Trujillo’s Documentary “JACO” Added to This Year’s South by Southwest Film Conference and Festival Lineup

Robert Trujillo has new directions… South by Southwest….

The 50-year-old Mexican American musician and Metallica bassist’s latest film project is headed to this year’s South by Southwest Film Conference and Festival.

Robert Trujillo

JACO, co-written by Trujillo, will receive its world premiere at the Austin-based annual music, film, and interactive conference and festival.

JACO, the official documentary of Record Store Day in 2014, is the story of the extraordinary bassist Jaco Pastorius, who influenced Trujillo’s own music career. Pastorius changed the course of modern music through his work with Weather Report, Pat Metheny, Joni Mitchell and as a bandleader. Sony Legacy will be releasing the soundtrack

“We can get into a lot of the different levels in terms of composition and what he did for the instrument, but just the edge and attitude of the performance made me very excited about playing the bass,” recalls Trujillo. “That was one of the starting points. There was mystery and excitement to the instrument and this guy was taking it there.”

Trujillo previously appeared in the Metallica-centric film Metallica: Through The Never, Nimród Antal’s 3D concert-suspense film.

Meanwhile, Joaquim Castro and Eduardo Nazarian‘s look at Brazilian legend Dominguinhos; Christian Keller‘s scripted look at Mexican pop star Gloria Trevi, Gloria; and We Like It Like That, Mathew Ramirez Warren’s documentary on Latin boogaloo of the 1960s will also make appearances at the festival.

The SXSW Film Conference and Festival will be taking place March 13-21 festival in

The 22nd annual film festival includes 60 films from first-time filmmakers, 100 world premieres, 13 North American premieres and 11 U.S. premieres.

IFC Midnight Acquires the U.S. Distribution Rights to Rivera’s Thriller “Home”

All’s moving forward on the home front for Naya Rivera

IFC Midnight has acquired the distribution rights to 27-year-old half-Puerto Rican actress and Glee star’s feature film Home, following its premiere last month at the SXSW Film Conference and Festival.

Naya Rivera in Home

From writer-director Nicholas McCarthy (The Pact), the thriller stars Rivera, Academy Award-nominee Catalina Sandino Moreno, Awkward’s Ashley Rickards, Wyatt Russell and Ava Acres.

It centers on an ambitious real estate agent (Moreno) who is selling a house with a checkered past. When she tries to help the runaway daughter of the property’s owners, she and her sister (Rivera) cross paths with a sinister supernatural force.

IFC Midnight will release Home in theaters and via video on demand (VOD) this year.

Luna’s “Chavez” Claims an Audience Award at the South by Southwest Film Conference and Festival

The future looks like bright for Diego Luna’s biopic on Cesar Chavez

The 34-year-old Mexican actor-turned-director’s film Chavez about the life of the life of Mexican American labor leader and civil rights activist earned an audience award at the South by Southwest Film Conference and Festival.

Cesar Chavez

Chavez, which stars Michael Peña, America Ferrera, Rosario Dawson and John Malkovich, took home the audience prize in the Narrative Spotlight category.  

The film premiered in the Berlinale Special Galas section of the 64th Berlin International Film Festival last month.

Here’s a look at the SXSW Film Festival Audience Award winners:

NARRATIVE FEATURE COMPETITIONAudience Award Winner: Before I Disappear
Director: Shawn Christensen

DOCUMENTARY FEATURE COMPETITIONAudience Award Winner: Vessel
Director: Diana Whitten

DOCUMENTARY SPOTLIGHTAudience Award Winner: DamNation
Director: Ben Knight & Travis Rummel

NARRATIVE SPOTLIGHT Audience Award Winner: CESAR CHAVEZ
Directors: Diego Luna

VISIONSAudience Award Winner: Yakona
Director: Anlo Sepulveda & Paul Collins

MIDNIGHTERSAudience Award Winner: Exists
Director: Eduardo Sánchez

EPISODICAudience Award Winner: Silicon Valley
Director: Mike Judge

SXGLOBALAudience Award Winner: The Special Need
Directors: Carlo Zoratti

FESTIVAL FAVORITESAudience Award Winner: The Case Against 8
Director: Ben Cotner & Ryan White

SXSW Film Design Awards EXCELLENCE IN POSTER DESIGN

Audience Award Winner: Big Significant Things
Designer: Corey Holms

EXCELLENCE IN TITLE DESIGN Audience Award Winner:  True Detective
Designer: Patrick Clair for Elastic

Rivera’s “Home” to Premiere at the South by Southwest Film Conference and Festival

Naya Rivera is heading home to Austin this March…

The 27-year-old half-Puerto Rican actress and Glee star’s latest film, Home, will have its world premiere at the South by Southwest Film Conference and Festival (SXSW).

Naya Rivera

Rivera stars as Vera in the horror thriller, which centers on a realtor who is asked to sell a vacant home. She and her sister ultimately come across the home’s previous tenant: a teenage girl who sold her soul to the devil.

In addition to Rivera, the Nicholas McCarthy-direct film’s cast includes Catalina Sandino Moreno, Ashley Rickards, Wyatt Russell and Ava Acres.

Home has been scheduled in the fesival’s Midnighters section, which is described as scary, funny, sexy, controversial – provocative after-dark features for night-owls and the terminally curious.

The SXSW Film Conference and Festival will run from March 7-15 in Austin, Texas.

Here’s a look at this year’s chosen films in the Midnighters category:

The Guest
Director: Adam Wingard, Screenwriter: Simon Barrett
A soldier on leave befriends the family of a fallen comrade, only to become a threat to all around him when it’s revealed he’s hiding dangerous secrets from his past.
Cast: Dan Stevens, Maika Monroe, Leland Orser, Lance Reddick, Sheila Kelley

13 Sins
Director/Screenwriter: Daniel Stamm, Screenwriter: David Birke
A cryptic phone call sets off a dangerous game of risks for Elliot, a down-on-his luck salesman. The game promises increasing rewards for completing 13 tasks, each more sinister than the last.
Cast: Mark Webber, Rutina Wesley, Devon Graye, Pruitt Taylor Vince, Richard Burgi, Tom Bower, Ron Perlman (World Premiere)

Among The Living (France)
Director/Screenwriter: Julien Maury, Alexandre Bustillo
After horror favorites Inside and Livid, Maury and Bustillo pair up again for a horror-thriller at the cross roads between Stand by Me and Friday the13th. Cast: Anne Marivin, Béatrice Dalle, Francis Renaud, Fabien Jegoudez, Nicolas Giraud (World Premiere)

Exists
Director: Eduardo Sánchez, Screenwriter: Jamie Nash
Five friends on a camping weekend in the remote woods of East Texas struggle to survive against a legendary beast that is stronger, smarter and more terrifying than they would have ever believed exists. Cast: Chris Osborn, Dora Madison Burge, Roger Edwards, Denise Williamson, Samuel Davis (World Premiere)

Starry Eyes
Directors/Screenwriters: Dennis Widmyer, Kevin Kolsch
In the city of dreams, a desperate actress will do whatever it takes for the role of a lifetime… no matter what the cost. Cast: Alexandra Essoe, Amanda Fuller, Fabianne Therese, Noah Segan, Shane Coffey (World Premiere)

Home
Director/Screenwriter: Nicholas McCarthy
When a realtor is asked to sell a vacant home, she and her sister cross paths with its previous tenant: a teenage girl who sold her soul to the devil. Cast: Naya Rivera, Catalina Sandino Moreno, Ashley Rickards, Wyatt Russell, Ava Acres (World Premiere)

Honeymoon
Director/Screenwriter: Leigh Janiak, Screenwriter: Phil Graziadei
Young newlyweds find their honeymoon spiraling mysteriously into chaos.
Cast: Rose Leslie, Harry Treadaway, Ben Huber, Hanna Brown (World Premiere)

Late Phases
Director: Adrián García Bogliano, Screenwriter: Eric Stolze
When deadly attacks from the forests beset a secluded retirement community, it is up to a grizzled veteran to figure what the residents are hiding.
Cast: Nick Damici, Ethan Embry, Erin Cummings, Tom Noonan, Lance Guest (World Premiere)

Oculus
Director/Screenwriter: Mike Flanagan, Screenwriter: Jeff Howard
As children, two siblings witnessed their parents’ harrowing descent into madness and death. Now, as adults, they reunite to expose and destroy the supernatural entity responsible: the Lasser Glass – a legendary mirror their parents owned. Cast: Karen Gillan, Brenton Thwaites, Rory Cochrane, James Lafferty, Katee Sackhoff (U.S. Premiere)

Stage Fright
Director: Jerome Sable
Stage Fright tells the story of a snobby musical theater camp terrorized by a bloodthirsty masked killer who despises musical theatre. “Scream” meets “Glee” in this genre-bending R-rated horror-musical. Cast: Allie MacDonald, Douglas Smith, Brandon Uranowitz, Kent Nolan, Melanie Leishman
(World Premiere)