Shifting the attention from starry premieres at Austin’s Paramount Theatre to the independent film and TV projects that make up the majority of its lineup, the South by Southwest Film & TV Festival has announced the jury awards for its 2025 edition.
Amy Wang’s “Slanted” won the narrative feature competition, rewarding the tonal and thematic audacity of a high school comedy with boundary-pushing “The Substance” vibes. Wang, who also wrote the upcoming “Crazy Rich Asians” sequel, challenges beauty standards in a culture that idealizes whiteness, imagining a Chinese American teen (Shirley Chen) so desperate to be elected prom queen that she undergoes a radical identity-reconstruction procedure (played by Mckenna Grace post-operation). She immediately enjoys the perks of white privilege, but isn’t at all prepared for the downsides.
“This unflinching satirical thriller examines racial identity in a bold and skin-tingling new way,” said the jury (consisting of Rebecca Ford, Ryan Lattanzio and Variety’s own Clayton Davis), praising “the director’s vulnerability in mining her personal experience.” The trio also gave special jury awards to “Fucktoys” writer-director-producer-star Annapurna Sriram and “Fantasy Life” lead Amanda Peet.
SXSW programmers also created a one-off “Howl of Fame Award” for the best canine performance, awarded to Indy, star of Midnighter breakout “Good Boy,” a horror movie told from a dog’s POV.
The festival also gives audience awards in all categories, though voting continues through Sat., March 15, and winners will be announced that week.
See the complete list of winners below.
FEATURE FILM GRAND JURY AWARDS
NARRATIVE FEATURE COMPETITION
Winner: “Slanted” directed by Amy Wang
Special Jury Award for a Multi-Hyphenate: Annapurna Sriram, “Fucktoys”
Special Jury Award for Performance: Amanda Peet, “Fantasy Life”
DOCUMENTARY FEATURE COMPETITION
Winner: “Shuffle,” Benjamin Flaherty
Special Jury Award: “The Python Hunt,” Xander Robin
Special Jury Award: “Remaining Native,” Paige Bethmann
SHORT FILM COMPETITION GRAND JURY AWARDS Presented by Vimeo
NARRATIVE SHORT COMPETITION
Winner: “One Day This Kid,” Alexander Farah
Special Jury Award: “I’m The Most Racist Person I Know,” Leela Varghese
DOCUMENTARY SHORT COMPETITION
Winner: “Looking for a Donkey,” Juan Vicente Manrique
Special Jury Award: “Welcome Home Freckles,” Huiju Park
ANIMATED SHORTS COMPETITION
Winner: “Retirement Plan,” John Kelly
Special Jury Award: “My Wonderful Life,” Calleen Koh
MIDNIGHT SHORTS COMPETITION
Winner: “Stomach Bug,” Matty Crawford
Special Jury Award: “Whitch,” Hoku Uchiyama
MUSIC VIDEO COMPETITION
Winner: BIJI – “ZIGIDI,” Maceo Frost
Special Jury Award: Sarah Klang – “Other Girls,” Rose Bush and Kirsten Bode
TEXAS SHORTS COMPETITION
Winner: “Harvester,” Charlie Schwan
Special Jury Award: “Newbies,” Kimiko Matsuda-Lawrence and Megan Trufant Tillman
INDEPENDENT TV PILOT COMPETITION
Winner: “F*ckups Anonymous,” from showrunner Joe Tierney and director Kat Whalen
Special Jury Award: “Denim,” from showrunner and director Tedra Wilson
POSTER DESIGN COMPETITION
Winner: “Resolution: A Cinephonic Rhapsody for the Soul”
Designers: Scott Berman, Anthony Francisco Schepperd and Micah Buzan
Special Jury Award: “Glorious Summer”
Designer: Patryk Hardziej
XR EXPERIENCE COMPETITION
Winner: “In the Current of Being,” Cameron Kostopoulos
Jury Award: “Reflections of Little Red Dot,” Chloé Lee
Special Jury Award: “Proof as If Proof Were Needed,” Ting Tong Chang and Matt Adams
SXSW Special Awards
Redbreast Unhidden Award
Winner: “Brief Somebodies,” directed by Andy Reid, produced by Alessandra Sconza
Vimeo Staff Pick Award
Winner: “Familiar,” Marco Novoa
SXSW Best of Texas Award
Winner: “Butthole Surfers: The Hole Truth and Nothing Butt,” Tom Stern
Janet Pierson Champion Award
Winner: Lindsey Dryden
NEON Auteur Award for Uncompromising Visionary in the Visions Section
Winner: Grace Glowicki, director, writer and star, “Dead Lover”
Howl of Fame Award
Winner: Indy from “Good Boy,” directed by Ben Leonberg and produced by Kari Fischer, his humans
