The South by Southwest Film and TV Festival launches this week with a renewed sense of purpose. There is the new name, of course, adding "and TV," along with new leadership. Equally important, the movie "Everything Everywhere All at Once," poised to win big at the Academy Awards on Sunday, had its world premiere at last year's festival.
The Austin, Texas-based SXSW has long been a stop for offbeat commercial films such as "A Quiet Place," "Us" and "Baby Driver." Lena Dunham, Barry Jenkins, Daniel Destin Cretton and Greta Gerwig all premiered key early works here, while "Everything Everywhere" filmmakers the Daniels, Daniel Kwan and Daniel Scheinert, previously screened their music videos and short films at the festival.
With the box office and awards season triumph of "Everything Everywhere All at Once," the festival for the first time launched a different kind of success. ("To Leslie," the modest film with the unlikely lead actress Oscar nominee in Andrea Riseborough, premiered at last year's festival as well.)
