GIRL WALKS INTO A BAR: WORLD PREMIERE SLATED FOR SXSW 2011

Girl Walks Into a Bar will be receiving its World, Premieres as an official selection of the Spolight Premieres section at the South by Southwest Film Festival 2011 . The film is a sharp-witted comedy that follows a group of apparent strangers in interlocking stories taking place in ten different bars during the course of one evening in Los Angeles. The cast includes Josh Hartnett, Carla Gugino, Zachary Quinto, Danny DeVito, Rosario Dawson

The South by Southwest (SXSW) Film Conference and Festival is thrilled to announce the features lineup for this year’s Festival, March 11 – 19, 2011 in Austin, Texas. The 2011 lineup continues the SXSW tradition of tapping into the cultural zeitgeist, highlighting emerging talent and breakthrough performances and supporting first-time filmmakers. The Midnighters and SXFantastic feature sections, along with the short film program, will be announced next week.

“This is the most exciting moment for us. After a fantastic festival of discovery in 2010, we can finally unveil the line up for this year’s event,” says Film Conference and Festival Producer Janet Pierson. “SXSW prides itself on taking chances, sifting for films that are the seedlings of the next generation of must-see artists. This year’s line up is full of emerging voices and filmmakers who transcended the resources they had on hand, often with an alchemist’s touch.”

Over the course of nine days, 130 features will screen at SXSW 2011. The program consists of 60 World Premieres, 12 North American Premieres and 16 U.S. Premieres. These films were selected from a record 1,792 feature-length film submissions composed of 1,323 U.S. and 469 international feature-length films. SXSW saw a 23% increase in its overall submissions over 2010, with a record number of nearly 4,900 total.

The festival’s main competition categories once again find eight Narrative Features and eight Documentary Features, vying for their respective Grand Jury Prizes. New for 2011, films in competition will also be eligible for screenplay, editing, cinematography, music and acting awards.

The Narrative Feature Competition includes: 96 MINUTES, directed by Aimée Lagos, A Year in Mooring, directed by Chris Eyre, American Animal, directed by Matt D’Elia, Charlie Casanova, directed by Terry McMahon, FLY AWAY, directed by Janet Grillo, HAPPY NEW YEAR, directed by K. Lorrel Manning, Natural Selection, directed by Robbie Pickering and Small, Beautifully Moving Parts, directed by Annie J. Howell & Lisa Robinson. The Documentary Feature Competition includes: A Mouthful, directed by Sally Rowe, Better This World, directed by Katie Galloway & Kelly Duane de la Vega, The City Dark, directed by Ian Cheney, DRAGONSLAYER, directed by Tristan Patterson, FIGHTVILLE, directed by Michael Tucker & Petra Epperlein, Kumaré, directed by Vikram Gandhi, LAST DAYS HERE, directed by Don Argott & Demian Fenton and Where Soldiers Come From, directed by Heather Courtney.

Previously announced films include Opening Night film Source Code, as well as narrative features The Beaver, Paul and The Innkeepers, and documentaries Conan O’Brien Can’t Stop, It’s About You, and Square Grouper. In addition to nine full days of film screenings, SXSW Film will ultimately feature over 80 sessions of panels and workshops in the Film Conference. For details on the confirmed sessions, selected from proposals submitted via the SXSW PanelPicker™ interface, visit www.sxsw.com/film/talks. The final panel and conference lineup will be announced on February 15.

source: Film Blogging The Real World