Another year, another Sundance, another COVID surge. While SAGindie initially intended to trek out to Park City, Utah, for the 2022 Sundance Film Festival (taking place January 20 – 30), safety precautions took precedence and the fest went virtual. But just because our staff will be home, doesn’t mean there aren’t still plenty of movies to see. Check out which Sundance ’22 movies we are most excited to watch this year.
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Darrien’s Picks:
There are a few films that are Must-Sees for me.
MASTER – Not only am I intrigued by Mariama Diallo’s tale of attending an “elite university”, but the filmmaker is a family friend. That, with her great Hair Wolf short, makes this an exciting watch.
(U.S. Dramatic Competition, Directed by Mariama Diallo. Three women strive to find their place at an elite New England university. As the insidious specter of racism haunts the campus in increasingly supernatural fashion, each fights to survive in this space of privilege.)
HONK FOR JESUS. SAVE YOUR SOUL. – Another one that I feel is family. The screenplay participated in our Live Read partnership with The Gotham. We knew then that this was a film to watch.
(Premieres, Directed by Adamma Ebo. In the aftermath of a huge scandal, Trinitie Childs, the first lady of a prominent Southern Baptist megachurch, attempts to help her pastor husband, Lee-Curtis Childs, rebuild their congregation.)
AFTER YANG – Because I love Haley Lu Richardson and Kogonada.
(Spotlight, Directed by Kogonada. In the near future, a father and daughter try to save the life of Yang, their beloved robotic family member.)
LAST FLIGHT HOME – I know this is going to be a poignant film and one where Ondi Timoner bears a bit of her soul.
(Special Screenings, Directed by Ondi Timoner. An examination of Eli Timoner’s intentional death and his family’s emotional turmoil as they grapple with his decision to end his own life. The family journeys back through Eli’s remarkable, painful life to discover what true love looks like and help him shed shame he’s carried for 40 years.)
Eliza’s Picks:
THE COW WHO SANG A SONG INTO THE FUTURE
(World Cinema Dramatic Competition, Directed by Francisca Algería. Cecilia and her children travel to her aging father’s dairy farm after he has a heart attack. Back in her childhood home, Cecilia is met by her mother, a woman dead for many years, whose presence brings to life a painful past chorused by the natural world around them.)
ALICE
(U.S. Dramatic Competition, Directed by Krystin Ver Linden. When a woman in servitude in 1800s Georgia escapes the 55-acre confines of her captor, she discovers the shocking reality that exists beyond the tree line… it’s 1973. Inspired by true events.)
EMERGENCY
(U.S. Dramatic Competition, Directed by Carey Williams. Ready for a night of partying, a group of Black and Latino college students must weigh the pros and cons of calling the police when faced with an unusual emergency.)
FIRE OF LOVE
(U.S. Documentary Competition, Directed by Sara Dosa. Intrepid scientists and lovers Katia and Maurice Krafft died in a volcanic explosion doing the very thing that brought them together: unraveling the mysteries of volcanoes by capturing the most explosive imagery ever recorded. A doomed love triangle between Katia, Maurice, and volcanoes, told through their archival footage.)
HONK FOR JESUS. SAVE YOUR SOUL.
(Premieres, Directed by Adamma Ebo. In the aftermath of a huge scandal, Trinitie Childs, the first lady of a prominent Southern Baptist megachurch, attempts to help her pastor husband, Lee-Curtis Childs, rebuild their congregation.)
NANNY
(U.S. Dramatic Competition, Directed by Nikyatu Jusu. Aisha is an undocumented nanny working for a privileged couple in New York City. As she prepares for the arrival of the son she left behind in Senegal, a violent supernatural presence invades her reality, threatening the American dream she is painstakingly piecing together.)
Colin’s Picks:
PIGGY
(Midnight, Directed by Carlota Pereda. Sara deals with constant teasing from girls in her small town. But it comes to an end when a stranger kidnaps her tormentors. Sara knows more than she’s saying and must decide between speaking up and saving the girls or saying nothing to protect the strange man who spared her.)
THE WORST PERSON IN THE WORLD
(Spotlight, Directed by Joachim Trier. Four years in the life of Julie, a young woman who navigates the troubled waters of her love life and struggles to find her career path, leading her to take a realistic look at who she really is.)
EMERGENCY
(U.S. Dramatic Competition, Directed by Carey Williams. Ready for a night of partying, a group of Black and Latino college students must weigh the pros and cons of calling the police when faced with an unusual emergency.)
FRESH
(Midnight, Directed by Mimi Cave. The horrors of modern dating are seen through one young woman’s defiant battle to survive her new paramour’s unusual appetites.)
CHA CHA REAL SMOOTH
(U.S. Dramatic Competition, Directed by Cooper Raiff. A directionless college graduate embarks on a relationship with a young mom and her teenage daughter, while learning the boundaries of his new bar mitzvah party-starting gig.)
LEONOR WILL NEVER DIE
(World Dramatic Competition, Directed by Martika Ramirez Esscobar. Fiction and reality blur when Leonor, a retired filmmaker, falls into a coma after a television lands on her head, compelling her to become the action hero of her unfinished screenplay.)
Shefali’s Picks:
EMERGENCY
(U.S. Dramatic Competition, Directed by Carey Williams. Ready for a night of partying, a group of Black and Latino college students must weigh the pros and cons of calling the police when faced with an unusual emergency.)
892
(U.S. Dramatic Competition, Directed by Abi Damaris Corbin. When Brian Brown-Easley’s disability check fails to materialize from Veterans Affairs, he finds himself on the brink of homelessness and breaking his daughter’s heart. No other options, he walks into a Wells Fargo Bank and says, “I’ve got a bomb.”)
MASTER
(U.S. Dramatic Competition, Directed by Mariama Diallo. Three women strive to find their place at an elite New England university. As the insidious specter of racism haunts the campus in increasingly supernatural fashion, each fights to survive in this space of privilege.)
HONK FOR JESUS. SAVE YOUR SOUL.
(Premieres, Directed by Adamma Ebo. In the aftermath of a huge scandal, Trinitie Childs, the first lady of a prominent Southern Baptist megachurch, attempts to help her pastor husband, Lee-Curtis Childs, rebuild their congregation.)
EMILY THE CRIMINAL
(Premieres, Directed by John Patton Ford. Down on her luck and saddled with debt, Emily gets involved in a credit card scam that pulls her into the criminal underworld of Los Angeles, ultimately leading to deadly consequences.)
TIKTOK, BOOM.
(U.S. Documentary Competition, Directed by Shalini Kantayya. With TikTok now crowned the world’s most downloaded app, these are the personal stories of a cultural phenomenon, told through an ensemble cast of Gen-Z natives, journalists, and experts alike. This film seeks to answer, “why is an app best known for people dancing the target of so much controversy?”)
ALICE
(U.S. Dramatic Competition, Directed by Krystin Ver Linden. When a woman in servitude in 1800s Georgia escapes the 55-acre confines of her captor, she discovers the shocking reality that exists beyond the tree line… it’s 1973. Inspired by true events.)
WHAT MOVIES ARE YOU EXCITED TO (VIRTUALLY) WATCH AT THIS YEAR’S SUNDANCE?
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If you’re an independent filmmaker or know of an independent film-related topic we should write about, email blogadmin@sagindie.org for consideration.
