Columbia Filmmakers Dominate South by Southwest 2025 Lineup
Columbia filmmakers are taking their films to Austin, Texas for the popular South by Southwest Film Festival, held every year to celebrate the hottest innovations in culture, music, film, and technology.
Taking place this year from March 7 to March 15, 2025, the festival will feature music and comedy showcases, film and television screenings, world-class exhibitions, professional development and networking opportunities, tech competitions, award ceremonies and much more.
This year's film lineup includes six exciting new films from Columbia University filmmakers: Creede U.S.A will be featured in the Documentary spotlight section, Good Boy in the Midnighters section and Night Fight in the Visions section. After making their premieres at Sundance, The Perfect Neighbor will feature in the Festival Favorite section while Unholy will feature in the Narrative Short Competition.
Read on for more details about these films and their filmmakers.
Directed by Kahane Corn Cooperman '91, Produced by Cooperman and Innbo Shim
Documentary Spotlight section (World Premiere)
In tiny Creede, CO, conservative mining families and progressive theater people have been trying to negotiate their differences for 60 years. When the same issues polarizing America ripple through the town, can it maintain its fragile coexistence?
Conform Editor, Adjunct Assistant Professor Michael Cacioppo Belantara; DI Producer, Jeff Sousa '10. Post-production for Caper was completed at Sousa's Dungeon Beach, a Post Partner of the Film Program.
Narrative Spotlight section (World Premiere)
When a friend's disastrous sext accidentally lands in his boss' phone, a group of clueless men race against the clock, embarking on an all-night odyssey through New York City's underbelly to hack, bribe, and bluff their way to deleting the evidence. Over the course of seven hours, this misguided, toxically masculine mission to save a friend from ruin exposes their own fears, flaws, and misconceptions about women
Co-produced and directed by Ben Leonberg '15; screenplay by Leonberg and Alex Cannon '17; post supervising by Adjunct Assistant Professor Michael Cacioppo Belantara and Director of Motion Picture and Information Technology, Peter Vaughan. with Jeff Sousa '10 serving as colorist.
Midnighter section (World Premiere)
Do you ever wonder why your dog stares at empty corners, barks for no reason, or refuses to go into the basement? Good Boy is the story of a dog who sees everything that goes bump in the night. No talking pets, just terrifying scares.
Co-produced and directed by Khary Saeed Jones '10
Visions section (World Premiere)
It’s been seven years since I was followed by a vigilante down back roads in rural Canada. Night Fight explores the secret life spawned by the encounter and the impossible task of sharing this experience with my young son.
Music Supervisor, Cheryl Wang '22
Narrative Feature Competition (World Premiere)
Bunny is a hustler out on a job when things go sideways and he’s thrown into a fight for his life. With the help of his best friend Dino, this fight kicks off one hot, endless, New York summer day spent scheming with the neighbors of their East Village tenement building to try — and repeatedly fail — to hide a dead body. Did I say body? I meant bodies. The cops keep sniffing around, the downstairs neighbors want to party, an Airbnb guest longs for love, an estranged father resurfaces, and Bunny just wants to make it through the night.
Co-produced by Sam Bisbee (CC '90)
Festival Favorite section (Texas Premiere)
In June 2023, Ajike Owens, a vibrant, Black mother of four and a family friend, was killed by her neighbor, Susan Lorincz. The Perfect Neighbor unravels the chilling escalation from a minor dispute to a murder.
Directed by Daisy Friedman (BC '24); Produced by General Studies student Arielle Friedman, Isaak Popkin (CC '24) and Camila Grimaldi
Narrative Short Competition (Texas Premiere)
A girl with a gastrointestinal disorder attends her family’s Passover Seder for the first time since being put on a feeding tube. There, she’s confronted by pushy family members, malfunctioning medical devices, and a room of food she can’t eat.
See SXSW 2025’s full lineup here.