Amazon to stream canceled SXSW Film Festival in your home for free
South by... your couch?
Amazon has partnered with the South by Southwest Film Festival to bring locked-down movie lovers a streaming selection from its planned 2020 slate, which would've screened as part of the annual media event's 2020 edition before this year's edition was canceled amid the coronavirus pandemic.
The Prime Video presents the SXSW 2020 Film Festival Collection will offer filmmakers from the 2020 SXSW Film Festival an invitation to show their work during the digital festival that will play for 10 days exclusively on Prime Video. The one-time event is scheduled to stream for free to anyone who has an Amazon account, regardless of their Prime membership status. Filmmakers who choose to participate will still receive a screening fee for their contributions.
“I’m thrilled that these two great champions of indie film (SXSW and Amazon Prime Video) are teaming up to resurrect this year’s canceled film festival,” reads a press statement from actor and independent filmmaker Jay Duplass, who's participated in SXSW events in the past. “These are unprecedented times, and it’s going to take unprecedented solutions to carry on and celebrate these great films and the people who worked so hard to make them.”
Originally scheduled to run from March 13-22 in Austin, Texas, the 2020 SXSW Film Festival was officially canceled on March 6, two days after Amazon pulled its selection of titles from the lineup amid growing coronavirus concerns.
Films originally announced to screen at the 2020 SXSW Film Festival included Pete Davidson's Judd Apatow-directed dramedy King of Staten Island, the Issa Rae-Kumail Nanjiani rom-com The Lovebirds; writer Kelly Oxford’s directorial debut, Pink Skies Ahead, a coming-of-age tale inspired by one of her personal essays; and Bad Trip, a hidden-camera comedy starring Eric André, Lil Rel Howery, and Tiffany Haddish in a tale of two best friends embarking on a cross-country road trip filled with pranks.
A launch date for the Prime Video presents the SXSW 2020 Film Festival Collection will be announced soon, as will a slate of projects participating in the event.
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