- RecDek's Watchlist
- Posts
- SXSW Count Down
Sunday 15th March 2026
Will you answer cinema’s call?
South By South West is really a thing. Austin for a balmy Spring week is an oasis of creativity, where one can find themselves in a more-than-interesting talk about the future of entertainment-tech, then, before you know if, you’ve seen a documentary on the catastrophe that is fast fashion, had a drink at the San José, wandered into an open air bar on 6th St to find Hermanos Gutiérrez twanging away, closely followed by the lungs of Shannon and the Clams, to be followed by, and finishing the night: The Black Keys. You might even have time for a premiere after party in the hills of Austin. Wild.
If you’re feeling really fancy, you buy the Official Pass (or get work to do it for you). It would be hard not to find something of interest, check out the official tracks:
Brand and marketing
Cities & climate
Creator economy
Culture
Startups
Sports & gaming
Tech & AI
Workplace
Design
Health
Film & TV
Music
Needless to say at RecDek House we take a keen interest in what the movie programming is looking like. Faves that have debuted here in the past include: Thunder Road, Everybody Wants Some and Monsters.
2026 is the 40th edition of SXSW, here’s are 5 that have caught my eye this year:
I Love Boosters - Boots Riley's back, and if Sorry to Bother You is anything to go by, this is going to be rather unhinged. Keke Palmer leads a crew of Oakland thieves squaring off against a fast-fashion CEO played by Demi Moore. Cast is stacked, the politics will be worn on its sleeve, and it's opening night. Tone, set.
Seekers of Infinite Love - A cult comedy where the cult is almost beside the point. Four catastrophically broken siblings have to briefly set aside their own disasters, gambling addiction, social anxiety, deeply questionable folk music, to rescue their youngest from a Jonestown situation. Justin Theroux as the deprogrammer. Hannah Einbinder is terrific. This one's going to sting.
Serling - Rod Serling went from WWII veteran to the man who essentially invented the socially conscious anthology drama, all while fighting network censors every step of the way. The Twilight Zone doesn't exist without that friction. This feels like essential television history dressed up as biography.
Black Zombie - The zombie as a figure rooted in Haitian resistance, not a Romero set piece. This doc traces the walking dead back to where they actually came from, before Hollywood got its hands on them. Exactly the kind of reclamation that should have happened decades ago!
The Last Critic - Robert Christgau spent half a century writing about music with more rigour and economy than almost anyone. A whole generation of writers learned how to have an opinion by reading him. Whether you agreed with him or not, you always knew exactly where he stood. Worth understanding how that discipline gets built.
And if you’re at home this week, check out our pick of the week.
Our pick of the week…
This is the kind of documentary that makes you put your phone down, and then stare at the wall, for a long while.
Andrew Jarecki - the man behind Capturing the Friedmans and RecDek firm fave The Jinx - spent six years alongside co-director Charlotte Kaufman building a portrait of Alabama's prison network that is difficult to process. It premiered at Sundance and is now on HBO Max.
The starting point was a prison barbecue. Jarecki and Kaufman were invited to film what looked, on the surface, like a perfectly pleasant afternoon. The moment cameras stopped rolling, a completely different picture emerged, men speaking quietly, urgently, describing a world running on violence, neglect and deliberate concealment. What followed was years of contact with inmates smuggling footage out on contraband phones: filthy cells, officers selling drugs, men beaten unconscious, bodies. Alabama's prisons hold 20,000 people at double their intended capacity, with a third of the staff they need.
The film anchors itself to Steven Davis, beaten so severely by officers that every bone in his face was broken. His mother spent years seeking answers. The officer primarily responsible faced over twenty separate misconduct complaints and was then promoted.
The US Department of Justice declared the system unconstitutional in 2020. Alabama's response was to redirect $400 million of federal Covid relief money toward building new prisons while cutting parole rates by nearly three quarters. The prison labour programme pays inmates $2 a day, unchanged since 1927, generating $450 million annually for the state. Men deemed too dangerous for release work at public buildings, the governor's mansion and local zoos.
Jarecki and Kaufman are careful to note this isn't an Alabama-specific problem. It's just that Alabama, through the bravery of the people inside its prisons, became briefly visible. Most states have kept the lights off. One of the most important documentaries made in recent years.
If you’re in Austin - sxsw.recdek.com - if you’re not, enjoy RecDek’ing all the same.
Ed
RecDek is for independent entertainment discovery. RecDek House is for the indie industry in all its forms. Tell your friends.
Tell your friends