SXSW Speakers

SXSW announces even more featured speakers coming to Austin in 2023

With three weeks left until game time, South by Southwest announced another long list of featured and keynote speakers.

Whether the return of South by Southwest (SXSW) in three weeks is putting butterflies in your tummy or sweat on your brow, we're in the home stretch. The newest announcement — another wave of featured speakers — does not say it's the final round, but time is running out to make adjustments before the start of the festival on March 10.

Previous announcements included keynote addresses from Patagonia CEO Ryan Gellert and team members who worked on the James Webb Space Telescope. There have also been two rounds of music showcase announcements, culminating in a list of nearly 500 performances.

The announcement on February 14 is heavy with big names including three entertainers presenting keynotes: actor, producer, and New York Times bestselling author Priyanka Chopra Jonas; Grammy Award-nominated singer-songwriter, producer, and author Margo Price; and Academy Award winner Tilda Swinton.

Two more newly announced keynote sessions come with longer descriptions: Chef José Andrés presents The Stories We Tell Can Change the World, and Bernard Sumner, Stephen Morris, and Gillian Gilbert of New Order appear in conversation with The Times rock & pop critic Will Hodgkinson.The former keynote tackles the responsibility of storytellers to address crises around the world, using Andrés' humanitarian group World Central Kitchen as a lens. The latter discusses the discography and history of the history-making band.

“Today's speaker announcement is a fantastic milestone for the 2023 event and spotlights five additional Keynotes and numerous Featured Speakers, including influential icons and up and coming innovators,” said Chief Programming Officer and Co-President Hugh Forrest. “We are extremely proud to have assembled a diverse, comprehensive conference program for SXSW, and we can’t wait to share it with our community in March.”

Organized into 25 programming tracks presented in a variety of session formats, SXSW celebrates the convergence of technology, film, television, and music. Tracks include civic engagement, climate change, design, film and TV, psychedelics, sports, travel, and more.

Just some featured speakers and sessions joining the 2023 lineup include:

Chair and CEO of General Motors Mary Barra with CEO, CTO, President, and co-founder of Cruise and co-founder of Twitch Kyle Vogt
Actress, philanthropist, entrepreneur, New York Times bestselling author, and co-founder of Hello Bello Kristen Bell, CEO of Hello Bello Erica Buxton, and actor, comedian, filmmaker, host of the podcast Armchair Expert, and co-founder of Hello Bello Dax Shepard
Chief Diversity Officer of TBWA\North America Aliah Berman with activist, advocate, author, and founder of the #MeToo Movement Tarana Burke
Founder and CEO of Joby Aviation Joe
Ben Bevirt with Chief Sustainability Officer at Delta Air Lines Pam Fletcher
Chief Digital and Commercial Officer at Unilever Conny Braams, President, Worldwide Advertising at Netflix Jeremi Gorman, founder and CEO of Media
Link Michael Kassan, and Senior Vice President and Chief Marketing and Communications Officer at Delta Air Lines Tim Mapes
Co-founder and President of OpenAI Greg Brockman with founder and CEO of Dot Dot Dot Media Laurie Segall
United States Secretary of Energy Jennifer M. Granholm
General Partner at Benchmark Bill Gurley with investor, New York Times bestselling author and host of the podcast The Tim Ferriss Show Tim Ferriss
The Art of Creating Influence 101 on navigating entertainment careers
The Blog Era: Hip-Hop's Wild Wild West on the influence of music bloggers
Daddy Issues in Film on fathers in film
Dateline 24/7: How the True Crime Powerhouse Became a Podcast Empire on a genre leader
Driving Personal Health Forward: The Role of Apple Watch and iPhone on digitally monitoring health at home
Evil Dead Rise: Flesh-Possessing Demons Come Home on the new Evil Dead film
An Inside Look at “Blindspotting” Season 2 with Rafael Casal and Daveed Diggs on the continuation of the series
Onyx Collective Presents “UnPrisoned” on a new Hulu series
The Kids Are (Not) Alright: Gun Violence Terrorizing Youth of America on activism and justice
Leguizamo Does America: Next Stop – Austin on the contributions of U.S. Latinos

For a full lineup and more information on featured sessions, visit SXSW.com.

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Movie Review

Amazing graphics do lion's share of the work in Mufasa: The Lion King

Photo courtesy of Disney

Sarabi, Mufasa, and Rafiki in Mufasa: The Lion King.

The 2019 “live action” remake of The Lion King had two big things going for it: People’s love for the original 1994 animated film and a filmmaking style that made the completely CGI film appear photorealistic. The new prequel, Mufasa: The Lion King, has the second element to lean on, but it must win moviegoers over with some familiar characters in a whole new story.

The origin story of Mufasa (voiced by Aaron Pierre) is broached by having it be told to Kiara (Blue Ivy Carter), the daughter of Simba (Donald Glover) and Nala (Beyoncé), by Rafiki (John Kani), Timon (Billy Eichner), and Pumbaa (Seth Rogen), the first of a series of unnecessary decisions in the film.

As the film tells it, a young Mufasa is on his way to a new home with his parents when he’s washed away by a flash flood. Lost and alone, he’s discovered by Taka (Kelvin Harrison, Jr.), who convinces his mom, Eshe (Thandie Newton), to take Mufasa into their pride, although Taka’s dad, Obasi (Lennie James), is less welcoming.

Mufasa, who proves himself to be brave and daring, and Taka, who's loyal but somewhat weak-willed, grow from cubs into young lions, and their adventures together eventually grow to include a young Rafiki (Kagiso Ledika), as well as Sarabi (Tiffany Boone) and her hornbill companion, Zazu (Preston Nyman). They’re also menaced by a pride of white lions led by Kiros (Mads Mikkelsen), who waste no opportunity to threaten the other lions’ way of life.

Directed by Barry Jenkins and written by Jeff Nathanson, the film — like its 2019 predecessor — has absolutely gorgeous visuals. Using a mixture of real locations and computer generated imagery, Jenkins and his team created a world that feels fully immersive. Everything from the water to the grass to the animals looks like it actually exists, which is an amazing accomplishment and should be celebrated as such.

But the level of detail on that side of the film only increases the level of disappointment with the story. Given the chance to create something new, the filmmakers instead seem to treat the film as just a way to introduce every significant symbol from the original story. You would have thought having young versions of familiar characters would be enough, but instead they go overboard with references, including the creation of a certain location that is patently ridiculous.

Nathanson also overloads the plot with characters and twists. Mufasa’s rise from a nobody to king is faced with multiple obstacles, way too many for what should have been a much simpler story. And Lin-Manuel Miranda’s streak of great music in Disney films ends here, as none of the four songs he contributed work very well. Some are undone by odd phrasing by the performers, and others look strange coming out of the mouths of the characters, but either way, the songs just don’t connect.

The voice performances neither elevate the film nor take away from it. Pierre (Rebel Ridge) and Harrison (Waves) are rising stars in actual live action films, but their appearances here are negligible to the impact of their characters. Mikkelsen (Rogue One) is known for playing great bad guys, and he’s okay here, but nothing to write home about. The rest of the performers don't offer anything special to their roles, including Beyoncé and her daughter, Blue Ivy.

For those who are only looking for “Oh, that’s where that came from!” moments, Mufasa: The Lion King may fit the bill. But for anyone who may want something more than a version of nostalgia, especially from a visionary director like Jenkins, it serves as nothing more than two hours of pretty vistas.

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Mufasa: The Lion King opens in theaters on December 20.

movies film

SXSW Speakers

SXSW announces even more featured speakers coming to Austin in 2023

Movie Review

Amazing graphics do lion's share of the work in Mufasa: The Lion King

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