15 Amazing Movies That Made SXSW a Big Deal

For nearly 30 years now, the SXSW Film Festival has been going strong every spring in Austin, Texas. The theaters in Austin are flooded with independent cinema and studio films looking to make a respectable, sparkling debut, and by the time everyone’s had their fill a musical festival begins and the party receives a kickass and prolonged second wind.

With a casual environment, sunny weather (usually), delicious local food and taverns aplenty, SXSW is one of the most enjoyable film festivals in America before you even enter a theater. But even then it wouldn’t be worth the trouble if the movies all sucked. The atmosphere is a selling point but what really matters to film critics, industry professionals and amateur enthusiasts is that SXSW has a long and storied history of presenting exciting, original, influential motion pictures that eventually go on to take the whole world by storm.

Also: The 25 Biggest SXSW Horror Movies Ever

We’ve already taken a good long look at SXSW’s impressive pedigree in the horror genre, but why limit ourselves? Before the festival begins in earnest later this week, let’s take a trip down memory lane and remember some of the biggest, most acclaimed and most important films to emerge from SXSW in any genre. Many of these films debuted at SXSW, a few just made the festival an important stop on their world tours, but all of them capitalized on their appearance in Austin.

Let’s hope we’ll discover the next big thing when our on the ground coverage begins in earnest later this week!

15 Amazing Movies That Made SXSW a Big Deal:

Top Photo: A24

William Bibbiani (everyone calls him ‘Bibbs’) is Crave’s film content editor and critic. You can hear him every week on The B-Movies Podcast and Canceled Too Soon, and watch him on the weekly YouTube series What the Flick. Follow his rantings on Twitter at @WilliamBibbiani.

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