(upbeat country music) From movie stars, music, Matthew McConaughey, maybe some UFOs.

- And I think this is the most important documentary that not only will happen this year but could happen ever.

- And more.

- Ah!

Hello everybody!

Ah, my name is Peelander Yellow.

- [Laura] Once again, South By Southwest made a Texas sized name for itself.

Just ask this husband and wife visiting from England.

- Probably about 20 years I've been following South By Southwest and always wanted to go.

- [Laura] First, the 25th Texas Film Awards honored action star, Michelle Rodriguez.

- I'm like, "Are you kidding me?"

With the likes of Sissy Spacek, Willie Nelson.

I'm like, dude, these guys are legends.

Like surely I can't be in the same category.

- [Laura] Along with Alamo Drafthouse founders, Tim and Karrie League.

- I've always thought of the show as people on the other side of the screen, so it was a shock and it's a huge honor.

- Yeah, we are in very grand company.

- [Laura] Writer/director Noah Hawley was also honored.

- It's humbling to be recognized by your peers and by the entire state of Texas, which last time I checked is pretty big.

- [Laura] Hawley, an Austin transplant, is the creator of the new FX show, "Alien: Earth."

- How fast are you guys?

- [Laura] And fans got a sneak peek at this activation.

We got a crash course and a crash landing.

Ah!

I'm stressed.

And an up close encounter with an alien.

- It might be a little bit scary.

That's all I can tell you.

- [Laura] The series comes to Hulu this summer.

But maybe some real life aliens landed at this next premiere.

- The American people are ready to receive the truth.

- [Laura] That's the new documentary, "The Age of Disclosure."

It sets out to prove aliens, or now UAPs, unidentified anomalous phenomena, are in fact real and the government's covered it up for eight decades.

- Well it's the story of the century.

I know from firsthand evidence I've seen video of Navy classified systems and all the people on this film have as well.

- This can be a national security threat, the likes of which we've never faced as a nation.

- [Laura] The film features interviews with 34 high level government, military, and intelligence officials, some saying at great personal risk, including Secretary of State Marco Rubio.

- My promise to everyone that trusted me to do an interview is that I was not gonna make anything sensational.

There was gonna be no BS in there and every single person who speaks on camera will be someone who has direct knowledge of this topic as a result of their work for the US government.

- [Laura] The documentary has been making headlines around the world, but there's no release date yet.

Speaking of out of this world, here's superstar Nicole Kidman at the premiere of "Holland" on Amazon Prime, directed by Mimi Cave.

- I think this is the best festival.

(laughs) It means a lot to me and this festival has supported me for a very long time.

- [Nancy] Every day, I get to wake up in the best place on earth, Holland, Michigan.

- [Laura] The thriller follows Kidman as Nancy Vandergroot, a homemaker and teacher whose life seems perfect, until she discovers a sinister secret.

(bright music) - [Nancy] It may seem like we have everything all together, but right under the surface, it's like we're being strangled.

- [Laura] The film also stars Gael Garcia Bernal.

- It's a little fable on how perfection doesn't exist.

- [Laura] And "Succession's" Matthew Macfadyen.

- I was a sort of mid-westerner in "Succession."

So I've played a few crazed mid-westerners now.

I should probably do something else.

- [Laura] The film is part of Kidman's mission to work with a female director every 18 months.

- I'm in the position to be able to share what I do and to be able to get things made for women passion projects or give them chances that they would not necessarily get.

Happy to be in the trenches doing it.

- I think that the ripple effect is huge.

- And now we're on the red carpet talking with the singer-songwriter H.E.R., who's making her directorial debut this South By with a new documentary, "The Makings of Curtis Mayfield."

- I'm grateful to even have someone's legacy kind of in my hands, you know?

But honestly, I feel like it's even more special when an artist and a storyteller gets to tell the story of another artist and how they were directly, you know, impacted by that person.

- [Laura] The Grammy and Oscar winning artist introducing the next generation to the singer, songwriter, guitarist, producer, and cultural legend that was Curtis Mayfield.

♪ This is our last ♪ and only chance ♪ - So it's a privilege for me, but it was just time to pay homage and give him the credit that he deserves.

- [Laura] She also got to experience some real Texas cuisine while in town.

- Yeah, I was at Terry Black's.

I will definitely be getting some more barbecue.

- [Laura] Meanwhile, across from The Paramount, these fans from all over the country waited in line.

- Six-ish hours, got here at 9:30 and we were right at the cutoff.

- [Laura] For The Criterion Closet of classic films.

- Three minutes where you're basically surrounded by this array of movies that's organized in a way that no computer could decode it.

- [Laura] This was the Mobile Criterion Closet's first stop outside of its New York City home, but romance found its way off the shelf.

- The last two people in line got engaged in the truck.

They drove all the way down from Oklahoma City.

They almost didn't get in.

- While I didn't find love myself, I did get to do my own closet picks video on Texas filmmakers.

You can't be doing a story on The Criterion Closet in Austin and not get "Dazed and Confused."

Speaking of, what's more Texan than Whataburger?

If I spill a little mustard on my outfit, you won't even know.

Here's a look inside the Whataburger Museum of Art, all made from Whataburger's super fans.

- I like to think of myself as one of the biggest super fans for Whataburger.

Everything revolves around Whataburger for me and my family.

That's where we celebrated graduations, that's where I would go after I would perform with my band and just like after football games, you know?

- [Laura] All in honor of the fast food chain's 75th anniversary.

- It's our 75th birthday, so I can say that the love has been building for 75 years since 1950.

- And you get to create this sort of Jackson Pollock of Whataburger stickers on this white wall.

So here we go.

I think this spot calls to me.

What's your go-to Whataburger order?

- Okay, that's, whenever I need to eat my feelings, and that's happy feeling, sad feelings.

It's a patty melt for sure.

- [Laura] And it wouldn't be South By without the music.

Showcasing artists from around the world, like Yndling from Oslo, Norway.

- South By Southwest is a kind of festival that I've heard about basically ever since I started making music.

It's kind of like a big one for Europeans to get to go here and play music.

My music is a little bit out there, and from what I've understood, the audience at South By Southwest, they're quite open and into new things.

- [Laura] She's also checking some stuff off the Texas bucket list.

- Me and my boys, the band over there, are all waiting for a barbecue.

(laughs) - [Laura] Plus we caught up with local artists, like Chief Cleopatra, performing at Austin PBS's own showcase called "Bloody Mary Morning."

- Really surreal (laughs) just because there's so many amazing artists on this lineup and there has been in the past.

So to be a part of that has just been like a dream come true.

South By is very important to local artists and what it does for them and their careers.

Being a part of the community during this time of the year, I think that's why I always come back.

- [Laura] And of course, it's always a wild time with the Japanese American action comic punk band, Peelander-Z.

- We just want to make smile, we just want to make you happy, that's our project.

- [Laura] They've been performing at the festival for over 20 years.

(upbeat music) - Hey!

I love (indistinct).

Bye bye!

- [Laura] Over on the tech side, women's healthcare was a major topic, bringing in figures like Sarah O'Leary, CEO of Willow Innovations that revolutionized breast pump technology.

- We put everything that happens in a breast pump inside of a woman's bra so that she can actually go about her day pumping, while also living her life.

It literally is like adding so much time back into a women's life.

And I also feel like it's adding dignity.

- [Laura] According to O'Leary, women spend about 1,800 hours a year breastfeeding or pumping.

And now women all over the country are using their technology.

- We are very proud to have fundamentally transformed the breast pump category.

There is still so much to solve in terms of making the postpartum experience better.

- [Laura] Tech attendees also got a trip through time at the immersive experience from Dubai's Museum of the Future.

- It was really important for us to bring a taste of the soul and the spirit of Dubai to the people of Austin, to the community of South By Southwest.

- With some viral sweet treats for visitors.

I hate to say it, this is worth the TikTok hype.

But it was the Texas film scene that took the starring role outside the Capitol.

- David Blue Garcia, the director of "Bulgarian Chainsaw Massacre."

That's actually a typo.

It should be "Texas Chainsaw Massacre."

But the problem is, without proper Texas film incentives, we had to shoot my movie in Bulgaria in Eastern Europe instead of here in Texas.

- [Laura] That's exactly why Media For Texas hosted the Texas Film Experience.

- Our ultimate goal is to do our part in what we can to help increase and enhance our film incentives to bring our production back home.

- Visitors could see everything, from a live set to costumes to this robotic camera.

Coming in hot.

- But what I think people don't understand is those incentives support Texas.

Like you only get them if you hire Texas.

You only get them if you work here at a certain percentage that is above my pay grade.

But it really puts money back into the state.

- [Laura] The bill would increase funding to bring film and TV projects to the state to the tune of $500 million every two years until 2035.

- It's not about celebrities.

This is not a Hollywood handout, this is not corporate welfare.

An incentive bill affects the crew and it affects Texans.

And this is our job.

This is us doing our part to showcase all the crew who will be affected by this bill.

- [Laura] The Texas Senate has since passed the bill and now it's being discussed in the house.

Texas directors, Richard Linklater and Robert Rodriguez, are also on board.

- You know, unfortunately our neighbors, New Mexico and Louisiana, have pretty aggressive programs.

If we can come up to even near them, we'll do well.

- Whenever I have actors come here, they go, "I'd much rather be coming here than Atlanta or New Orleans or Canada or Bulgaria."

- [Laura] Austin actors, Jared and Genevieve Padalecki, agree.

- So many people come in from California or New York or Atlanta or whatever, and they'll be like, "Y'all are all so nice here."

- And no, I'm not- - I'm like, "Yeah, yeah, we're nice."

- I'm not born here, like Jared is, but I will say, it is the friendliest community and the nicest humans.

- And a bonus at this year's South By Southwest, the premiere of the Minister of Culture himself's first movie in six years.

Here's Matthew McConaughey at the premiere of his new movie, "The Rivals of Amziah King" at The Paramount.

And we had a little catching up to do.

What does it mean to you to get to premiere your first movie in six years for your hometown audience?

- Yeah, the last one was "Beach Bum."

- Yeah, and I was on that carpet as a student and now I'm grown.

- Look at you!

- So I have a picture of you- - Where were you a student?

- At UT Austin, of course!

- Look at you.

This is what we're talking about and now you're here doing it.

- And you were so nice to me.

- Good.

- And I was so nervous and you were so nice and it's like, it was like my screensaver, the picture of you throwing a hook 'em at me, I wanted to tell you.

- Come on.

All right, well, here we go again.

- [Laura] While details are limited, McConaughey plays the titular character Amziah in the crime thriller where he reunites with his former foster child, Kateri.

But this movie was shot in Alabama and McConaughey hopes to bring more stories like it to Texas.

- On just a selfish level, I want to shoot in my backyard.

I've enjoyed shooting here.

We have great talent here.

Why not?

- [Laura] McConaughey's son, Levi, also worked on the film and made his official red carpet debut.

- It's pretty cool to come out here and be able to support my dad in Austin, where I grew up, where I live and where we call home, and it's just kind of a little full circle moment, I guess.

- [Laura] It was also the red carpet debut for Angelina LookingGlass in her first big acting role.

And she talked about the importance of Indigenous representation on screen.

- Back when I was like nine or 10, I didn't have kind of like a role model in media that was an Indigenous woman, you know?

And so I'm just kind of proud that this film kind of showcases a really strong Indigenous girl.

- [Laura] On set, her co-star, Tony Revolori, a frequent collaborator of another famous Texan, Wes Anderson, offered her some career advice.

- She can tell you, were we kind?

Were we nice?

- No.

- Oh, no!

- [Laura] But at least he took McConaughey's advice.

- I would wanna work with more Texans.

So Robert Rodriguez, Richard Linklater, hit me up.

- Finally, as PBS, we did have to ask the Minister of Culture one final question.

PBS pick one, real fast, Big Bird or Elmo?

- The Incredible Hulk.

- Got it.

Thank you so much.