More South by Southwest (SXSW) 2024 news was released today, including the fourth round of keynote and featured speakers, list of new Featured Sessions, and SXSW EDU's film lineup and list of performing artists.

The uninitiated might find this list overwhelming; The old pros might find it even more so, knowing what it takes to get to two or more events a day. Between the conference, the various festivals, and the unofficial events, there will always be something great to go to, so don't sweat it too much. Now's a good time to start selecting "favorite" events on the schedule.

Let's start with the newly announced speakers. Rounds two and three were announced in December 2023, and this latest batch includes names as varied as Jane Fonda and Elijah Wood to Dan Auerbach of six-time Grammy Award-winning band The Black Keys.

Auerbach joins bandmade Patrick Carney as keynote speakers, while the newest featured speakers include:

• Ed Bastian, CEO of Delta Air Lines
• Jane Fonda, two-time Academy Award-winning actress, producer, author, and activist
• Devery Jacobs, actor/writer/director
• Chris Smalls, founder and president of the Amazon Labor Union and founder of The Congress of Essential Workers
• Dwyane Wade, three-time NBA champion, Basketball Hall of Famer, Olympic gold medalist, New York Times best-selling author, and businessman
• Elijah Wood, actor, producer, and co-founder of SpectreVision
• Dan Clancy, CEO at Twitch
• Ray Kurzweil, inventor, futurist, New York Times best-selling author, Grammy Award winner, and principal researcher and AI visionary at Google
• Laurie Segall, CEO of Mostly Human Media

A few of the new Featured Sessions include Engaging the Next Gen: My Hero Academia’s Journey to Roblox; FX’s Reservation Dogs: Indigenous Storytelling Without Bounds; and Icons of Impact: A Conversation with Dwyane Wade. A full list can be found here.

SXSW EDU has also unveiled the nine films selected to screen at this year’s event. They include:

• Butterfly in the Sky, the story of the beloved PBS children's series Reading Rainbow
• Como Vivimos (How We Live), which spends a year following a community of Latinx families living in California's farmworker housing centers
• Farming While Black, which examines the historical plight of Black farmers in the U.S.
• Harlem Rising, tracing the history of the Harlem Children’s Zone
• Join or Die, a film about why you should join a club
• She Creates Change, a groundbreaking anthology series about six young girls who use life skills to overcome obstacles and transform their lives
• Show Her The Money, a never-before-told story addressing how women get less than 2 percent of venture capital
• The Truth About Reading, which looks at the illiteracy problem in America
• We Are Columbine, the first film to offer insider access behind and beyond the headlines of Columbine

Creators such as the directors and producers will take the stage for post-screening Q&As. You can read more about the films and view trailers here.

Four performances selected from PanelPicker were also announced, with a lineup of poets, musicians, and artists.

As SXSW describes it, "From an open mic to student musical theater, this year's lineup will push the conversation forward around expression, mental well-being, relatability, and education." A list of performances can be found here.

SXSW will be held across many venues in Austin from March 8-16. Registration for badges (Music, Film & TV, Interactive, and Platinum) is open now at sxsw.com.

You can read all of CultureMap's SXSW coverage here.