South By Southwest (SXSW), founded in Austin in 1987, returns for its 33rd year this March 13-22. The annual festival and conference celebrates film, television, music, and convergence. There is so much to enjoy and explore during SXSW every year, it’s hard to keep up with it all. But that’s where we come in. 😉

Geeks, this year’s SXSW Film Festival has an incredible lineup of films and TV series premieres fit for gamers and sci-fi fans.

Console Wars

Official Summary

In 1990, Sega, a fledgling arcade company assembled a team of misfits to take on the greatest video game company in the world, Nintendo. It was a once-in-a-lifetime, no-holds-barred conflict that pit brother against brother, kids against grownups, Sonic against Mario, and uniquely American capitalism against centuries-old Japanese tradition. For the first time ever, the men and women who fought on the front lines for Sega and Nintendo discuss this battle that defined a generation.

Why you should check this out

Learn more about the battle between Sega and Nintendo 30 years ago. Seth Rogen co-produces this documentary and Jonah Tulis and Blake J. Harris direct. This documentary makes its world premiere under the Documentary Feature category.

Insert Coin

Official Summary

Eugene Jarvis, the creator of the ‘80s classic video games Defender and Robotron, returns to the industry in the 90s. In the process, he assembles a team that pioneers the concept of bringing live action into video games, kickstarting a new era in the arcades. The technology mushrooms into massive hits such as Mortal Kombat and NBA Jam and soon the team begins to conquer the world. What began as a small tight-knit group begins to deal with success and eventually the rise of home consumer technology.

Why you should check this out

Director and editor Joshua Tsui brings this documentary to light and shows us the pioneers of classic video games from the ‘80s and ‘90s. The documentary makes its world premiere under the Documentary Feature category.

Rare Beasts

Official Summary

Mandy is a mother, a writer, a nihilist. Mandy is a modern woman in a crisis. Raising a son in the midst of a female revolution, mining the pain of her parents’ separation and professionally writing about a love that no longer exists, she falls upon a troubled man, Pete, who’s searching for a sense of worth, belonging and ‘restored’ Male identity.

Why you should check this out

Billie Piper of Doctor Who makes her directorial debut at SXSW with Rare Beasts. If you loved her as Rose Tyler, check out her in Rare Beasts as she embraces her role behind the camera as well. The film makes its North American premiere under the Narrative Feature category.

Solar Opposites

Official Summary

Solar Opposites centers around a family of aliens from another world who must take refuge in middle America. They disagree on whether Earth is awful or awesome.

Why you should check this out

Justin Roiland of Rick & Morty and Mike McMahan, former writer’s assistant on Rick & Morty, co-created Solar Opposites. Justin Roiland also voices, as well as Thomas Middleditch of HBO’s Silicon Valley and Sean Giambrone of ABC’s The Goldbergs.

Upload

Official Summary

From Emmy-Award winning writer Greg Daniels (The Office) comes Upload, a new sci-fi comedy series set in a technologically advanced future where hologram phones, 3D food printers and automated grocery stores are the norm. Most uniquely, humans can choose to be “uploaded” into a virtual afterlife when they find themselves near-death. The series follows a young app developer, Nathan Brown, who winds up in the hospital following a self-driving car accident, needing to quickly decide his fate. 

Why you should check this out

An Amazon Original, Upload is a 10-episode sci-fi comedy series starring Robbie Amell of The Tomorrow People and The Flash. The series also stars Andy Allo, Kevin Bigley, Allegra Edward, and Zainab Johnson. 

This is so cool, I wanna go to SXSW!

Great news: You can get a film badge or a film wristband. There’s still time to make plans to attend the SXSW Film Festival to check out these geektastic films and TV series. 

Join the Geek Gals team on-site at SXSW 2020! Which film or TV series are you looking forward to?

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Featured image credit: Singer Films, Western Edge Pictures