The South by Southwest® Music Festival (SXSW®) has announced an initial list of Showcasing Artists invited to perform at the 36th annual event. The festival offers the opportunity to connect entertainment, technology, and media professionals with emerging acts, established artists and industry mavens, and share in something big on a truly global platform. The first essential and international music event on the industry’s calendar, the SXSW Music Festival takes place March 14 – 20, 2022 in Austin, Texas.

Each year, the SXSW Music Festival programmers present a global lineup of artists from Australia, Brazil, Canada, Colombia, Dominican Republic, England, France, Germany, Ireland, Japan, New Zealand, Philippines, Puerto Rico, Scotland, South Korea, Uganda, U.S., Wales, and Zambia, to name a few. The result is a unique live music experience where industry pros and music lovers experience multiple one-of-a-kind events from a range of up-and-coming and established artists. A few highlights from this first round of artists include: Aeon Station (Ocean City NJ), ANAVITÓRIA (São Paulo BRAZIL), BLACKSTARKIDS (Kansas City MO), CHAII(Auckland NEW ZEALAND), Claire Rousay (San Antonio TX), Delta Spirit (Los Angeles CA), DUMA (Nairobi KENYA), Ezra Furman (Chicago IL), HOODLUM (San Antonio TX), Horsegirl (Chicago, IL), James McMurtry (Austin TX), Maxo Kream(Houston TX), MC Yallah (Kampala UGANDA), Monaleo (Houston TX), Poppy Ajudha(London UK-ENGLAND),  Priya Ragu (St. Gallen SWITZERLAND), Surfbort (Los Angeles CA), TEKE::TEKE (Montreal CANADA), Vitreous Humor (Lawrence KS), W.I.T.C.H. (We Intend to Cause Havoc) (Lusaka ZAMBIA), Y2K92 (Seoul SOUTH KOREA), and Yard Act (Leeds UK-ENGLAND).

This is the first of several announcements revealing the wide array of Showcasing Artists who will perform for the international creative community at SXSW. These showcases give attendees the opportunity to experience tomorrow’s headliners in small-stage performances at unique venues in downtown Austin. A few of this year’s showcase presenters include British Music Embassy, American Dreams, The Legendary SOB.’s, Nyege Nyege Tapes, Fire Records, Rolling Loud, The Anniversary Group, High Road Touring, Jazz re:freshed Outernational, Move Forward Music, Kill Rock Stars, Cosmica Artists + Records, Ernest Jenning Record Co., New West Records, Rocky Road Touring, Polyvinyl Records, Double Double Whammy, Keeled Scales, Park the Van, Don Giovanni Records, Nine Mile Records and Touring, and Focus Wales.

Artists invited to perform include:

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Following the Gravitas Ventures day and date theatrical release, HBO Max has acquired exclusive streaming rights to the award-winning, critically-acclaimed film THE KILLING OF KENNETH CHAMBERLAIN. The film will debut on the platform Friday, November 19. Based on a true story, the film was directed by David Midell (NightLights), produced by Midell and Enrico Natale of Redbird Entertainment, and executive produced by Lori McCreary, Morgan Freeman and Gary Lucchesi of Revelations Entertainment, along with Sharad Chib, Chris Paladino and Milan Chakraborty.

THE KILLING OF KENNETH CHAMBERLAIN, which won a bevy of prestigious awards during its festival run, tells the heart-breaking true story of the events that led to the death of Kenneth Chamberlain Sr., an elderly African American veteran with bipolar disorder who was killed by the police during a welfare check after his medical alert device was accidentally activated. Through a series of unfortunate circumstances and the overly aggressive policing tactics that make the news on an all-too-frequent basis, the life of Kenneth Chamberlain Sr. ended at the hands of those who were sworn to “protect and serve.”

The film’s HBO Max debut date, November 19, 2021, is the 10-year anniversary of Kenneth Chamberlain Sr.’s death.

While the title of the film gives away its tragic end, the real-time reenactment of Chamberlain’s final moments alive are a powerful reminder of how interactions with the police can, and do, end for many people of color, and people with mental health challenges, in the United States.

As a former behavioral therapist, and on the autism spectrum himself, director David Midell comes to this material with an added layer of personal experience. “Our goal all along has been to ask important questions about how our criminal justice system treats people of color, people in low-income areas, and people living with mental health challenges.

“I always say it’s bigger than my dad,” Kenneth Chamberlain Jr. said. “It’s about all the lives that have been lost in this pandemic of killing black men, women and children. And I just hope that the film is…going to force a discussion.”

Producing partners Freeman and McCreary were incensed that the film could not find distribution, and immediately offered to help by using Freeman’s voice and Revelations’ brand to help amplify the story. “We simply could not stand by and see this film ignored. Kenneth Chamberlain Sr.’s story, whose death in 2011 was largely ignored by the national media, deserves to be known by the world,” states Freeman and McCreary.

THE KILLING OF KENNETH CHAMBERLAIN comes at an important time in the national conversation about systemic racism and is a searing example of law enforcement’s sometimes callous and cruel treatment of people of color, echoing recent high-profile incidents involving George Floyd, Breonna Taylor, among countless others. THE KILLING OF KENNETH CHAMBERLAIN world-premiered at the Austin Film Festival and won the Audience Award and the Narrative Jury Award there. At the Urbanworld Film Festival last year, it claimed the Jury Award for best US Narrative, and continued winning at festivals, and led to an independent Spirit Award Nomination for David Midell in the “Someone to Watch” category.

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