2019 Sundance Film Festival preview
The 2019 Sundance Film Festival is upon us, and this year’s fest will be quite the milestone for yours truly as this will mark my 25th consecutive year attending. My very first Sundance experience was Giuseppe Tornatore‘s “A Pure Formality” way back in the mid-’90s at Salt Lake City’s legendary Tower Theater, and at that moment, I became a lifer.
All these years later, Sundance continues doing what it does best: providing a platform for independent storytelling from around the world. True, this festival becomes more and more crowded with each passing year, but it’s worth braving freezing cold temperatures and waiting in obscenely long lines if it means the trade-off is getting to experience a truly memorable piece of art. This is to say nothing of the countless and most welcome film conversations that take place between fellow Sundancers.
As expected, the 2019 Sundance Film Festival will offer up a wide range of titles to choose from, including features, documentaries, shorts, special events, cast and crew Q & A’s, etc. Sundance is a movie lover’s dream, and if you’ve never been before, you owe it to yourself to attend!
While there are literally dozens of titles making their debut at the fest this year, here’s a handful of movies I’m particularly excited to check out.
“The Boy who Harnessed the Wind”
Category: Premieres (United Kingdom – World Premiere)
Director and screenwriter: Chiwetel Ejiofor
Producers: Andrea Calderwood, Gail Egan
Cast: Chiwetel Ejiofor, Maxwell Simba, Lily Banda, Noma Dumezweni, Aissa Maiga, Joseph Marcell
Synopsis: Against all the odds, a 13-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.
Extremely Wicked, Shockingly Evil and Vile
Category: Premieres (U.S.A. – World Premiere)
Director: Joe Berlinger
Screenwriter: Michael Werwie
Producers: Michael Costigan, Nicolas Chartier, Ara Keshishian, Michael Simkin
Cast: Zac Efron, Lily Collins, Haley Joel Osment, Kaya Scodelario, John Malkovich, Jim Parsons
Synopsis: 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.
“Light From Light”
Category: NEXT (U.S.A.)
Director and Screenwriter: Paul Harrill
Producers: James M. Johnston, Kelly Williams, Toby Halbrooks, Elisabeth Moss, Tim Headington, Theresa Steele
Executive Producers:Jonathan Duffy, David Lowery
Cast: Marin Ireland, Jim Gaffigan, Josh Wiggins, Atheena Frizzell, David Cale
Synopsis: Shelia, a single mother gifted with sometimes-prophetic dreams, moonlights as a paranormal investigator while working at a car-rental service counter and raising her teenage son, Owen. After her appearance on a local radio program, she’s contacted about Richard, a recent widower who thinks his wife may be haunting his East Tennessee farmhouse. Agreeing to help, Shelia brings along Owen and his sweet classmate Lucy in hopes of understanding the mystery.
“The Nightingale”
Category: Spotlight (Australia – North American Premiere)
Director and screenwriter: Jennifer Kent
Producers: Kristina Ceyton, Bruna Papandrea, Steve Hutenski, Jennifer Kent
Cast: Aisling Franciosi, Sam Claflin, Baykali Ganambarr, Damon Herriman, Harry Greenwood, Ewen Leslie
Synopsis: Set in 1825, a young Irish convict woman named Clare 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.
“Shooting the Mafia”
Category: World Cinema Documentary (Ireland/U.S.A.)
Director: Kim Longinotto
Producers: Niamh Fagan
Executive Producers: Dan Cogan, Jenny Raskin, Geralyn White Dreyfous, Regina K. Scully, Elena Foster, Lesley McKimm
Synopsis: In the streets of Sicily, beautiful, gutsy Letizia Battaglia pointed her camera straight into the heart of the Mafia that surrounded her and began to shoot. The striking, life-threatening photos she took documenting the rule of the Cosa Nostra define her career.
Battaglia was quite the catch. She married young and had children, yet her restless spirit refused to renounce her passions. Breaking with tradition, she devoted herself to photojournalism. Battaglia’s lens was defiant: Though her life was in danger, she fearlessly captured everyday Sicilian life — from weddings and funerals to the brutal murders of women and children — to tell the narrative of the community she loved that had been forced into.
Other noteworthy films playing at the 2019 Sundance Film Festival
“Apollo 11,” “Ask Dr. Ruth,” “Big Time Adolescence,” “Blair Witch Project” (20th Anniversary Screening), “Clemency,” “Documentary Now!” “Fighting with my Family,” “The Hole in the Ground,” “Honey Boy,” “I am Mother,” “Little Monsters,” “Love Antosha,” “Luce,” “Marianne and Leonard,” “Memory” The Origins of Alien,” Miles Davis: Birth of Cool,” “Monos,” “Moonlight Sonata,” “Official Secrets,” “Relive,” “The Report,” “Sea of Shadows,” “Sound of Silence,” “Sweetheart,” “Untouchable,” and “Velvet Buzzsaw.”
The 2019 Sundance Film Festival runs from Jan. 24–Feb. 3. For tickets and detailed festival info, click here!
Watch for reviews from Sundance here at The Independent throughout the festival.
Articles related to “2019 Sundance Film Festival preview”
Movie Review: “Escape Room” clearly has “franchise” on its mind
Movie Review: “Bird Box” is stronger as an intense look at motherhood than a horror thriller
Movie Review: “Welcome to Marwen” is an uneven technical marvel
