In the middle of award season, we get a glimpse into the film landscape of the near future from Park City, Utah. The Sundance Institute has announced their 2019 lineup for the 31st year of the Sundance Film Festival, which will run from Jan. 24 to Feb. 3, 2019.
The legendary actor-director Robert Redford, who also happens to be president and founder of Sundance Institute, said of this upcoming year’s festival, “Society relies on storytellers. The choices they make, and the risks they take, define our collective experience. This year’s festival is full of storytellers who offer challenges, questions and entertainment. In telling their stories, they make difficult decisions in the pursuit of truth and art; culture reaps the reward.”
This year Park City will screen 112 feature-length films, representing 33 different countries, with 45 coming from first-time filmmakers. Sundance has over the years garnered a reputation for its glitzy parties as Hollywood descends on the small Utah town. But along with the glamour and well-storied swag bags, Sundance continues to emphasize storytelling in its festival ethos; as John Cooper, director of the festival, said in a statement, “These films and artists tell the truth: whether documentaries that illuminate hidden histories or fiction features that spotlight diverse, human experiences, this year’s slate is layered, intense and authentic.”
These projects also boast impressive stats in regards to inclusiveness and diversity: 53 percent of directors in this year’s U.S. Dramatic Competition are women; 41 percent are people of color; 18 percent identify as LGBTQIA+. (In contrast, the 2018 Venice Film Festival had one female director out of 21 titles in the competition.) Across Sundance’s four major competition categories, which includes 61 directors and 56 films, 42 percent are women, 39 percent are people of color, and 23 percent identify as LGBTQIA+.
This year boasted a record high number of submissions, with the tally at 14,259, including 4,018 features. Of the selections, Sundance Institute executive director Keri Putnam said that the films selected maintain Sundance’s reputation as a serious showcase for the best of the best: “Focusing a bright light on these independent stories is urgent and crucial, especially in the noise of today’s globalized media landscape. Voices from many places and perspectives, often shut out of the mainstream, offer us new insights. It’s immensely heartening to see these bold visions and their tellers thriving.”
Last year’s festival drew 124,900 attendees from 49 U.S. states and 26 countries, and Park City is preparing for at least that many guests in 2019.
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Usually the focus is on the Premiere section, a category of the festival that features highly anticipated narrative films. In the past few years the category has featured such Oscar-nominated titles as “Boyhood,” “The Big Sick,” “Call Me By Your Name,” and “Mudbound.” This year, “Extremely Wicked, Shockingly Evil and Vile” is already receiving attention for Zac Efron’s portrayal of the infamous serial killer Ted Bundy, a movie co-starring Lily Collins, Haley Joel Osment, John Malkovich, and Jim Parsons. Another category entry is “Late Night,” directed by Nisha Ganatra and written by Mindy Kaling; the latter stars alongside Emma Thompson as a late-night talk show host, plus John Lithgow, Paul Walter Hauser, Reid Scott, and Amy Ryan. Meanwhile, “After The Wedding” stars Julianne Moore and Michelle Williams, directed by Bart Freundlich.
Outside the Premiere section, director Rashid Johnson and screenwriter Suzan-Lori Parks’ modern take on Richard Wright’s seminal novel “Native Son” has already distinguished itself as a film to look out for, starring Ashton Sanders, Margaret Qualley, Nick Robinson, KiKi Layne, Bill Camp, and Sanaa Lathan. Writer-director Tayarisha Poe’s debut “Selah and the Spades” stars Lovie Simone, Celeste O’Connor, and Jharrel Jerome.
Also garnering Sundance buzz are “The Last Black Man in San Francisco,” Joe Talbot’s story about a man who dreams of reclaiming his grandfather’s Victorian home in the heart of a rapidly gentrifying city, Amazon Studios’ “Troupe Zero” starring Viola Davis and Allison Janney, as well as “Honey Boy,” written by and starring LaBeouf and directed by Alma Har’el.
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