Sundance filed this news release
yesterday:
SUNDANCE INSTITUTE ANNOUNCES FILMS
IN U.S. AND WORLD COMPETITIONS, NEXT <=> FOR 2015 SUNDANCE FILM
FESTIVAL
Park City, UT — Sundance Institute
announced today the films selected for the U.S. and World Cinema
Dramatic and Documentary Competitions and the out-of-competition NEXT
<=> section of the 2015 Sundance Film Festival, January 22 to
February 1 in Park City, Salt Lake City, Ogden and Sundance, Utah.
The Festival is the centerpiece of the year-round public programs for
the Institute, which also hosts 24 residency labs and grants more
than $2.5 million to independent artists each year.
Robert Redford, President & Founder
of Sundance Institute, said, "The work of independent artists
inevitably reflects the state of our culture and the times in which
we live. Their stories are often irreverent, challenging, compelling
and unexpected, and not only possess the power to move and hopefully
inspire audiences, but also to speak to our shared humanity."
Keri Putnam, Executive Director of
Sundance Institute, said, "Independent artists are embracing
diverse forms of storytelling – from feature film to New Frontier
to episodic content. In response to their risk-taking spirit, we
continue to evolve our Festival and other programs to seek out the
best ways to support original and inventive storytellers."
John Cooper, Director of the Sundance
Film Festival, said, "The selections for our 2015 Festival will
take audiences on a wild ride of emotional extremes. With approaches
ranging from comedic to dramatic, genre to documentary, experimental
to short, independent filmmakers are bravely illuminating new
opportunities for understanding and empathy."
For the 2015 Festival, 118
feature-length films were selected, representing 29 countries and 45
first-time filmmakers, including 19 in competition. These films were
selected from 12,166 submissions, including 4,105 feature-length
films and 8,061 short films. Of the feature film submissions, 2,016
were from the U.S. and 2,089 were international. 103 feature films at
the Festival will be world premieres.
In addition to those announced today,
the Festival presents feature-length films in the Spotlight, Park
City at Midnight, New Frontier, Sundance Kids, Premieres and
Documentary Premieres sections. Those announcements, as well as
selections for the Short Film section, a new Special Events section
and offscreen programming, are forthcoming.
This year on Day One, January 22, 2015,
the Festival will feature one of each type of film shown at the
Festival: a U.S. documentary, U.S. dramatic, international
documentary and international dramatic, as well as one shorts
program.
U.S. DRAMATIC COMPETITION
Presenting the world premieres of 16
narrative feature films, the Dramatic Competition offers
Festivalgoers a first look at groundbreaking new voices in American
independent film.
Advantageous / U.S.A. (Director:
Jennifer Phang, Screenwriters: Jacqueline Kim, Jennifer Phang) — In
a near-future city where soaring opulence overshadows economic
hardship, Gwen and her daughter, Jules, do all they can to hold on to
their joy, despite the instability surfacing in their world. Cast:
Jacqueline Kim, James Urbaniak, Freya Adams, Ken Jeong, Jennifer
Ehle, Samantha Kim.
The Bronze / U.S.A. (Director: Bryan
Buckley, Screenwriters: Melissa Rauch, Winston Rauch) — In 2004,
Hope Ann Greggory became an American hero after winning the bronze
medal for the women's gymnastics team. Today, she's still living in
her small hometown, washed-up and embittered. Stuck in the past, Hope
must reassess her life when a promising young gymnast threatens her
local celebrity status. Cast: Melissa Rauch, Gary Cole, Thomas
Middleditch, Sebastian Stan, Haley Lu Richardson, Cecily Strong. DAY
ONE FILM
The D Train / U.S.A. (Directors and
screenwriters: Jarrad Paul, Andrew Mogel) — With his 20th reunion
looming, Dan can't shake his high school insecurities. In a misguided
mission to prove he's changed, Dan rekindles a friendship with the
popular guy from his class and is left scrambling to protect more
than just his reputation when a wild night takes an unexpected turn.
Cast: Jack Black, James Marsden, Kathryn Hahn, Jeffrey Tambor, Mike
White, Kyle Bornheimer.
The Diary of a Teenage Girl / U.S.A.
(Director and screenwriter: Marielle Heller) — Minnie Goetze is a
15-year-old aspiring comic-book artist, coming of age in the haze of
the 1970s in San Francisco. Insatiably curious about the world around
her, Minnie is a pretty typical teenage girl. Oh, except that she's
sleeping with her mother's boyfriend. Cast: Bel Powley, Alexander
Skarsgård, Christopher Meloni, Kristen Wiig.
Dope / U.S.A. (Director and
screenwriter: Rick Famuyiwa) — Malcolm is carefully surviving life
in a tough neighborhood in Los Angeles while juggling college
applications, academic interviews, and the SAT. A chance invitation
to an underground party leads him into an adventure that could allow
him to go from being a geek, to being dope, to ultimately being
himself. Cast: Shameik Moore, Tony Revolori, Kiersey Clemons, Blake
Anderson, Zoë Kravitz, A$AP Rocky.
I Smile Back / U.S.A. (Director: Adam
Salky, Screenwriters: Amy Koppelman, Paige Dylan) — All is not
right in suburbia. Laney Brooks, a wife and mother on the edge, has
stopped taking her meds, substituting recreational drugs and the
wrong men. With the destruction of her family looming, Laney makes a
last, desperate attempt at redemption. Cast: Sarah Silverman, Josh
Charles, Thomas Sadoski, Mia Barron, Terry Kinney, Chris Sarandon.
Me and Earl and the Dying Girl / U.S.A.
(Director: Alfonso Gomez-Rejon, Screenwriter: Jesse Andrews) — Greg
is coasting through senior year of high school as anonymously as
possible, avoiding social interactions like the plague while secretly
making spirited, bizarre films with Earl, his only friend. But both
his anonymity and friendship threaten to unravel when his mother
forces him to befriend a classmate with leukemia. Cast: Thomas Mann,
RJ Cyler, Olivia Cooke, Nick Offerman, Connie Britton, Molly Shannon.
The Overnight / U.S.A. (Director and
screenwriter: Patrick Brice) — In an attempt to acclimate to Los
Angeles, a young couple spends an increasingly bizarre evening with
the parents of their son's new friend. Cast: Adam Scott, Taylor
Schilling, Jason Schwartzman, Judith Godrèche.
People, Places, Things / U.S.A.
(Director and screenwriter: James C. Strouse) — Will Henry is a
newly single graphic novelist balancing being a parent to his young
twin daughters and teaching a classroom full of college students, all
the while trying to navigate the rich complexities of new love and
letting go of the woman who left him. Cast: Jemaine Clement, Regina
Hall, Stephanie Allynne, Jessica Williams, Gia Gadsby, Aundrea
Gadsby.
Results / U.S.A. (Director and
screenwriter: Andrew Bujalski) — Two mismatched personal trainers'
lives are upended by the actions of a new, wealthy client. Cast: Guy
Pearce, Cobie Smulders, Kevin Corrigan, Giovanni Ribisi, Anthony
Michael Hall, Brooklyn Decker.
Songs My Brothers Taught Me / U.S.A.
(Director and screenwriter: Chloé Zhao) — This complex portrait of
modern-day life on the Pine Ridge Indian Reservation explores the
bond between a brother and his younger sister, who find themselves on
separate paths to rediscovering the meaning of home. Cast: John
Reddy, Jashaun St. John, Irene Bedard, Taysha Fuller, Travis Lone
Hill, Eléonore Hendricks.
The Stanford Prison Experiment / U.S.A.
(Director: Kyle Patrick Alvarez, Screenwriter: Tim Talbott) — This
film is based on the actual events that took place in 1971 when
Stanford professor Dr. Philip Zimbardo created what became one of the
most shocking and famous social experiments of all time. Cast: Billy
Crudup, Ezra Miller, Michael Angarano, Tye Sheridan, Johnny Simmons,
Olivia Thirlby.
Stockholm, Pennsylvania / U.S.A.
(Director and screenwriter: Nikole Beckwith) — A young woman is
returned home to her biological parents after living with her
abductor for 17 years. Cast: Saoirse Ronan, Cynthia Nixon, Jason
Isaacs, David Warshofsky.
Unexpected / U.S.A. (Director: Kris
Swanberg, Screenwriters: Kris Swanberg, Megan Mercier) — When
Samantha Abbott begins her final semester teaching science at a
Chicago high school, she faces some unexpected news: she's pregnant.
Soon after, Samantha learns that one of her favorite students,
Jasmine, has landed in a similar situation. Unexpected follows the
two women as they embark on an unlikely friendship. Cast: Cobie
Smulders, Anders Holm, Gail Bean, Elizabeth McGovern.
The Witch / U.S.A., Canada (Director
and screenwriter: Robert Eggers) — New England in the 1630s:
William and Katherine lead a devout Christian life with five
children, homesteading on the edge of an impassable wilderness. When
their newborn son vanishes and crops fail, the family turns on one
another. Beyond their worst fears, a supernatural evil lurks in the
nearby wood. Cast: Anya Taylor Joy, Ralph Ineson, Kate Dickie, Harvey
Scrimshaw, Lucas Dawson, Ellie Grainger.
Z for Zachariah / U.S.A. (Director:
Craig Zobel, Screenwriter: Nissar Modi) — In a post-apocalyptic
world, a young woman who believes she is the last human on Earth
meets a dying scientist searching for survivors. Their relationship
becomes tenuous when another survivor appears. As the two men compete
for the woman's affection, their primal urges begin to reveal their
true nature. Cast: Chiwetel Ejiofor, Margot Robbie, Chris Pine.
U.S. DOCUMENTARY COMPETITION
Sixteen world-premiere American
documentaries that illuminate the ideas, people, and events that
shape the present day.
3½ MINUTES / U.S.A. (Director: Marc
Silver) — On November 23, 2012, unarmed 17-year-old Jordan Russell
Davis was shot at a Jacksonville gas station by Michael David Dunn.
3½ MINUTES explores the aftermath of Jordan's tragic death, the
latent and often unseen effects of racism, and the contradictions of
the American criminal justice system.
Being Evel / U.S.A. (Director: Daniel
Junge) — An unprecedented, candid portrait of American icon Robert
"Evel" Knievel and his legacy.
Best of Enemies / U.S.A. (Directors:
Morgan Neville, Robert Gordon) — Best of Enemies is a
behind-the-scenes account of the explosive 1968 televised debates
between the liberal Gore Vidal and the conservative William F.
Buckley Jr., and their rancorous disagreements about politics, God,
and sex.
Call Me Lucky / U.S.A. (Director:
Bobcat Goldthwait) — Barry Crimmins was a volatile but brilliant
bar comic who became an honored peace activist and influential
political satirist. Famous comedians and others build a picture of a
man who underwent an incredible transformation.
Cartel Land / U.S.A., Mexico (Director:
Matthew Heineman) — In this classic Western set in the 21st
century, vigilantes on both sides of the border fight the vicious
Mexican drug cartels. With unprecedented access, this
character-driven film provokes deep questions about lawlessness, the
breakdown of order, and whether citizens should fight violence with
violence.
City of Gold / U.S.A. (Director: Laura
Gabbert) — Pulitzer Prize-winning critic Jonathan Gold casts his
light upon a vibrant and growing cultural movement in which he plays
the dual roles of high-low priest and culinary geographer of his
beloved Los Angeles.
Finders Keepers / U.S.A. (Directors:
Bryan Carberry, Clay Tweel) — Recovering addict and amputee John
Wood finds himself in a stranger-than-fiction battle to reclaim his
mummified leg from Southern entrepreneur Shannon Whisnant, who found
it in a grill he bought at an auction and believes it to therefore be
his rightful property.
Hot Girls Wanted / U.S.A. (Directors:
Jill Bauer, Ronna Gradus) — Hot Girls Wanted is a first-ever look
at the realities inside the world of the amateur porn industry and
the steady stream of 18- and 19-year-old girls entering into it.
How to Dance in Ohio / U.S.A.
(Director: Alexandra Shiva) — In Columbus, Ohio, a group of
teenagers and young adults on the autism spectrum prepare for an
iconic American rite of passage — a spring formal. They spend 12
weeks practicing their social skills at a local nightclub in
preparation for the dance.
Larry Kramer in Love and Anger / U.S.A.
(Director: Jean Carlomusto) — Author, activist, and playwright
Larry Kramer is one of the most important and controversial figures
in contemporary gay America, a political firebrand who gave voice to
the outrage and grief that inspired gay men and lesbians to fight for
their lives. At 78, this complicated man still commands our
attention.
Meru / U.S.A. (Directors: Jimmy Chin,
E. Chai Vasarhelyi) — Three elite mountain climbers sacrifice
everything but their friendship as they struggle through
heartbreaking loss and nature's harshest elements to attempt the
never-before-completed Shark's Fin on Mount Meru, the most coveted
first ascent in the dangerous game of Himalayan big wall climbing.
Racing Extinction / U.S.A. (Director:
Louie Psihoyos) — Academy Award-winner Louie Psihoyos (The Cove)
assembles a unique team to show the world never-before-seen images
that expose issues surrounding endangered species and mass
extinction. Whether infiltrating notorious black markets or exploring
humans' effect on the environment, Racing Extinction will change the
way you see the world.
(T)ERROR / U.S.A. (Directors: Lyric R.
Cabral, David Felix Sutcliffe) — (T)ERROR is the first film to
document on camera a covert counterterrorism sting as it unfolds.
Through the perspective of *******, a 63-year-old Black revolutionary
turned FBI informant, viewers are given an unprecedented glimpse of
the government's counterterrorism tactics, and the murky
justifications behind them.
Welcome to Leith / U.S.A. (Directors:
Michael Beach Nichols, Christopher K. Walker) — A white supremacist
attempts to take over a small town in North Dakota.
Western / U.S.A., Mexico (Directors:
Bill Ross, Turner Ross) — For generations, all that distinguished
Eagle Pass, Texas, from Piedras Negras, Mexico, was the Rio Grande.
But when darkness descends upon these harmonious border towns, a
cowboy and lawman face a new reality that threatens their way of
life. Western portrays timeless American figures in the grip of
unforgiving change.
The Wolfpack / U.S.A. (Director:
Crystal Moselle) — Six bright teenage brothers have spent their
entire lives locked away from society in a Manhattan housing project.
All they know of the outside is gleaned from the movies they watch
obsessively (and recreate meticulously). Yet as adolescence looms,
they dream of escape, ever more urgently, into the beckoning world.
WORLD CINEMA DRAMATIC COMPETITION
Twelve films from emerging filmmaking
talents around the world offer fresh perspectives and inventive
styles.
Chlorine / Italy (Director: Lamberto
Sanfelice, Screenwriters: Lamberto Sanfelice, Elisa Amoruso) —
Jenny, 17, dreams of becoming a synchronized swimmer. Family events
turn her life upside down and she is forced move to a remote area to
look after her ill father and younger brother. It won't be long
before Jenny starts pursuing her dreams again. Cast: Sara Serraiocco,
Ivan Franek, Giorgio Colangeli, Anatol Sassi, Piera Degli Esposti,
Andrea Vergoni. World Premiere
Chorus / Canada (Director and
screenwriter: François Delisle) — A separated couple meet
again after 10 years when the body of their missing son is found.
Amid the guilt of losing a loved one, they hesitantly move toward
affirmation of life, acceptance of death, and even the possibility of
reconciliation. Cast: Sébastien Ricard, Fanny Mallette, Pierre
Curzi, Genevieve Bujold. World Premiere
Glassland / Ireland (Director and
screenwriter: Gerard Barrett) — In a desperate attempt to reunite
his broken family, a young taxi driver becomes entangled in the
criminal underworld. Cast: Jack Reynor, Toni Collette, Will Poulter,
Michael Smiley. International Premiere
Homesick / Norway (Director: Anne
Sewitsky, Screenwriters: Ragnhild Tronvoll, Anne Sewitsky) — When
Charlotte, 27, meets her brother Henrik, 35, for the first time, two
people who don't know what a normal family is begin an encounter
without boundaries. How does sibling love manifest itself if you have
never experienced it before? Cast: Ine Marie Wilmann, Simon J.
Berger, Anneke von der Lippe, Silje Storstein, Oddgeir Thune, Kari
Onstad. World Premiere
Ivy / Turkey (Director and
screenwriter: Tolga Karaçelik) — Sarmasik is sailing to Egypt when
the ship's owner goes bankrupt. The crew learns there is a lien on
the ship, and key crew members must stay on board. Ivy is the story
of these six men trapped on the ship for days. Cast: Nadir Sarıbacak,
Özgür Emre Yıldırım, Hakan Karsak, Kadir Çermik, Osman Alkaş,
Seyithan Özdemiroğlu. World Premiere
Partisan / Australia (Director: Ariel
Kleiman, Screenwriters: Ariel Kleiman, Sarah Cyngler) — Alexander
is like any other kid: playful, curious and naive. He is also a
trained assassin. Raised in a hidden paradise, Alexander has grown up
seeing the world filtered through his father, Gregori. As Alexander
begins to think for himself, creeping fears take shape, and Gregori's
idyllic world unravels. Cast: Vincent Cassel, Jeremy Chabriel,
Florence Mezzara. World Premiere
PRINCESS / Israel (Director and
screenwriter: Tali Shalom Ezer) — While her mother is away from
home, 12-year-old Adar's role-playing games with her stepfather move
into dangerous territory. Seeking an escape, Adar finds Alan, an
ethereal boy that accompanies her on a dark journey between reality
and fantasy. Cast: Keren Mor, Shira Haas, Ori Pfeffer, Adar Zohar
Hanetz. International Premiere
The Second Mother / Brazil (Director
and screenwriter: Anna Muylaert) — Having left her daughter,
Jessica, to be raised by relatives in the north of Brazil, Val works
as a loving nanny in São Paulo. When Jessica arrives for a visit 13
years later, she confronts her mother's slave-like attitude and
everyone in the house is affected by her unexpected behavior. Cast:
Regina Casé, Michel Joelsas, Camila Márdila, Karine Teles, Lourenço
Mutarelli. World Premiere
Slow West / New Zealand (Director: John
Maclean, Screenwriters: John Maclean, Michael Lesslie) — Set at the
end of the nineteenth century, 16-year-old Jay Cavendish journeys
across the American frontier in search of the woman he loves. He is
joined by Silas, a mysterious traveler, and hotly pursued by an
outlaw along the way. Cast: Michael Fassbender, Kodi Smit-McPhee,
Rory McCann, Ben Mendelsohn, Brooke Williams, Caren Pistorius. World
Premiere
Strangerland / Australia, Ireland
(Director: Kim Farrant, Screenwriters: Fiona Seres, Michael Kinirons)
— When Catherine and Matthew Parker's two teenage kids disappear
into the remote Australian desert, the couple's relationship is
pushed to the brink as they confront the mystery of their children's
fate. Cast: Nicole Kidman, Joseph Fiennes, Hugo Weaving, Lisa
Flanagan, Meyne Wyatt, Maddison Brown. World Premiere
The Summer of Sangaile / Lithuania,
France, Holland (Director and screenwriter: Alanté Kavaïté) —
Seventeen-year-old Sangaile is fascinated by stunt planes. She meets
a girl her age at the summer aeronautical show, nearby her parents'
lakeside villa. Sangaile allows Auste to discover her most intimate
secret and in the process finds in her teenage love, the only person
that truly encourages her to fly. Cast: Julija Steponaitytė, Aistė
Diržiūtė. World Premiere. DAY ONE FILM
Umrika / India (Director and
screenwriter: Prashant Nair) — When a young village boy discovers
that his brother, long believed to be in America, has actually gone
missing, he begins to invent letters on his behalf to save their
mother from heartbreak, all the while searching for him. Cast: Suraj
Sharma, Tony Revolori, Smita Tambe, Adil Hussain, Rajesh Tailang,
Prateik Babbar. World Premiere
WORLD CINEMA DOCUMENTARY COMPETITION
Twelve documentaries by some of the
most courageous and extraordinary international filmmakers working
today.
The Amina Profile / Canada (Director:
Sophie Deraspe) — During the Arab revolution, a love story between
two women — a Canadian and a Syrian American — turns into an
international sociopolitical thriller spotlighting media excesses and
the thin line between truth and falsehood on the Internet. World
Premiere
Censored Voices / Israel, Germany
(Director: Mor Loushy) — One week after the 1967 Six-Day War,
renowned author Amos Oz and editor Avraham Shapira recorded intimate
conversations with soldiers returning from the battlefield. The
Israeli army censored the recordings, allowing only a fragment of the
conversations to be published. Censored Voices reveals these
recordings for the first time. World Premiere
The Chinese Mayor / China (Director:
Hao Zhou) — Mayor Geng Yanbo is determined to transform the
coal-mining center of Datong, in China's Shanxi province, into a
tourism haven showcasing clean energy. In order to achieve that,
however, he has to relocate 500,000 residences to make way for the
restoration of the ancient city. World Premiere
Chuck Norris vs Communism / United
Kingdom, Romania, Germany (Director: Ilinca Calugareanu) — In 1980s
Romania, thousands of Western films smashed through the Iron Curtain,
opening a window to the free world for those who dared to look. A
black market VHS racketeer and courageous female translator brought
the magic of film to the masses and sowed the seeds of a revolution.
World Premiere
Dark Horse / United Kingdom (Director:
Louise Osmond) — Dark Horse is the inspirational true story of a
group of friends from a workingman's club who decide to take on the
elite "sport of kings" and breed themselves a racehorse.
World Premiere
Dreamcatcher / United Kingdom
(Director: Kim Longinotto) — Dreamcatcher takes us into a hidden
world seen through the eyes of one of its survivors, Brenda
Myers-Powell. A former teenage prostitute, Brenda defied the odds to
become a powerful advocate for change in her community. With warmth
and humor, Brenda gives hope to those who have none. World Premiere
How to Change the World / United
Kingdom, Canada (Director: Jerry Rothwell) — In 1971, a group of
friends sails into a nuclear test zone, and their protest captures
the world's imagination. Using rare, archival footage that brings
their extraordinary world to life, How to Change the World is the
story of the pioneers who founded Greenpeace and defined the modern
green movement. World Premiere. DAY ONE FILM
Listen to Me Marlon / United Kingdom
(Director and screenwriter: Stevan Riley, Co-writer: Peter Ettedgui)
— With exclusive access to previously unheard audio archives, this
is the definitive Marlon Brando cinema documentary. Charting his
exceptional career and extraordinary life away from the stage and
screen, the film fully explores the complexities of the man by
telling the story uniquely in Marlon's own voice. World Premiere
Pervert Park / Sweden, Denmark
(Directors: Frida Barkfors, Lasse Barkfors) — Pervert Park follows
the everyday lives of sex offenders in a Florida trailer park as they
struggle to reintegrate into society, and try to understand who they
are and how to break the cycle of sex crimes being committed.
International Premiere
The Russian Woodpecker / United Kingdom
(Director: Chad Gracia) — A Ukrainian victim of the Chernobyl
nuclear disaster discovers a dark secret and must decide whether to
risk his life by revealing it, amid growing clouds of revolution and
war. World Premiere
Sembene! / U.S.A., Senegal (Directors:
Samba Gadjigo, Jason Silverman) — In 1952, Ousmane Sembene, a
Senegalese dockworker and fifth-grade dropout, began dreaming an
impossible dream: to become the storyteller for a new Africa. This
true story celebrates how the "father of African cinema,"
against enormous odds, fought a monumental, 50-year-long battle to
give Africans a voice. World Premiere
The Visit / Denmark, Austria, Ireland,
Finland, Norway (Director: Michael Madsen) — "This film
documents an event that has never taken place…" With
unprecedented access to the United Nations' Office for Outer Space
Affairs, leading space scientists and space agencies, The Visit
explores humans' first encounter with alien intelligent life and
thereby humanity itself. "Our scenario begins with the arrival.
Your arrival." World Premiere
NEXT <=>
Pure, bold works distinguished by an
innovative, forward-thinking approach to storytelling populate this
program. Digital technology paired with unfettered creativity
promises that the films in this section will shape a "greater"
next wave in American cinema. Presented by Adobe.
Bob and the Trees / U.S.A., France
(Director: Diego Ongaro, Screenwriters: Diego Ongaro, Courtney Maum,
Sasha Statman-Weil) — Bob, a 50-year-old logger in rural
Massachusetts with a soft spot for golf and gangsta rap, is
struggling to make ends meet in a changed economy. When his beloved
cow is wounded and a job goes awry, Bob begins to heed the instincts
of his ever-darkening self. Cast: Bob Tarasuk, Matt Gallagher, Polly
MacIntyre, Winthrop Barrett, Nathaniel Gregory. World Premiere
Christmas, Again / U.S.A. (Director and
screenwriter: Charles Poekel) — A heartbroken Christmas tree
salesman returns to New York, hoping to put the past year behind him.
He spends the season living in a trailer and working the night shift,
until a mysterious woman and some colorful customers rescue him from
self-destruction. Cast: Kentucker Audley, Hannah Gross, Jason
Shelton, Oona Roche. North American Premiere
Cronies / U.S.A. (Director and
screenwriter: Michael Larnell) — Twenty-two-year-old Louis doesn't
know whether his childhood friendship with Jack will last beyond
today. Cast: George Sample III, Zurich Buckner, Brian Kowalski. World
Premiere
Entertainment / U.S.A. (Director: Rick
Alverson, Screenwriters: Rick Alverson, Gregg Turkington, Tim
Heidecker) — En route to meeting with his estranged daughter, in an
attempt to revive his dwindling career, a broken, aging comedian
plays a string of dead-end shows in the Mojave Desert. Cast: Gregg
Turkington, John C. Reilly, Tye Sheridan, Michael Cera, Amy Seimetz,
Lotte Verbeek. World Premiere
H. / U.S.A., Argentina (Directors and
screenwriters: Rania Attieh, Daniel Garcia) — Two women, each named
Helen, find their lives spinning out of control after a meteor
allegedly explodes over their city of Troy, New York. Cast: Robin
Bartlett, Rebecca Dayan, Will Janowitz, Julian Gamble, Roger
Robinson. World Premiere
James White / U.S.A. (Director and
screenwriter: Josh Mond) — A young New Yorker struggles to take
control of his reckless, self-destructive behavior in the face of
momentous family challenges. Cast: Chris Abbott, Cynthia Nixon, Scott
Mescudi, Makenzie Leigh, David Call. World Premiere
Nasty Baby / U.S.A. (Director and
screenwriter: Sebastian Silva) — A gay couple try to have a baby
with the help of their best friend, Polly. The trio navigates the
idea of creating life while confronted by unexpected harassment from
a neighborhood man called The Bishop. As their clashes grow
increasingly aggressive, odds are someone is getting hurt. Cast:
Sebastian Silva, Tunde Adebimpe, Kristin Wiig, Reg E. Cathey, Mark
Margolis, Denis O'Hare. World Premiere
The Strongest Man / U.S.A. (Director
and screenwriter: Kenny Riches) — An anxiety-ridden Cuban man who
fancies himself the strongest man in the world attempts to recover
his most prized possession, a stolen bicycle. On his quest, he finds
and loses much more. Cast: Robert Lorie, Paul Chamberlain, Ashly
Burch, Patrick Fugit, Lisa Banes. World Premiere
Take Me to the River / U.S.A. (Director
and screenwriter: Matt Sobel) — A naive California teen plans to
remain above the fray at his Nebraskan family reunion, but a strange
encounter places him at the center of a long-buried family secret.
Cast: Logan Miller, Robin Weigert, Josh Hamilton, Richard Schiff,
Ursula Parker, Azura Skye. World Premiere
Tangerine / U.S.A. (Director: Sean
Baker, Screenwriters: Sean Baker, Chris Bergoch) — A working girl
tears through Tinseltown on Christmas Eve searching for the pimp who
broke her heart. Cast: Kitana Kiki Rodriguez, Mya Taylor, Karren
Karagulian, Mickey O'Hagan, Alla Tumanyan, James Ransone. World
Premiere
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Artois® and VIZIO. Sundance Institute recognizes critical support
from the Utah Governor's Office of Economic Development, and the
State of Utah as Festival Host State. The support of these
organizations helps offset the Festival's costs and sustain the
Institute's year-round programs for independent artists.
sundance.org/festival
Sundance Institute
Founded in 1981 by Robert Redford,
Sundance Institute is a nonprofit organization that provides and
preserves the space for artists in film, theatre, and new media to
create and thrive. The Institute's signature Labs, granting, and
mentorship programs, dedicated to developing new work, take place
throughout the year in the U.S. and internationally. The Sundance
Film Festival and other public programs connect audiences to artists
in igniting new ideas, discovering original voices, and building a
community dedicated to independent storytelling. Sundance Institute
has supported such projects as Beasts of the Southern Wild, Fruitvale
Station, Sin Nombre, The Invisible War, The Square, Dirty Wars,
Spring Awakening, A Gentleman's Guide to Love and Murder and Fun
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