Sundance Film Festival 2021
The 37th Sundance Film Festival will run from January 28th to February 3rd, 2021. This is the first time that it is under the direction of Tabitha Jackson . Jackson had previously headed the documentary film program at the Sundance Institute for six years before replacing outgoing festival director John Cooper in February 2020.
Due to the COVID-19 pandemic , the plan is to only hold the festival on seven days compared to the previous year . While some films are Ray Theater in Park City ( Utah ) are shown, but the majority will be streamed online and are thus shown in 24 US states and territories, u. A. in arthouse cinemas , museums, drive-ins . Some films are also to be streamed internationally.
The festival program was presented on December 15, 2020. It comprises 72 feature films from 29 countries, including the first works by 38 film directors. 66 titles (92 percent) are listed as world premieres, 14 films and projects were supported by the Sundance Institute itself (including in the development phase through funding or other funding programs). A total of 14,092 films were submitted for the 2021 edition, including 3500 feature films (1377 from the USA, 2132 international).
Opening films (“Day One films”) of the various sections are Coda (Section: US Dramatic Competition), Summer of Soul (… Or, When the Revolution Could Not Be Televised) (US Documentary Competition), One for the Road (World Cinema Dramatic) Competition), Flee (World Cinema Documentary Competition) and Censor (Midnight).
Sections
US Dramatic Competition
American Feature Films Competition:
US Documentary Competition
American Documentary Competition:
| Movie title | Director | annotation |
|---|---|---|
| Ailey | Jamila Wignot | Portrait of Alvin Ailey |
| All Light, Everywhere | Theo Anthony | |
| At the ready | Maisie Crow | |
| Cusp |
Parker Hill , Isabel Bethencourt |
|
| Homeroom | Peter Nicks | Portrait of the 2020 class at Oakland High School |
| Rebel Hearts | Pedro Kos | |
| Rita Moreno: Just a Girl Who Decided to Go For It | Mariem Pérez Riera | Portrait of Rita Moreno |
|
Summer of Soul (… Or, When the Revolution Could Not Be Televised) (opening film) |
Ahmir "Questlove" Thompson | Portrait of the Harlem Cultural Festival 1969 |
| Try harder! | Debbie Lum | |
| Users | Natalia Almada | American-Mexican co-production |
World Cinema Dramatic Competition
Competition for foreign feature films ("World Cinema"):
World Cinema Documentary Competition
Competition for foreign documentary films ("World Cinema"):
| Movie title | Director | country | annotation |
|---|---|---|---|
| Faya Dayi | Jessica Beshir | Ethiopia, USA | |
|
Flee (opening film) |
Jonas Poher Rasmussen | Denmark, France, Sweden, Norway | |
| Inconvenient Indian | Michelle Latimer | Canada | Based on the non-fiction book of the same name by Thomas King |
| Misha and the Wolves | Sam Hobkinson | United Kingdom, Belgium | Portrait of the Belgian writer and forger Misha Defonseca |
| The Most Beautiful Boy in the World | Kristina Lindström | Sweden | Portrait of the Swedish actor Björn Andrésen ( Death in Venice ) |
| Playing with Sharks | Sally Aitken | Australia | Portrait of Australian diver and shark enthusiast Valerie Taylor |
| President | Camilla Nielsson | Denmark, USA, Norway | Portrait of the elections in Zimbabwe 2018 |
| Sabaya | Hogir Hirori | Sweden | |
| Taming the Garden | Salome Jashi | Switzerland, Germany, Georgia | |
| Writing with Fire |
Rintu Thomas , Sushmit Ghosh |
India | Portrait of the only Indian daily newspaper run by Dalit women. |
NEXT
The NEXT section is characterized by the inclusion of bold American films (including American co-productions) that are characterized by an innovative, forward-looking approach to storytelling. It is presented with the support of Adobe .
| Note: |
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Premieres
A selection of world premieres from some of the most anticipated films of the cinema year (documentaries and feature films):
| Movie title | Director | country | Actor / Note |
|---|---|---|---|
| Amy Tan: Unintended Memoir | James Redford | USA | Documentary about the Chinese-born writer Amy Tan |
| Bring Your Own Brigade | Lucy Walker | USA | documentary |
| Eight for Silver | Sean Ellis | USA, France | Boyd Holbrook , Kelly Reilly , Alistair Petrie , Roxane Duran , Aine Rose Daly |
| How it ends |
Daryl Wein , Zoe Lister-Jones |
USA | Zoe Lister-Jones, Cailee Spaeny , Olivia Wilde , Fred Armisen , Helen Hunt , Lamorne Morris |
| In the Earth | Ben Wheatley | United Kingdom | Joel Fry , Ellora Torchia , Hayley Squires , Reece Shearsmith |
| In The Same Breath (opening film) |
Nanfu Wang | USA | Documentary about the COVID-19 pandemic in the People's Republic of China and the USA |
| country | Robin Wright | USA | Robin Wright, Demián Bichir , Kim Dickens |
| Marvelous and The Black Hole | Kate Tsang | USA | Miya Cech , Rhea Perlman , Leonardo Nam , Kannon Omachi , Paulina Lule , Keith Powell |
| Mass | Fran wreath | USA | Jason Isaacs , Ann Dowd , Martha Plimpton , Reed Birney |
| My name is Pauli Murray |
Betsy West , Julie Cohen |
USA | Documentary about the American civil rights activist Pauli Murray |
| Philly DA |
Ted Passon , Yoni Brook , Nicole Salazar |
USA | Documentary about Larry Krasner , District Attorney of Philadelphia |
| Prisoners of the Ghostland | Sion Sono | USA | Nicolas Cage , Sofia Boutella , Nick Cassavetes , Bill Moseley , Tak Sakaguchi , Yuzuka Nakaya |
| The Sparks Brothers | Edgar Wright | United Kingdom | Documentary about the American rock band Sparks |
| Street Gang: How We Got To Sesame Street | Marilyn Agrelo | USA | Documentary film about the creation of the children's program Sesame Street |
Midnight
This section presents a selection of genre films , from comedies to horror films:
| Movie title | Director | country | Actor / Note |
|---|---|---|---|
|
Censor (opening film) |
Prano Bailey-Bond | United Kingdom | Niamh Algar , Nicholas Burns , Vincent Franklin , Sophia La Porta , Adrian Schiller , Michael Smiley |
| Coming Home in the Dark | James Ashcroft | New Zealand | Daniel Gillies , Erik Thomson , Miriama McDowell , Matthias Luafutu |
| A glitch in the matrix | Rodney Ascher | USA | documentary |
| Knocking | Frida Kempff | Sweden | Cecilia Milocco |
| Mother Schmuckers |
Lenny Guit , Harpo Guit |
Belgium | Harpo Guit, Maxi Delmelle , Claire Bodson , Mathieu Amalric , Habib Ben Tanfous |
| Violation |
Madeleine Sims-Fewer , Dusty Mancinelli |
Canada | Madeleine Sims-Fewer, Anna Maguire , Jesse LaVercombe , Obi Abili , Jasmin Geljo , Cynthia Ashperger |
Spotlight
This section presents popular films from the last cinema year :
- Night of Kings - Director: Philippe Lacôte (France, Ivory Coast, Canada, Senegal), with Koné Bakary , Steve Tientcheu , Digbeu Jean Cyrille , Rasmané Ouédraogo , Issaka Sawadogo , Denis Lavant
- The World to Come - Director: Mona Fastvold (USA), with Katherine Waterston , Vanessa Kirby , Casey Affleck , Christopher Abbott
Special screenings
Special screening of a film:
- Life in a Day 2020 - Director: Kevin Macdonald (USA), documentary
In a crowdsourcing project, the film's material was uploaded to the YouTube video portal by thousands of people from all over the world on a single day, July 25, 2020 . It is the sequel to the 2011 film Life in a Day .
New Frontier
This section brings together film, art and technology and presents projects from live performances , extended (ER) and virtual reality (VR) as well as other media works. New Frontier is sponsored by the John D. and Catherine T. MacArthur Foundation , Unity , Adobe , Dell , The Walt Disney Studios ' StudioLAB, and Oculus by Facebook .
Short films
The 50 short films from 27 countries were selected from a total of 9933 submissions (4587 from the USA, 5368 from international countries). The section is presented by the US airline Southwest Airlines .
US fiction
This section presents American short films (including co-productions):
| Movie title | Director | country |
|---|---|---|
| Ava From My Class | Youmin Kang | USA, South Korea |
| Bambirak | Zamarin wahdat | USA, Germany |
| BJ's Mobile Gift Shop | Jason Park | USA |
| Bruiser | Miles Warren | USA |
| Don't go tellin 'your momma |
Topaz Jones , rubberhand. |
USA, Germany, France, Italy |
| Double peak | Hazel McKibbin | USA |
| i ran from it and was still in it | Darol Olu Kae | USA |
| In the Air Tonight | Andrew Norman Wilson | USA |
| LATA | Alisha Mehta | USA, India |
| Raspberry | Julian Doan | USA |
| The touch of the master's hand | Gregory Barnes | USA |
| White wedding | Melody C Roscher | USA |
| Wiggle Room |
Sam Guest , Julia Baylis |
USA |
| Yoruga | Federico Torrado Tobon | USA |
| You wouldn't understand | Trish Harnetiaux | USA |
International fiction
This section presents international short films:
| Movie title | Director | country |
|---|---|---|
| The Affected | Rikke Gregersen | Norway |
| Black bodies | Kelly Fyffe-Marshall | Canada |
| The Criminals | Serhat Karaaslan | France, Romania, Turkey |
| Excuse me, miss, miss, miss | Sonny Calvento | Philippines |
| Five tigers | Nomawonga Khumalo | South Africa |
| Flex |
Josefin Malmen , David Strindberg |
Sweden |
| Like the Ones I Used to Know | Annie St-Pierre | Canada |
| Lizard | Akinola Davies, Jr. | United Kingdom |
| The Longest Dream I Remember | Carlos Lenin | Mexico |
| Mountain Cat | Lkhagvadulam Purev-Ochir | Mongolia, UK |
| Unliveable |
Matheus Farias , Enock Carvalho |
Brazil |
| The Unseen River | Phạm Ngọc Lân | Vietnam, Laos |
| We're Not Animals | Noé Debré | France |
Non-fiction
This section presents short documentation:
| Movie title | Director | country |
|---|---|---|
| A concerto is a conversation |
Ben Proudfoot , Kris Bowers |
USA |
| Dear Philadelphia | Renee Osubu | USA, UK |
| The field trip |
Meghan O'Hara , Mike Attie , Rodrigo Ojeda-Beck |
USA |
| My Own Landscapes | Antoine Chapon | France |
| The Rifleman | Sierra Pettengill | USA |
| Snowy |
Kaitlyn Schwalje , Alex Wolf Lewis |
USA |
| Spirits and Rocks: an Azorean Myth | Aylin Gokmen | Switzerland, Portugal |
| Tears Teacher | Noemie Nakai | Japan |
| This is the way we rise | Ciara Lacy | USA |
| To know her | Natalie Chao | USA, Hong Kong |
| When We Were Bullies | Jay rose petal | USA, Germany |
| Up at night | Nelson Makengo | DR Congo, Belgium |
animation
This section presents animated short films:
| Movie title | Director | country |
|---|---|---|
| The Fire Next Time | Renaldho Pelle | United Kingdom |
| Forever | Mitch McGlocklin | USA |
| The Fourfold | Alisi Telengut | Canada |
| Ghost dogs | Joe Cappa | USA |
| GNT |
Sara Hirner , Rosemary Vasquez-Brown |
Australia |
| KKUM | Kang-min Kim | South Korea, USA |
| Little Miss Fate | Joder von Rotz | Switzerland |
| Misery Loves Company | Sasha Lee | USA, South Korea |
| Souvenir souvenir | Bastien Dubois | France |
| Trepanation | Nick Flaherty | USA |
Indies Series Program
This section (originally titled Indie Episodic ) presents independently produced episode content for television, the Internet and streaming providers. The section is supported by the American on-demand delivery service DoorDash .
| Movie title | Director | country | Actor (selection) / comment |
|---|---|---|---|
| 4 feet high |
María Belén Poncio , Rosario Perazolo Masjoan |
Argentina, France | Marisol Agostina Irigoyen , Florencia Licera , Marcio Ramses , Natalia Di Cienzo , Francisca Spinotti |
| Seeds of Deceit | Miriam Guttmann | Netherlands | documentation |
| These Days | Adam Brooks | USA | Marianne Rendón , William Jackson Harper , Amy Brenneman , Parker Young |
| Would you advise |
Lise Akoka , Romane Guéret |
France, Germany | Fanta Kebe , Shirel Nataf , Zakaria Lazab , Mouctar Diawara |
Juries
A total of six juries with 22 members award prizes at the film festival. In addition, audience prizes are awarded. The juries at a glance:
US Dramatic Competition
- Julie Dash , American filmmaker
- Cynthia Erivo , British actress and singer
- Hanya Yanagihara , American writer
US Documentary Competition
- Ashley Clark , British film critic and journalist and curatorial director of the Criterion Collection
- Joshua Oppenheimer , American filmmaker
- Lana Wilson , American filmmaker
World Cinema Dramatic Competition
- Zeynep Atakan , Turkish film producer
- Isaac Julien , British artist and film producer
- Daniela Vega , Chilean actress and singer
World Cinema Documentary Competition
- Kim Longinotto , British filmmaker
- Mohamed Saïd Ouma , French filmmaker
- Jean Tsien , Taiwanese editor and film producer
NEXT
Kate and Laura Mulleavy , American filmmakers
Short film jury
- Raúl Castillo , American actor
- Tacita Dean , British artist
- Inge de Leeuw , Dutch film curator
Jury for the Alfred P. Sloan Feature Film Prize
- Joy Buolamwini , Ghanaian-American computer scientist and scientist
- Aneesh Chaganty , Indian-American filmmaker
- Mandë Holford , American scientist
- Lydia Dean Pilcher , American film producer
- Lena Vurma , Swiss film producer
Web links
- Official website (English)
- 2021 Sundance Film Festival: Full Program Announced . In: sundance.org, December 15, 2020.
Individual evidence
- ↑ Eric Kohn: Sundance Has a New Leader: Tabitha Jackson Will Replace John Cooper as Festival Director . In: indiewire.com, February 1, 2020 (accessed December 17, 2020).
- ↑ Dominic Patten, Anthony D'Alessandro: Sundance 2021 Full Lineup: Pandemic, Politics, Rita Moreno, Octavia Butler, 'Passing' & 'Sesame Street' Pack Semi-Virtual Festival . In: deadline.com, December 15, 2020 (accessed December 17, 2020).
- ↑ a b c d e f 2021 Sundance Film Festival: Full Program Announced . In: sundance.org, December 15, 2020 (accessed December 17, 2020).
- ↑ 2021 Sundance Film Festival: Juries Announced . In: sundance.org, January 22, 2021 (accessed January 29, 2021).