The radical 'silliness' of 'I Love Boosters' opens South by Southwest

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AUSTIN, Texas — It’s been an ongoing conversation of late as to what the role of politics should be at film festivals.The SXSW Film & TV Festival found its own unique answer to that dilemma by featuring director Boots Riley’s “I Love Boosters” in its opening night slot.Riley is unapologetically outspoken on a wide variety of topics, and his script for “Boosters” is rooted in a pro-labor, anti-corporate worldview that’s often pushed into radicalism.

The movie is also surreal, absurd and crowd-pleasingly funny.It would never be mistaken for a dry lecture or a didactic pamphlet.All the same, certain timely political issues — either the Middle East or immigration domestically, topics one might presume Riley or anyone else might be inclined to speak about — were never addressed from the stage of Austin’s Paramount Theatre on Thursday night.

Neon will be releasing the film May 22.Movies This year’s SXSW Film & TV Festival will showcase new films starring Keke Palmer, Elle Fanning, Nick Offerman, Hannah Einbinder, Lola Tung and more.In the movie Keke Palmer stars as Corvette, who, along with her friends Sade (Naomi Ackie) and Mariah (Taylour Paige), run a shoplifting ring, reselling their stolen merchandise at cut-rate prices.

Things only get more complicated from there, as they join forces with a Chinese factory worker (Poppy Liu) to bring down an imperious fashion mogul (Demi Moore).The film also features a car chase depicted with miniatures and stop-motion animation to convey humanoid figures who have removed their skin.That is to say, “I Love Boosters” is, above all else, wild, rollicking and unpredictable.Having given an introduction before the show, Riley and SXSW festival head Claudette Godfrey returned to the stage afterward, bringing out much of the film’s formidable cast: Palmer, Ackie, Paige, Liu, Moore, Eiza González and LaKeith St...