2023 SXSW Film & TV Festival Holiday Watchlist

11/17/2023

The 2023 SXSW Film & TV Festival debuted some of the most heart-warming, adrenaline pumping, and thought-provoking content you've seen this year in theaters and on television. So make room on the couch for the cousins and give your uncle who talks during movies a few errands to run. Your official holiday watchlist is here and fun for the whole family! Queue up AIR, Dungeons & Dragons: Honor Among Thieves, Flamin' Hot, and more to draw out conversation with the extended family.

Check out additional SXSW Alumni Films and past Red Carpet Q&As and Iconic Moments for exclusive interviews.

Be on the lookout for the 2024 SXSW Film & TV Festival lineup coming in early 2024 as well as other exciting SX news along the way. Subscribe to the Film & TV Community Newsletter to keep up with all the cinematic magic.

AIR

Drama | Sport

AIR reveals the unbelievable game-changing partnership between then-rookie Michael Jordan and Nike’s fledgling basketball division which revolutionized the world of sports and contemporary culture with the Air Jordan brand. This moving story follows the career-defining gamble of an unconventional team with everything on the line, the uncompromising vision of a mother who knows the worth of her son’s immense talent, and the basketball phenom who would become the greatest of all time.

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Ben Affleck as Phil Knight in AIR Photo: COURTESY OF AMAZON STUDIOS © AMAZON CONTENT SERVICES LLC

American Born Chinese

Action | Adventure | Comedy | Fantasy

Jin Wang starts his sophomore year, hoping to make the soccer team and "level up" his social status, all while impressing his crush. But his plans are derailed when he's assigned a new student "shadow" from China named Wei-Chen Sun. At home, Jin’s parents Simon and Christine argue over Simon’s job. Meanwhile, Sun Wukong, the Monkey King, searches for his magical Iron Staff, which has been stolen.

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American Born Chinese - 2023 SXSW Film & TV Festival Official Selection

BlackBerry

Biography | Comedy | Drama | History

The story of the meteoric rise and catastrophic demise of the world's first smartphone.

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Blackberry - 2023 SXSW Film & TV Festival Official Selection

You Can Call Me Bill

Documentary

Captain Kirk. T.J. Hooker. Denny Crane. Big Giant Head. Alexander the Great. Henry V. Priceline’s Negotiator. These are but a handful of the innumerable masks worn by William Shatner over seven extraordinary decades onstage and in front of the camera. A peerless maverick thespian, electrifying performer, and international cultural treasure, Bill (as he prefers to be called), now 91 years young, is the living embodiment of his classic line “to boldly go where no man has gone before.” In unprecedented fashion, "You Can Call Me Bill" strips away all the masks he has worn to embody countless characters, revealing the man behind it all.

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You Can Call Me Bill - 2023 SXSW Film & TV Festival Official Selection

A Disturbance in the Force

Documentary

In 1977, "Star Wars" became a cultural phenomenon that single-handedly revitalized a stagnant film industry, and forever changed how films were sold, made, and marketed. Movies would never be the same again. A year later, neither would television. In 1978, CBS aired the two-hour "Star Wars Holiday Special" during the week of Thanksgiving and was watched by 13 million people. It never re-aired and is considered one of the worst shows to ever air on TV. While some fans of the franchise are aware of this dark secret, this bizarre two hours of television still remains relatively unknown among the general public. Simply put, we will answer how and why did the "Holiday Special" get made.

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A Disturbance in the Force – 2023 SXSW Film & TV Festival Official Selection

Dungeons & Dragons: Honor Among Thieves

Action | Adventure | Comedy | Fantasy

A charming thief and a band of unlikely adventurers undertake an epic heist to retrieve a lost relic, but things go dangerously awry when they run afoul of the wrong people. Dungeons & Dragons: Honor Among Thieves brings the rich world and playful spirit of the legendary roleplaying game to the big screen in a hilarious and action-packed adventure.

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2023 Opening Night, Dungeons and Dragons: Honor Among Thieves

Flamin' Hot

Biography | Drama | History

"Flamin' Hot" is the story of Richard Montañez, the Frito Lay janitor who channeled his Mexican American heritage and upbringing to turn Flamin' Hot Cheetos into a snack that disrupted the food industry and became a global phenomenon.

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Flamin' Hot – 2023 SXSW Film & TV Festival Official Selection

Going Varsity in Mariachi

Documentary

In the competitive world of high school mariachi, the musicians from the South Texas borderlands reign supreme. Under the guidance of Coach Abel Acuña, the teenage captains of Edinburg North High School’s acclaimed team must turn a shoestring budget and diverse crew of inexperienced musicians into state champions.

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Going Varsity in Mariachi – 2022 SXSW Film & TV

Ice Merchants

Animation | Short | Drama |Fantasy

Every day, a father and his son jump with a parachute from their vertiginous cold house, attached to a cliff, to go to the village on the ground far away where they sell the ice they produce daily.

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Ice Merchants - SXSW 2023 Official Selection

John Wick: Chapter 4

Action | Crime | Thriller

John Wick (Keanu Reeves) uncovers a path to defeating The High Table. But before he can earn his freedom, Wick must face off against a new enemy with powerful alliances across the globe and forces that turn old friends into foes.

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John Wick: Chapter 4 - SXSW 2023 Official Selection

Love To Love You, Donna Summer

Documentary | Music

"Love to Love You, Donna Summer" captures a richly complex picture of the woman, the artist, the wife, and mother whose iconic voice changed music forever. An archive of exclusive, previously unseen film, home video, photographs, artwork, personal audio, and other recordings form the film’s vibrant exploration of the life and career of one of the most extraordinary performers ever to shake a room to its timbers.

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Love to Love You, Donna Summer - 2023 SXSW Film & TV Festival Official Selection

Rabbit Hole

Action | Drama | Thriller

In "Rabbit Hole," John Weir, a master of deception in the world of corporate espionage, is framed for murder by powerful forces who have the ability to influence and control populations.

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Rabbit Hole - 2023 SXSW Film & TV Festival Official Selection

STILL: A Michael J. Fox Movie

Documentary | Biography

The film incorporates documentary, archival and scripted elements, recounting Fox’s extraordinary story in his own words - the improbable tale of an undersized kid from a Canadian army base who rose to the heights of stardom in 1980s Hollywood. The account of Fox’s public life, full of nostalgic thrills and cinematic gloss, unspools alongside his never-before-seen private journey, including the years that followed his diagnosis with Parkinson’s. Intimate and honest, and produced with unprecedented access to Fox and his family, the film chronicles Fox’s personal and professional triumphs and travails, and explores what happens when an incurable optimist confronts an incurable disease.

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STILL: A Michael J. Fox Movie - 2023 SXSW Film & TV

Tetris

Biography | Drama | History | Thriller

Based on the true story of American video game salesman Henk Rogers and his discovery of Tetris in 1988. When he sets out to bring the game to the world, he enters a dangerous web of lies and corruption behind the Iron Curtain.

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Tetris – 2023 SXSW Film & TV Festival Official Selection

See You in 2024

SXSW brings Film & TV students, industry leaders, and fans to Austin, TX each year. Join us from March 8-16 for one of the most anticipated festivals of the year. Discover more about SXSW registration and housing to ensure your festival accommodations are all set.

(Teaser) John Wick: Chapter 4 - SXSW 2023 Official Selection, 2023 SXSW Holiday-Snow Globe

2023 SXSW Film & TV Festival Holiday Watchlist