Film Festival

Director Katie Camosy discusses Gaslit, a documentary exposing oil and gas industry deception and highlighting communities fighting environmental injustice.

Directors Steve Farr and Michael T. Vollmann discuss Ueck, a documentary honoring Milwaukee legend Bob Uecker and his lasting cultural impact.

Director Sara Robin and writer Jack Lemay discuss Your Attention Please, a satirical film exploring media culture and the modern attention economy at the Milwaukee Film Festival.

Director Mekhai Lee discusses his SXSW short film Them That’s Not, a powerful story about deaf identity, family reconciliation, and grief inspired by Billie Holiday’s God Bless the Child.

Deepa Mann-Kler discusses her SXSW XR experience The Baby Factory Is Closed, an immersive virtual reality project exploring menopause, embodiment, and women’s power through innovative storytelling.

Kiana Naghshineh discusses her SXSW animated short IM AUTO TAPES UND BUTTERBROT, a personal film about grief, memory, and confronting mortality through animation.

Co-director Sidney Fussell discusses #WHILEBLACK at SXSW, a documentary examining how viral videos of police brutality impact witnesses, communities, and the social media platforms that circulate them.

At SXSW 2026, Australian writer and director Renee Marie Petropolis joins actor Emily Grant to discuss Souvenir, a nostalgic yet unsettling short set during the summer of 2008. Shot at a resort frozen in time, the film explores queer identity, blurred consent, and the power dynamics behind image control in the early days of digital cameras and social media. Together, they unpack how teenage memory, vulnerability, and control collide in a story about recognizing and reclaiming

Director Ryan Darbonne discusses Shut the F**k Up! When We Speak, his SXSW documentary exploring Black punk musicians reclaiming space in a genre rooted in rebellion.

At SXSW 2026, Dutch documentary filmmaker Kiriko Mechanicus premieres How to Catch a Butterfly, a deeply personal exploration of yellow fever, racialized desire, and the performance of identity. Sparked by the Atlanta spa shooting, the film moves beyond headlines to examine how fetishization operates as a mirror, inviting audiences to reflect on their own roles within systems of attraction, shame, and power.

Niki Harman discusses Love Lost Hotel at SXSW, an immersive XR installation where participants record anonymous messages about lost love, heartbreak, and memory through cinematic storytelling.

At SXSW 2026, writer and director Kit Steinkellner premieres Are We Still Married?, a sharp genre bending independent pilot that uses a vampire premise to explore trust, reinvention, and the emotional negotiations of marriage. Inspired by a real life bat bite and years spent in development, Steinkellner steps behind the camera to create a contained, cinematic story about what happens when love reaches an impasse.

Jennifer Holness discusses #WHILEBLACK at SXSW, a documentary exploring citizen journalism, viral Black trauma, and the emotional impact of witnessing racial violence in the digital age.

At SXSW, animation director Anna Ginsburg premieres HAG, a bold hand drawn short about feminine rage, fertility pressure, and reclaiming the word monster. Inspired by Medusa and modern dating culture, the film explores what happens when a woman refuses to shrink herself to fit society’s expectations. In this conversation, Ginsburg breaks down the personal breakdown that sparked the story and how transformation becomes liberation.

Risk, Purpose, and Legacy: Ben Proudfoot on Telling Clarence B. Jones’ Story in The Baddest Speechwriter of All Time

Filming with Care Brian Gentry on Trust and Responsibility in When A Witness Recants

Listening First Dawn Porter on Trust and Responsibility in When A Witness Recants

In The Chimney Sweeper, filmmaker Jack Raese offers an intimate portrait of tradition and craftsmanship, following a family trade passed down through generations in his Sundance documentary debut.

In Mangittatuarjuk The Gnawer of Rocks, animation director Evan DeRushie reflects on stop motion as a form of cultural stewardship, translating Inuit oral tradition into a tactile and atmospheric Sundance animated short.

Valerie Veatch discusses her Sundance premiering documentary Ghost in the Machine, examining power, authorship, and the real cost of so called artificial intelligence.