The South by Southwest (SXSW) Conference and Festivals announced the features, episodics and Opening Night Film for the 27th edition of the SXSW Film Festival, running March 13 – 22, 2020, in Austin, Texas. Every year, this acclaimed program draws thousands of fans, filmmakers, press, and industry leaders to immerse themselves in the most innovative, smart and entertaining new films of the year.

Bloody Disgusting has combed through the first announcement and has several genre-lite titles that we’ll be keeping an eye on. Watch this spot for the highly coveted Midnighters in the coming week.

Cargo (India)

Director/Screenwriter: Arati Kadav
Cast: Vikrant Massey, Shweta Tripathi, Nandu Madhav (North American Premiere)

“Prahastha, a lonely devil astronaut has been working in a spaceship for many years. His spaceship comes close to Earth every morning and Cargos start arriving at the arrival station. These Cargos are people who have just died on Earth.”

Teenage Badass

Director: Grant McCord, Screenwriters: Matthew D. Dho, Grant McCord
Cast: Mcabe Gregg, Evan Ultra, Madelyn Deutch, Dillon Lane, Elsie Hewitt, Karsen Liotta, Julie Ann Emery, Kevin Corrigan, James Paxton, Jim Adkins (World Premiere)

“Set in 2006, Teenage Badass follows a band when they score a shot to play on the local news. But as all of their dreams start to become a reality, the band’s egocentric singer/songwriter threatens to make them lose everything.”

Selfie (France)

Directors: Marc Fitoussi, Thomas Bidegain, Screenwriters: Giulio Callegari, Noé Debré, Hélène Lombard, Julien Sibony, Bertrand Soulier
Cast: Blanche Gardin, Elsa Zylberstein, Finnegan Oldfield, Manu Payet, Sébastien Chassagne, Max Boublil, Julia Piaton, Alma Jodorowsky (World Premiere)

“Five interconnected stories explore the extremities of human behavior in the digital age.”

Red Heaven

Directors: Lauren DeFilippo, Katherine Gorringe

“Six people live for a year on “Mars” in a NASA experiment studying what happens to humans when they are isolated from Earth.” (World Premiere)

Archive (United Kingdom)

Director/Screenwriter: Gavin Rothery
Cast: Theo James, Stacy Martin, Rhona Mitra, Peter Ferdinando, Richard Glover, Lia Williams, Toby Jones (World Premiere)

“2048: George Almore is working on a true human-equivalent AI. His latest prototype is almost ready. But his true goal must be hidden at all costs.”

Lapsis

Director/Screenwriter: Noah Hutton
Cast: Dean Imperial, Madeline Wise, Babe Howard, Dora Madison, Ivory Aquino, James McDaniel, Frank Wood, Arliss Howard, Pooya Mohseni, Portia (World Premiere)

“Delivery man Ray Tincelli is struggling to support himself and his ailing younger brother. He turns to quantum cabling, a strange new corner of the gig economy, and faces a pivotal choice to either help his fellow workers or to get rich and get out.”