Last Updated on August 26, 2025 by FANGORIA Staff
Harvester, the latest chilling short film from rising horror filmmaker Charlie Schwan, will premiere at the SXSW Film Festival 2025 next month, and we're excited to bring you an exclusive first look today.
Described as “an eerie meditation on memory, grief, and the cost of living in the past”, Harvester follows in the footsteps of Schwan's previous acclaimed shorts The Goodnight Show (Tribeca 2018), Death Snot (2022), and Mr. Sunshine (2023) which played at top genre festivals like Palm Springs, Beyond Fest, and Telluride Horror.
Harvester stars Isa Garcia, Eric Palmer, Mike Rubin, Charlie Moret, Mark Anthony, Elena Rojas, and follows:
A woman forms a pact with a dark entity in exchange for a glimpse into her tormented past.
A Texas-born filmmaker with an insatiable passion for horror, Schwan honed his craft at the University of Texas at Austin, where his thesis film debuted at Tribeca and set the stage for his future in genre storytelling. Since then, he’s built a reputation for crafting unsettling, visually striking horror films that challenge and engage audiences. Beyond filmmaking, Schwan is also a co-founder of Silverlake Scream Show, an annual horror anthology screening event that champions up-and-coming genre voices. His dedication to horror extends beyond his own work, fostering a community of filmmakers who push the genre forward.
Dedicated to practical FX, all of the creatures in Schwan's films (including the thing glimpsed in the Harvester teaser…) are brought to life with a blend of intricate prosthetics, animatronics, and handcrafted puppetry.
If you're heading to SXSW, you can catch Harvester on March 7 as part of the Texas Short Program from 6:30pm to 8:15pm at The Hyatt Regency, and again on March 10 from 11:00am – 12:45pm at Rollins Theatre at The Long Centre.
Watch our exclusive teaser below:
