SXSW 2016: The most intriguing films on the line-up from Uber driver drama to competitive poultry documentary

'Beware the Slenderman'

Sundance made for a few fair headlines this year, with slave rebellion drama Birth of a Nation, farting desert island corpse movie Swiss Army Man and two films about Christine Chubbuck’s on-air suicide piquing audiences' interest.

11 March will see the 23rd South by South West Festival commence in Austin, Texas, and it has a fair few interesting titles of its own.

The big ones we already know a fair amount about - Richard Linklater’s new comedy Everybody Wants Some, Jake Gyllenhaal drama Demolition, AMC dark comedy Preacher - but here’s a few smaller films premiering with eye-catching synopses (Read the full list here):

Films

collective:unconscious

Directors: collective:unconscious (Lily Baldwin, Frances Bodomo, Daniel Patrick Carbone, Josephine Decker, Lauren Wolkstein), Screenwriters: Jamal Batts, Lily Baldwin, Frances Bodomo, Daniel Patrick Carbone, Mariama Diallo, Lauren Wolkstein, Dan Schoenbrun (Concept By)

Five of independent film’s most adventurous filmmakers adapt each other’s dreams for the screen. This is going to get strange… Cast: Frank Mosley, Will Blomker, Lily Baldwin, Tonya Pinkins, Daniel Ryan, Ryan Cassata, Sanda Weigl, MJ Frank, Samuel John Damon, Jamal Batts (World Premiere)

9 Rides

Director/Screenwriter: Matthew A. Cherry

An Uber driver gets life changing news on the busiest night of the year. Cast: Dorian Missick, Omar Dorsey, Robinne Lee, Xosha Roquemore, Amin Joseph, Skye P. Marshall, Thomas Q. Jones, Tracie Thoms, Aasha Davis, Sujata Day (World Premiere)

A Stray

Director/Screenwriter: Musa Syeed

Trying to outrun his bad luck, a young Muslim refugee in Minneapolis seems like he just might make it — until he crosses paths with a stray dog. Cast: Barkhad Abdirahman, Faysal Ahmed , Christina Baldwin, Ayla, Fathia Absie, Jamaal “Happy Khalif” Farah, Abdullahi Haji-Mohamed, Ifrah Mansour, Rhiana Yazzie, George McCauley (World Premiere)

The Arbalest

Director/Screenwriter: Adam Pinney

The inventor of the world’s greatest toy reflects on his decade-long obsession with a woman who hates him. Cast: Mike Brune, Tallie Medel (World Premiere)

Hardcore Henry

Director/Screenwriter: Ilya Naishuller

An unflinchingly original, first-person action film where YOU are the main character, Henry. Resurrected from death with no memory by your wife, your mission is find her, solve the mystery of your existence and discover the truth behind your identity. Cast: Sharlto Copley, Danila Kozlovsky, Haley Bennett, Andrey Dementyev, Dasha Charusha, Sveta Ustinova (U.S. Premiere)

The Trust (note the cast)

Directors: Ben Brewer, Alex Brewer, Screenwriters: Ben Brewer, Adam Hirsch

Two corrupt Las Vegas police officers plan to rob a large stash that they find in connection to a local drug operation. Cast: Nicolas Cage, Elijah Wood, Sky Ferreira, Jerry Lewis (World Premiere)

Suntan (Greece)

Director: Argyris Papadimitropoulos, Screenwriters: Argyris Papadimitropoulos, Syllas Tzoumerkas

On a hedonistic Greek island, a local doctor becomes obsessed with a young female tourist when she lets him tag along with her group of hard-partying friends. Cast: Efthymis Papadimitriou, Elli Triggou, Dimi Hart, Hara Kotsali (North American Premiere)

Spaceship

Director/Screenwriter: Alex Taylor

A girl fakes her own alien abduction and disappears, leaving her father to search for her in a strange teenage world of unicorns and black holes. Cast: Antti Reini, Alexa Davies, Lara Peake, Lucian Charles Collier, Tallulah Haddon, Steven Elder, Jack Winthrop, Kristof Gerega, Harry Jarvis (World Premiere)

Documentaries

'Chicken People'

Chicken People

Director: Nicole Lucas Haimes

In a high stakes world where a single broken feather can mean a shattered dream, Chicken People follows the trials and tribulations of those who breed exotic birds in the world of competitive poultry. (World Premiere)

Beware the Slenderman

Director: Irene Taylor Brodsky

Beware the Slenderman tells the story of a Boogeyman lurking on the internet and two 12-year-old girls who would kill for him. A horrifyingly modern tragedy, this film explores children’s accountability in the online age. (World Premiere)

Accidental Courtesy: Daryl Davis, Race & America

Director: Matt Ornstein

Daryl Davis has an unusual hobby. As a musician he has played with legends like Chuck Berry and Little Richard, but in his spare time he likes to meet and befriend members of the Ku Klux Klan. Join Daryl on his personal quest to understand racism. (World Premiere)

The Liberators

Director: Cassie Hay

A tiny Texas town. $350 million worth of medieval treasure. The discovery is just the beginning. (World Premiere)

Orange Sunshine

Director/Screenwriter: William A. Kirkley

The never-before-told story of the Brotherhood of Eternal Love – a spiritual group of surfers and hippies in California who became the largest suppliers of LSD and Hash in the world during the 60’s and 70’s. (World Premiere)

The Hollywood Shorties

Director/Screenwriter: Ryan Steven Green

In 1980s Los Angeles, a professional dwarf basketball team composed of recognizable-but-typecast actors finds itself the unwitting vanguard of a revolution to represent little people as something other than objects of curiosity. (World Premiere)

Seven Songs for a Long Life

Director: Amy Hardie

The intimate story behind our changing relationship with death – with great songs! (North American Premiere)

In Pursuit of Silence

Director: Patrick Shen

In Pursuit of Silence is a meditative film that explores our relationship with silence, sound, and the impact of noise on our lives. (North American Premiere)