World premieres of Chiwetel Ejiofor’s feature directorial debut The Boy Who Harnessed The Wind at Netflix, Bart Freundlich’s After The Wedding remake starring Michelle Williams, and the follow-up from the directors of Austrian mystery thriller Goodnight Mommy are among the Sundance 2019 feature film line-up announced on Wednesday (28).
Festival brass unveiled the US and World dramatic and documentary competitions, the Premieres and Documentary Premieres rosters, and Midnight, NEXT, Spotlight and KIDS. Sundance Film Festival runs from January 24-February 3.
Screening in Premieres alongside Ejiofor’s drama and After The Wedding are the Hilary Swank sci-fi I Am Mother (pictured) – which impressed buyers at the AFM – as well as Keira Knightley in Gavin Hood’s whistleblower thriller Official Secrets, Gurinder Chadha’s Thatcher-era UK drama Blinded By The Light, Joe Berlinger’s Ted Bundy film Extremely Wicked, Shockingly Evil And Vile, Adam Driver as a Congressional investigator in Scott Z. Burns’ The Report, and Matthias Schoenaerts in drama The Mustang, which Focus Features will release on March 15, 2019.
Goodnight Mommy directors Veronika Franz and Severin Fiala return with The Lodge starring Riley Keough in Midnight. The section includes Alexandre O. Philippe’s documentary exploration MEMORY – The Origins Of Alien. NEXT brings new work starring Emma Roberts in Paradise Hills, and Naomi Watts in The Wolf Hour. Documentary Premieres includes Untouchable, about the rise of Harvey Weinstein featuring comentary by former colleagues and accusers, as well as Alex Gibney’s new film about the Theranos blood testing scandal, and Nick Broomfield on the romance between Leonard Cohen and his Norwegian muse Marianne Ihlen.
U.S. Dramatic Competition entries include Alfre Woodard death row drama Clemency, father-son drama Honey Boy starring and written by Shia LaBeou, and Naomi Watts in the drama Luce. Among the World Cinema Dramatic Competition entries are Mia Wasikowska in the Australian drama Judy & Punch, Tilda Swinton in Joanna Hogg’s UK romance mystery The Souvenir, and Trine Dyrholm in Danish drama Queen Of Hearts.
“Society relies on storytellers,” said Robert Redford, president and founder of Sundance Institute. ”The choices they make, and the risks they take, define our collective experience. This year’s festival is full of storytellers who offer challenges, questions and entertainment. In telling their stories, they make difficult decisions in the pursuit of truth and art; culture reaps the reward.”
Keri Putnam, executive director of Sundance Institute, said, “Focusing a bright light on these independent stories is urgent and crucial, especially in the noise of today’s globalised media landscape. Voices from many places and perspectives, often shut out of the mainstream, offer us new insights. It’s immensely heartening to see these bold visions and their tellers thriving.”
Sundance Film Festival director John Cooper said, “These films and artists tell the truth: whether documentaries that illuminate hidden histories or fiction features that spotlight diverse, human experiences, this year’s slate is layered, intense and authentic.”
The festival has selected 112 feature-length films representing 33 countries and 45 first-time filmmakers. The festival said 53% of the directors in this year’s U.S. Dramatic Competition are women; 41% are people of colour; and 18% identify as LGBTQIA+. The festival said 44% of the directors in this year’s U.S. Documentary Competition are women; 22% are people of colour; and 5% identify as LGBTQIA+.
Of the 61 directors in all four competition categories, comprising 56 films, 42% are women, 39% are people of colour, and 23% identify as LGBTQIA. Twenty-four films announced on Wednesday were supported by Sundance Institute in development, whether through direct granting or residency Labs. Staff added that 102 of the feature films, or 91% of the line-up announced on Wednesday, will be world premieres. Some 40%, or 45, of all films announced on Wednesday were directed by one or more women, 36%, or 40, were directed by one or more filmmaker of colour, and 13% or 15 by one or more people who identify as LGBTQIA.
The films were selected from a record 14,259 submissions including 4,018 feature-length films. Of the feature film submissions, 1,767 were from the US and 2,251 were international, 31% were directed by one or more women, 38% were directed by one or more filmmaker of colour, and 11% by one or more people who identify as LGBTQIA. Some 2,251 submissions were international, of which 35% were directed by one or more women, 45% were directed by one or more filmmaker of colour, and 13% by one or more people who identify as LGBTQIA.
The DAY ONE selections are After The Wedding, Give Me Liberty, and Native Son. Further line-up announcements including Shorts, Indie Episodic and New Frontier, will be made shortly.
All synopses below were provided by the festival.
U.S. DRAMATIC COMPETITION
All films hail from the US and are world premieres unless stated otherwise
Before You Know It
Director: Hannah Pearl Utt
Screenwriters: Hannah Pearl Utt, Jen Tullock, Producers: Mallory Schwartz, Josh Hetzler, James Brown
A long-kept family secret thrusts co-dependent, thirty-something sisters Rachel and Jackie Gurner into a literal soap opera. A journey that proves that you really can come of age, at any age.
Cast: Hannah Pearl Utt, Jen Tullock, Judith Light, Mandy Patinkin, Mike Colter, Alec Baldwin.
Big Time Adolescence
Director and screenwriter: Jason Orley
Producers: Jeremy Garelick, Mickey Liddell, Pete Shiliamon, Mason Novick, Will Phelps
A suburban teenager comes of age under the destructive guidance of his best friend, a charismatic college dropout.
Cast: Pete Davidson, Griffin Gluck, Jon Cryer, Sydney Sweeney, Emily Arlook, Colson Baker.
Brittany Runs A Marathon
Director and screenwriter: Paul Downs Colaizzo, Producers: Matthew Plouffe, Tobey Maguire, Margot Hand
A woman living in New York takes control of her life – one city block at a time.
Cast: Jillian Bell, Michaela Watkins, Utkarsh Ambudkar, Lil Rel Howery, Micah Stock, Alice Lee.
Clemency
Director and screenwriter: Chinonye Chukwu, Producers: Bronwyn Cornelius, Julian Cautherley, Peter Wong, Timur Bekbosunov
Years of carrying out death row executions have taken a toll on prison warden Bernadine Williams. As she prepares to execute another inmate, Bernadine must confront the psychological and emotional demons her job creates, ultimately connecting her to the man she is sanctioned to kill.
Cast: Alfre Woodard, Aldis Hodge, Richard Schiff, Wendell Pierce, Richard Gunn, Danielle Brooks.
The Farewell (U.S.A.-China)
Director and screenwriter: Lulu Wang
Producers: Daniele Melia, Peter Saraf, Marc Turtletaub, Chris Weitz, Andrew Miano, Anita Gou
A headstrong Chinese-American woman returns to China when her beloved grandmother is given a terminal diagnosis. Billi struggles with her family’s decision to keep grandma in the dark about her own illness as they all stage an impromptu wedding to see grandma one last time.
Cast: Awkwafina, Tzi Ma, Diana Lin, Zhao Shuzhen, Lu Hong, Jiang Yongbo.
Hala
Director and screenwriter: Minhal Baig
Producers: Clarence Hammond, Jamal Watson, Minhal Baig
Muslim teenager Hala copes with the unraveling of her family as she comes into her own.
Cast: Geraldine Viswanathan, Jack Kilmer, Gabriel Luna, Purbi Joshi, Azad Khan, Anna Chlumsky.
Honey Boy
Director: Alma Har’el
Screenwriter: Shia LaBeouf
Producers: Brian Kavanaugh-Jones, Daniela Taplin Lundberg, Anita Gou, Christopher Leggett, Alma Har’el
A child TV star and his ex-rodeo clown father face their stormy past through time and cinema.
Cast: Shia LaBeouf, Lucas Hedges, Noah Jupe.
Imaginary Order
Director and screenwriter: Debra Eisenstadt
Producers: Debra Eisenstadt, Cosmos Kiindarius
The sexual, psychological and moral unraveling of an obsessive-compulsive suburban mom.
Cast: Wendi McLendon-Covey, Christine Woods, Max Burkholder, Steve Little, Catherine Curtin, Kate Alberts.
The Last Black Man in San Francisco
Director: Joe Talbot
Screenwriters: Joe Talbot, Rob Richert
Producers: Dede Gardner, Jeremy Kleiner, Christina Oh, Khaliah Neal, Joe Talbot
Jimmie Fails dreams of reclaiming the Victorian home his grandfather built in the heart of San Francisco. Joined on his quest by his best friend Mont, Jimmie searches for belonging in a rapidly changing city that seems to have left them behind.
Cast: Jimmie Fails, Jonathan Majors, Rob Morgan, Tichina Arnold, Danny Glover.
Luce
Director: Julius Onah
Screenwriters: JC Lee, Julius Onah
Producers: John Baker, Julius Onah, Andrew Yang
A married couple is forced to reckon with their idealised image of their son, adopted from war-torn Eritrea, after an alarming discovery by a devoted high school teacher threatens his status as an all-star student.
Cast: Naomi Watts, Octavia Spencer, Kelvin Harrison Jr., Tim Roth, Norbert Leo Butz.
Ms. Purple
Director: Justin Chon
Screenwriters: Justin Chon, Chris Dinh
Producer: Alex Chi, Justin Chon
Kasie, stuck in LA’s Koreatown, works as a karaoke hostess getting paid for her companionship by drunken men. When her dad’s hospice nurse quits she reconnects with her estranged brother, Carey, forcing them to enter a period of intense self-reflection as their single father who raised them nears death.
Cast: Tiffany Chu, Teddy Lee, Octavio Pizano, James Kang.
Native Son
Director: Rashid Johnson
Screenwriter: Suzan-Lori Parks
Producers: Matthew Perniciaro, Michael Sherman
In this modern reimagining of Richard Wright’s seminal novel, a young African-American man named Bigger Thomas takes a job working for a highly influential Chicago family, a decision that will change the course of his life forever.
Cast: Ashton Sanders, Margaret Qualley, Nick Robinson, KiKi Layne, Bill Camp, Sanaa Lathan.
DAY ONE
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Director and screenwriter: Pippa Bianco
Producers: Carly Hugo, Tyler Byrne, Matt Parker
After discovering a disturbing video from a night she doesn’t remember, sixteen-year-old Mandy must try to figure out what happened and how to navigate the escalating fallout.
Cast: Rhianne Barreto, Charlie Plummer, Poorna Jagannathan, J.C. MacKenzie, Nick Galitzine, Lovie Simone.
The Sound Of Silence
Director: Michael Tyburski
Screenwriters: Ben Nabors, Michael Tyburski
Producers: Ben Nabors, Michael Prall, Tariq Merhab, Charlie Scully, Mandy Tagger Brockey, Adi Ezroni
A successful “house tuner” in New York City, who calibrates the sound in people’s homes in order to adjust their moods, meets a client with a problem he can’t solve.
Cast: Peter Sarsgaard, Rashida Jones, Tony Revolori, Austin Pendleton.
Them That Follow
Directors and screenwriters: Britt Poulton, Dan Madison Savage
Producers: Bradley Gallo, Michael Helfant, Gerard Butler, Alan Siegel, Danielle Robinson
Inside a snake-handling church deep in Appalachia, a forbidden relationship forces a pastor’s daughter to confront her community’s deadly tradition.
Cast: Olivia Colman, Kaitlyn Dever, Alice Englert, Jim Gaffigan, Walton Goggins, Thomas Mann.
To The Stars
Director: Martha Stephens
Screenwriter: Shannon Bradley-Colleary
Producers: Kristin Mann, Laura D. Smith, Erik Rommesmo
Under small town scrutiny, a withdrawn farmer’s daughter forges an intimate friendship with a worldly but reckless new girl in 1960s Oklahoma.
Cast: Kara Hayward, Liana Liberato, Jordana Spiro, Shea Whigham, Malin Akerman, Tony Hale.
U.S. DOCUMENTARY COMPETITION
Films that have premiered in this category in recent years include Three Identical Strangers, On Her Shoulders, Cartel Land, and City Of Gold. All films hail from the US and are world premieres unless stated otherwise.
Always In Season
Director: Jacqueline Olive
When 17-year-old Lennon Lacy is found hanging from a swing set in rural North Carolina in 2014, his mother’s search for justice and reconciliation begins as the trauma of more than a century of lynching African Americans bleeds into the present.
American Factory
Directors: Steven Bognar, Julia Reichert
Producers: Steven Bognar, Julia Reichert, Jeff Reichert, Julie Parker Benello
In post-industrial Ohio, a Chinese billionaire opens a new factory in the husk of an abandoned General Motors plant, hiring two thousand blue-collar Americans. Early days of hope and optimism give way to setbacks as high-tech China clashes with working-class America.
APOLLO 11
Director: Todd Douglas Miller
Producers: Todd Douglas Miller, Thomas Petersen, Evan Krauss
A purely archival reconstruction of humanity’s first trip to another world, featuring never-before-seen 70mm footage and never-before-heard audio from the mission.
Bedlam
Director: Kenneth Paul Rosenberg
Producers: Kenneth Paul Rosenberg, Peter Miller
A psychiatrist makes rounds in ERs, jails, and homeless camps to tell the intimate stories behind one of the greatest social crises of our time. A personal and intense journey into the world of the seriously mentally ill.
David Crosby: Remember My Name
Director: A.J. Eaton
Producers: Cameron Crowe, Michele Farinola, Greg Mariotti
You thought you knew him. Meet David Crosby now in this portrait of a man with everything but an easy retirement on his mind. With unflinching honesty, self-examination, regret, fear, exuberance and an unshakable belief in family and the transformative nature of music, Crosby shares his often challenging journey.
Hail Satan
Director: Penny Lane
Producer: Gabriel Sedgwick
A look at the intersection of religion and activism, tracing the rise of The Satanic Temple: only six years old and already one of the most controversial religious movements in American history. The Temple is calling for a Satanic revolution to save the nation’s soul. But are they for real?
Jawline
Director: Liza Mandelup
Producers: Bert Hamelinck, Sacha Ben Harroche, Hannah Reyer
The film follows 16-year-old Austyn Tester, a rising star in the live-broadcast ecosystem who built his following on wide-eyed optimism and teen girl lust, as he tries to escape a dead-end life in rural Tennessee.
Knock Down The House
Director: Rachel Lears
Producers: Sarah Olson, Robin Blotnick, Rachel Lears
A young bartender in the Bronx, a coal miner’s daughter in West Virginia, a grieving mother in Nevada and a registered nurse in Missouri build a movement of insurgent candidates challenging powerful incumbents in Congress. One of their races will become the most shocking political upset in recent American history. Cast: Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez.
Midnight Family (Mexico-U.S.A.)
Director: Luke Lorentzen
Producers: Kellen Quinn, Daniela Alatorre, Elena Fortes
In Mexico City’s wealthiest neighborhoods, the Ochoa family runs a private ambulance, competing with other for-profit EMTs for patients in need of urgent help. As they try to make a living in this cutthroat industry, they struggle to keep their financial needs from compromising the people in their care.
Mike Wallace Is Here
Director: Avi Belkin
Producers: Rafael Marmor, John Battsek, Peggy Drexler, Avi Belkin, Christopher Leggett
For over 50 years, 60 Minutes’ fearsome newsman Mike Wallace went head-to-head with the 20th century’s most influential figures. Relying exclusively on archival footage, the film interrogates the interrogator, tracking Mike’s storied career and troubled personal life while unpacking how broadcast journalism evolved to today’s precarious tipping point.
Cast: Mike Wallace.
Moonlight Sonata: Deafness In Three Movements
Director: Irene Taylor Brodsky
Producers: Irene Taylor Brodsky, Tahria Sheather
A deeply personal portrait of three lives, and the discoveries that lie beyond loss: a deaf boy growing up, his deaf grandfather growing old, and Beethoven the year he was blindsided by deafness and wrote his iconic sonata.
One Child Nation (China-U.S.A.)
Directors: Nanfu Wang, Jialing Zhang
Producers: Nanfu Wang, Jialing Zhang, Julie Goldman, Christoph Jörg, Christopher Clements, Carolyn Hepburn
After becoming a mother, a filmmaker uncovers the untold history of China’s one-child policy and the generations of parents and children forever shaped by this social experiment.
Pahokee
Directors: Ivete Lucas, Patrick Bresnan
Producers: Ivete Lucas, Patrick Bresnan, Maida Lynn
In a small agricultural town in the Florida Everglades, hopes for the future are concentrated on the youth. Four teens face heartbreak and celebrate in the rituals of an extraordinary senior year.
TIGERLAND
Director: Ross Kauffman
Producers: Fisher Stevens, Xan Parker, Zara Duffy
Fifty years ago, a young forest officer in India rallied the world to save tigers from extinction. Today, the creed is carried on in Far East Russia by the guardians of the last Siberian tigers, who risk everything to save the species.
Untitled Amazing Johnathan Documentary
Director and screenwriter: Ben Berman
Producers: Miranda Bailey, Ben Berman, Russell Groves, Amanda Marshall, Jacob Perlin
What begins as a documentary following the final tour of a dying magician – “The Amazing Johnathan” – becomes an unexpected and increasingly bizarre journey as the filmmaker struggles to separate truth from illusion.
Cast: Johnathan Szeles.
Where’s My Roy Cohn?
Director: Matt Tyrnauer
Producers: Matt Tyrnauer , Corey Reeser, Marie Brenner, Andrea Lewis
Roy Cohn personified the dark arts of American politics, turning empty vessels into dangerous demagogues – from Joseph McCarthy to his final project, Donald J. Trump. This thriller-like exposé connects the dots, revealing how a deeply troubled master manipulator shaped our current American nightmare.
WORLD CINEMA DRAMATIC COMPETITION
Films that have premiered in this category in recent years include Yardie, The Nile Hilton Incident, Second Mother, Berlin Syndrome, and The Lure. All are world premieres unless stated otherwise.
Dirty God (Netherlands-UK-Belgium-Ireland)
Director: Sacha Polak
Screenwriters: Sacha Polak, Susanne Farrell
Producers: Marleen Slot, Michael Elliott
Jade is a young mother in the prime of her life when an acid attack leaves her severely burned. While her face has been reconstructed, her beauty is lost beneath the scars. Descending a self-destructive path with relationships crumbling, Jade must take drastic action to reclaim her life.
Cast: Vicky Knight, Katherine Kelly, Eliza Brady-Girard, Rebecca Stone, Bluey Robinson, Dana Marienci. International premiere
Divine Love (Brazil-Uruguay-Denmark-Norway)
Director: Gabriel Mascaro
Screenwriters: Gabriel Mascaro, Rachel Daisy Ellis, Esdras Bezerra
Producer: Rachel Daisy Ellis
Brazil, 2027. A deeply religious woman uses her position in a notary’s office to advance her mission to save struggling couples from divorce. Whilst waiting for a sign in recognition of her efforts, she’s confronted with a crisis in her own marriage that ultimately brings her closer to God.
Cast: Dira Praes, Julio Machado, Emilio de Melo, Teca Pereira, Mariana Nunes, Thalita Carauta.
Dolce Fine Giornata (Poland)
Director: Jacek Borcuch
Screenwriters: Jacek Borcuch, Szczepan Twardoch
Producer: Marta Habior
In Tuscany, Maria’s stable family life begins to erode as her relationship with a young immigrant develops against a backdrop of terrorism and eroding democracy.
Cast: Krystyna Janda, Katarzyna Smutniak, Vincent Riotta, Antonio Catania, Lorenzo de Moor, Robin Renucci.
Judy & Punch (Australia)
Director and screenwriter: Mirrah Foulkes
Producers: Michele Bennett, Nash Edgerton, Danny Gabai
In the anarchic town of Seaside, nowhere near the sea, puppeteers Judy and Punch are trying to resurrect their marionette show. The show is a hit due to Judy’s superior puppeteering but Punch’s driving ambition and penchant for whisky lead to a inevitable tragedy that Judy must avenge.
Cast: Mia Wasikowska, Damon Herriman, Tom Budge, Benedict Hardie, Lucy Velik, Terry Norris.
Koko-di Koko-da (Sweden-Denmark)
Director and screenwriter: Johannes Nyholm
Producer: Johannes Nyholm
As a couple goes on a trip to find their way back to each other, a sideshow artist and his shady entourage emerge from the woods, terrorizing them, luring them deeper and deeper into a maelstrom of psychological terror and humiliating slapstick.
Cast: Leif Edlund, Ylva Gallon, Peter Belli, Katarina Jacobson.
The Last Tree (UK)
Director and screenwriter: Shola Amoo
Producers: Lee Thomas, Myf Hopkins
Femi is a British boy of Nigerian heritage who, after a happy childhood in rural Lincolnshire, moves to inner London to live with his mum. Struggling with the unfamiliar culture and values of his new environment, teenage Femi has to figure out which path to adulthood he wants to take.
Cast: Sam Adewunmi, Gbemisola Ikumelo, Tai Golding.
Monos (Colombia-Argentina-Netherlands-Germany- Sweden-Uruguay)
Director: Alejandro Landes
Screenwriters: Alejandro Landes, Alexis Dos Santos
Producers: Alejandro Landes, Fernando Epstein, Santiago Zapata, Cristina Landes
On a faraway mountaintop, eight kids with guns watch over a hostage and a conscripted milk cow.
Cast: Julianne Nicholson, Moisés Arias, Sofia Buenaventura, Deibi Rueda, Karen Quintero, Laura Castrillón.
Queen Of Hearts (Denmark)
Director: May el-Toukhy
Screenwriters: Maren Louise Käehne, May el-Toukhy
Producers: Caroline Blanco, René Ezra
A woman jeopardizes both her career and her family when she seduces her teenage stepson and is forced to make an irreversible decision with fatal consequences.
Cast: Trine Dyrholm, Gustav Lindh, Magnus Krepper.
The Sharks (Uruguay-Argentina-Spain)
Director and screenwriter: Lucía Garibaldi
Producers: Pancho Magnou Arnábal, Isabel García
While a rumor about the presence of sharks in a small beach town distracts residents, 14-year-old Rosina begins to feel
an instinct to shorten the distance between her body and Joselo’s.
Cast: Romina Bentancur, Federico Morosini, Fabián Arenillas, Valeria Lois, Antonella Aquistapache.
The Souvenir (UK)
Director and screenwriter: Joanna Hogg
Producers: Luke Schiller, Joanna Hogg
A quiet film student begins finding her voice as an artist while navigating a turbulent courtship with a charismatic but untrustworthy man. She defies her protective mother and concerned friends as she slips deeper and deeper into an intense, emotionally fraught relationship which comes dangerously close to destroying her dreams.
Cast: Honor Swinton Byrne, Tom Burke, Tilda Swinton.
This Is Not Berlin (Mexico)
Director: Hari Sama
Screenwriters: Rodrigo Ordóñez, Hari Sama, Max Zunino
Producers: Ale García, Antonio Urdapilleta, Hari Sama, Verónica Valadez P.
1986, Mexico City. Seventeen-year-old Carlos doesn’t fit in anywhere, not in his family nor with the friends he has chosen in school. But everything changes when he is invited to a mythical nightclub where he discovers the underground nightlife scene: punk, sexual liberty and drugs.
Cast: Xabiani Ponce de León, José Antonio Toledano, Ximena Romo, Mauro Sánchez Navarro, Klaudia García, Marina de Tavira.
WE ARE LITTLE ZOMBIES (Japan)
Director and screenwriter: Makoto Nagahisa
Producers: Shinichi Takahashi, Tahei Tamanishi, Haruki Yokoyama, Haruhiko Hasegawa
Their parents are dead. They should be sad, but they can’t cry. So they form a kick-ass band. This is the story of four 13
year-olds in search of their emotions.
Cast: Keita Ninomiya, Satoshi Mizuno, Mondo Okumura, Sena Nakajima.
WORLD CINEMA DOCUMENTARY COMPETITION
Films that have premiered in this category in recent years include Shirkers, This Is Home, Motherland, Last Men In Aleppo, and Hooligan Sparrow. All are world premieres unless stated otherwise.
Advocate (Israel-Canada-Switzerland)
Directors: Rachel Leah Jones, Philippe Bellaïche
Producers: Philippe Bellaïche, Rachel Leah Jones, Paul Cadieux, Joelle Bertossa
Lea Tsemel defends Palestinians: from feminists to fundamentalists, from non-violent demonstrators to armed militants. As a Jewish-Israeli lawyer who has represented political prisoners for nearly 50 years, Tsemel, in her tireless quest for justice, pushes the praxis of a human rights defender to its limits.
Cold Case Hammarskjold (Denmark)
Director: Mads Brügger
Producers: Peter Engel, Andreas Rocksén, Bjarte M. Tveit
Danish director Mads Brügger and Swedish private investigator Göran Bjorkdahl are trying to solve the mysterious death of Dag Hammarskjold. As their investigation closes in, they discover a crime far worse than killing the Secretary-General of the United Nations.
Untitled Brazil Documentary (Brazil)
Director and screenwriter: Petra Costa
Producers: Joanna Natasegara, Shane Boris, Tiago Pavan
A cautionary tale for these times of democracy in crisis – the personal and political fuse to explore one of the most dramatic periods in Brazilian history. With unprecedented access to Presidents Dilma Rousseff and Lula da Silva, we witness their rise and fall and the tragically polarised nation that remains.
The Disappearance Of My Mother (Italy)
Director and screenwriter: Beniamino Barrese
Producer: Filippo Macelloni
An aging fashion model strives to escape the world of images and disappear for good, but her son’s determination to make a final film about her sparks an unexpected collaboration and confrontation with the camera’s gaze.
Gaza (Ireland)
Directors: Garry Keane, Andrew McConnell
Producers: Brendan J. Byrne, Garry Keane, Andrew McConnell, Paul Cadieux
Gaza brings us into a unique place beyond the reach of television news reports to reveal a world rich with eloquent and resilient characters, offering us a cinematic and enriching portrait of a people attempting to lead meaningful lives against the rubble of perennial conflict.
Honeyland (Macedonia)
Directors: Ljubomir Stefanov, Tamara Kotevska
Producer: Atanas Georgiev
When nomadic beekeepers break Honeyland’s basic rule (take half of the honey, but leave half to the bees), the last female beehunter in Europe must save the bees and restore natural balance.
Lapü (Colombia)
Directors: Juan Pablo Polanco, César Alejandro Jaimes
Screenwriters: Juan Pablo Polanco, César Alejandro Jaimes, María Canela Reyes
Producer: Julián David Quintero
In the middle of the Guajira Desert, Doris, a young Wayuu woman, exhumes her cousin’s remains in order to meet her for the last time. Through a sensory journey this ritual leads her to confront death and blend the world of the dreams with the world of the living.
Cast: Doris González Jusayú, Carmen González Jusayú.
The Magic Life Of V (Finland-Denmark-Bulgaria)
Director: Tonislav Hristov
Screenwriters: Tonislav Hristov, Kaarle Aho
Producers: Kaarle Aho, Kai Nordberg
Haunted by childhood traumas, Veera is trying to become more independent through live roleplaying. As she guides herself and her mentally-challenged brother through worlds of multiple roles and identities, witches and wizards, she finds the courage to face the demons of her own past and her abusive father’s legacy.
Midnight Traveler (U.S.A.-Qatar-UK-Canada)
Director: Hassan Fazili
Screenwriter: Emelie Mahdavian
Producers: Emelie Mahdavian, Su Kim
When the Taliban puts a bounty on Afghan director Hassan Fazili’s head, he is forced to flee with his wife and two young daughters. Capturing their uncertain journey, Fazili shows firsthand the dangers facing refugees seeking asylum and the love shared between a family on the run.
Sea Of Shadows (Austria)
Director: Richard Ladkani
Producers: Walter Koehler, Wolfgang Knoepfler
The vaquita, the world’s smallest whale, is near extinction as its habitat is destroyed by Mexican cartels and Chinese mafia, who harvest the swim bladder of the totoaba fish, the “cocaine of the sea.” Environmental activists, Mexican navy and undercover investigators are fighting back against this illegal multimillion-dollar business.
Shooting The Mafia (Ireland)
Director: Kim Longinotto
Producer: Niamh Fagan
Sicilian Letizia Battaglia began a lifelong battle with the Mafia when she first pointed her camera at a brutally slain victim. Documenting the Cosa Nostra’s barbaric rule, she bore unflinching witness to their crimes. Her photographs, art, and bravery helped to bring an end to a shocking reign of slaughter.
Stieg Larsson – The Man Who Played With Fire (Sweden)
Director and screenwriter: Henrik Georgsson
Producers: Mattias Nohrborg, Fredrik Heinig
A documentary about the Millennium-trilogy author Stieg Larsson and his pioneering work of fighting right wing extremists and neo-Nazis, an obsession with fatal consequences. International Premiere
NEXT
Films that have premiered in this category of bold visions from emerging creators in recent years include Searching, Skate Kitchen, A Ghost Story, and Tangerine. All hail from the US and are world premieres unless stated otherwise. NEXT is presented by Adobe.
Adam
Director: Rhys Ernst
Screenwriter: Ariel Schrag
Producers: Howard Gertler, James Schamus
Awkward teenager Adam arrives to spend his final high school summer with his older sister, who has thrown herself into New York City’s lesbian and trans activist scene. Over the summer, Adam and those around him experience love, friendship, and attendant hard truths in this coming-of-age comedy.
Cast: Nicholas Alexander, India Menuez, Leo Sheng, Chloe Levine, Margaret Qualley.
Give Me Liberty
Director: Kirill Mikhanovsky
Screenwriters: Alice Austen, Kirill Mikhanovsky
Producers: Alice Austen, George Rush, Walter S. Hall, Michael Manasseri, Sergey Shtern, Val Abel
When a riot breaks out in Milwaukee, America’s most segregated city, medical transport driver Vic is torn between his promise to get a group of elderly Russians to a funeral and his desire to help Tracy, a young black woman with ALS. Cast: Lauren “Lolo” Spencer, Chris Galust, Maksim Stoyanov, Darya Ekamasova.
DAY ONE
Light From Light
Director and screenwriter: Paul Harrill
Producers: James M. Johnston, Kelly Williams, Toby Halbrooks, Elisabeth Moss, Tim Headington, Theresa Page
Shelia, a single mom and sometime paranormal investigator, is enlisted to investigate a possible “haunting” at a widower’s farmhouse in East Tennessee.
Cast: Marin Ireland, Jim Gaffigan, Josh Wiggins, Atheena Frizzell, David Cale.
Paradise Hills (Spain-U.S.A.)
Director: Alice Waddington
Screenwriters: Nacho Vigalondo, Brian DeLeeuw
Producers: Adrian Guerra, Núria Valls
A young woman is sent to Paradise Hills to be reformed, only to learn that the high-class facility’s beautiful facade hides a sinister secret.
Cast: Emma Roberts, Danielle Macdonald, Awkwafina, Eiza González, Milla Jovovich, Jeremy Irvine.
Premature
Director: Rashaad Ernesto Green
Screenwriters: Rashaad Ernesto Green, Zora Howard
Producers: Joy Ganes, Rashaad Ernesto Green, Darren Dean
The summer before she leaves for college, Ayanna meets handsome and mysterious outsider Isaiah; her entire world is turned upside down as she navigates the demanding terrain of young love against a changing Harlem landscape.
Cast: Zora Howard, Joshua Boone, Michelle Wilson, Alexis Marie Wint, Imani Lewis, Tashiana Washington.
Selah And The Spades
Director and screenwriter: Tayarisha Poe
Producers: Lauren McBride, Lucas Joaquin, Drew Houpt, Tayarisha Poe, Jill Ahrens
Five factions run the underground life of the prestigious Haldwell boarding school. At the head of the most powerful faction - The Spades - sits Selah Summers. By turns charming and callous, she chooses whom to keep close and whom to cut loose, walking the fine line between being feared and loved.
Cast: Lovie Simone, Celeste O’Connor, Jharrel Jerome, Gina Torres, Jesse Williams.
Sister Aimee
Directors and screenwriters: Samantha Buck, Marie Schlingmann
Producers: Bettina Barrow, David Hartstein, Katherine Harper
In 1926 America’s most famous evangelist is a woman. And she’s looking for a way out. Fed up with her own success, she gets swept up in her lover’s daydreams about Mexico and finds herself on a wild road trip towards the border. Based on true events. Mostly made up.
Cast: Anna Margaret Hollyman, Michael Mosley, Andrea Suarez Paz, Julie White, Macon Blair, Amy Hargreaves.
The Death Of Dick Long
Director: Daniel Scheinert
Screenwriter: Billy Chew
Producers: Jonathan Wang, Daniel Scheinert) — Dick died last night, and Zeke and Earl don’t want anybody finding out how. That’s too bad though, cause news travels fast in small-town Alabama.
Cast: Michael Abbott Jr., Virginia Newcomb, Andre Hyland, Sarah Baker, Jess Weixler.
The Infiltrators
Directors: Alex Rivera, Cristina Ibarra
Screenwriters: Alex Rivera, Aldo Velasco
Producers: Cristina Ibarra, Alex Rivera, Darren Dean
A rag-tag group of undocumented youth – Dreamers – deliberately get detained by Border Patrol in order to infiltrate a shadowy, for-profit detention center.
Cast: Maynor Alvarado, Manuel Uriza, Chelsea Rendon, Juan Gabriel Pareja, Vik Sahay.
The Wolf Hour
Director and screenwriter: Alistair Banks Griffin
Producers: Brian Kavanaugh-Jones, Bailey Conway Anglewicz, Bradley Pilz
Once a known counterculture figure, June E. Leigh now lives in self-imposed exile in her South Bronx apartment during the incendiary ’77 Summer of Sam. When an unseen tormentor begins exploiting June’s weaknesses, her insular universe begins to unravel.
Cast: Naomi Watts, Emory Cohen, Jennifer Ehle, Kelvin Harrison Jr.
PREMIERES
A showcase of world premieres of some of the most highly anticipated narrative films of the coming year. Films that have premiered in this category in recent years include The Big Sick, Call Me By Your Name, Boyhood, and Mudbound. All films hail from the US and are world premieres unless stated otherwise.
After The Wedding
Director and screenwriter: Bart Freundlich
Producers: Joel B. Michaels, Harry Finkel
Seeking funds for her orphanage in India, Isabelle travels to New York to meet Theresa, a wealthy benefactor. An invitation to attend a wedding ignites a series of events in which the past collides with the present while mysteries unravel. Based on the Academy Award-nominated film by Susanne Bier.
Cast: Julianne Moore, Michelle Williams, Billy Crudup, Abby Quinn.
DAY ONE
Animals (UK-Ireland-Australia)
Director: Sophie Hyde
Screenwriter: Emma Jane Unsworth
Producers: Sarah Brocklehurst, Rebecca Summerton, Cormac Fox, Sophie Hyde
After a decade of partying, Laura and Tyler’s friendship is strained by Laura’s new love and her focus on her novel. A snapshot of a modern woman with competing desires, at once a celebration of female friendship and an examination of the choices we make when facing a crossroads.
Cast: Holliday Grainger, Alia Shawkat.
Blinded By The Light (UK)
Director: Gurinder Chadha
Screenwriters: Sarfraz Manzoor, Gurinder Chadha, Paul Mayeda Berges
Producers: Gurinder Chadha, Jane Barclay, Jamal Daniel
In 1987 during the austere days of Thatcher’s Britain, a teenager learns to live life, understand his family and find his own voice through the music of Bruce Springsteen.
Cast: Viveik Kalra, Hayley Atwell, Rob Brydon, Kulvinder Ghir, Nell Williams, Aaron Phagura.
Extremely Wicked, Shockingly Evil And Vile
Director: Joe Berlinger
Screenwriter: Michael Werwie
Producers: Michael Costigan, Nicolas Chartier, Ara Keshishian, Michael Simkin
A chronicle of the crimes of Ted Bundy from the perspective of Liz, his longtime girlfriend, who refused to believe the truth about him for years.
Cast: Zac Efron, Lily Collins, Haley Joel Osment, Kaya Scodelario, John Malkovich, Jim Parsons.
I Am Mother (Australia)
Director: Grant Sputore
Screenwriter: Michael Lloyd Green
Producers: Timothy White, Kelvin Munro
In the wake of humanity’s extinction, a teenage girl is raised by a robot designed to repopulate the earth. But their unique bond is threatened when an inexplicable stranger arrives with alarming news.
Cast: Clara Rugaard, Rose Byrne, Hilary Swank.
Late Night
Director: Nisha Ganatra
Screenwriter: Mindy Kaling
Producers: Ben Browning, Howard Klein, Jillian Apfelbaum, Mindy Kaling
Legendary late-night talk show host’s world is turned upside down when she hires her only female staff writer. Originally intended to smooth over diversity concerns, her decision has unexpectedly hilarious consequences as the two women separated by culture and generation are united by their love of a biting punchline.
Cast: Emma Thompson, Mindy Kaling, John Lithgow, Paul Walter Hauser, Reid Scott, Amy Ryan.
Official Secrets (U.S.A.-UK)
Director: Gavin Hood
Screenwriters: Sara Bernstein, Gregory Bernstein, Gavin Hood
Producers: Ged Doherty, Elizabeth Fowler, Melissa Shiyu Zuo
The true story of British Intelligence whistleblower Katharine Gun, who prior to the 2003 Iraq invasion leaked a top-secret NSA memo exposing a joint US-UK illegal spying operation against members of the UN Security Council. The memo proposed blackmailing member states into voting for war.
Cast: Keira Knightley, Matt Smith, Ralph Feinnes, Matthew Goode, Rhys Ifans.
Photograph (India)
Director and screenwriter: Ritesh Batra
Producers: Neil Kopp, Vincent Savino, Anish Savjani
Two lives intersect in Mumbai and go along together. A struggling street photographer, pressured to marry by his grandmother, convinces a shy stranger to pose as his fiancée. The pair develops a connection that transforms them in ways that they could not expect.
Cast: Nawazuddin Siddiqi, Sanya Malhotra.
Relive
Director: Jacob Estes
Screenwriters: Jacob Estes, Drew Daywalt
Producers: Jason Blum, Bobby Cohen
After a man’s family dies in what appears to be a murder, he gets a phone call from one of the dead, his niece. He’s not sure if she’s a ghost or if he’s going mad — but as it turns out, he’s not. Instead, her calls help him rewrite history.
Cast: David Oyelowo, Storm Reid, Mykelti Williamson, Alfred Molina, Bryan Tyree Henry.
Sonja - The White Swan (Norway)
Director: Anne Sewitsky
Screenwriters: Mette Marit Bølstad, Andreas Markusson
Producers: Cornelia Boysen, Synnøve Hørsdal
The true story of one of the world’s greatest athletes and the inventor of modern figure skating, who took Hollywood by storm in the 1930s, sacrificing everything to stay in the spotlight.
Cast: Ine Marie Wilmann, Valene Kane, Eldar Skar, Anders Mordal, Pål Sverre Hagen, Aiden McArdle.
International Premiere
The Mustang
Director: Laure de Clermont-Tonnerre
Screenwriters: Laure de Clermont-Tonnerre, Mona Fastvold, Brock Norman Brock
Producer: Alain Goldman
While participating in a rehabilitation program training wild mustangs, a convict at first struggles to connect with the horses and his fellow inmates, but learns to confront his violent past as he soothes an especially feisty horse.
Cast: Matthias Schoenaerts, Connie Britton, Bruce Dern, Jason Mitchell, Gideon Adlon, Josh Stewart.
The Boy Who Harnessed the Wind (UK)
Director and screenwriter: Chiwetel Ejiofor
Producers: Andrea Calderwood, Gail Egan
Against all the odds, a thirteen year old boy in Malawi invents an unconventional way to save his family and village from famine. Based on the true story of William Kamkwamba.
Cast: Chiwetel Ejiofor, Maxwell Simba, Lily Banda, Noma Dumezweni, Aissa Maiga, Joseph Marcell.
The Report
Director and screenwriter: Scott Z. Burns
Producers: Steven Soderbergh, Jennifer Fox, Scott Z. Burns, Danny Gabai, Eddy Moretti
The story of Daniel Jones, lead investigator for the US Senate’s sweeping study into the CIA’s Detention and Interrogation Program, which was found to be brutal, immoral and ineffective. With the truth at stake, Jones battled tirelessly to make public what many in power sought to keep hidden.
Cast: Adam Driver, Annette Bening, Jon Hamm, Ted Levine, Maura Tierney, Michael C. Hall.
The Sunlit Night (Germany-Norway)
Director: David Wnendt
Screenwriter: Rebecca Dinerstein
Producers: Michael Clark, Alex Turtletaub, Gabrielle Nadig, Fabian Gasmia, Ruben Thorkildsen, Jenny Slate
Between New York City and the far north of Norway, an American painter and a Russian émigré find each other in the Arctic circle. Together under a sun that never sets, they discover a future and family that they didn’t know they had.
Cast: Jenny Slate, Zach Galifianakis, Alex Sharp, Gillian Anderson, Fridjov Sáheim, David Paymer.
The Tomorrow Man
Director and screenwriter: Noble Jones
Producers: Luke Rivett, Nicolaas Bertelsen, James Schamus, Tony Lipp
Ed Hemsler spends his life preparing for a disaster that may never come. Ronnie Meisner spends her life shopping for things she may never use. In a small town somewhere in America, these two people will try to find love while trying not to get lost in each other’s stuff.
Cast: John Lithgow, Blythe Danner, Derek Cecil, Katie Aselton, Sophie Thatcher, Eve Harlow.
Top End Wedding (Australia)
Director: Wayne Blair
Screenwriters: Joshua Tyler, Miranda Tapsell
Producers: Rosemary Blight, Kylie du Fresne, Kate Croser
Lauren and Ned are engaged, they are in love, and they have just ten days to find Lauren’s mother who has gone AWOL somewhere in the remote far north of Australia, reunite her parents and pull off their dream wedding.
Cast: Miranda Tapsell, Gwilym Lee, Kerry Fox, Huw Higginson, Ursula Yovich, Shari Sebbens.
Troupe Zero
Director: Bert & Bertie
Screenwriter: Lucy Alibar
Producers: Todd Black, Jason Blumenthal, Steve Tisch, Alex Siskin, Viola Davis
In rural 1977 Georgia, a misfit girl dreams of life in outer space. When a national competition offers her a chance at her dream, to be recorded on NASA’s Golden Record, she recruits a makeshift troupe of Birdie Scouts, forging friendships that last a lifetime and beyond.
Cast: Viola Davis, McKenna Grace, Jim Gaffigan, Mike Epps, Charlie Shotwell, Allison Janney.
Velvet Buzzsaw
Director and screenwriter: Dan Gilroy
Producer: Jennifer Fox
A thriller set in the contemporary art world scene of Los Angeles, where big money artists and mega-collectors pay a high price when art collides with commerce.
Cast: Jake Gyllenhaal, Rene Russo, Toni Collette, Zawe Ashton, Tom Sturridge, Natalia Dyer.
DOCUMENTARY PREMIERES
Films that have premiered in this category in recent years include Oscar season frontrunners Won’t You Be My Neighbor? and RBG, as well as An Inconvenient Sequel, The Hunting Ground, and Going Clear. All films hail from the US and are world premieres unless stated otherwise.
Ask Dr. Ruth
Director: Ryan White
Producers: Rafael Marmor, Ryan White, Jessica Hargrave, Christopher Leggett
A documentary portrait chronicling the incredible life of Dr. Ruth Westheimer, a Holocaust survivor who became America’s most famous sex therapist. As her 90th birthday approaches, Dr. Ruth revisits her painful past and her career at the forefront of the sexual revolution.
Halston
Director and screenwriter: Frédéric Tcheng
Producers: Roland Ballester, Frédéric Tcheng, Stephanie Levy, Paul Dallas
From Iowa to Studio 54, this investigation into the rags-to-riches story of America’s first superstar designer uncovers the cautionary tale of an artist who sold his name to Wall Street.
Love, Antosha
Director: Garret Price
Producers: Adam Gibbs, Drake Doremus
A portrait of the extraordinary life and career of actor Anton Yelchin.
Marianne & Leonard: Words Of Love
Director: Nick Broomfield
Producers: Marc Hoeferlin, Shani Hinton, Kyle Gibbon
A story of enduring love between Leonard Cohen and his Norwegian muse Marianne Ihlen. The film follows their relationship from the early days in Greece, a time of ‘free love’ and open marriage, to how their love evolved when Leonard became a successful musician.
MERATA: How Mum Decolonised The Screen (New Zealand)
Director and screenwriter: Heperi Mita
Producer: Chelsea Winstanley
An intimate portrayal of pioneering filmmaker Merata Mita, told through the eyes of her children. Using hours of archive footage, some never before seen, her youngest child discovers the filmmaker he never knew and shares with the world the mother he lost. International Premiere
Miles Davis: Birth Of The Cool (U.S.A.-UK)
Director: Stanley Nelson
Producers: Nicole London, Stanley Nelson
A visionary, innovator, and originator who defied categorization and embodied the word cool: a foray into the life and career of musical and cultural icon Miles Davis.
Raise Hell: The Life & Times Of Molly Ivins
Director: Janice Engel
Screenwriters: Janice Engel, Monique Zavistovski
Producers: James Egan, Janice Engel, Carlisle Vandervoort
Molly Ivins was six feet of flame-haired Texas trouble, a prescient political journalist, best-selling author and Bill of Rights warrior. She took no prisoners, leaving both sides of the aisle laughing and craving more of her razor-sharp wit. It’s time to Raise Hell like Molly!
The Great Hack
Directors: Karim Amer, Jehane Noujaim, Screenwriters: Karim Amer, Erin Barnett, Pedro Kos, Producers: Karim Amer, Geralyn Dreyfous, Judy Korin
Data, arguably the world’s most valuable asset, is being weaponized to wage cultural and political wars. The dark world of data exploitation is uncovered through the unpredictable personal journeys of players on different sides of the explosive Cambridge Analytica/Facebook data story.
The Inventor: Out For Blood In Silicon Valley
Director: Alex Gibney
Producers: Jessie Deeter, Erin Edeiken, Alex Gibney
With a magical new invention that promised to revolutionise blood testing, Elizabeth Holmes became the world’s youngest self-made billionaire, heralded as the next Steve Jobs. Then, overnight, her $10-billion-dollar company dissolved. The rise and fall of Theranos is a window into the psychology of fraud.
Toni Morrison: The Pieces I Am
Director: Timothy Greenfield-Sanders
Producers: Timothy Greenfield-Sanders, Johanna Giebelhaus, Chad Thompson, Tommy Walker
This artful and intimate meditation on the legendary storyteller examines her life, her works and the powerful themes she has confronted throughout her literary career. Toni Morrison leads an assembly of her peers, critics and colleagues on an exploration of race, history, America and the human condition.
Untouchable
Director: Ursula Macfarlane
Producers: Simon Chinn, Jonathan Chinn, Poppy Dixon
The inside story of the rise and fall of Harvey Weinstein reveals how, over decades, he acquires and protects his power even as scandal threatens to engulf him. Former colleagues and accusers detail the method and consequences of his alleged abuse, hoping for justice and to inspire change.
Words From A Bear
Director: Jeffrey Palmer
Producer: Jeffrey Palmer
A visual journey into the mind and soul of Pulitzer Prize-winning author Navarro Scott Momaday, relating each written line to his unique Native American experience representing ancestry, place, and oral history.
MIDNIGHT
The section encompasses a range of gener from horror and comedy to works that defy classification. Films that have premiered in this category in recent years include Hereditary, Assassination Nation, The Little Hours, and The Babadook. All films hail from the US and are world premieres unless stated otherwise.
Greener Grass
Directors and screenwriters: Jocelyn DeBoer, Dawn Luebbe
Producer: Natalie Metzger
A deliciously twisted comedy set in a demented, timeless suburbia where every adult wears braces on their straight teeth, couples coordinate meticulously pressed outfits, and coveted family members are swapped in more ways than one in this competition for acceptance.
Cast: Jocelyn DeBoer, Dawn Luebbe, Beck Bennett, Neil Casey, Mary Holland, D’Arcy Carden.
Little Monsters (Australia)
Director and screenwriter: Abe Forsythe
Producers: Jodi Matterson, Bruna Papandrea, Steve Hutensky, Keith Calder, Jessica Calder
A film dedicated to all the kindergarten teachers who motivate children to learn, instill them with confidence and stop them from being devoured by zombies.
Cast: Lupita Nyong’o, Alexander England, Josh Gad.
MEMORY - The Origins Of Alien
Director: Alexandre O. Philippe
Screenwriter: Alexandre O. Philippe
Producer: Kerry Deignan Roy
The untold origin story behind Ridley Scott’s Alien – rooted in Greek and Egyptian mythologies, underground comics, the art of Francis Bacon, and the dark visions of Dan O’Bannon and H.R. Giger. A contemplation on the symbiotic collaborative process of moviemaking, the power of myth, and our collective unconscious.
Mope
Director: Lucas Heyne
Screenwriters: Lucas Heyne, Zack Newkirk
Producers: Kelly Hayes, Brian Cooper, Kern Saxton, Danny Roth
Two ‘mopes’ – the lowest-level male performers in the porn industry – set their sights on an impossible dream: stardom.
Cast: Nathan Stewart-Jarrett, Kelly Sry, Brian Huskey, Max Adler, David Arquette, Tonya Cornelisse.
Sweetheart
Director: JD Dillard
Screenwriters: JD Dillard, Alex Theurer, Alex Hyner
Producers: Jason Blum, JD Dillard, Alex Theurer, Alex Hyner, Bill Karesh
Jenn has washed ashore a small tropical island and it doesn’t take her long to realize she’s completely alone. She must spend her days not only surviving the elements, but must also fend off the malevolent force that comes out each night.
Cast: Kiersey Clemons, Emory Cohen, Hanna Mangan Lawrence, Andrew Crawford.
The Hole In The Ground (Ireland)
Director: Lee Cronin
Screenwriters: Lee Cronin, Stephen Shields
Producers: John Keville, Conor Barry
One night, Sarah’s young son disappears into the woods behind their rural home. When he returns, he looks the same, but his behavior grows increasingly disturbing. Soon, Sarah realizes that the boy who returned may not be her son at all…
Cast: Seána Kerslake, James Cosmo, Kati Outinen, Simone Kirby, Steve Wall, James Quinn Markey.
The Lodge (U.S.A.-UK)
Directors: Veronika Franz, Severin Fiala
Screenwriters: Sergio Casci, Veronika Franz, Severin Fiala
Producers: Simon Oakes, Aliza James, Aaron Ryder
In this psychologically chilling slow burn, a young woman and her reticent new stepchildren find themselves isolated in the family’s remote winter cabin, locked away to dredge up the mysteries of her dark past and the losses that seem to haunt them all.
Cast: Riley Keough, Jaeden Martell, Lia McHugh, Alicia Silverstone, Richard Armitage.
SPOTLIGHT
A tribute to the cinema Sundance programmers love from the past year. Films that have played in this category in recent years include The Death Of Stalin, The Rider, Ida, and The Lobster.
Anthropocene: The Human Epoch (Canada)
Directors: Jennifer Baichwal, Nicholas de Pencier, Edward Burtynsky
Screenwriter: Jennifer Baichwal
Producer: Nicholas de Pencier
From concrete seawalls in China that cover 60% of the mainland coast to the biggest terrestrial machines ever built in Germany, to psychedelic potash mines in Russia’s Ural Mountains, to conservation sanctuaries in Kenya, the filmmakers have traversed the globe to document the evidence and experience of human planetary domination.
International Premiere
Birds Of Passage (Colombia)
Directors: Cristina Gallego, Ciro Guerra
Screenwriters: Maria Camila Arias, Jacques Toulemonde
Producers: Katrin Pors, Cristina Gallego
In 1970s Colombia, Rapayet is a man torn between the desire to be powerful and his duty to uphold his culture’s values. His indigenous tribe, the Wayúu, ignores ancient omens and enters the drug trafficking business – where honor is the highest currency and debts are paid with blood.
Cast: Carmina Martinez, Jose Acosta, Natalia Reyes. Utah Premiere
Maiden (UK)
Director and screenwriter: Alex Holmes
Producers: Victoria Gregory, Alex Holmes
The incredible, against-all-odds story of sailor Tracy Edwards, who skippered the first all-female international crew in the 1989 Whitbread Round the World Yacht Race.
U.S. Premiere
The Biggest Little Farm (U.S.A.)
Director: John Chester
Screenwriters: Mark Monroe, John Chester
Producers: Sandra Keats, John Chester
Two dreamers and a dog embark on an odyssey to bring harmony to their lives and the land. As their plan to create perfect harmony takes a series of wild turns, they will have to reach a far greater understanding of the intricacies and wisdom of nature, and life itself. Utah Premiere
The Mountain (U.S.A.)
Director: Rick Alverson
Screenwriters: Rick Alverson, Colm O’Leary, Dustin Defa
Producers: Ryan Zacarias, Sara Murphy, Eddy Moretti, Alison Carter
1950s America. Since his mother‘s confinement to an institution, Andy has lived in the shadow of his stoic father. A family acquaintance, Dr. Wallace Fiennes, employs the introverted young man as a photographer to document an asylum tour advocating for his increasingly controversial lobotomy procedure.
Cast: Jeff Goldblum, Tye Sheridan, Udo Kier, Denis Lavant, Hannah Gross.
U.S. Premiere
The Nightingale (Australia)
Director and screenwriter: Jennifer Kent
Producers: Kristina Ceyton, Bruna Papandrea, Steve Hutenski, Jennifer Kent
1825. Clare, a young Irish convictwoman, chases a British officer through the Tasmanian wilderness, bent on revenge for a terrible act of violence he committed against her family. On the way she enlists the services of Aboriginal tracker Billy, who is marked by trauma from his own violence-filled past.
Cast: Aisling Franciosi, Sam Claflin, Baykali Ganambarr, Damon Herriman, Harry Greenwood, Ewen Leslie.
North American Premiere
KIDS
Programmed in cooperation with Utah Film Center, which presents the annual Tumbleweeds Film Festival, Utah’s premiere film festival for children and youth. Films that have played in this category in recent years include Science Fair, My Life As A Zucchini, The Eagle Huntress, and Shaun The Sheep.
Abe (Brazil)
Director: Fernando Grostein Andrade
Screenwriters: Lameece Issaq, Jacob Kader, Producers: Carlos Eduardo Ciampolini, Noberto Pinheiro Jr., Caio Gullane,
Fabiano Gullane
The Israeli-Jewish side of his family calls him Avram. The Palestinian-Muslim side, Ibrahim. His first-generation American agnostic lawyer parents call him Abraham. But the 12-year-old kid from Brooklyn who loves food and cooking, prefers, well, Abe. Just Abe.
Cast: Noah Schnapp, Seu Jorge Mário da Silva, Mark Margolis, Dagmara Dominczyk, Arian Moayed, Tom Mardirosian.
World premiere
The Elephant Queen (UK-Kenya)
Directors: Victoria Stone, Mark Deeble
Screenwriter: Mark Deeble, Producers: Victoria Stone, Lucinda Englehart
Athena is a mother who will do everything in her power to protect her herd when they are forced to leave their waterhole and embark on an epic journey across the African savannah in a tale of love, loss and coming home.
U.S. premiere
THE WITCH HUNTERS (Serbia-Macedonia)
Director: Rasko Miljkovic
Screenwriters: Marko Manojlovic, Milos Kreckovic Producer: Jovana Karaulic
Ten-year-old Jovan is often escaping reality to immerse himself into a fantasy world. It all changes when he befriends his new classmate Milica and the adventure to hunt her ‘witch’ stepmother starts.
Cast: Mihajlo Milavic, Silma Mahmuti.
U.S. premiere.
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