The 2022 Sundance Film Festival may have pivoted to a virtual festival because of Omicron Rising (which feels like the title of a movie or a new Pink Floyd record), but it is moving full-steam ahead regardless. Today, the festival added two new late-edition titles to the line-up. Both are documentaries, and the first title is “Phoenix Rising,” directed by Amy Berg (“An Open Secret,” “Every Secret Thing”) on actress and activist Evan Rachel Wood. The doc is about Wood’s experience as a survivor of domestic violence to pursue justice, heal generational trauma, and reclaim her story in a culture that instinctively blames women. It’s also a two-part documentary, and it looks like only part one is premiering at Sundance. The other doc added to the festival is “The American Dream and Other Fairy Tales,” directed by Abigail E. Disney and Kathleen Hughes.
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“We’re so pleased to welcome these two dynamic films into our program,” said Kim Yutani, the Festival’s Director of Programming. “These bold, compelling, provocative documentaries tell indelible stories each from a searing first-person perspective that we know will spark critical dialogue.”
Today’s additions add to the 2022 Festival slate, where 83 feature-length films will screen representing 28 countries, and 39 of 94 (41%) feature film directors are first-time feature filmmakers. Fifteen of the feature films and projects were supported by Sundance Institute in development through direct granting or residency labs.
Seventy-eight, or 91%, of the festival’s feature films will be world premieres.
The latest additions to the 2022 Sundance Film Festival are:
SPECIAL SCREENINGS
The American Dream and Other Fairy Tales / U.S.A. (Directors: Abigail E. Disney, Kathleen Hughes, Producers: Abigail E. Disney, Kathleen Hughes, Aideen Kane) — Abigail Disney looks at America’s dysfunctional and unequal economy and asks why the American Dream has worked for the wealthy, yet is a nightmare for people born with less. As a way to imagine a more equitable future, Disney uses her family’s story to explore how this systemic injustice took hold. World Premiere.
Phoenix Rising / U.S.A. (Director: Amy Berg, Producers: Kirsten Sheridan, Nancy Abraham, Lisa Heller) — Actress and activist Evan Rachel Wood takes her experience as a survivor of domestic violence to pursue justice, heal generational trauma, and reclaim her story in a culture that instinctively blames women. The film intimately charts her journey as she moves toward naming her infamous abuser for the first time. World Premiere. Phoenix Rising is a two-part documentary; part one will be premiering.
The Sundance Film Festival takes place from January 20 to January 30.