Eight days and seven nights spent in Austin, TX. Thirty movies watched. Not nearly as much BBQ eaten as one would've hoped. And, an even bigger fail, not one Monty Python's Holy Grail Ale consumed inside the Alamo Ritz theater on 6th Street, located in the heart of Downtown Austin.

The 2013 SXSW Film Festival is over, and this year's lineup of independent narrative films from various countries, diversified documentaries, eclectic shorts, and world premieres of big Hollywood movies (The Incredible Burt Wonderstone, Evil Dead) was quite strong. Of those 30 flicks seen, only five or so could be classified as truly bad; the most superlative of the lot, on the other hand, gave us plenty to look forward to in the coming months ahead.

You'll especially want to keep your eyes and ears open for further news on the 15 best movies that Complex saw at SXSW, some of which have already have release dates and distribution deals in place while the rest, if there's any justice in film land (don't hold your breath), shouldn't fade into obscurity and only exist as the stuff of festival-goer legend. Fingers crossed on that—we're still wondering what the hell ever happened to Black Pond from last year's SXSW.

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Written by Matt Barone (@MBarone)