This past January was a landmark time in my life because I was able to go to Sundance Film Festival, the mecca of American and International indie films. This is the place where stars are born and films are brought into the market from out of the shadows. It was exciting to be able to see a bunch of world premieres, especially buzz films that usually end up going to the Oscars, as well as films that go below the radar that were good enough to get into Sundance.
The vibe of the film festival is nothing like what I was expecting; it was rather quiet and peaceful, as opposed to say New York Film Festival which feels like a swank high brow soiree or Cleveland International Film Festival which has zero industry presence and all film lovers. Sundance has an interesting mix of industry presence, film lovers, partying and calmness. Though over the years, the studio presence of companies has risen dramatically, and advertising has essentially gone to them instead of the indie filmmakers that the festival is supposed to help. It's not like they are taking away from the indie films, since that is why people go to Sundance in the first place, but I believe the corporate presence should be limited to helping the films, not promoting their own content (looking at you Netflix, promoting the new Chelsea Handler show shamelessly).
Regardless, it remains as the indie film mecca you've always thought it was, and it is still the center focus of the festival. This year's feature film line up had a bunch of unique, daring, awe inspiring cinema that can only be expected out of this festival. It also had its more commercial films (out of competition, of course) getting their festival cred before their wide release, a section dedicated to VR (which will be discussed in Part Two), and of course their short films. After seeing a lot of movies, I've made a list of the films you all should be seeing.
A lot of these films will be available via limited release or VOD at some point during the year, so I've narrowed down the films that everyone should go see. These films are in no particular order.
"The Birth of a Nation"
Dir. Nate Parker | Fox Searchlight
You're probably thinking "Of course this is on the list, it won the best of the festival." I would probably be the first one to dismiss the best picture winner, because I haven't been a fan of recent best film winners at the festival of late ("Beasts of the Southern Wild," "Fruitvale Station," "Me, Earl and the Dying Girl" were good, not great), but this film I must say was well deserving of the award this year, on top of just over all being a really good film. Nate Parker directs a slave revenge film about educated slave Nat Turner who leads a small rebellion in the south. In a time where racial tensions are high in the US, this seems to be the perfect timing for the film. At a sweet two hours, the film never gets preachy or never once lays upon its audience the feeling of "white guilt;" instead it charges forward with brute force until its tragic ending that inspires a future generation of rebels fighting a system that is only preventing them from furthering their greatness. It's surely a film not to be missed when its released in October.
"The Lure"
Dir. Agnieszka Smoczyńska
Wanna talk original? How about two Polish sirens joining a club band after promising not to eat them. One of them, Silver becomes romantically involved with the bassist which makes the other, Golden, worried that it'll prevent them from following their dream of swimming over to America. The stickler is that its a 1980s style horror musical. You read that right. Catchy tunes and blood dripping terror swimming in neon burlesque. First time director Smoczynska rocks the hell out of this debut feature, making Poland's first genre bending film. I'm not sure if anyone picked this up for distribution, but if you see "The Lure" anywhere in the near future, it simply cannot be missed.
"The Hollars"
Dir. John Krisanski | Sony Pictures Classics.
A family dramedy is not new to Sundance. But this one in particular was filled with genuine laughs, complex and real characters, and a great ensemble cast. This is more for the typical movie-goer, who will find a very pleasant movie going experience without being treated like your stupid. It's smart, original and funny. Plus, Josh Groban as a pastor is one not to miss.
"Swiss Army Man"
Dir. Dan Kwan and Daniel Scheinert | A24
Not sure what you heard out of Sundance, but early screenings had people walking out of the theater mid way through because of what it was about. What is it about? Its about a man marooned on an island using a corpse's magical farting abilities to get him off the island. When he discovers he's not really dead, they start forming an odd friendship. This film should be viewed because Sundance accepted a film about a farting corpse. And it wasn't as bad as one might think. Directed by the guys who made the music video for "Turn Down For What?" I genuinely think they were trolling Sundance with a high quality film about farting. And they succeeded. (They won the Best Directing award.)
"Manchester By The Sea"
Dir. Kenneth Lonergan | Amazon
The one thing that Sundance knows how to pick really well are dramas. And "Manchester By The Sea" may very well be the best drama of the lot. Starring Casey Affleck, the films centers on a man returning to his New England hometown after his brother dies of heart failure and is left to take care of his son, Patrick. What would otherwise seem mundane, Affleck's return home is interesting and never feels stale, thanks to the well written characters he is reunited with, like his mother Elise and his ex wife Randi. The crux of the film happens about an hour in, which is a massive turning point, but never seems to lose track of its core focus. If you're into dramas that are expertly directed, written and acted, this should be at the top of your list.
I saw other films, like Rob Zombie's mediocre "31" and the pretty good but not really standout worthy "Spa Night," which didn't make the list but can't hurt to go see. There are other films that I was dying to see but couldn't actually attend the showing. These films are as follows:
"Goat"
"Other People"
"Tallulah"
"Sleight"
"The Eyes Of My Mother"
These films have all been picked up for distribution, so we will be able to see them in the near future. Did any of you go to Sundance this year? What films are you most excited to see? Leave a comment below and discuss the strong selection at this year's Sundance Film Festival!
