Austin, Texas – Iconic genre storyteller Joss Whedon (Buffy the Vampire Slayer) is slated to open the 2012 South by Southwest (SXSW) Film Conference and Festival next month in Austin with his new horror film “The Cabin in the Woods”. Whedon will also participate in a key Conversation panel at SXSW Saturday, March 10.
Produced and co-written by Joss Whedon in association with Lionsgate, “The Cabin in the Woods” marks Emmy®-nominated writer Drew Goddard’s (Cloverfield, Lost, Alias) first foray into directing. This mind-blowing horror film starts typically enough, as we join five young adults embarking on a weekend of debauchery at an
abandoned cabin in the woods. But as layer after layer of the film’s truly kaleidoscopic world is revealed, everything we know about horror is deconstructed, and everything we love is reconstructed before our eyes.
“Announcing the first films of our program is always energizing, but we’re especially thrilled to have such a smart, unpredictable and highly entertaining headliner like ‘The Cabin in the Woods’ as our Opening Night film,” said SXSW Film Conference and Festival Producer Janet Pierson.
The film stars Kristen Connolly, Fran Kranz, Anna Hutchison, Chris Hemsworth, Jesse Williams, Richard Jenkins, and Bradley Whitford, and will be in theaters everywhere on April 13, 2012. For more information about the film please visit: www.discoverthecabininthewoods.com/.
SXSW will also premiere a host of other exciting new features comprised of diverse perspectives, including Lena Dunham’s return to
SXSW with her HBO series “Girls,” which will premiere the initial three episodes publicly for the first time. Dunham, Executive Producer Judd Apatow and other key members of the “Girls” production team will also appear at the SXSW Film Conference to discuss the film before it kicks off its ten-episode season in April, exclusively on HBO. Moderated by actor Alex Karpovsky (Tiny Furniture), the panel will take place on
Tuesday, March 13.
Additional films announced include Academy Award-winner Kevin Macdonald’s Bob Marley documentary, “Marley,” “Small Apartments,” a black comedy from acclaimed music video director Jonas Åkerlund, Neil Berkeley’s doc “Beauty is Embarrassing” about multi-faceted artist Wayne White, special event “The Oyster Princess (1919)” with original live score by Bee vs. Moth and “Citadel,” the psychological horror debut from writer/director Ciarán Foy. Check out the complete festival lineup here.
The 19th annual SXSW Film Conference and Festival runs March 9 – 17, 2012.