The South by Southwest Film and Television Festival is about to embark on its 40th edition with a world premiere of I Love Boosters, Boots Riley's bold sophomore feature that boasts an impressive cast including Keke Palmer, Naomi Ackie, Taylour Paige, Poppy Liu, Eiza Gonzalez, LaKeith Stanfield, Don Cheadle, and Demi Moore. This film follows a crew of professional shoplifters as they target a ruthless fashion maven, and it promises to be a dazzling introduction to SXSW's latest edition.
Claudette Godfrey, Vice President of Film & TV at the Austin film and TV festival, expressed her excitement in a statement on Thursday: "Boots has crafted another wildly original and boundary-pushing vision that is deliciously unpredictable. We can't wait for our audience to be drawn into his singular, subversive world where razor-sharp social commentary meets fearless, surreal storytelling and eye-popping imagery – all powered by a ridiculously stacked cast of some of the most talented actors on the planet."
Riley, a musician-turned-filmmaker, debuted his first feature film Sorry to Bother You, starring Stanfield and Tessa Thompson, at SXSW in 2018. He returned in 2023 with the world premiere of his Amazon series I Am a Virgo, an anti-capitalist satire with Jharrel Jerome in the lead role.
Riley wrote and directed I Love Boosters, which is produced and financed by Neon. Aaron Ryder and Andrew Swett are producing for Ryder Picture Company, with Savage Rose Films' Allison Rose Carter and Jon Read joining as producers. Mike Jackman and Gus Deardoff are executive producing, alongside Waypoint's Ken Kao and Josh Rosenbaum.
I Love Boosters builds on Riley's creative career that began with his music with the groups The Coup and the Street Sweeper Social Club with Tom Morello.
Beyond the film and TV lineup, SXSW also brings audiences and creatives to music and comedy festivals, as well as conference sessions with talent from the entertainment, media, and technology industries. Additional film and TV announcements will be made in the coming months leading up to the March 12 to 18, 2026 run of SXSW.
