The 2025 SXSW Movie & TV Competition has unveiled its coveted Viewers Award winners.
After IndieWire introduced the competition’s Jury Awards, with Amy Wang’s “Slanted” taking the highest Narrative Characteristic Award, the Viewers Awards have been totaled. “The Accountant 2” starring Ben Affleck and Jon Bernthal has received the Headliner part, with “Fantasy Life” getting the Narrative Characteristic Competitors vote. (Amanda Peet additionally beforehand received the Particular Jury Award for her efficiency in “Fantasy Life.”)
Jay Duplass’ “The Baltimorons” obtained the Viewers Award for the Narrative Highlight part. Documentaries “Remaining Native” and “Luv Ya, Bum!” had been additionally acknowledged within the Documentary Characteristic Competitors and Documentary Highlight classes, respectively. Rodney Ascher’s “Ghost Boy” was additionally a winners within the Visions class.
Viewers Award winners had been licensed by Maxwell Locke & Ritter LLP.
“Our deepest due to the filmmakers, audiences, and volunteers who made this 12 months’s SXSW Movie & TV Competition distinctive,” Claudette Godfrey, VP Movie & TV, mentioned. “We assembled one other stellar program that places independently made narratives, documentaries, TV sequence, and XR experiences on the identical stage as studio movies and TV exhibits. The magic of shared viewing experiences and a way of group continued to outline our competition, and we’re excited for all of this 12 months’s initiatives to succeed in even wider audiences past SXSW!”
The SXSW Movie & TV Competition offered 114 Options together with 93 World Premieres, 3 Worldwide Premieres, 3 North American Premieres, 4 U.S. Premieres, 11 Texas Premieres + 57 Quick Movies and 19 Music Movies. The TV Program consists of 17 TV initiatives, with 6 TV premieres, 4 TV Highlight and seven Unbiased TV Pilots. There are 31 initiatives within the XR Expertise Program, together with 15 in XR Expertise Competitors and 16 in XR Expertise Highlight.
Try the total checklist of the 2025 SXSW Movie & TV Competition Viewers Award winners beneath.
Characteristic Movie Program
HEADLINER
Offered by Epidemic Sound
Viewers Award Winner: “The Accountant 2”
Director: Gavin O’Connor, Producers: Ben Affleck, Lynette Howell Taylor, Mark Williams, Screenwriter: Invoice Dubuque
NARRATIVE FEATURE COMPETITION
Offered by Kickstarter
Viewers Award Winner: “Fantasy Life”
Director/Screenwriter: Matthew Shear, Producers: Charlie Alderman, Chris Dodds, Phil Keefe, Amanda Peet, Emily McCann Lesser, David Bernon, Sam Slater
DOCUMENTARY FEATURE COMPETITION
Viewers Award Winner: “Remaining Native”
Director: Paige Bethmann, Producers: Jessica Epstein, Paige Bethmann, Judd Ehrlich
NARRATIVE SPOTLIGHT
Viewers Award Winner: “The Baltimorons”
Director: Jay Duplass, Producers: Jay Duplass, Mark Duplass, Mel Eslyn, Shuli Harel, David Bonnett Jr., Michael Strassner, Drew Langer, Screenwriters: Jay Duplass, Michael Strassner
DOCUMENTARY SPOTLIGHT
Viewers Award Winner: “Luv Ya, Bum!”
Administrators: Sam Wainwright Douglas, David Hartstein, Producers: Paul Jensen, Vance Howard, Screenwriter: Andrew Miller
MIDNIGHTER
Viewers Award Winner: “Nirvanna the Band the Present the Film”
Director: Matt Johnson, Producers: Matthew Miller, Matt Greyson, Screenwriters: Matt Johnson, Jay McCarrol
VISIONS
Viewers Award Winner: “Ghost Boy”
Director: Rodney Ascher, Producers: Elika Portnoy, Ryan Bartecki, Gary Levinsohn, Billy Hines
GLOBAL
Offered by MUBI
Viewers Award Winner: “Corina”
Director: Urzula Barba Hopfner, Producers: Carlos Hernández, Iván López- Barba, Urzula Barba, Screenwriters: Urzula Barba Hopfner, Samuel Sosa
24 BEATS PER SECOND
Viewers Award Winner: “Selena y Los Dinos”
Director: Isabel Castro, Producers: Julie Goldman, Christopher Clements, J. Daniel Torres, David Blackman, Simran A. Singh
FESTIVAL FAVORITE
Viewers Award Winner: “Deaf President Now!”
Administrators: Nyle DiMarco, Davis Guggenheim, Producers: Nyle DiMarco, Davis Guggenheim, Amanda Rohlke, Jonathan King, Michael Harte
Quick Movie Program Offered by Vimeo
NARRATIVE SHORT COMPETITION
Viewers Award Winner: “Ben’s Sister”
Director/Screenwriter: Emma Weinswig, Producers: Will Noyce, Emma Weinswig, Shane Bagwell, Chelsea Eisen
DOCUMENTARY SHORT COMPETITION
Viewers Award Winner: “Armed solely with a Digital camera: The Life and Loss of life of Brent Renaud”
Administrators: Brent Renaud, Craig Renaud, Producers: Juan Arredondo, Jon Alpert, Christof Putzel, Nancy Abraham, Lisa Heller, Tina Nguyen, Jeff Newton, Mami Kuwano Renaud, Naomi Mizoguchi, Tami Alpert
ANIMATED SHORT COMPETITION
Viewers Award Winner: “Retirement Plan”
Director: John Kelly, Screenwriters: John Kelly, Tara Lawall, Producers: Julie Murnaghan, Andrew Freedman
MIDNIGHT SHORT COMPETITION
Viewers Award Winner: “Lurk”
Administrators: Mairin Hart, Josh Wallace Kerrigan, Screenwriter: Josh Wallace Kerrigan, Producers: Mairin Hart, Josh Wallace Kerrigan, Devin Das, Greg Cohen, John Nodorft
TEXAS SHORT COMPETITION
Viewers Award Winner: “Sweetbriar”
Director/Screenwriter: Danny Rivera, Producer: MK Goss
MUSIC VIDEO COMPETITION
Viewers Award Winner: A$AP Rocky – ‘Tailor Swif’
Administrators/Screenwriters: Vania Heymann, Gal Muggia
TV Program
TV PREMIERE
Viewers Award Winner: “Spy Excessive”
Director: Jody McVeigh-Schultz, Producers: Mark Wahlberg, Stephen Levinson, Archie Gips, Aliza Rosen, Jody McVeigh-Schultz, David Wendell
TV SPOTLIGHT
Viewers Award Winner: “Combine Tape”
Director: Lucy Gaffy, Producers: Aoife O’Sullivan, Tristan Orpen Lynch, Angie Fielder, Polly Staniford, Screenwriter: Jo Spain
INDEPENDENT TV PILOT COMPETITION
Viewers Award Winner: “Bulldozer”
Showrunner/Screenwriter: Joanna Leeds, Director: Andrew Leeds, Producers: Joanna Leeds, Andrew Leeds, Rhett Reese, Caleb Reese, Michael Day
XR Expertise
XR EXPERIENCE COMPETITION
Viewers Award Winner: “Face Leaping”
Administrators: Danny Cannizzaro, Samantha Gorman, Producers: Yuxin Gao, J Noland, Screenwriter: Samantha Gorman
XR EXPERIENCE SPOTLIGHT
Viewers Award Winner: “Decision: A Cinephonic Rhapsody for the Soul”
Administrators: Scott Berman, Ryan Hartsell, Producer/Screenwriter: Scott Berman