Two new films will make their world premieres at the SXSW Film Conference and Festival next month, and their television premieres on CMT later this year. The Bandit and Chicken People are both on the lineup at the film festival in the Documentary Spotlight.

The festival takes place from March 11-19 in Austin, Texas.

The Bandit is a film about '70s superstar Burt Reynolds, his best friend, roommate and stunt-double Hal Needham, and the making of their unlikely smash-hit Smokey & the Bandit. The film tells the action-packed story of the making of Smokey, while tracing the vivid personal journeys of Reynolds and Needham from obscurity to stardom and highlighting one of the most extraordinary relationships in Hollywood history.

Featuring new interviews with Reynolds, rare archive material, including footage from Reynolds' personal archive, as well as candid interviews with the late Hal Needham, the documentary tells an exhilarating and moving story about loyalty, friendship and creative risk.

Jesse Moss produces and directs The Bandit. Amanda McBaine produces for Mile End Films, and Jayson Dinsmore, Lewis Bogach and John Miller-Monzon executive produce for CMT.

Chicken People takes a charming and fascinating look at the colorful and hugely competitive world of champion show chicken breeders. A real life Best in Show -- but about chickens -- the film follows the struggles and triumphs of both humans and their chickens on the road to compete at the Ohio National Poultry Show, considered the Westminster of Chickens.

The film is produced by Motto Pictures and Haimes Film, with Julie Goldman, Caroline Kaplan, Chris Clements, and Terry Leonard producing. Nicole Lucas Haimes executive produces and Jayson Dinsmore, Lewis Bogach and John Miller-Monzon executive produce for CMT.

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