates for LGBTQ+ people—and a young lesbian whose struggle for self-acceptance exemplifies why the mama bears are so important.
MASTER OF LIGHT
Director: Rosa Ruth Boesten
Producers: Roger Ross Williams, Anousha Nzume, Ilja Roomans
George Anthony Morton, a classical painter who spent ten years in federal prison, travels to his hometown to paint his family members, forcing him to face his past in a quest to rewrite the script of his life.
THE PEZ OUTLAW
Directors/Producers: Amy Bandlien Storkel, Bryan StorkelSteve Glew spent the 1990s smuggling rare pez dispensers into the USA from Eastern Europe, making millions of dollars – until his arch-nemesis, The Pezident, decided to destroy him.
SPAZ
Director/Producer: Scott Leberecht
Steve ‘”Spaz” Williams is a pioneer in computer animation. His digital dinosaurs of Jurassic Park transformed Hollywood in 1993, but an appetite for anarchy and reckless disregard for authority may have cost him the recognition he deserved.
THE THIEF COLLECTOR
Director: Allison Otto
Producers: Caryn Capotosto, Jill Latiano Howerton, Joshua Kunau
Unraveling the mystery of the infamous 1985 heist of Willem de Kooning’s seminal painting, “Woman-Ochre,” one of the most audacious and puzzling crimes of a generation.
Documentary Spotlight:
CROWS ARE WHITE
Director: Ahsen Nadeem
Producers: Riel Roch-Decter, Sebastian Pardo, Ahsen Nadeem, Ben Renzon, Ryan Ahrens, Jill Ahrens
After decades of living a secret life, a filmmaker travels to a strict Japanese monastery in search of guidance but the only monk who will help him prefers ice cream and heavy metal over meditation.
DIAMOND HANDS: THE LEGEND OF WALLSTREETBETS
Directors: Drea Cooper, Zackary Canepari
Producers: Gary Kout, Myles Estey, Drea Cooper, Zackary Canepari, Molly O’Brien
When the smart money was betting GameStop would go under, an army of irreverent traders tried to take Wall Street down instead. Diamond Hands is their story. This is the legend of the subreddit, r/WallStreetBets.
FACING NOLAN
Director: Bradley Jackson
Producer: Russell Wayne Groves
In the world of Major League Baseball no one has created a mythology like Nolan Ryan. Told from the point of view of the hitters who faced him and the teammates who revered him, Facing Nolan is the definitive documentary of a Texas legend.
GABBY GIFFORDS WON’T BACK DOWN
Directors: Julie Cohen, Betsy West
Producers: Lisa Erspamer, Sam Jinishian
A gunman ended her skyrocketing political career, but didn’t stop Congresswoman Gabby Giffords.
KIDS IN THE HALL: COMEDY PUNKS
Director: Reginald Harkema
Producers: Nick McKinney, Kim Creelman
Through never before-seen archive material, interviews with celebrities, industry insiders, rabid fans and the Kids In The Hall themselves – this documentary tells the wild story of this cult-famous comedy troupe from the 1980s to the present day.
MICKEY: THE STORY OF A MOUSE
Director: Jeff Malmberg
Producers: Morgan Neville, Meghan Walsh, Chris Shellen
An exploration of Mickey Mouse’s significance, getting to the core of what Mickey’s cultural impact says about each of us and about our world.
MORE THAN ROBOTS
Director: Gillian Jacobs
Producers: Jason Sterman, David Gelb, Brian McGinn
Four teams of teenagers from around the world prepare for the 2020 First Robotics Competition, but in a year like no other, the kids learn that there is more to the competition than just robots.
NOTHING LASTS FOREVER
Director: Jason Kohn
Producers: Amanda Branson Gill, Jared Goldman
When filmmaker Jason Kohn infiltrates the secretive diamond industry, he uncovers a massive criminal conspiracy that threatens not only the value of every diamond ever mined but also the universal symbol of love – the engagement ring.
SHOUTING DOWN MIDNIGHT
Director: Gretchen Stoeltje
Producers: Kristi Frazier, Katy Drake Better
Both cautionary tale and rallying cry, Shouting Down Midnight recounts how the Wendy Davis filibuster of 2013 galvanized a new generation of activists and reveals what is at stake for us all in the struggle for reproductive freedom.
SKATE DREAMS
Director: Jessica Edwards
Producers: Erin Owens, Jessica Edwards
The rise of women’s skateboarding, profiling a group of women whose pursuit of self-expression, equality, and freedom have created an international movement of independence and empowerment.
SPLIT AT THE ROOT
Director: Linda Goldstein Knowlton
Producers: Maria Grasso, Linda Goldstein Knowlton, Miranda Bailey
When a Guatemalan mother seeking asylum was separated from her kids under Zero Tolerance Policy, a group of women sprang into action.
STILL WORKING 9 TO 5
Directors/Producers: Camille Hardman, Gary Lane
An exploration of why workplace inequality is no laughing matter in the 40 years since the seminal comedy, 9 TO 5, was released in 1980.
TONY HAWK: UNTIL THE WHEELS FALL OFF
Director/Producer: Sam Jones
An intimate, revealing and visceral deep dive into the life of skateboarder Tony Hawk.
UNDER THE INFLUENCE
Director: Casey Neistat
Producers: Christine Vachon, Casey Neistat, Mason Plotts
The rise and fall of the biggest YouTuber in the world whose feel-good videos masked the dark and reckless new ethos of online celebrity culture.
WE ARE NOT GHOULS
Director: Chris James Thompson
Producers: Jessica Farrell, Jack Turner, Andrew Swant
US Air Force JAG Attorney Yvonne Bradley was assigned to defend a man held at Guantanamo Bay. Believing Guantanamo held ‘the worst of the worst’, her world was turned upside down once she arrived in Cuba and began to untangle an unimaginable case.
WE FEED PEOPLE
Director: Ron Howard
Producers: Brian Grazer, Ron Howard, Sara Bernstein, Justin Wilkes, Meredith Kaulfers, Walt Matteson
We Feed People spotlights renowned chef José Andrés and his nonprofit World Central Kitchen’s evolution over a 12 year period.
WHAT WE LEAVE BEHIND
Director: Iliana Sosa
Producers: Emma D. Miller, Iliana Sosa, Isidore Bethel (co-producer)
A gentle love letter to farmworkers, mutual caregivers, and transnational families through the filmmaker’s portrait of her grandfather.
A WOMAN ON THE OUTSIDE
Directors: Lisa Riordan Seville, Zara Katz
Producers: Kiara C. Jones, Zara Katz, Lisa Riordan Seville
Kristal is a young, ambitious Philadelphian driven to keep families connected to their incarcerated loved ones. But when her father and brother return from prison, she confronts the ultimate question: can she reunite her own family?
YOUR FRIEND, MEMPHIS
Director: David Zucker
Producers: Luke Terrell, Benjamin Edelman
Memphis DiAngelis, a young man with cerebral palsy, is caught between the world’s expectations and his own ambitions. His story is an odyssey of dogged determination: a search for work, love, and freedom – no matter what.
Visions:
SELF-PORTRAIT
Director/Producer: Joële Walinga
A portrait of humanity as captured by its surveillance cameras.
SELL/BUY/DATE
Director: Sarah Jones
Producers: Sarah Jones, David Goldblum, Julie Parker Benello
A heartfelt, witty hybrid following Tony-winning performer/comedian Sarah Jones and her multicultural characters on a journey exploring her personal relationship to the sex industry through a social justice lens.
24 Beats Per Second:
ANONYMOUS CLUB
Director/Screenwriter: Danny Cohen
Producers: Philippa Campey, Samantha Dinning
The antithesis of a rock biography, Anonymous Club paints a raw and intimate picture of enigmatic singer-songwriter, Courtney Barnett -an anti-influencer who is a powerful voice for our times, a recluse acclaimed by audiences the world over.
CESÁRIA ÉVORA
Director: Ana Sofia Fonseca
Producers: Ana Sofia Fonseca, Irina Calado
World renowned performer Cesária Évora’s voice took her from poverty to stardom.
CYPHER
Director: Chris Moukarbel
Producers: John Hodges, Tony Hernandez, Lilly Burns, Chris Moukarbel, Tierra Whack, Anthony Seyler, Sanjay Sharma, Roya Rastegar
A hybrid psychological thriller about and starring the artist Tierra Whack that delves into fame and the conspiracy theories surrounding the music industry.
DIO: DREAMERS NEVER DIE
Directors: Don Argott, Demian Fenton
Producers: Don Argott, Sheena M. Joyce
The definitive career spanning documentary on heavy metal legend, Ronnie James Dio.
GETTING IT BACK: THE STORY OF CYMANDE
Director: Tim Mackenzie-Smith
Producers: Tim Mackenzie-Smith, Matt Wyllie
They are the unsung heroes whose message of peace, love and funk sailed beyond Britain’s shores and helped shape music for five decades. Long after they stopped playing, the music played on, so they returned to play some more.
I GET KNOCKED DOWN
Directors: Sophie Robinson, Dunstan Bruce
Producer: Sophie Robinson
The story of Chumbawamba’s ex-front man Dunstan Bruce. A burnt-out, middle-aged, ex pop star in search of his long lost anarchist mojo.
IN THE COURT OF THE CRIMSON KING
Director: Toby Amies
Producers: Toby Amies, Nicholas Jones
What began as a traditional documentary about the legendary band King Crimson as it turned 50, mutated into an exploration of time, death, family, and the transcendent power of music to change lives; but with jokes.
JAZZ FEST: A NEW ORLEANS STORY
Directors: Frank Marshall, Ryan Suffern
Producers: Frank Marshall, Sean Stuart, Ryan Suffern
This soulful and heartfelt celebration of 50 years of the funky and fabulous New Orleans Jazz & Heritage Festival invites you to bliss out on New Orleans’ unique culture.
LOOK AT ME!
Director: Sabaah Folayan
Producer: Darcy McKinnon, Chloe Campion
An exploration of how Jahseh Onfroy tapped raw talent, a gift for connecting with disaffected youth, and a mastery of social media to fashion himself into SoundCloud rapper XXXTentacion – one of the most streamed artists on the planet.
THE MOJO MANIFESTO: THE LIFE AND TIMES OF MOJO NIXON
Director: Matt Eskey
Producers: Sal Owen, Eva Radke
On a bicycle trip across the country, a young Neill Kirby McMillan Jr. experiences The Mojo Revelation. After teaming up with the enigmatic Skid Roper, he unexpectedly finds mainstream success but faces a decision that could jeopardize his career.
OMOIYARI: A SONG FILM BY KISHI BASHI
Directors: Kaoru Ishibashi, Justin Taylor Smith
Producer: JJ Gerber
Violinist and songwriter Kishi Bashi travels on a musical journey to understand WWII era Japanese Incarceration, assimilation, and what it means to be a minority in America today.
REALLY GOOD REJECTS
Director: Alice Gu
Producers: Alice Gu, Jose Nuñez, Robert Fyvolent, David Dinerstein
The muted tones of rubber bridge guitars have delighted listeners the world over- from Wilco to Taylor Swift’s Folklore. Modern-day luthier Reuben Cox demystifies his process of creating some of rock’s most sought-after guitars.
THE RETURN OF TANYA TUCKER
Director: Kathlyn Horan
Producers: Kathlyn Horan, Julie Goldman, Christopher Clements, Carolyn Hepburn
Rising star Brandi Carlile writes an album for her hero, trailblazing country music legend Tanya Tucker, spurring the greatest comeback in country music history.
SANTOS–SKIN TO SKIN
Director: Kathryn Golden
Producers: Ashley James, Kathryn Golden
A film portrait of community activist and seven-time Grammy nominee John Santos, a “keeper of the Afro-Caribbean flame.” Rich in musical performances, Santos links the rhythms of his ancestors to contemporary struggles of identity and social justice.
SHERYL
Director: Amy Scott
Producers: Van Toffler, Scooter Weintraub, Brian Morrow, Jonathan Lynch
An intimate story of song and sacrifice—musically gifted superstar Sheryl Crow navigates an iconic yet arduous musical career battling sexism, ageism, depression, cancer, and the price of fame, before harnessing the power of her gift.
THIS MUCH I KNOW TO BE TRUE
Director: Andrew Dominik
Producers: Amy James, Isaac Hoff
Shot over five days at Battersea Arts Centre and on location in London and Brighton, This Much I Know To Be True captures Nick Cave and Warren Ellis’ exceptional creative relationship as they bring to life songs from albums Ghosteen and Carnage.
Festival Favorites:
2ND CHANCE
Director: Ramin Bahrani
Producers: Daniel Turcan, Johnny Galvin, Charles Dorfman, Ramin Bahrani, Jacob Grodnick
An exploration of the rise and fall of Richard Davis, the charming and brash inventor of the modern-day bulletproof vest who shot himself 192 times to prove his product worked.
32 SOUNDS
Director: Sam Green
Producer: Josh Penn, ArKtype/Thomas O Kriegsmann
An immersive documentary and profound sensory experience from filmmaker Sam Green featuring music by JD Samson. The film is a meditation on the power of sound to bend time, cross borders, and profoundly shape our perception of the world around us.
AFTERSHOCK
Directors/Producers: Paula Eiselt, Tonya Lewis Lee
Following the preventable deaths of their partners due to childbirth complications, two bereaved fathers galvanize activists, birth-workers and physicians to reckon with one of the most pressing crises of our time – the US maternal health crisis.
BOYCOTT
Director: Julia Bacha
Producers: Suhad Babaa, Daniel J Chalfen, Julia Bacha
When a news publisher in Arkansas, an attorney in Arizona and a speech therapist in Texas are told to choose between their jobs and their political beliefs, they launch legal battles that expose an attack on freedom of speech in 33 states in America.
DESCENDANT
Director: Margaret Brown
Producers: Kyle Martin, Essie Chambers, Margaret Brown
Descendant follows the search for and discovery of The Clotilda, the last known ship to illegally carry enslaved Africans in the United States. Guided by the voices of their ancestors, descendants of The Clotilda’s survivors reclaim their past and examine what justice looks like today.
FIRE OF LOVE
Director: Sara Dosa
Producers: Ina Fichman, Shane Boris, Sara Dosa
Intrepid scientists and lovers Katia and Maurice Krafft died in a volcanic explosion doing the very thing that brought them together: unraveling the mysteries of volcanoes by capturing the most explosive imagery ever recorded. A doomed love triangle between Katia, Maurice and volcanoes, told through their archival footage.
THE ART OF MAKING IT
Director: Kelcey Edwards
Producer: Debi Wisch
The film follows a diverse group of young artists on the brink of unimaginable success or failure as they challenge systems, break barriers and risk it all with the goal of making it in an industry where all the rules are currently being rewritten.
TIK TOK, BOOM.
Director: Shalini Kantayya
Producers: Ross M Dinerstein, Danni Mynard, Shalini Kantayya
With TikTok now crowned the world’s most downloaded app, these are the personal stories of a cultural phenomenon, told through an ensemble cast of Gen-Z natives, journalists and experts alike.
Episodic Premieres:
BRENÉ BROWN: ATLAS OF THE HEART
Showrunner: Meaghan Rady
Director: Paul Dugdale
Producer: Alex Hiegel
Researcher and #1 New York Times bestselling author Dr Brené Brown takes us on an interactive journey through the emotions and experiences that define what it means to be human and provides a new framework for cultivating meaningful connection.
THE LAST MOVIE STARS
Director: Ethan Hawke
Producers: Emily Wachtel, Lisa Long Adler, Adam Gibbs, Ryan Hawke
An epic 6-chapter film chronicling Paul Newman and Joanne Woodward’s iconic careers and decades-long partnership.
UNTITLED MAGIC JOHNSON DOCUMENTARY SERIES
Director: Rick Famuyiwa
Producers: Jeremy Allen, Jordan Fudge, Bryn Mooser, John Terzian, Christina Arquette, Christina Francis, Rafael Marmor, Brian Toll
An illuminating, never-before-seen look into the life of Earvin “Magic” Johnson, one of the world’s most iconic sports figures, that paints a holistic portrait of the man who left his mark on history and continues to impact our culture today.
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