South by Southwest Announces 2025 Audience Awards
The Accountant 2, Luv Ya, Bum! take home prizes
By Richard Whittaker, 4:43PM, Mon. Mar. 17, 2025
Austin confirmed its reputation as a hotbed for documentary filmmaking as South by Southwest announced its audience awards for the 2025 Film & Television Festival.
Last Wednesday, SXSW announced its jury awards, and the best documentary award went to Shuffle, Benjamin Flaherty's damning investigation of Florida's rehab industry. Now the audience awards have been announced and it's another Austin film heading up the Documentary Spotlight category. This time it's Luv Ya, Bum!, Sam Wainwright Douglas and David Hartstein's biography of the late, great Houston Oilers coach, Bum Phillips.
That's not the only film with a local connection to take home a prize. Jay Duplass, who began his filmmaking career as an undergradiate in Austin and has been a regular at SXSW since The Puffy Chair in 2005, took home the audience award in the Narrative Spotlight category for his latest work as a director, comi-tragedy The Baltimorons.
Here's the full list of winners in all categories, including features, shorts, TV, and the XR program. Congratulations to all.
Feature Film Program
HEADLINER
Presented by Epidemic Sound
Audience Award Winner: The Accountant 2
Director: Gavin O'Connor, Producers: Ben Affleck, Lynette Howell Taylor, Mark Williams, Screenwriter: Bill Dubuque
NARRATIVE FEATURE COMPETITION
Presented by Kickstarter
Audience Award Winner: Fantasy Life
Director/Screenwriter: Matthew Shear, Producers: Charlie Alderman, Chris Dodds, Phil Keefe, Amanda Peet, Emily McCann Lesser, David Bernon, Sam Slater
DOCUMENTARY FEATURE COMPETITION
Audience Award Winner: Remaining Native
Director: Paige Bethmann, Producers: Jessica Epstein, Paige Bethmann, Judd Ehrlich
NARRATIVE SPOTLIGHT
Audience Award Winner: The Baltimorons
Director: Jay Duplass, Producers: Jay Duplass, Mark Duplass, Mel Eslyn, Shuli Harel, David Bonnett Jr., Michael Strassner, Drew Langer, Screenwriters: Jay Duplass, Michael Strassner
DOCUMENTARY SPOTLIGHT
Audience Award Winner: Luv Ya, Bum!
Directors: Sam Wainwright Douglas, David Hartstein, Producers: Paul Jensen, Vance Howard, Screenwriter: Andrew Miller
MIDNIGHTER
Audience Award Winner: Nirvanna the Band the Show the Movie
Director: Matt Johnson, Producers: Matthew Miller, Matt Greyson, Screenwriters: Matt Johnson, Jay McCarrol
VISIONS
Audience Award Winner: Ghost Boy
Director: Rodney Ascher, Producers: Elika Portnoy, Ryan Bartecki, Gary Levinsohn, Billy Hines
GLOBAL
Presented by MUBI
Audience Award Winner: Corina
Director: Urzula Barba Hopfner, Producers: Carlos Hernández, Iván López- Barba, Urzula Barba, Screenwriters: Urzula Barba Hopfner, Samuel Sosa
24 BEATS PER SECOND
Audience Award Winner: Selena y Los Dinos
Director: Isabel Castro, Producers: Julie Goldman, Christopher Clements, J. Daniel Torres, David Blackman, Simran A. Singh
FESTIVAL FAVORITE
Audience Award Winner: Deaf President Now!
Directors: Nyle DiMarco, Davis Guggenheim, Producers: Nyle DiMarco, Davis Guggenheim, Amanda Rohlke, Jonathan King, Michael Harte
Short Film Program Presented by Vimeo
NARRATIVE SHORT COMPETITION
Audience Award Winner: "Ben’s Sister"
Director/Screenwriter: Emma Weinswig, Producers: Will Noyce, Emma Weinswig, Shane Bagwell, Chelsea Eisen
DOCUMENTARY SHORT COMPETITION
Audience Award Winner: "Armed only with a Camera: The Life and Death of Brent Renaud"
Directors: Brent Renaud, Craig Renaud, Producers: Juan Arredondo, Jon Alpert, Christof Putzel, Nancy Abraham, Lisa Heller, Tina Nguyen, Jeff Newton, Mami Kuwano Renaud, Naomi Mizoguchi, Tami Alpert
ANIMATED SHORT COMPETITION
Audience Award Winner: "Retirement Plan"
Director: John Kelly, Screenwriters: John Kelly, Tara Lawall, Producers: Julie Murnaghan, Andrew Freedman
MIDNIGHT SHORT COMPETITION
Audience Award Winner: "Lurk"
Directors: Mairin Hart, Josh Wallace Kerrigan, Screenwriter: Josh Wallace Kerrigan, Producers: Mairin Hart, Josh Wallace Kerrigan, Devin Das, Greg Cohen, John Nodorft
TEXAS SHORT COMPETITION
Audience Award Winner: "Sweetbriar"
Director/Screenwriter: Danny Rivera, Producer: MK Goss
MUSIC VIDEO COMPETITION
Audience Award Winner: A$AP Rocky - "Tailor Swif"
Directors/Screenwriters: Vania Heymann, Gal Muggia
TV Program
TV PREMIERE
Audience Award Winner: Spy High
Director: Jody McVeigh-Schultz, Producers: Mark Wahlberg, Stephen Levinson, Archie Gips, Aliza Rosen, Jody McVeigh-Schultz, David Wendell
TV SPOTLIGHT
Audience Award Winner: Mix Tape
Director: Lucy Gaffy, Producers: Aoife O’Sullivan, Tristan Orpen Lynch, Angie Fielder, Polly Staniford, Screenwriter: Jo Spain
INDEPENDENT TV PILOT COMPETITION
Audience Award Winner: Bulldozer
Showrunner/Screenwriter: Joanna Leeds, Director: Andrew Leeds, Producers: Joanna Leeds, Andrew Leeds, Rhett Reese, Caleb Reese, Michael Day
XR Experience
XR EXPERIENCE COMPETITION
Audience Award Winner: Face Jumping
Directors: Danny Cannizzaro, Samantha Gorman, Producers: Yuxin Gao, J Noland, Screenwriter: Samantha Gorman
XR EXPERIENCE SPOTLIGHT
Audience Award Winner: Resolution: A Cinephonic Rhapsody for the Soul
Directors: Scott Berman, Ryan Hartsell, Producer/Screenwriter: Scott Berman
Catch up with all of The Austin Chronicle's SXSW 2025 coverage.
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South By Southwest, SXSW, SXSW 2025, The Baltimorons, Luv Ya, Bum!
