After the premiere of Eva Longoria’s Flamin’ Hot at South by Southwest last year, it’s difficult to imagine the festival surpassing that level of Latinidad this year. But as they say, everything is bigger in Texas, so SXSW 2024 is back and better premiering twelve full-length films featuring Latinx talent, filmmakers, and luminaries.
Y2K
Starring Rachel Zegler, this disaster comedy is headlining SXSW 2024 alongside films starring Jake Gyllenhaal, Sydney Sweeney, Ryan Gosling, Anne Hathaway, and Dev Patel. That puts our girl Zegler in some pretty prestigious company. As you can probably guess from the title, Y2K is a period piece taking place twenty years ago, when those of us who were born/old enough were partying like it was 1999.
Bob Trevino Likes It
Sydney Sweeney isn’t the only Euphoria alum at SXSW 2024. Barbie Ferreira is starring in this dramedy alongside no other than John Leguizamo. Bob Trevino Likes It promises to be a father (figure)-daughter tale to warm our cold hearts. Also, it’s based on a true story.
The In Between
The small town of Eagle Pass, TX has been in the news of late, the center point of a nasty debate about immigration, state’s rights, and the continuing falsehood that immigrants are dangerous. The In Between is a documentary from one of the town’s native daughters, Robie Flores, as she returns home to process her grief after her brother’s passing.
Música
Promising a look into Brazilian-American culture, Música tells the coming-of-age story of writer, director, and star Rudy Mancuso as he deals with synesthesia, a condition where the brain routes sensory input through multiple unrelated systems. Think of hearing tastes or tasting colors. Oh, and it also stars Camila Mendes, finally playing an actual Brazilian character, as Mancuso’s love interest.
Omni Loop
Our second Brazilian entry comes from Rio de Janero-born director Bernandao Britto. His Omni Loop promises to be a wild ride with time travel, a black hole growing inside a woman’s chest, and Ayo Edebiri. Expect a lot of fun from this Mary Louise Parker-helmed comedy although sadly there are not a lot of Latinés in front of the camera.
Switch Up
On the other hand, Switch Up is Latinx in front and behind the camera. It’s by director Tara Pirnia and follows Cristian de la Fuente as a successful talk show host who gets stranded in South Texas after a scandal engulfs his professional persona. Expect love, redemption, and a strong moral center in this rom-com, pairing de la Fuente opposite Julieth Restrepo.
Cheech and Chong’s Last Movie
Cheech and Chong bring their first authorized documentary to SXSW 2024, promising more time reliving the glory days of Chicano icon Cheech Marin. Bring a joint to this look back into the archives and expect plenty of laughs, insights, and drug references, even if it is directed by gringito David Bushell.
Clemente
Roberto Clemente is a name any baseball fan should know. The Puerto Rican MLB icon is the subject of this SXSW 2024 documentary, which delves into his social justice work beyond the pitcher’s mound. Expect interviews from Latinx legends like Clemente’s wife and philanthropist Vera, Borricua icon Rita Moreno, and former St. Louis Cardinals catcher Yadier Molina.
Bionico’s Bachata
This Dominican film by director Yoel Morales explores addiction, love, and friendship via protagonist Bionico’s struggle to get clean for his finaceé, who’s coming out of rehab. Bionico’s Bachata promises “a raw vision of love in a hostile Caribbean city.”
Malta
Listed as hailing from Colombia, Argentina, and Norway, this international drama follows a Colombian woman who fantasizes about traveling to the title’s Mediterranean destination. Amid her daydreams, she starts a new relationship that has her questioning her reasons for wanting to leave.
Sing Sing
Colman Domingo stars in this play within a prison movie featuring a cast that includes previously incarcerated actors. It’s based on the true story of a rehabilitation program in the famous Sing Sing prison that uses the power of theater, and specifically putting on a play, to inspire and enrich inmates there.
Toll
Brazilian film Toll follows Maeve Jinkings as Suellen, a mother and toll both attendant, who gets mixed up with a group of thieves. She wants the money to send her son to a gay conversion camp in this film tracing complicated power dynamics.
