SXSW roars back with Demi Lovato, Charli XCX, Tom Petty docs in 2021 lineup

SXSW is boom-clapping back into business.

The hip media festival's 2021 edition returns with a robust lineup of feature films, including major documentary works about the lives of entertainers Demi Lovato, Charli XCX, Selma Blair, and the late Tom Petty.

Debuting one year after the cancellation of the 2020 edition, SXSW's 2021 lineup includes 75 features and 57 world premieres alongside 30 special events. Adapting to the coronavirus pandemic, SXSW will make its 2021 slate available online, including conferences, music showcases, comedy sets, industry exhibitions, and other special events.

Headlining films include Demi Lovato: Dancing with the Devil, a YouTube Originals film exploring the events that led to the singer's overdose in 2018; Charli XCX's Alone Together, a chronicle of the pop star's quarantine journey while creating a full album, how i'm feeling now, across 40 days while locked down, and Tom Petty, Somewhere You Feel Free, which showcases newly discovered archives of 16mm film depicting Petty working on his 1994 album Wildflowers. Blair's life following her Multiple Sclerosis diagnosis also gets the film treatment here, as director Rachel Fleit goes inside the actress' fight against the disease.

Narrative films playing the festival star actors like Shailene Woodley, Jennifer Coolidge, Olivia Wilde, and more.

"It's been a year unlike any we've experienced, first marked by the cancellation of SXSW 2020," said Janet Pierson, the festival's director of film. "We feel privileged to have been able to pivot to SXSW Online and present a fantastic treasure trove of programming, including a pared down and wonderful selection of films that we know will delight, entertain and move our attendees. SXSW Online will bring attendees a multifaceted event that speaks to so many areas of creativity in one five-day experience that everyone can access on their laptops, phones and TVs. While we won't have the wonderful in-person SXSW that we know and love, we can gather together to be inspired by the work."

See the full 2021 SXSW lineup on the festival's website. The festival runs March 16-20, and will be available via the SXSW Online experience across web, mobile and premium viewing from your TV with a Connected TV app using Brightcove available to access via Apple TV, Roku, Fire TV, Android TV, and Samsung TV.

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