South by Southwest on Tuesday announced the first wave of its world film program and keynote speakers for SXSW London, taking place June 1-6.
The event’s Screen Festival, which features notable talent and executives from film and TV discussing their work and the future of screen storytelling, will include multi-BAFTA and award-winning actress, writer, producer and director Sharon Horgan; award-winning screenwriter and producer Russell T Davies; and Tom Quinn, founder of Oscar-winning U.S. independent film company Neon.
Horgan is best known as the creator, co-writer, executive producer and star of the series Bad Sisters, which has earned multiple BAFTAs, Emmy nominations, and international awards. She also co-created the hit comedy Motherland and executive produces its spinoff, Amandaland. Horgan also recently signed a two-year first-look with HBO, launching with original comedy series Youth, written and executive produced by Horgan, who will also star as a 50-year-old divorcee in a search for sex and love while juggling caring for her ailing parents and parenting her should-be grown-up son.
Davies was awarded the 2006 Dennis Potter Award at BAFTA for his writing services to television and an OBE in the Queen’s 2008 Birthday Honours list for services to drama. His credits include creating Queer as Folk and reviving Doctor Who. He also adapted A Very English Scandal and wrote the BBC One/HBO drama Years and Years, among other credits. He has an upcoming original five-part drama Tip Toe for Channel 4.
Quinn is the CEO and founder of Neon, which was established in 2017. Over the past nine years, Neon has nabbed 57 Oscar nominations, with 11 total wins, including two for best picture (Parasite and Anora). Neon has won the Palme d’Or at the Cannes Film Festival six consecutive times, including this most recent year’s winner, It Was Just an Accident. In 2024, Neon was named The Hollywood Reporter’s Independent Studio of the Year. Upcoming films include Steven Soderbergh’s The Christophers; Hokum, starring Adam Scott; and Sundance hit Leviticus.
Also on Tuesday, organizers announced the first wave of films that will be included in the Screen Festival. The event aims to spotlight films from across the world, with more than 43 countries represented in 2025 and films from 22 countries already confirmed for this year’s edition. Organizers said that the international focus of the fest’s program “reflects the multiculturality of London and brings together up-and-coming global talent to connect with the U.K. industry.”
Said Anna Bogutskaya, head of Screen at SXSW London: “SXSW London Screen Festival is not designed to be just another film festival. What we’re building here is a bridge between international talent and the U.K., between film and the wider creative industries, and points of connection between film, music, art and technology. The program we have curated is celebrating those filmmakers and artists who are exploring and exploding the possibilities of filmmaking. London is a global city, and cinema is an international language. What we’re looking for — and what we are excited to bring to London audiences this summer — is that electricity of discovering something truly groundbreaking from places they weren’t looking in.”
The films, with the official loglines, include:
Feast or Famine
(Dir: Adrian Choa & Michael Boccalini) (U.K.) – World Premiere
Narrated by Marco Pierre White, this feature documentary follows London restaurant ‘Angelina’ as it vies for a Michelin Star under the shadow of the colossal French tire company responsible for categorically shaping chefs’ destinies.
The Remedy
(Dir: Alex Kahuam) (U.S.) – World Premiere
A troubled young man is the caregiver for both his terminally-ill mother and his mentally-ill sister. When he makes a desperate attempt to save his mom, he unleashes a supernatural entity that feeds on human flesh.
All Night Wrong
(Dir: Jason James) (Canada) – World Premiere
Gary and Ell meet on a blind date only to wind up stealing a killer’s car along with a dead body and $40,000.
Amoeba
(Dir: Siyou Tan) (Singapore, The Netherlands, France, Spain, South Korea) – U.K. Premiere
Four teenage girls form a gang as an act of resistance in a country where chewing gum and feeding pigeons are illegal.
Becoming
(Dir: Zhannat Alshanova) (Kazakhstan, France, The Netherlands, Lithuania, Sweden) – U.K. Premiere
In Kazakhstan, 17-year-old Mila escapes her chaotic home by joining an open-water swimming team — but when her place is threatened, she risks everything to keep the fragile balance she’s found.
On the Road
(Dir: David Pablos) (Mexico) – U.K. Premiere
A drifter who sleeps with truckers meets a reserved driver and joins him hauling freight across northern Mexico. As they grow closer on the road, the drifter’s past threatens them both.
Father
(Dir: Tereza Nvotová) (Slovakia) – U.K. Premiere
A tragic mistake destroys a man’s life, isolating him in guilt and shaking his marriage. Now facing prison, can he find a path to forgiveness? Can love survive what no heart was built to endure?
Hijra
(Dir: Shahad Ameen) (Saudi Arabia, Iraq, Egypt, U.K.) – U.K. Premiere
Twelve-year-old Janna sets off for Mecca with her strict grandmother, Sitti, and rebellious sister, Sarah, to perform Hajj. But before they reach their destination, Sarah vanishes — forcing Janna and Sitti into a tense, urgent search. Fearing Sarah’s father will find out, Sitti and Janna push themselves to the limit, desperate to uncover why Sarah disappeared. Their journey spans from southern Saudi Arabia to its northern borders, crossing old pilgrimage routes and confronting strangers, harsh landscapes, and long-buried family secrets. As they grow closer, Janna begins to unravel stories from Sitti’s rich and complex past. The search reveals deep intergenerational rifts among the women in their family. And as their difficult journey begins to echo the spiritual trials of Hajj, Janna and Sitti may find something greater than reconciliation — redemption.
It Would Be Night in Caracas
(Dir: Mariana Rondón, Marité Ugás) (Mexico) – U.K. Premiere
In crumbling Caracas, after burying her mother, Adelaida finds her home taken by armed militia. With society falling apart, she must risk all, including her identity, to survive.
Maddie’s Secret
(Dir: John Early) (U.S.) – U.K. Premiere
A food influencer secretly struggles with bulimia as she navigates online fame, close friendships and a painful past.
Remake
(Dir: Vladlena Sandu) (U.S.) – U.K. Premiere
How can the cycle of violence that shapes children and is passed through generations be broken?
Sicko
(Dir: Aitore Zholdaskali) (Kazakhstan) – U.K. Premiere
Overwhelmed by debt, young couple Azamat and Tanshoplan hatch a desperate plan: fake a terminal illness to raise money through a viral charity campaign. But as the donations pour in and public sympathy grows, their lie spirals out of control.
Whistle
(Dir: Christopher Nelius) (Australia) – U.K. Premiere
At the Masters of Musical Whistling competition, where virtuoso whistlers compete for global supremacy and bragging rights, we follow an array of quirky personalities and dazzling talents in a film sure to be a crowd-pleaser.
The Whisper
(Dir: Gustavo Hernández Ibáñez) (Uruguay, Argentina) – U.K. Premiere
Fleeing their violent father, siblings Lucía and Adrián hide in a remote mansion. Using a cat’s hidden micro-camera, Lucía discovers their neighbors run a criminal ring kidnapping teens for snuff films—and plan to eliminate the siblings. As she protects Adrián, a dark family curse invades their sanctuary.
La Carn
(Dir: Joan Porcel) (Spain) – U.K. Premiere
Lluís Garau, a young dancer, creates a performance inspired by a platform that randomly connects strangers through video calls. But when his online life and his real life begin to intertwine, the boundaries between the virtual and the tangible blur — leaving an irreversible mark on his final work: La Carn.
Barrio Triste
(Dir: Stillz) (Columbia, U.S.) – U.K. Premiere
Four teens as they document their own rowdiness in a hauntingly poetic portrait of violence and loneliness.
Intelligence Rising
(Dir: Elena Andreicheva) (U.K.) – U.K. Premiere
Global heavyweights – from military strategists to philosophers – join AI leader Marc Warner for a bold wargame exploring how artificial intelligence might reshape power itself. Intelligence Rising reveals what happens when the brightest minds face the future they helped create.
