The 2025 South By Southwest Conference, Film and TV Festival begins today in Austin and runs through March 15.
“From boundary-pushing independent voices to major
premiere events, this year’s lineup showcases storytelling at its finest. Whether you’re drawn to
thought-provoking documentaries, edge-of-your-seat thrillers, innovative series, immersive XR
experiences, or groundbreaking international films, there’s something here to inspire every
audience member. The creative energy these filmmakers bring is exactly what makes SXSW
such a special place for discovery and we hope you’ll join our community as we gather in Austin
for an unforgettable festival celebration! — Claudette Godfrey, VP Film & TV, SXSW 2025
90 World Premieres, 3 International Premieres, 3 North American Premieres, 4 U.S. Premieres, 11 Texas Premieres, plus 57 Short Films and 19 Music Videos.
The TV Program includes 17 TV projects, with 6 TV
premieres, 4 TV Spotlight and 7 Independent TV Pilots.
There are 32 projects in the XR Experience Program, including 15 in XR Experience Competition and 17 in XR Experience Spotlight.
SXSW draws thousands of fans, film and television creators, press, and industry leaders to
immerse themselves in the smartest, most innovative and entertaining new films, TV and XR
projects of the year, as well as giving access to hundreds of Conference Sessions, Music and
Comedy Showcases, Creative Industry Exhibitions, Mentoring, Meetups and Special Events that
define the cross-industry event. — SXSW press release
Some SXSW events are free.
The festival means it’s a busy time for travel in Austin.
Road closures around ATX can be expected.
Austin authorities has been working for months to make the event as safe as possible, including putting new kinds of barriers in place downtown. (CBS Austin)
Watch out for pedicabs!
A lot of celebrities from the world of entertainment will be in town for the run of the festival.
Actor Paul Rudd was here earlier this week for the SXSW EDU Conference. (Austin American-Statesman)
Austin City Council met Thursday with another busy agenda.
Council approved $1.46 million in new funding that would expand a team of mental health professionals who respond to people in crisis, so they can operate on a 24/7 basis. (KVUE-TV)
The city is considering out-of-town artists for Austin’s airport, while a local artist’s work could be destroyed at the Convention Center. A vote on agreements with three artists for displays at the airport has been pushed back. The total cost is $10.6 million from the airport’s capital improvement budget.
Watch yesterday’s City Council meeting here.
Austin-area Republican state Rep. Ellen Troxclair has again filed legislation that would derail the city’s multibillion-dollar light-rail plan, known as Project Connect. (Austin American-Statesman)
In an effort to cut costs, state officials are looking at moving state agencies out of Austin.
Austin police need the public’s help in identifying and locating a suspect accused of assaulting a woman on a CapMetro bus back in January.
Police are also looking for an armed robbery suspect.
Austin police are searching for a missing runaway.
Authorities in Hutto are looking for an elderly man who’s been missing since Wednesday.
New details have been released in a fatal collision between a car and an AFD truck near the airport Tuesday.
A crash in Blanco County on Wednesday took the lives of three people, including a small child.
Austin firefighters responded to a vehicle rescue Thursday.
Tesla’s Austin Gigafactory has been fined nearly $50,000 by federal investigators after a contract worker was electrocuted last summer. The Occupational Safety and Health Administration (OSHA) issued three “serious” citations to Tesla, each totaling about $16,000, following an investigation into the worker’s death. OSHA determined that the company failed to adequately protect workers from electrical hazards. (CBS Austin)
Texas Department of Safety officials announced training exercises will be conducted today on Lady Bird Lake.
Southwest Airlines will close its flight attendant base — known as a satellite base — at Austin’s airport this summer. (KXAN-TV)
Ikea plans to open a 35,000-square-foot store in San Marcos. The store is slated to open in the spring and will be a fraction of the size of its traditional store in Round Rock, which is 306,000 square feet. The smaller footprint is on trend with a different model Ikea has been gravitating towards. (Austin Business-Journal)
Barton Springs Pool remains closed for its annual cleaning and is expected to reopen March 15. (Austin Monitor)
WEATHER
5-DAY FORECAST / AUSTIN, TEXAS
Daylight saving time debate: Which side are you on? (AccuWeather)
PODCAST: Today’s Texas Minute produced by Texas Scorecard looks at:
House Speaker Dustin Burrows turns over House records for an audit of impeachment expenses…
House considers an $8 billion bump for government schools…
Legislator wants to codify a ban on arce-based scholarships…
ICE makes arrests in Houston-area sweep…
To combat the devastating effects of dementia, which robs countless aging Texans of their quality of life, the Texas Senate overwhelmingly approved a proposal to establish a multibillion-dollar research center. (Austin American-Statesman)
Texas state senators Thursday held a public hearing on legislation crafted to update a 2023 law requiring certain counties to drastically increase the number of polling locations if they use vote centers for countywide voting. (Texas Tribune)
The current measles outbreak, which originated in Texas, has spread to nine other states. Yesterday, a New Mexico man died after being sick with the virus.
“Freedom is something that we take seriously, religious freedom, freedom of our health. Shoutout to MC Prep for being the least vaccinated school in Texas, we’ll take it.” — Landon Schott, pastor at Mercy Culture Church, in an Instagram post.
A Texas pastor celebrated the Fort Worth school associated with his church, Mercy Culture Preparatory, for having the lowest vaccination rate in the state. (Houston Chronicle)
The U.S. House of Representatives voted Thursday to censure Houston Congressman Al Green for disrupting President Trump’s address to a joint session of Congress on Tuesday in Washington. (KUT 90.5)
A federal immigration detention center in South Texas previously used to hold families is being reopened by the Trump administration after former President Joe Biden closed it and ended the practice of detaining families.
The South Texas Family Residential Center in Dilley is among the largest in the country with a capacity to detain up to 2,400 people.
A Houston sex offender is the Texas DPS’ “Featured Fugitive” of the month.
Texas Congressman Sylvester Turner, who died earlier this week, will lie in state in Austin.
SPORTS
COLLEGE BASKETBALL: The Texas Longhorns women’s basketball team begins play today in their first-ever SEC Tournament in Greenville, South Carolina.
They face Ole Miss today at 5:00 p.m. (Texas Longhorns)
Texas beat every team in the conference on the way to a 15-1 regular season record. It marks the fourth straight season Texas has won a regular season or conference tournament championship.
COLLEGE BASEBALL: The Texas Longhorns begin a weekend homestand against Santa Clara this evening at 6:30 p.m.
Texas plays its final non-conference weekend series. The Longhorns last met the Broncos in 1962, when the two sides squared off in the College World Series. (Texas Longhorns)
NBA: Amen Thompson had 21 points and 11 rebounds and the Houston Rockets had a dominating second half to beat the New Orleans Pelicans 109-97 on Thursday night to open a home-and-home set. (Yahoo! Sports)
The Rockets have tonight off while the Dallas Mavericks host Memphis and the San Antonio Spurs are on the road in Sacramento. (Yahoo! Sports)
NHL: Jason Robertson scored twice, including the winner with 42 seconds remaining in overtime, and the Dallas Stars erased a two-goal deficit in a 3-2 victory over the Calgary Flames on Thursday night. (Yahoo! Sports)
As the 2025 South By Southwest Festival gets underway, let’s look back nearly thirty years to 1996.
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