Napster documentary set for South by Southwest festival

Napster was set up in 1991 by Shawn Fanning (l) with help from Sean Parker (r)

A film about the file-sharing service Napster is to have its world premiere at the annual South by Southwest festival, in Austin, Texas in March.

Directed by Bill and Ted's Excellent Adventure star Alex Winter, Downloaded will focus on the site's teenage founders Shawn Fanning and Sean Parker.

Referring to a groundbreaking US DJ, Winter said his film was about "youth minds that ignited the biggest youth revolt since Alan Freed hit the radio".

This year's SXSW runs from 8-17 March.

Napster was started by 19-year-old college dropout Fanning and was the first file-sharing service to achieve mainstream success.

The service later agreed to restrict the use of their music and still operates as a legal music retailer.

Parker went on to be involved in the creation of Facebook and is currently on the board of streaming service Spotify.

In 2010's The Social Network, David Fincher's Oscar-winning film about the origins of Facebook, he was played by singer Justin Timberlake.

Evil Dead, a remake of Sam Raimi's 1981 cult horror film, will also have its world premiere as part of the SXSW's film programme.

The strand will launch with The Incredible Burt Wonderstone, a comedy about superstar magicians in Las Vegas starring Steve Carell, Jim Carrey and Steve Buscemi.

Also in the line-up is Good Ol' Freda, a documentary about the former Beatles secretary who ran the band's official fan club.

Freda Kelly worked for the Fab Four for 11 years in total, earning a shout-out on the group's 1963 Christmas record.