Nirvanna the Band film to debut at SXSW in March

Matt Johnson's BlackBerry follow-up is based on the series Nirvanna the Band the Show.

Matt Johnson’s Nirvanna the Band the Show the Movie will have its world premiere at this year’s South by Southwest Film and Television Festival (SXSW) in Austin as part of the Midnighter selection.

Johnson’s follow-up to BlackBerry is based on his Viceland, then CBC three-season series Nirvanna the Band the Show. The film is written by and stars Johnson (pictured left) and Jay McCarrol (pictured right) as fictionalized versions of themselves who are transported back in time to 2008 when they fail to book a show at Toronto’s Rivoli venue.

The film is produced by Zapruder Films’ Matthew Miller and Matt Greyson with funding from Telefilm Canada. Elevation Pictures holds distribution rights.

Other Canadian films selected for the festival include Reza Dahya’s feature debut Boxcutter (Scenario Media) and writer-director Annie St. Pierre’s documentary Le Plein potentiel (Metafilms). Both films will make their international premiere at SXSW. Boxcutter is distributed in Canada by Game Theory Films, while Le Plein potentiel is handled by Maison 3:4.

There are three world premieres in the XR Experience Competition, including Vali Fugulin’s Traces: The Grief Processor (Couzin Films), a VR experience that allows users to create a tribute to their loved ones. The other is writer-director Emilie Arragon’s The Secret Life of Monsters – The Gateway Experience, produced by JP Desjardins and Jasmine Gervais.

Last is chapters two and three of Canada/U.S./Poland copro The Choice, written and directed by Joanne Popinska. The VR experience is produced by Popinska and Tom C. Hall.

Writer-director Andy Reid’s short film Brief Somebodies is set for a world premiere in the Narrative Short Competition.

Set for a world premiere in the TV Spotlight program is the Ireland/Australia coproduced series Mixtape from Subotica and Aquarius Films. Boat Rocker Studios handles international distribution rights.

Lastly, writer-director Grace Glowicki’s Sundance-bound horror-comedy Dead Lover is set for its Texas premiere at the festival.

SXSW runs from March 7 to 15.

Image courtesy of Elevation Pictures