FIELD OF STREAMS honors this year’s SXSW participants with some gems from the festival’s past
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In celebration of the 2021 version of the SXSW Film Festival, we’re highlighting previous work from some of this year’s talent with a focus on those from Austin and Texas more broadly.
MISS JUNETEENTH (BET+ on Prime)
Channing Godfrey Peoples made a splash with Miss Juneteenth and is representing at SXSW with her short “Doretha’s Blues.” Her previous feature is available on BET+, which has a free trial to encourage anyone to check out this streaming service. From a previous Cinapse write up:
This feature debut by Channing Godfrey Peoples mines the mother-daughter relationship for all its worth. Life is hard enough for Turquoise Jones, but she wants for her daughter what she once had: the Crown. It’s a fraught proposition, made no easier by the men in their lives, but it’s full of vigor and fight and all the things that make life worth living. This is small cinema with a big heart.
TOWER (CuriosityStream)
2016’s Tower about the fatal shooting spree at the University of Texas at Austin made a name for director Keith Maitland. This year, he’s bring Mr. Brody to SXSW. It bills itself as “A documentary about Michael Brody Jr., a 21-year-old hippie millionaire who in 1970 promised to give away his $25M inheritance in an effort to usher in a new era of world peace.”
Tower is currently only available on CuriosityStream, a documentary-focused streaming service which is currently running a special for a year’s long subscription for just $12. Sounds like a deal.
SAFETY NOT GUARANTEED (Netflix)
The Duplass brothers are no stranger to SXSW, either as directors or actors. In fact, there was a time when they and their cohort ruled the South By roost. This year Mark is back, appearing in Natalie Morales’s Language Lessons in which she directs and stars.
Nine years ago, Mark Duplass was here in Austin for Safety Not Guaranteed, a quirky little number from Washington State with Aubrey Plaza and Jake Johnson. It’s Seattle-riffic.
WILD WILD COUNTRY (Netflix)
When they’re not acting or directing, the Duplass brothers also produce some amazing work, including documentaries. This year they’re bringing (virtually) their newest, Sasquatch which purports to be about “a bizarre twenty-five year old triple homicide that was said to be the work of a mythical creature.” That’ll do.
A few years ago, they released Wild, Wild Country, and the story of a guru who takes over a small town the Pacific Northwest was pulpy, cult-y goodness.
There are countless services to explore and great things to watch on all of them. Which ones did we miss that you would suggest to us? Tell us what we’re missing out on or what new services we should check out by leaving a comment below or emailing us.