Overview
- Debruge, appointed Thursday, will begin as director on April 6 and take over programming leadership for the Austin event.
- Claudette Godfrey steps down after nearly 20 years, a run that included the world premiere of Everything Everywhere All at Once.
- SXSW leaders said Debruge’s perspective aligns with the festival’s mission of championing new voices and building on Godfrey’s foundation.
- Debruge spent 20 years at Variety as its third chief film critic, writing more than 2,000 reviews and covering major festivals.
- He has served on juries in Cannes, São Paulo and Reykjavík, co-founded the Animation Is Film festival, received France’s Order of Arts and Letters, and grew up in Waco after studying film at the University of Texas at Austin.