Fiercely independent, John Sayles‘ latest drama Go For Sisters is set to premiere at this year’s SXSW and looks to be a return to the gritty realism of his hardboiled Americana. Sayles is a passionate observer of the American condition from his first feature as writer/director Return of the Secaucus 7, about former political radicals turning 30 and facing the challenge of “becoming the man,” to his ensemble satire of Florida real estate development Sunshine State, made a whole six years before the economic catastrophe of 2008.

Starring Edward James Olmos, Lisa Gay Hamilton, Yolonda Ross, Hector Elizondo, Harold Perrineau and Isaiah Washington one has to admire Sayles for keeping it simple and indie with a hardboiled southern drama,  a departure from his last two period films Honeydripper and Amigo. Check out the trailer for Go For Sisters below thanks to Shadow & Act.

Bernice Stokes and Fontayne Gamble grew up the closest of friends. After high school Bernice got into social services and corrections work, Fontayne just got into trouble. Twenty years later Bernice is assigned as parole officer for Fontayne– just released from prison and fighting a drug habit. But Bernice’s son Rodney, has gone missing on the Mexican border, his shady partners in hiding or brutally murdered. Fontayne, through a prison girlfriend, enlists Freddy Suárez, a disgraced, near-blind ex-LAPD detective once known as ‘the Terminator’, to help them find Rodney. Outlaws on a noble quest, they are lured into a potentially deadly cat-and-mouse game with mysterious Chinese smugglers.

Go For Sisters will premiere at SXSW in March.