Arts

SXSW Film Festival Heads to Amazon

by Andrew Limbong

This year's SXSW festival was cancelled due to the coronavirus pandemic. Now the films that were scheduled to be shown there have the option to be screened on Amazon.
This year's SXSW festival was cancelled due to the coronavirus pandemic. Now the films that were scheduled to be shown there have the option to be screened on Amazon. Suzanne Cordeiro / AFP via Getty Images

Amazon Prime Video will be hosting some of the movies that never got screen time at this year's cancelled SXSW Film Festival. Amazon and SXSW announced today that the online film festival will be free to all audiences for 10 days — but you will need an Amazon account.

According to the statement, the slate of films offered will depend on which filmmakers choose to opt into the festival. "Filmmakers who choose to participate will receive a screening fee for streaming their film over the 10-day period... SXSW has shared details on the opportunity with 2020 filmmakers, who can opt in starting today."

SXSW joins a number of cancelled and delayed film festivals going the online route: the Tribeca Film Festival has been posting a short film every day, the Greenwich International Film Festival will be bringing its May festival online, and the Washington D.C. Environmental Film Festival has also posted a number of this year's movies, along with an archive going back to 1990. The film distributor Kino Lorber has also began working with independent and art-house theaters across the country to "screen" current independent releases, starting with the acclaimed Brazilian movie Bacurau.

No date has been announced for the Amazon Prime SXSW Film Festival, though the companies are shooting for an April launch.

Copyright 2020 NPR. To see more, visit https://www.npr.org.

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