Twenty-five years after Eminem released his hit “Stan,” the Shady Films-produced STANS documentary is set to premiere on the opening night of the SXSW London Screen Festival on June 2.
The first wave of programming was announced on Tuesday (April 22) ahead of SXSW London, which is slated for June 2 through June 7 in Shoreditch. Full screen passes are currently up for sale on the festival’s website.
Directed by Steven Leckart, STANS explores the psychology behind the multilayered relationship between an artist and the fans. Em’s collaborators, along with some of his most devoted followers, are featured prominently in the documentary.
Distributed by MTV Entertainment Studios, STANS will premiere on Paramount+ in the United States later in 2025.
“Stan” — which samples Dido’s “Thank You” — was the third single from The Marshall Mathers LP, which arrived in May 2000. The 45 King-produced track peaked at No. 51 on the Billboard Hot 100 and has nearly 1.3 billion streams on Spotify.
“Stan” has become common vernacular in the music world to describe delusional and obsessed fans and their relationship with an artist, which has only been amplified with social media’s impact. The word was even been added to the Merriam-Webster dictionary in the years since.
Eminem made his involvement with the film official when he publicly called on his diehard fans to come out and participate in the documentary last year.
“Putting together the first-ever programme of the SXSW London Screen Festival has been a dream. We are excited to present bold new work from across the world, celebrating boundary-pushing films across documentary, animation and narrative filmmaking,” SXSW London’s head of screen, Anna Bogutskaya, said in a statement. “Our program is designed to ignite conversations, inspire new connections and showcase and celebrate screen storytelling across film, TV and immersive.”
The Life of Chuck will serve as the inaugural festival’s closing night feature on June 7, which is based on Stephen King’s 2020 novella. Another King adaptation, The Institute, is also slated to join the festival’s programming. Other film premieres on the bill include Tom Kingsley’s action-comedy Deep Cover, Love & Rage: Munroe Bergdorf and more.
