‘Flamin’ Hot’, ‘Mustache’, ‘The Luckiest Guy In The World’ Among SXSW Audience Award Winners

‘Flamin’ Hot’, ‘Mustache’, ‘The Luckiest Guy In The World’ Among SXSW Audience Award Winners

The Eva Longoria-directed Flamin’ Hot, Imran J. Khan’s Mustache and the upcoming ESPN bio-doc about NBA icon Bill Walton were among the audience award winners revealed Monday for the 31st SXSW Film & TV Festival.

Flamin’ Hot, which stars Jesse Garcia in the sometimes true tale of the man behind the “flamin’ hot”-branded chip revolution, was named the Audience Award winner in the festival’s Headliners section. The pic, from Searchlight Pictures, will debut June 9 on both Hulu and Disney+.

Mustache, written and directed by Khan, won the Narrative Feature Competition honor, and Julio Quintana’s The Long Game won for Narrative Spotlight. The Documentary Feature Competition winner was Dan Covert’s Geoff McFetridge: Drawing a Life, while Documentary Spotlight honors went to Olivia Kuan’s The Herricanes.

RELATED: ‘Flamin’ Hot’ Review: Eva Longoria’s Directorial Debut Is An Inspiring Latino Rags-To-Riches Story – SXSW

The fest’s Midnighters Audience Award went to Bishal Dutta’s It Lives Inside.

The festival, which wrapped Sunday, previously revealed its juried awards. Today’s wards were handed out across 10 film lineups, three Episodic sections for TV content and six short film sidebars.

Among the TV-side winners are the upcoming Steve James-directed ESPN documentary series The Luckiest Guy in the World on NBA star-turned-analyst Walton, scoring honors in the TV Premieres category. The Season 2 premiere of Starz’s Blindspotting was tapped as best of in TV Spotlight.

RELATED: SXSW 2023: All Of Deadline’s Movie Reviews

Here’s the complete list of Audience Awards winners:

Film Program

HEADLINERS
Audience Award Winner: Flamin’ Hot
Director: Eva Longoria; Producer: DeVon Franklin; Screenwriters: Linda Yvette Chávez, Lewis Colick

NARRATIVE FEATURE COMPETITION
Audience Award Winner: 
Mustache
Director/Screenwriter: Imran J. Khan; Producers: Christina Won, Jessica Sittig, Christopher Storer, Tyson Bidner

DOCUMENTARY FEATURE COMPETITION
Audience Award Winner: Geoff McFetridge: Drawing a Life
Director/Producer: Dan Covert; Screenwriters: Erik Auli, Dan Covert, Amy Dempsey, Tara Rose Stromberg

NARRATIVE SPOTLIGHT
Audience Award Winner: 
The Long Game
Director: Julio Quintana; Producers: Javier Chapa, Ben Howard, Marla Quintana, Dennis Quaid, Laura Quaid; Screenwriters: Julio Quintana, Jennifer C. Stetson, Paco Farias

DOCUMENTARY SPOTLIGHT
Audience Award Winner: 
The Herricanes
Director: Olivia Kuan; Producers: James Lee Hernandez, Brian Lazarte, Lisa France, James Short, Olivia Kuan, Justin Baldoni, Andrew Calof

VISIONS
Audience Award Winner: 
Tobacco Barns
Director/Screenwriter: Rocío Mesa; Producers: Olmo Figueredo González-Quevedo

MIDNIGHTERS
Audience Award Winner: 
It Lives Inside
Director: Bishal Dutta; Producers: Raymond Mansfield, Sean McKittrick; Screenwriters: Bishal Dutta, Ashish Mehta

GLOBAL
Audience Award Winner: 
Ek Jagah Apni
Directors: Ektara Collective; Producers: Ektara Collective, Lotus Visual Productions; Screenwriters: Rinchin, Maheen Mirza

24 BEATS PER SECOND
Audience Award Winner: Louder Than You Think
Director: Jed I. Rosenberg; Producers: Jeffrey Lewis Clark, Brian Thalken, Kelly Thomas; Screenwriters: Jed I. Rosenberg, Greg King 

FESTIVAL FAVORITES 
Audience Award Winner: No Ordinary Campaign
Director: Christopher Burke; Producer: Tim Rummel, Christopher Burke

Shorts Film Program

NARRATIVE SHORTS COMPETITION
Audience Award Winner: Closing Dynasty
Director/Screenwriter: Lloyd Lee Choi; Producers: Jon Hsu, Lloyd Lee Choi

DOCUMENTARY SHORTS COMPETITION
Audience Award Winner: Nǎi Nai & Wài Pó (Grandma & Grandma)
Director: Sean Wang; Producers: Sean Wang, Sam Davis

ANIMATED SHORTS COMPETITION
Audience Award Winner: Sandwich Cat
Director/Screenwriter: David Fidalgo; Producers: Daniel Rodriguez, Laura Doval, Gonzalo E. Veloso

MIDNIGHT SHORTS COMPETITION
Audience Award Winner: Dead Enders
Directors: Fidel Ruiz-Healy, Tyler Walker; Screenwriters: Fidel Ruiz-Healy, Tyler Walker, Jordan Michael Blake, Conor Murphy; Producers: Raven Jensen, Amanda Crown, Gregory Barnes, Conor Murphy, Nico Alvo, Jordan Michael Blake, Eduardo Ruiz-Healy

TEXAS SHORTS COMPETITION
Audience Award Winner: Breaking Silence
Directors: Amy Bench, Annie Silverstein; Producers: Monique Walton, Amy Bench

MUSIC VIDEO COMPETITION
Audience Award Winner: Drew Ashby – ‘HER’
Directors: Chris Scholar, Bevin Brown; Producer: Bevin Brown

TV Program

TV PREMIERES
Audience Award WinnerThe Luckiest Guy in the World
Director: Steve James; Producers: Zak Piper, Steve James

TV SPOTLIGHT
Audience Award WinnerBlindspotting Season 2 Premiere
Showrunner: Rafael Casal, Directors: Rafael Casel, Jess Wu Calder; Producers: Rafael Casal, Daveed Diggs, Jess Wu Calder, Keith Calder, Emily Gerson Saines, Ken Lee, Tim Palen

INDEPENDENT TV PILOT COMPETITION
Audience Award WinnerNotarize Me
Director: Erika Rankin; Screenwriters/Producers: Erika Rankin, Brigitte Valdez

XR Experience

XR EXPERIENCE COMPETITION
Audience Award Winner: JFK Memento
Director: Chloé Rochereuil; Producer: Victor Agulhon

XR EXPERIENCE SPOTLIGHT
Audience Award Winner: MLK: Now is the Time
Director: Limbert Fabian; Producers: Matthew O’Rourke, Sulivan Parker; Screenwriter: Andrina Wekontash Smith

XR EXPERIENCE SPECIAL EVENTS 
Audience Award Winners (tie):

Neo-Wulin: The Era of Black Ark
Director/Screenwriter: Guanyu; Producers: Chenchenchen, Bingbing Wang

Ristband
Directors: Anne McKinnon, Roman Rappak

Soundwaves: A Metaverse Music Concert
Directors: YOOM, Active Theory