After canceling its 2020 edition and going virtual last year during the pandemic, the 2022 SXSW Film Festival will kick off with the premiere of the sci-fi adventure "Everything Everywhere all at Once."
SXSW announced Wednesday that its in-person Austin, Texas, festival will begin March 11 with the new film from directors Daniel Kwan and Daniel Scheinert, the "Swiss Army Man" filmmakers collectively billed as "Daniels." The film, starring Michelle Yeoh, is described as "a hilarious and big-hearted sci-fi action adventure about an exhausted Chinese American woman who can't seem to finish her taxes."
Janet Pierson, director of film for SXSW, called the film "fantastically inventive, entertaining, emotionally grounded, and crammed with the exceptional creativity."
"Audiences are going to have their minds blown by this extraordinary feat of filmmaking," said Pierson in a statement.
A24 is to release "Everything Everywhere All at Once," whose producers include Joe and Anthony Russo. It also stars Stephanie Hsu, Ke Huy Quan, James Hong, Jenny Slate, Harry Shum Jr., and Jamie Lee Curtis.
The SXSW Film Festival will run March 11 through 20. A selection of films will be available online to badge holders.
Editor's note: Directorial duo Daniels is repped by PRETTYBIRD in the commercialmaking/branded content arena.
Rom-Com Mainstay Hugh Grant Shifts To The Dark Side and He’s Never Been Happier
After some difficulties connecting to a Zoom, Hugh Grant eventually opts to just phone instead.
"Sorry about that," he apologizes. "Tech hell." Grant is no lover of technology. Smart phones, for example, he calls the "devil's tinderbox."
"I think they're killing us. I hate them," he says. "I go on long holidays from them, three or four days at at time. Marvelous."
Hell, and our proximity to it, is a not unrelated topic to Grant's new film, "Heretic." In it, two young Mormon missionaries (Chloe East, Sophie Thatcher) come knocking on a door they'll soon regret visiting. They're welcomed in by Mr. Reed (Grant), an initially charming man who tests their faith in theological debate, and then, in much worse things.
After decades in romantic comedies, Grant has spent the last few years playing narcissists, weirdos and murders, often to the greatest acclaim of his career. But in "Heretic," a horror thriller from A24, Grant's turn to the dark side reaches a new extreme. The actor who once charmingly stammered in "Four Weddings and a Funeral" and who danced to the Pointer Sisters in "Love Actually" is now doing heinous things to young people in a basement.
"It was a challenge," Grant says. "I think human beings need challenges. It makes your beer taste better in the evening if you've climbed a mountain. He was just so wonderfully (expletive)-up."
"Heretic," which opens in theaters Friday, is directed by Scott Beck and Bryan Woods, co-writers of "A Quiet Place." In Grant's hands, Mr. Reed is a divinely good baddie — a scholarly creep whose wry monologues pull from a wide range of references, including, fittingly, Radiohead's "Creep."
In an interview, Grant spoke about these and other facets of his character, his journey... Read More