After having to cancel its 2020 iteration at the eleventh hour due to the COVID-19 pandemic and producing a virtual edition for the 2021 fest, SXSW film festival will be back with in-person offerings for its 2022 session and has now announced its opening night film.
The Michelle Yeoh starrer Everything Everywhere All at Once will open the 29th edition of the Austin film festival, which is running from March 11 to March 20.
A24 is behind the sci-fi action-adventure about an exhausted Chinese American woman (Yeoh) who can’t seem to finish her taxes. Daniel Kwan and Daniel Scheinert (aka, the Daniels) helmed the feature, their first directorial effort since the 2016 film Swiss Army Man starring Daniel Radcliffe and Paul Dano.
The feature’s ensemble cast includes Stephanie Hsu, Ke Huy Quan, James Hong, Jenny Slate, Harry Shum Jr., and Jamie Lee Curtis. Kwan and Scheinert produced the film with Jonathan Wang, the Russo brothers’ AGBO and A24. Ley Line Entertainment, IAC and Josh Rudnick executive produced.
“We are thrilled to premiere the Daniels’ latest work, which is fantastically inventive, entertaining, emotionally grounded, and crammed with the exceptional creativity that makes their projects so satisfying,” said Janet Pierson, SXSW’s director of film.
The 2021 SXSW festival will be a hybrid event, taking place in-person but with an online component. The rest of the fest’s film program will be announced on Jan. 12.
