White Privilege Satire ‘Slanted’ and Addiction Industry Exposé ‘Shuffle’ Take Top Awards at SXSW
variety.comPeter Debruge Chief Film Critic Shifting the attention from starry premieres at Austin’s Paramount Theatre to the independent film and TV projects that make up the majority of its lineup, the South by Southwest Film & TV Festival has announced the jury awards for its 2025 edition.
Amy Wang’s “Slanted” won the narrative feature competition, rewarding the tonal and thematic audacity of a high school comedy with boundary-pushing “The Substance” vibes.
Wang, who also wrote the upcoming “Crazy Rich Asians” sequel, challenges beauty standards in a culture that idealizes whiteness, imagining a Chinese American teen (Shirley Chen) so desperate to be elected prom queen that she undergoes a radical identity-reconstruction procedure (she’s played by Mckenna Grace post-operation).
The insecure teen immediately enjoys the perks of white privilege, but isn’t at all prepared for the downsides. “This unflinching satirical thriller examines racial identity in a bold and skin-tingling new way,” said the jury (consisting of Rebecca Ford, Ryan Lattanzio and Variety’s own Clayton Davis), praising “the director’s vulnerability in mining her personal experience.” The trio also gave special jury awards to “Fucktoys” writer-director-producer-star Annapurna Sriram and “Fantasy Life” lead Amanda Peet.
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