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 Chloé Rochereuil discusses Crafting Crimes: The Mona Lisa Heist at SXSW, an immersive mixed reality experience that lets audiences reconstruct one of history’s most famous art thefts through miniature crime scenes and interactive storytelling.

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.

From sleeping on couches in New York to stepping onto a Broadway stage during Covid, Dexter McKinney’s journey is built on discipline, faith, and adaptation. In this standalone conversation, the actor reflects on rebuilding his career from scratch, going viral as the Judge Judy Mob Boss, and announcing his sci fi short Colors We Made at Sundance. It is a story about resilience, reinvention, and creating opportunities instead of waiting for them.

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

Julia Duffy, Kapil Talwalkar, and Paula Pell discuss ensemble chemistry, suburban suspicion, and bringing mystery and comedy together in Peacock’s reboot of The ’Burbs.

Celeste Hughey reimagines The ’Burbs by centering the story through a Black woman’s perspective, blending suburban comedy with mystery and social observation for a new generation.

María Cristina Pérez discusses her Sundance selected animated short Once in a Body exploring embodiment vulnerability and intimate visual storytelling.

In a world that often rushes past emotion in favor of efficiency, animator Grace An slows things down using humor, softness, and surreal imagery to explore memory, family, and identity. Her animated short Cabbage Daddy , selected for the Sundance Film Festival Animated Shorts Program , is a deeply personal film disguised as something playful and strange. What begins with an odd title gradually unfolds into a tender meditation on love, inheritance, and the quiet ways we carry