South by Southwest® (SXSW®), the world’s leading festival celebrating the convergence of creativity, culture and technology, today announced the first wave of its world film programme and keynote speakers for SXSW London, taking place June 1-6.
Expanding the successful series of Screen Keynotes from 2025, this series of influential talks have notable talent and executives from film and TV discuss their work and the future of screen storytelling. Confirmed for this year’s Screen Festival will include multi-BAFTA and award-winning actress, writer, producer and director Sharon Horgan, award-winning screenwriter and producer Russell T Davies and Tom Quinn, founder of Academy Award Winning US independent film company NEON.
Key to the Screen Festival is international talent and discovery, spotlighting narratives from across the world, with over 43 countries represented in 2025 and films from 22 countries already confirmed for this year’s edition. The international focus of the Screen Festival’s programme reflects the multiculturality of London, and brings together up-and-coming global talent to connect with the UK industry.
Anna Bogutskaya, Head of Screen at SXSW London, commented: “SXSW London Screen Festival is not designed to be just another film festival. What we’re building here is a bridge between international talent and the UK, between film and the wider creative industries, and points of connection between film, music, art and technology. The programme we have curated is celebrating those filmmakers and artists who are exploring and exploding the possibilities of filmmaking. London is a global city, and cinema is an international language. What we’re looking for — and what we are excited to bring to London audiences this summer — is that electricity of discovering something truly groundbreaking from places they weren’t looking in.”
The first wave of films announced truly showcase the depth of the festival’s rich and diverse programme and includes behind-the-scenes kitchen doc “Feast or Famine” set in London restaurant Angelina’s, stylish genre bending Spanish feature “La Carn”, stylish Columbian sci-fi thriller “Barrio Triste” and AI documentary “Intelligence Rising” from Oscar and BAFTA winning filmmaker Elena Andreicheva. See below for the full list:
World Premieres
Feast Or Famine (Dir: Adrian Choa & Michael Boccalini) (UK) Documentary
The Remedy (Dir: Alex Kahuam) (US) Film
All Night Wrong (Dir: Jason James) (Canada) Film
UK Premieres
Amoeba (Dir: Tan Siyou) (Singapore, The Netherlands, France, Spain, South Korea) Film
Becoming (Dir: Zhannat Alshanova) (Kazakhstan, France, The Netherlands, Lithuania, Sweden) Film
On The Road (Dir: David Pablos) (Mexico) Film
Father (Dir: Tereza Nvotová) (Slovakia) Film
Hijra (Dir: Shahad Ameen) (Saudi Arabia, Iraq, Egypt, UK) Film
It Would Be Night In Caracas (Dir: Mariana Rondón, Marité Ugás) (Mexico) Film
Maddie’s Secret (Dir: John Early) (US) Film
Remake (Dir: Ross McElwee) (US) Documentary
Sicko (Dir: Aitore Zholdaskali) (Kazakhstan) Film
Whistle (Dir: Christopher Nelius) (Australia) Documentary
The Whisper (Dir: Gustavo Hernández Ibáñez) (Uruguay, Argentina)
La Carn (Dir: Joan Porcel) (Spain) Film
Barrio Triste (Dir: Stillz) (Columbia, US) Film
Intelligence Rising (Dir: Elena Andreicheva) (UK) Documentary