The initial Film and TV lineup for SXSW 2025 is out. Check out the lineup of films in the “Documentary Feature Competition” section below. The section features “World premieres of captivating, real stories by emerging voices.”

Arrest the Midwife
Director: Elaine Epstein, Producers: Elaine Epstein, Robin Hessman
The arrest of midwives in a rural healthcare desert ignites an unexpected rebellion: Amish and Mennonite women who break from tradition and emerge as fierce political activists fighting for reproductive justice and birthing rights. (World Premiere)

Assembly
Directors/Producers/Screenwriters: Rashaad Newsome, Johnny Symons
Visionary artist Rashaad Newsome merges art, AI, and performance to transform a former military facility into a Black queer utopia. Through immersive storytelling and visuals, the film explores how creativity can heal, unite, and spark liberation. (World Premiere)

Baby Doe
Director: Jessica Earnshaw, Producers: Holly Meehl Chapman, Jessica Earnshaw
At 22, Gail gave birth alone and left her newborn in the woods. Decades later, she’s arrested for murder, despite claiming the baby was stillborn. Baby Doe explores the fallout when young women cannot accept the reality of an unplanned pregnancy. (World Premiere)

The Python Hunt
Director: Xander Robin, Producers: Lance Oppenheim, Lauren Cioffi, Mel Oppenheim, Xander Robin
Every year, the Florida government asks the general public to compete in an invasive python removal contest in the Everglades. For ten nights, an eclectic group of hunters confront the dangerous terrain, nocturnal creatures and their own tiny demons. (World Premiere)

Remaining Native
Director: Paige Bethmann, Producers: Jessica Epstein, Paige Bethmann, Judd Ehrlich
Ku Stevens, a 17-year-old Native American runner, struggles to navigate his dream of becoming a collegiate athlete as the memory of his great grandfather’s escape from an Indian boarding school begins to connect past, present, and future. (World Premiere)

The Secret of Me (United Kingdom)
Director: Grace Hughes-Hallett
19-year-old Kristi discovers a secret her doctor and parents have kept from her all her life. Her search for truth uncovers a radical psychology experiment on a pair of identical twins that led to a global medical scandal. (World Premiere)

Shuffle
Director: Benjamin Flaherty, Producers: Carra Greenberg, Harris Fishman, Benjamin Flaherty, Scott Paskoff
Through the lens of his own recovery, a filmmaker offers an intimate look inside the billion dollar addiction treatment industry where young people are bought and sold for their insurance policies and ushered into a system designed to keep them sick. (World Premiere)

The Spies Among Us
Directors/Producers: Jamie Coughlin Silverman, Gabriel Silverman
Thirty years after the Cold War ends, a former political prisoner of the East German secret police searches for the truth after learning his brother spied on him for the regime, and discovers the lasting effects of living in a surveillance state. (World Premiere)