TRAILER PARK: FIVE OF THE BEST FROM SXSW

It is the cutting-edge cool of festival cinema, so when SXSW anoints a new film with a premiere slot, all industry eyes focus in. With the 2019 event about to shutter in Austin, Texas, we take a look a five films (apart from Jordan Peele’s Us, which had heat before heading west) that emerged from the fest with major buzz…

BOOKSMART (US | 102 mins | Annapurna Pictures) Dir: Olivia Wilde; Cast: Kaitlyn Dever, Beanie Feldstein, Jessica Williams, Will Forte, Lisa Kudrow, Jason Sudeikis.
From the program: Told from a wildly original, fresh and modern perspective, Booksmart is an unfiltered comedy about high school friendships and the bonds we create that last a lifetime. Capturing the spirit of our times, the film is a coming of age story for a new generation.
Critics said: “In this year’s class of first-time feature directors, Wilde handily earns the title of Most Likely to Succeed.” - Variety

LONG SHOT (US | 120 mins | Summit Entertainment) Dir: Jonathan Levine; Cast: Seth Rogen, Charlize Theron, O’Shea Jackson Jr., Andy Serkis, June Diane Raphael, Ravi Patel and Alexander Skarsgård.
From the program: An ambitious diplomat with a spotless reputation and a hard-partying journalist hilariously redefine “international relations” as they try to keep their red-hot romance under wraps.
Critics said: “A rom-com with a political edge that will be one of this year's most beloved crowdpleasers.” – RogerEbert.com

I AM RICHARD PRYOR (US | 92 mins | Paramount Network) Dir: Jesse James Miller; Cast: Richard Pryor.
From the program: I Am Richard Pryor tells the life story of the legendary performer and iconic social satirist, who transcended race and social barriers by delivering his honest irreverent and biting humor to America’s stages and living rooms until his death at 65.
Critics said: “Jesse James Miller's biographical documentary is a conventional but fascinating portrait of the self-destructive comic great.” – Variety

ONE MAN DIES A MILLION TIMES (Russia | 92 mins ) Dir: Jessica Oreck; Cast: Alyssa Lozovskaya, Maksim Blinov, Vladimir Koshevoy, Alena Artemova, Konstantin Malyshev, Andrey Emelyanov, Alexei Yuferev.
From the program: Set in the future, a story about seeds and genetic diversity, about growth and decay, about love and war, and about hunger of all kinds.
Critics said: “Transports viewers to another time and place, much in the manner of Aleksey German’s immersive masterworks…it is a rather fascinating and undeniably ambitious work of cinema.” – J.B. Spins

THE ART OF SELF-DEFENSE (US | 104 mins | Bleeker Street) Dir: Riley Stearns; Cast: Jesse Eisenberg, Alessandro Nivola, Imogen Poots.
From the program: Jesse Eisenberg plays a man who is attacked on the street and enlists in a local dojo, led by a charismatic Sensei (Alessandro Nivola), in an effort to learn how to defend himself.
Critics said: “Manages to clarify the filmmaker's intriguing vision by stuffing it into a remarkably unnerving character study.” – Indiewire.