South by Southwest festival to go on despite coronavirus scare; Dev Patel's Green Knight, Judd Apatow's The King of Staten Island part of lineup

The South by Southwest (SXSW) tech and culture festival is scheduled to take place in the city of Austin in the US from 13 March to 22 March. However, with the worldwide coronavirus outbreak, there have bee, concerns of the infection spreading in the Texas city due to an influx of attendees. Reuters reports that Facebook, Intel and Twitter have already pulled out from the event. There is even a Change.org petition with 40,000 so far demanding cancellation. According to T he Guardian, organisers released a statement which said: “We hope that people follow the science, implement the recommendations of public health agencies, and continue to participate in the activities that make our world connected.” [caption id=“attachment_8117671” align=“alignnone” width=“825”] SXSW 2020. Image from Twitter[/caption] The 27th edition of the SXSW film festival includes 135 feature films in its line up, including 99 world premieres, nine North American premieres and five US premieres. Short films from all over the world and work by new independent filmmakers will also be showcased. The A24 thriller _Green Knight_ led by Dev Patel is scheduled to have its world premiere, while the opener is Judd Apatow’s The King of Staten Island starring Pete Davidson. A road trip comedy Bad Trip, directed by Kitao Sakurai, starring Eric Andre and Tiffany Haddish is among the highly-anticipated premieres. Others are Michael Showlater’s The Lovebirds with Kumail Nanjiani and Issa Rae; BlacKkKlansman co-writer Kevin Willmott’s The 24th; John Leguizamo’s directorial debut Critical Thinking, and Kris Rev’s third film I Used to Go There, states IndieWire. Spike Jonze will present his documentary Beastie Boys Story and Alex Winter will showcase Zappa. Wu-Tang Clan member RZA will also mark his return to the festival with Cut Throat City, with a star-studded cast that includes Ethan Hawke and Eiza Gonzalez. Indiewire writes that in the Midnighters sections are Shana Feste’s Run Sweetheart Run and Natalie Erick James’ Relic, which had earlier premiered at the Sundance Film Festival. There is also Keith Thomas-directed Jewish horror movie The Vigil, screened at last year’s Toronto International Film Festival. Others include John Berardo’s Dembangers, Robin Pront’s The Silencing, Lars Damoiseaux’s Yummy, Elle Callahan’s Witch Hunt, among others. The Festival Favorites segment, where acclaimed films that premiered in other festivals from the around the world are exhibited, include the Sundance Grand Jury prize winner Boys State, Charm City Kings, Miss Juneteenth, Save Yourselves!, Nine Days, Us Kids, Coded Bias, and The Climb.   In the Special Events section are the a 4K restoration of Hal Needham’s RAD! as well as Dennis Hopper’s 1980 drama Out of the Blue.