The Paramount Theatre in Austin, Texas, has been the scene of countless raucous, ecstatically received movie premieres over the years. As the venue for many of the South By Southwest Film Festival's most anticipated movies, the theater has been full of wild applause, rowdy cheers, cathartic tears and uproarious laughter.
Just a few blocks away is the Texas state Capitol building, where legislators have recently worked to strip residents of abortion rights, voting rights and have attacked trans children and their families. Coupled with the somber mood surrounding the war unfolding in Ukraine, this year's SXSW looks set for a stark contrast between the joyful, embracing events unfolding inside the Paramount and the world outside it.
The film festival, which convenes in person for the first time since March of 2019, kicks off Friday with the world premiere of "Everything Everywhere All At Once." Written and directed by Daniel Kwan and Daniel Scheinert, the A24 release stars action icon and "Crazy Rich Asians" matriarch Michelle Yeoh and boasts a notable comeback for "Indiana Jones and the Temple of Doom" co-star Ke Huy Quan in a head-spinning, heart-wrenching story of an immigrant family fighting for their survival across multiple dimensions of reality as they try to finish their taxes.
