Clerk, director Malcolm Ingram's new documentary about indie filmmaker legend Kevin Smith, will make its world premiere this month at the virtual South By Southwest (SXSW) film festival. Set to premiere on March 17 during the festival's 2020 Spotlight section, an official trailer has been made available to watch at Deadline, providing a two-and-a-half minute sneak peek at the upcoming movie ahead of its release.

A feature-length documentary, Clerk gets its name from Smith's debut movie as a filmmaker, the 1994 indie comedy Clerks. The new doc is described as an examination and celebration of the life of Smith, stemming from the difficult production of Clerks, which involved maxing out multiple credit cards followed by big success at the Sundance Film Festival and beyond. Smith's Clerks success also launched a career for Smith, ranging from several theatrical movie releases along with comic book writing, stand-up comedy, podcasting, TV producing and hosting, and writing books.

Malcolm Ingram, who directed Clerk, is a longtime friend of Smith's as the two met 25 years ago when Ingram was a journalist. In the doc, Ingram follows Smith back to New Jersey and the original Quick Stop store that served as the shooting location for Clerks in the early 1990s. At the time, Smith was also an actual employee of the store, shooting the movie at night while the place was closed and working on shift during the day when it was open. His status as a self-made filmmaking icon has served as an inspiration for aspiring indie filmmakers for decades now.

Several of Smith's friends and colleagues will be featured in Clerk to speak about his career. Some of the celebrities that will be interviewed include Clerks stars like Jason Mewes and Brian O'Halloran, among other stars like Justin Long, Jason Reitman, Penn Jillette, and Brian "Q" Quinn. Footage of Smith working with the late George Carlin on set can also be seen in the sneak peek trailer. Countless fans of Smith also speak about why they appreciate Smith's work as much as they do, with footage from Comic-Con included in the early trailer.

The original Clerks movie starred Brian O'Halloran, Jeff Anderson, Marilyn Ghigliotti, and Lisa Spoonauer. It also marked the debut of Jay and Silent Bob, the iconic fictional stoners played by Jason Mewes and Smith, who would go on to appear in many more of Smith's movies over the years. Despite its black-and-white look and simple setting, Clerks was praised for its humor, writing, and acting. It would spawn a sequel and an animated series adaptation, and Smith is currently working on Clerks III with plans to start shooting the movie later this year.

Sales for Clerk will be handled during this year's virtual SXSW event between March 16-20. Due to the pandemic, the event will be held virtually this year, and you can find out more about the festival and the other movies premiering at the event at SXSW.com. This news comes to us from Deadline, where you can watch the trailer for Clerks ahead of its SXSW premiere this month.