Storytellers, film-enthusiasts, jet-setters and patrons of the arts will soon convene in Park City, Utah for the 32nd annual Sundance Film Festival beginning January 21. The largest independent film festival in the United States, Sundance received more than 12,700 film submissions from 120 countries and will show approximately 200 feature-length and short films throughout the 10-day festival.
Since 1985, the Festival has helped independent films gain critical recognition, receive commercial distribution and reach worldwide audiences who are eager for fresh perspectives and new voices. Sundance has introduced such notable films as Whiplash, Boyhood, Rich Hill, Little Miss Sunshine, Precious, and Napoleon Dynamite.
Some of the films to be on the lookout for in 2016 are:
Becoming Mike Nichols
Directed by Douglas McGrath, the HBO documentary focuses on Mike Nichols’ early career – his on-stage partnership with the comedian Elaine May, two of his landmark Broadway productions and his 2 breakthrough films, “Who’s Afraid of Virginia Woolf” and “The Graudate.”
Swiss Army Man
This U.S. competition entry stars Paul Dano and Daniel Radcliffe in a drama about a man who finds a dead body in the wilderness and forms a strange bond with it. While it seems unconventional, the filmmakers are described as “visionaires who take no prisoners.”
The Eyes of My Mother
From first-time director Nicolas Pesce, The Eyes of My Mother features the story of a young provincial girl who raises herself in complete isolation after family is taken from her.
Holy Hell
A documentary, Holy Hell is billed as coming from an “undisclosed” director who looks to take viewers deep inside a West Hollywood-based “spiritual community” that imploded two decades after its inception. The film is said to include a bevy of archival material from inside the group itself and poised to cause quite a stir.
Operation Avalanche
The movie revolves around CIA agents pretending to be documentarians as they infiltrate NASA in the late sixties and uncover a conspiracy.
Tallulah
Starring Ellen Page and Allison Janney, Sian Heder has adapted her own work into a longer narrative. Based on her own experience working as a babysitter in a posh Beverly Hills hotel, the film explores questions of motherhood and feminity with a fresh approach.
Tickets are still available for the Sundance Film Festival. Click here for more information.
