SXSW Deal Update: A Lot of Action, Not a Lot of Closure

Activity is swirling around a handful of movies at SXSW as the film fest moves into Monday afternoon, but very little has actually sold thus far. As acquisitions execs from Magnolia, IFC, Phase 4, Focus, Strand, Oscilloscope and more try to catch as many films as they can before committing to anything, it’s likely that the dominos will quickly fall as soon as one first pulls the trigger.

The narrative competition feature 96 Minutes, from writer-director Aimee Lagos, has offers on the table, as does Vikram Gandhi’s competition documentary Kumare. The Dan Lindsay and T.J. Martin documentary Undefeated, about a volunteer coach resurrecting an inner-city football team, has roused audiences and drawn buyer attention, as has the Emerging Visions feature Weekend from writer-director Andrew Haigh.

Ben Wheatley’s SXFantastic entry Kill List could nail down a distribution deal today, and the David Mackenzie-directed You Instead, the competition doc Fightville from Michael Tucker and the apocalypse thriller The Divide directed by Xavier Gens have all prompted positive attention.

Narrative competition film Small, Beautifully Moving Parts, from writer-directors Annie J. Howell and Lisa Robinson, and Where Soldiers Come From, a competition documentary from Heather Courtney, had yet to screen by early afternoon Monday -- both are on buyers’ agendas.

Kino Lorber acquired U.S. rights to the doc El Bulli: Cooking in Progress from director Gereon Wetzel for its new theatrical label Alive Mind Cinema Monday morning.