SXSW 2023 Audience Award Winners: The Films and Shows That Won Hearts
The South by Southwest (SXSW) Film & TV Festival has announced the Audience Award winners for the 31st edition of the festival. Over nine days, the festival screened 110 features, 63 short films, 20 music videos, 12 TV premieres, 3 TV spotlight, 7 independent TV pilots, and 35 XR experience projects. The Audience Awards were certified by Maxwell Locke & Ritter LLP.
The Audience Awards followed the previously-announced 2023 Jury Awards. The complete list of winners can be found on the festival’s website. The films and shows in the SXSW 2023 lineup screened in categories such as Headliners, Narrative Feature Competition, Documentary Feature Competition, Narrative Spotlight, Documentary Spotlight, Visions, Midnighters, Global, 24 Beats Per Second, and Festival Favorites. The Episodic program included TV Premieres, TV Spotlight, and the Independent TV Pilot Competition.
The festival’s Shorts Film Program presented by IMDbPro featured six competitive sections: Narrative Shorts, Documentary Shorts, Animated Shorts, Midnight Shorts, Texas Shorts, and Music Videos. The XR Experience Competition, Spotlight, and Special Events programming were held both in-person and virtually. All categories were eligible for section-specific Audience Awards.
The Audience Award winners were chosen by the festival-goers themselves, making it a truly democratic selection process. The winners are the films and shows that won the hearts of the audiences. They represent a diverse range of voices and stories, showcasing the best of what the festival has to offer.
This year’s Audience Award winners include both narrative and documentary features, as well as TV shows and short films.
Some of the winners include:
- Narrative Feature Competition: “The Pink Cloud” directed by Iuli Gerbase
- Documentary Feature Competition: “Flee” directed by Jonas Poher Rasmussen
- Narrative Spotlight: “The End of Us” directed by Henry Loevner and Steven Kanter
- Documentary Spotlight: “The Lost Sons” directed by Ursula Macfarlane
- Episodic: “The Other Guy” directed by Matt Okine and Kacie Anning
- Shorts: “The Game” directed by Roman Hodel
The SXSW 2023 Audience Award winners represent the best of what the festival has to offer – diverse, innovative, and thought-provoking films and shows that capture the hearts and minds of the audiences. The festival continues to be a platform for emerging talent and a celebration of the art of storytelling.
