The fact there are even 72 selections for the 2020 Sundance Film Festival is something of a miracle. The fall festivals had the benefit of movies that mostly shot before the pandemic hit in March. Outside of three selections originally set to debut at Cannes (a silver lining for Sundance), most of the narrative pictures premiering in January were shot at least partially after the virus hit North America. When there is a will, there is a way.
READ MORE: Sundance 2021 Announces Complete Program
Of course, there are unexpected benefits to this year’s slate. This is clearly a more international festival, a trend that Sundance has slowly embraced for the past decade. And with fewer narrative films in production over the past 12 months, arguably the world’s premier documentary festival lets docs enjoy a bit more of the spotlight.
Is Taylor Swift showing up? Nope. Are there big-name stars such as Robert Pattinson, Keira Knightley, Kristen Stewart and Casey Affleck as in years past? Yes and no, but aren’t we over virtual red carpets anyway? I mean, does that even serve a purpose? Perhaps the stories will be the stars this year. Or maybe first-time directors such as Rebecca Hall, Jerrod Carmichael and Robin Wright will start new chapters in their Hollywood careers. Or, maybe not.
Keeping all that in mind, here’s a rundown of the 25 films with the most buzz, for better or, maybe, worse.
“Bring Your Own Brigade”
Director and Screenwriter: Lucy Walker
Sundance Synopsis: “A character-driven verité and revelatory investigation takes us on a journey embedded with firefighters and residents on a mission to understand the causes of historically large wildfires and how to survive them, discovering that the solution has been here all along.”
Category: Premieres
Pay attention: Walker is the two-time Oscar-nominated director of “Waste Land” and the doc short “The Tsunami and the Cherry Blossom.” This is her first feature-length documentary in three years.
“Censor”
Director: Prano Bailey-Bond
Screenwriters: Prano Bailey-Bond, Anthony Fletcher
Cast: Niamh Algar, Nicholas Burns, Vincent Franklin, Sophia La Porta, Adrian Schiller, Michael Smiley
Sundance Synopsis: “When film censor Enid discovers an eerie horror that speaks directly to her sister’s mysterious disappearance, she resolves to unravel the puzzle behind the film and its enigmatic director – a quest blurring the lines between fiction and reality in terrifying ways.”
Category: Midnight and a Day One film
Pay attention: The UK filmmaker is making her feature debuted and already landed on Variety’s 10 Director’s to Watch for 2021. That’s “usually” a good sign.
“CODA”
Director and Screenwriter: Siân Heder,
Cast: Emilia Jones, Eugenio Derbez, Troy Kotsur, Ferdia Walsh-Peelo, Daniel Durant, and Marlee Matlin
Sundance Synopsis: “As a CODA – Child of Deaf Adults – Ruby is the only hearing person in her deaf family. When the family’s fishing business is threatened, Ruby finds herself torn between pursuing her love of music and her fear of abandoning her parents.”
Category: U.S. Dramatic Competition and a Day One film
Pay Attention: Already earning crowdpleaser buzz and they had us at Marlee Matlin.
“Cryptozoo”
Director and Screenwriter: Dash Shaw
Cast: Lake Bell, Michael Cera, Angeliki Papoulia, Zoe Kazan, Peter Stormare, Grace Zabriskie
Sundance Synopsis: “As cryptozookeepers struggle to capture a Baku (a legendary dream-eating hybrid creature) they begin to wonder if they should display these rare beasts in the confines of a cryptozoo, or if these mythical creatures should remain hidden and unknown.”
Category: NEXT
Pay Attention: Don’t let the voice cast fool you. Five years in the making and a rare animated feature selection for the festival, Shaw appears to have crafted one of the more “out there” selections this year.
“El Planeta”
Director and Screenwriter: Amalia Ulman
Cast: Amalia Ulman, Ale Ulman, Nacho Vigalondo, Zhou Chen, Saoirse Bertram
Sundance Synopsis: “Amidst the devastation of post-crisis Spain, mother and daughter bluff and grift to keep up the lifestyle they think they deserve, bonding over common tragedy and an impending eviction.”
Category: World Cinema Dramatic Competition
Pay Attention: Ulman is an acclaimed actress who has shown her work at galleries worldwide. This not only her directing, but feature acting debut. As for this one? Think of a Spanish “Grey Gardens.”