Day 3 at the 2022 Sundance Film Festival brought forth in the US Dramatic Competition what seemed like a Maika Monroe vehicle with Chloe Okuno’s Watcher, a genre-bending thriller. Watcher is set in Bucharest, Romania, and tells the tale of a young, blonde, expatriate female coping with life in a new country and the uneasy feeling she is being watched.
Maika Monroe appears in Watcher by Chloe Okuno, an official selection of the U.S. Dramatic Competition at the 2022 Sundance Film Festival. Courtesy of Sundance Institute.
Maika Monroe is cast as the lead, Julia, and her physical talent is on full display. Her physicalities in a train sequence are extraordinary. While the plot is a bit predictable, the visuals and inclusiveness of various genres, combined with Hitchcockian touches make the film quite palatable, and Maika Monroe’s performance as Julia is just as delightful as it is impressive.
Stay tuned for more on The Watcher!
Director/Writer Chloe Okuno of Watcher, an official selection of the U.S. Dramatic Competition at the 2022 Sundance Film Festival. (Photo courtesy of 42 West)
Carey Williams has returned to the Sundance Film Festival with an identically titled, feature-length update to his short film, Emergency. And, it is a wild ride. Exploring the human condition through the eyes and world views of his characters, Williams interjects moments of comedic relief, while maintaining a firm grip on the film’s narrative sets the tone early in a masterfully directed “safe space” scene of a deadpan classroom debate on the N-word.
Sabrina Carpenter portrays Maddy in Carey Williams’ Sundance Film Festival US Dramatic Competition entry, EMERGENCY, from Amazon Studios. (Photo courtesy of AccoladePR)
Donald Elise Watkins, who bears a striking resemblance to Daniel Kaluuya, portrays Kunle, a Princeton bound college senior, who winds up on a complicated adventure with his roommates Sean (RJ Cyler) and Carlos (Sebastian Chacon) when a young party girl, Emma (Maddy’s younger sister) portrayed by Maddie Nichols, turns up incapacitated on their floor.
What ensues provides a canvas for playful, hard-hitting social satire that hits the bullseye. Keep an eye out for this director and this film’s release! Four stars.
Emma Thompson, Amy Poehler, Karen Gillan, Aaron Paul, Lena Dunham, and More Participate in the Third Day of Sundance Film Festival
PARK CITY, UT (January 22, 2022) – Sundance Film Festival welcomed audiences to an action-packed weekend with the third day of premiere screenings and conversations featuring some of the most notable visionaries in independent film, new media, and culture-at-large, including Emma Thompson, Karen Gillan, Amy Poehler, Aaron Paul, Lena Dunham, Kristine Froseth, Jon Bernthal, Scott Speedman, W. Kamau Bell, Nina Menkes, Riley Stearns, Daniel Hart, Saul Williams, Drum & Lace, Sophie Hyde, Katy Brand, Daryl McCormack, and more.
Emma Thompson discussed her very intimate, vulnerable role in Good Luck to You, Leo Grande; Lena Dunham discussed how female sexuality is depicted on screen with the Sharp Stick cast including Kristine Froseth, Jon Bernthal, Scott Speedman, and Taylour Paige; Karen Gillan and Aaron Paul highlighted their surprising dance skills in Dual; Director W. Kamau Bell shared insight on the power of celebrity magnetism, especially in the case of Bill Cosby; and Lucie Arnaz expressed her trust in having Amy Poehler direct the documentary on her parents in Lucy and Desi.
Each year, Sundance serves as a cultural launchpad, helping to expand audience horizons through film and the conversations that occur the minute that credits roll. Continuing to foster this spirit of discussion into 2022, Sundance Film Festival programs a series of panels across discipline and topics to keep the conversation going.
DAY THREE HIGHLIGHTS
FILM Q&As We Need to Talk About Cosby Panel
W. KAMAU BELL (Director) on the power of celebrity magnetism to muddle reality: “How we confuse a celebrity’s image with their reality. So, R. Kelly was selling an R- rated image, which is very different from what Bill Cosby was selling. We can look at white celebrities, too, and see that just because we like a celebrity a lot, doesn’t mean that that’s who they really are. That’s one of the ultimate lessons of this film, and it’s harder for Black folks because we don’t have as many powerful figures in the media who are celebrities. So, we really hyper-focus on the few that we have.”
RENEE GRAHAM (Journalist, Featured In The Film) on the protections Cosby had from the media: “There were several journalists that had said, “yeah, I heard things but I didn’t want to lose access to people in the industry.” They didn’t want to be the one to bring down the icon. And Bill Cosby PREYED on that to continue getting away with it. I don’t think it was a coincidence that at the height of his powers, in the 1980s with The Cosby Show, that his criminality escalated because he had even more access, but he had even more protection from people.”
MAUREEN RYAN (Journalist, Featured In The Film) on the importance of media literacy in these cases: – “I get asked all the time, ‘how can you separate the art from the artist?’ The art is in service to the artist’s image. The image that they have constructed in many ways is the thing that allows them to operate in the way they do.”
LISE LOTTE-LUBLIN (Subject & Survivor) on the conflicting feelings about the “fatherly hero” she’d known all her life and the man himself: “As a survivor of this, I found out in 2014 the actual circumstances of what happened because I don’t have actual memory of the actual incident, but one of the things that was extremely overwhelming for me whas to fight all of those glorious feelings that i had with Bill Cosby as a child growing up. Loving his shows and repeating his comments and laughing at his jokes – there was a lot of happiness around that. And when I realized what he had done to me, versus what I grew up loving and feeling (adoring him), it was such a conflict in me.”
BARBARA BOWMAN (Subject & Survivor) on Cosby’s elaborate facade: “It’s so profound how he was able to perform in his private life the way he performed in his public life. I don’t know how he had time to do both… We’re touching on some important things about culture – people don’t want to shatter their illusion. They’ve grown up with an icon, they’ve grown up with a father figure – America’s favorite dad.”
BRAINWASHED: Sex-Camera-Power Panel
JOEY SOLOWAY (Subject – Creator of Transparent) on the objectification of women in cinema: “It’s a state of emergency,” and although there’s a lot of work ahead, they see Nina Menkes’ film as a step forward towards equality on and off screen, “we are making history whether we’re on the mountain or not.”
Good Luck to You, Leo Grande Panel | LINK TO STILLSSOPHIE HYDE (Director) and Katy Brand (Screenwriter) on working with Dame Emma Thompson: “I always had Emma in my mind as Nancy. I wrote it with her voice and style and cadence.” (Katy) “I could see Emma in the writing.” (Sophie)
EMMA THOMPSON on coming on board: “I was thrilled to read it and read it in thirty seconds flat and wrote back and said ‘You have to do this! We have to make this! We absolutely have to make it. RIGHT NOW! Get on with it, well come on!’ It’s all ready, it’s beautiful. It’s perfect, like nothing I’d done before.” “It was very freeing. It was a beautiful experience.”
EMMA THOMPSON and DARYL MCCORMACK (actor) on portraying intimacy and vulnerability: “Part of our vulnerability and the ability that that has – seeing these two people face their own vulnerability is what gave each other access to dig further.” [Daryl] “As soon as we actually look into one another’s eyes and exchange our experiences and our humanity all of that just goes. It goes in an instant because we’re humans.” [Emma]
Dual PanelRILEY STEARNS (Director) on the inception of this unique concept about duality using clones for a film: “The initial idea came about where an actor would act opposite themselves, but then I really wanted to confront what that means, existentially and really think about who this person is. Is this a better version of you? How does that make you feel? How does that make you go forward in life? And then from there came up with the “duel” concept – fighting to the death.”
KAREN GILLAN (Lead Actor) on doubling up on lines and playing against herself, again: “I’ve actually acted opposite myself in two other films prior to this! Because I’ve acted in a lot of sci-fi and time travel [genres], I’ve met past and future versions of myself before. So that was something I’m weirdly accustomed to.”
AARON PAUL (Actor) and KAREN GILLAN (Actor) on the film’s surprising dance sequence: [Aaron] “First of all, I can’t tell you how terrified I was to do that dance… we had the same dance instructor.” [Karen] “She basically, whenever we were dancing would laugh at us so directly, like she didn’t even try to stop herself from laughing. She was pointing and going ‘it’s so funny when you concentrate so hard.’ We were trying, we were really trying!”[Aaron] She would just aggressively point and go HAHA”
RILEY STEARNS (Director) on shooting in Finland: “ We were the very first U.S. production to be shot there all the way through. We had the best experience there…The coolest thing about it is that it really makes it feel like a new world, like Dual exists in an alternate reality.”
Sharp Stick PanelLENA DUNHAM (Director/Actor) on her character Sara Jo: “I was asking a lot of questions at the time of how we depict female sexuality on screen and how it’s inexplicably linked to trauma. I was thinking about some of the trauma in my life, and some of it being medical trauma and what it would be like to have a character informed by this medical trauma. That really created this naïve and specific worldview in her and when she meets someone who cracks it open.”
SCOTT SPEEDMAN (Actor) on what it was like to work with Lena: “It was a very safe space, and it was such a joy that you just never heard no, you didn’t feel controlled and that’s rare for me. It kind of created this environment where you felt like you could step out and do whatever you wanted to really let it go.”
LENA on what it means to create your own family: “I am a woman who can’t have biological children and thought a lot about what it means to make your own family and design your own family and how it’s just as meaningful.”
TAYLOR PAIGE (Actor) on standards in society: “She has a white mother and a white sister and compares herself to white standards of beauty and doesn’t realize the social media world she aspires to white influencers are actually influenced by black influencers and black culture.”
LENA on how she came about the title of the film: “It came from doctors in the UK who say if they give you a shot or take your blood it’s going to be a sharp poke or sharp scratch. It’s a way to comfort you. That made its way into a monologue of Sara Joe’s about trying to predict pain before it comes to dull the effects of it. It’s aggressively poetic.”
LENA on the porn industry: “Porn can liberate people. It’s an industry that is just as complicated as Hollywood and as vast and probably more prolific. It’s very important to recognize the very healthy role it can play and the role that porn actors can play in shaping people’s identity.”
NEW FRONTIERSuga’ – A Live Virtual Dance PerformanceVALENCIA JAMES (Lead Artist/Performer) on her motivation to highlight the legacy of the Trans-Atlantic slave trade and the sugar industry: “This piece all started in the summer of 2020, so we were in lockdown and we all just witnessed the horrific murder of George Floyd, and at this time I found my coping mechanism was to seek a closer relationship with my ancestors.”
TERRI WRIGHT (Rehearsal Director) on the experience of doing live performances in virtual reality: “That same feeling you might get from performing in a theater with a live audience… butterflies in your stomach, anxiety, wondering what people are seeing, wondering what they’re thinking in the moment, all of that is intact in there with this technology.”
SUNDANCE ASCAP MUSIC CAFÉ Sundance ASCAP Music Café Performers: Day 2 of the 2022 Sundance ASCAP Music Café showcased three unique sets from the honey-voiced singer-songwriter and actress Hayley Sales, soulful R&B guitar fusionist Jordan Hawkins, and EVAN + ZANE, a fascinating collaboration between award-winning actress Evan Rachel Wood and acclaimed guitarist Zane Carney.
Hayley Sales performed: “Let Me Fall Apart,” “Lose Me Forever,” Never Far,” “Never Let You Go,” and “World Can Wait.”
Jordan Hawkins performed: “Heart Won’t Stop,” “Risky,” “Slow Down,” and “We Have.”
EVAN + ZANE performed: “Smokey Taboo,” “Children of the Revolution,” “Song for Zula,” and “This Woman’s Work.”
The Festival takes place digitally via our enhanced online platform at Festival.Sundance.org, on the New Frontier Spaceship, a bespoke immersive platform allowing festival-goers to gather virtually, and in-person at seven Satellite Screens venues around the country during the Festival’s second weekend. Additional programming includes a daily talk show (“How to Fest: Daily”), and Satellite Screen conversations as well as partner offerings in the Festival Village. To note, all talks are available online via live stream or posted later on festival.sundance.org to view globally. Sign up for an account at festival.sundance.org to access online. All times are U.S. Mountain Time. Tickets are on sale.
ABOUT SUNDANCE FILM FESTIVAL
The Sundance Film Festival has introduced global audiences to some of the most groundbreaking films of the past three decades, including Flee, CODA, Passing, Summer Of Soul (…or, When the Revolution Could Not Be Televised), Clemency, Never Rarely Sometimes Always, Zola, On The Record, Boys State, The Farewell, Honeyland, One Child Nation, The Souvenir, The Infiltrators, Sorry to Bother You, Won’t You Be My Neighbor?, Hereditary, Call Me By Your Name, Get Out, The Big Sick, Mudbound, Fruitvale Station, Whiplash, Brooklyn, Precious, The Cove, Little Miss Sunshine, An Inconvenient Truth, Napoleon Dynamite, Hedwig and the Angry Inch, Reservoir Dogs and sex, lies, and videotape.
The Festival is a program of the non-profit Sundance Institute. 2022 Festival sponsors include: Presenting Sponsors – Acura, AMC+, Chase Sapphire, Adobe; Leadership Sponsors – Amazon Studios, DIRECTV, DoorDash, Dropbox, Netflix, Omnicom Group, WarnerMedia, XRM Media; Sustaining Sponsors – Aflac, Audible, Canada Goose, Canon U.S.A., Inc., Dell Technologies, IMDbPro, Michelob ULTRA Pure Gold, Rabbit Hole Bourbon & Rye, Unity Technologies, University of Utah Health, White Claw Hard Seltzer; Media Sponsors – The Atlantic, IndieWire, Los Angeles Times, NPR, Shadow and Act, Variety, Vulture. Sundance Institute recognizes critical support from the State of Utah as Festival Host State. The support of these organizations helps offset the Festival’s costs and sustain the Institute’s year-round programs for independent artists. Visit sundance.org/festivalfor more.
Sundance Film Festival completed the second day of its online festival programming featuring conversations with John Boyega, Elizabeth Banks, Regina Hall, Sigourney Weaver, Abi Damaris Corbin, Phyllis Nagy, Connie Britton, Colin Farrell, Hayley Lu Richardson, Wuumi Mosaku, Zoe Renee, Mariama Diallo, Chlose Okuno, Kogonada, and more. Stay tuned. In the meantime check out “How To Fest With Tabitha Jackson.”
Sundance Festival Director Tabitha Jackson on “How To Fest,” a daily segment chockful of festing tips, filmmaker interviews, and some of the day’s recommended screenings. (Photo courtesy of Sundance Institute)
Making the festival easily accessible to everyone is a primary driver and here is a daily segment titled, “How To Fest With Tabitha Jackson,” chock full of wise words combined with a Shari Frilot and Phyllis Nagy filmmaker chat. In addition, suggestions for the day’s films and events with brief overviews are provided to ease the sense of inundation. Furthermore, it’s a fun piece! Go forth and discover…
Day 2 at the 2022 Sundance Film Festival started off with Tabitha Jackson’s “How to Fest,” a wonderful way to open the day at Sundance – full of wise words and insight into promising films and filmmakers. Admittedly, I felt my face flush with Jackson’s closing inspirational alliteration, “Put on your intrepid trousers and go forth and discover.”
Taking those words to heart, After Yang presented itself. Stay tuned for more on this Alfred P. Sloan Feature Film Prize winner!
At 1:45, DOWNFALL: The Case Against Boeing from acclaimed director Rory Kennedy, has numerous festivalgoers chomping at the bit with this comprehensive investigation into the crashes of Lion Air Flight 610 and Ethiopian Airlines Flight 302. More to follow on “searing indictment of a once-principled company corrupted by the influence of Wall Street to prioritize profits above all else.”
FESTIVAL VILLAGE: Now is the time to dip into Festival Village and add everything of interest to your schedule by “favoriting” – you don’t need reservations, but make a schedule now so that you don’t hear about it after it happens.
Mariama Diallo (Director, Amber Gray (Actor), Zoe Renee (Actor), Regina Hall (Actor)
HOW TO PARTICIPATE
The Festival takes place digitally via our enhanced online platform at Festival.Sundance.org, on the New Frontier Spaceship, a bespoke immersive platform allowing festival-goers to gather virtually, and in-person at seven Satellite Screens venues around the country during the Festival’s second weekend. Additional programming includes a daily talk show (“How to Fest: Daily”), and Satellite Screen conversations as well as partner offerings in the Festival Village. To note, all talks are available online via live stream or posted later on festival.sundance.org to view globally. Sign up for an account at festival.sundance.org to access online. All times are U.S. Mountain Time. Tickets are on sale.
ABOUT SUNDANCE FILM FESTIVAL
The Sundance Film Festival has introduced global audiences to some of the most groundbreaking films of the past three decades, including Flee, CODA, Passing, Summer Of Soul (…or, When the Revolution Could Not Be Televised), Clemency, Never Rarely Sometimes Always, Zola, On The Record, Boys State, The Farewell, Honeyland, One Child Nation, The Souvenir, The Infiltrators, Sorry to Bother You, Won’t You Be My Neighbor?, Hereditary, Call Me By Your Name, Get Out, The Big Sick, Mudbound, Fruitvale Station, Whiplash, Brooklyn, Precious, The Cove, Little Miss Sunshine, An Inconvenient Truth, Napoleon Dynamite, Hedwig and the Angry Inch, Reservoir Dogs and sex, lies, and videotape.
The Festival is a program of the non-profit Sundance Institute. 2022 Festival sponsors include: Presenting Sponsors – Acura, AMC+, Chase Sapphire, Adobe; Leadership Sponsors – Amazon Studios, DIRECTV, DoorDash, Dropbox, Netflix, Omnicom Group, WarnerMedia, XRM Media; Sustaining Sponsors – Aflac, Audible, Canada Goose, Canon U.S.A., Inc., Dell Technologies, IMDbPro, Michelob ULTRA Pure Gold, Rabbit Hole Bourbon & Rye, Unity Technologies, University of Utah Health, White Claw Hard Seltzer; Media Sponsors – The Atlantic, IndieWire, Los Angeles Times, NPR, Shadow and Act, Variety, Vulture. Sundance Institute recognizes critical support from the State of Utah as Festival Host State. The support of these organizations helps offset the Festival’s costs and sustain the Institute’s year-round programs for independent artists. Visit sundance.org/festivalfor more.
Until next time, I’ll see you at the Cinema House!
HollywoodGlee inside the Sundance Film Festival Headquarters at the Park City Marriott on January 23, 2019, in Park City, Utah, the day before the opening of the 2019 Sundance Film Festival. (Photo credit: Larry Gleeson/HollywoodGlee)
Robert Redford addresses members of the press at the 2019 Sundance Film Festival Press Conference at the Egyptian Theatre in Park City, Utah, on January 29th, 2019. (Photo by Larry Gleeson)
Sundance Institute President and Founder Robert Redford, Sundance Institute CEO Joana Vicente, and Festival Director Tabitha Jackson will kick off the 2022 Festival at 4 p.m. MT with a customary welcome and introductory remarks before the highly anticipated opening day premiere of New Frontier’s 32 Sounds!
Sam Greene (Photo coutesy of Sundance Inst.)
This indelible, feature-length journey from Sam Greene weaves together 32 audio experiences, crafting a cinematic poem about the power of sound to bend time, cross borders, and profoundly shape our perception of the world. Green previously premiered A Thousand Thoughts at the 2018 Sundance Film Festival.
Featuring original compositions by JD Samson that will be performed live, 32 Sounds is designed to be experienced with personal headphones for a truly unique binaural audio experience. A high-quality headset is strongly recommended for online audiences.
Meet the artists behind all films and projects at the Festival on the Spaceship. Click here to learn more.
Secret Bonus Screening for Sundance Opening Film 32 Sounds —RSVP HERE
The 2022 Sundance Film Festival will be held January 20-30th, online and on seven satellite screens across the country. Tickets and packages are available HERE.
Until next time, I’ll see you at the movies!
Larry Gleeson/HollywoodGlee at the 2020 Sundance Film Festival, Park City, Utah.
Like planets orbiting a star, moths are drawn to a flame, or film lovers gravitating to a screen, life gathers around light. The 2022 Sundance Film Festival is taking inspiration from our solar system’s biggest, most radiant source of light and life: the sun. Likewise, the 2022 Sundance Film Festival will shine the brightest of lights on independent artists and their powerful, culture-shifting work.
The Sundance Film Festival is the flagship public program of Sundance Institute. Throughout the year, the majority of the Institute’s resources support independent artists around the world as they make and develop new work through access to Labs, direct grants, fellowships, residencies, and other strategic and tactical support.
GIRL PICTURE, which will have its world premiere in the World Cinema Dramatic Competition, tells the story of two young women, Mimmi and Rönkkö who are best friends. They are there for each other and have each other’s back. Enter Emma, who has given her whole life to figure skating. Nothing gets between her and success. But when the girls meet, life opens new paths, and they all rocket in new directions. While Mimmi and Emma experience the earth-moving effects of first love, Rönkkö is on a quest to find pleasure. Three Fridays are all it takes to turn their worlds upside down.
GIRL PICTURE is directed by Alli Haapasalo and written by Ilona Ahti & Daniela Hakulinen. The films stars include Aamu Milonoff, Eleonoora Kauhanen, Linnea Leino, Sonya Lindfors, Cécile Orblin, Oona Airola, and Mikko Kauppila. The production company is Citizen Jane Productions. Producers are Leila Lyytikäinen and Elina Pohjola. Jarmo Kiuru handled the cinematography with Samu Heikkilä orchestrating the editing. Jan Forsström is credited with music supervision and production design while Anne Tolkkinen was responsible for the sound editing. GIRL PICTURE is in Finnish with English subtitles and with a runtime of 100 minutes.
Stay tuned for more on GIRL PICTURE as the World Cinema Dramatic Competition at the 2022 Sundance Film Festival is heating up!
Until next time, I’ll see you at the movies!
(Sourced from Hook Publicity (Jessica Uzzan) PR news release)
Another day, another batch of Sundance 2022 films! The film festival is set to run January 20th throught January 30th, 2022. Check out 42West Sundance 2022 Slate with riveting and informative documentaries from Rory Kennedy (DOWNFALL: THE CASE AGAINST BOEING), Eva Longoria Bastion (LA GUERRA CIVIL chronicling the epic boxing matches between Oscar De la Hoya and Julio César Chávez), Tia Lessin, and Emma Pildes (THE JANES, a revelatory period piece on finding a safe alternative to a life-threatening pregnancy). And, there’s the riveting Maika Monroe-led Watcher from Chloe Okuno! See below for more.
Maika Monroe appears in Watcher by Chloe Okuno, an official selection of the U.S. Dramatic Competition at the 2022 Sundance Film Festival. Courtesy of Sundance Institute.
42West Sundance 2022 Slate
CALL JANE
Premieres — Acquisition
Courtesy of Sundance Institute.
A film by Phyllis Nagy
Starring Elizabeth Banks, Sigourney Weaver, Chris Messina, Kate Mara, Wunmi Mosaku, Cory Michael Smith, Grace Edwards
Set in Chicago, 1968. As a city and the nation are poised on the brink of violent political upheaval, suburban housewife Joy leads an ordinary life with her husband and daughter. When Joy’s pregnancy leads to a life-threatening condition, she must navigate a medical establishment unwilling to help. Her journey to find a solution to an impossible situation leads her to the “Janes,” a clandestine organization of women who provide Joy with a safer alternative — and in the process, change her life.
DOWNFALL: THE CASE AGAINST BOEING
Premieres — Netflix
Courtesy of IMDb and Sundance Institute.
A film by Rory Kennedy
Many of us take for granted that commercial air travel is safe. In 2018, with some 10,000 aircraft in service in more than 150 countries, industry leader Boeing had built its reputation on a dogged commitment to safety. But after 346 passengers are killed when two Boeing 737 MAX jets crash less than five months apart, dedicated journalists, surviving family members, and the United States Congress fight to reveal a culture of concealment and deceit within the venerated company.
Acclaimed director Rory Kennedy returns to the Sundance Film Festival with this comprehensive investigation into the crashes of Lion Air Flight 610 and Ethiopian Airlines Flight 302. Families of the victims relate the human cost of these tragedies, while aviation experts and former Boeing employees reveal what went wrong at the company, offering damning evidence of lies, negligence, and cover-up. DOWNFALL: The Case Against Boeing serves as a searing indictment of a once-principled company corrupted by the influence of Wall Street to prioritize profits above all else.
Rory’s films are all well-researched, informative and can pack a punch – expect nothing less with DOWNFALL.
GOD’S COUNTRY
Premieres — Acquisition
Courtesy of Sundance Institute.
A film by Julian Higgins
Starring Thandiwe Newton, Jeremy Bobb, Joris Jarsky, Jefferson White, Kai Lennox, Tanaya Beatty
When a grieving college professor confronts two hunters she catches trespassing on her property, she’s drawn into an escalating battle of wills with catastrophic consequences.
THE JANES
US Documentary Competition — HBO
Courtesy of Sundance Institute.
A film by Tia Lessin and Emma Pildes
In the spring of 1972, police raided an apartment on the South Side of Chicago. Seven women were arrested and charged. The accused were part of a clandestine network. Using code names, blindfolds, and safe houses to protect their identities and their work, they built an underground service for women seeking safe, affordable, illegal abortions. They called themselves Jane. Facing off against the mafia, the church, and the state, the Janes exhibited unparalleled bravery and compassion for those most in need.
Co-directors and Sundance Film Festival alumni Tia Lessin and Emma Pildes unearth this incredibly timely story to demonstrate how the fight for safe and legal abortions was and continues to be, an uncertain and perilous undertaking. Electrifying archival footage of Chicago in the late ’60s and early ’70s, coupled with affectingly honest interviews with the Janes themselves, brings to life the city and its spirit of revolution in that historic moment.
LA GUERRA CIVIL
Premieres — DAZN
Courtesy of Sundance Institute.
A film by Eva Langoria Bastón
This feature-length documentary follows the epic rivalry between iconic boxers Oscar De La Hoya and Julio César Chávez in the 1990s sparked a cultural divide between Mexican nationals and Mexican-Americans. A chronicle of a battle that was more than a boxing rivalry, and examining a fascinating slice of the Latino experience in the process. La Guerra Civil is a DAZN Originals production, directed by Actress, Producer, Director & Activist, Eva Longoria Bastón and produced by her Emmy-nominated UnbeliEVAble Entertainment.
MEET ME IN THE BATHROOM
Midnight — Acquisition
Courtesy of Sundance Institute.
A film by Dylan Southern and Will Lovelace
An immersive journey through the New York music scene of the early 2000s. Set against the backdrop of 9/11, the film tells the story of how a new generation kickstarted a musical rebirth for New York City that reverberated around the world. Inspired by the book by Lizzy Goodman.
WATCHER
U.S. Dramatic Competition — Acquisition
Maika Monroe appears in Watcher by Chloe Okuno, an official selection of the U.S. Dramatic Competition at the 2022 Sundance Film Festival. Courtesy of Sundance Institute.
A film by Chloe Okuno
Starring Maika Monroe, Karl Glusman, Burn Gorman, Ciubuciu Bogdan Alexandru
A young woman moves into a new apartment with her fiancé and is tormented by the feeling that she is being stalked by an unseen watcher in an adjacent building.
SNOWPIERCER
Season Three Premiere Event Screening + Panel
Daveed Diggs, Rowan Blanchard, Lena Hall, Iddo Goldberg, Alison Wright, Mickey Sumner, Katie McGuinness, Chelsea Harris, Mike O’Malley, Annalise Basso, Steven Ogg, Sheila Vand, Roberto Urbina, Christoph Schrewe (subject to change pending availability)
WarnerMedia Lodge
Friday, January 21st at 5:00-6:30PM
ABOUT SNOWPIERCER SEASON THREE: At the end of “Snowpiercer” season two, Layton (Daveed Diggs) and Ruth (Alison Wright), who were banished to Big Alice’s compost car, plotted to take back Snowpiercer. With the help of Javier (Roberto Urbina) and Alexandra (Rowan Blanchard), Layton and Ruth made it back to Snowpiercer and rallied with their supporters. Josie (Katie McGuiness) destroyed the Aquarium car, separating Snowpiercer’s head from the remaining 1,023 cars. Season three picks up with Layton (Diggs) and his inner circle commanding a small 10 car “pirate train” in search of Melanie (Jennifer Connelly) and a possible warm location to restart civilization; while back on Snowpiercer, Mr. Wilford (Sean Bean) is consolidating power, awaiting Layton’s return.
Stay tuned!
Larry Gleeson/HollywoodGlee at the 2020 Sundance Film Festival, Park City, Utah.
Things are warming up with the approaching 2022 Sundance Film Festival. Obscured Pictures released their slate of films that are sure to heighten viewer sensibilities. To quote St. Louis, MO, hip hop/rapper Nelly, “it’s getting hot in herre (So hot).” Check out these fiery films:
GOOD LUCK TO YOU, LEO GRANDE
(Acquisition Title)
Nancy Stokes, a retired schoolteacher, is yearning for some adventure, and some sex. Good sex. And she has a plan: she hires a young sex worker named Leo Grande.
Section: Premieres
Directed by: Sophie Hyde
Written by: Katy Brand
Cast: Emma Thompson, Daryl McCormack
Producer: Debbie Gray, Adrian Politowski
Run Time: 97 mins
SUMMERING
(Bleecker Street)
During their last days of summer and childhood — the weekend before middle school begins — four girls struggle with the harsh truths of growing up and embark on a mysterious adventure.
Section: Kids
Directed by: James Ponsoldt
Written by: James Ponsoldt & Benjamin Percy
Cast: Lia Barnett, Lake Bell, Sarah Cooper, Ashley Madekwe, Madalen Mills, Megan Mullally, Eden Grace Redfield, and Sanai Victoria
Producers: P. Jennifer Dana, Peter Block, James Ponsoldt
Run Time: 87 Minutes
YOU WON’T BE ALONE
(Focus Features)
Set in an isolated mountain village in 19th century Macedonia, YOU WON’T BE ALONE follows a young girl who is kidnapped and then transformed into a witch by an ancient spirit. Curious about life as a human, the young witch accidentally kills a peasant in the nearby village and then takes her victim’s shape to live life in her skin. Her curiosity ignited, she continues to wield this horrific power in order to understand what it means to be human.
Section: World Cinema Dramatic Competiton
Directed by: Goran Stolevski
Written by: Goran Stolevski
Cast: Noomi Rapace, Anamaria Marinca, Alice Englert, Carloto Cotta, Félix Maritaud, Sara Klimoska
Producers: Kristina Ceyton, Sam Jennings
Run Time: 109 mins
INSTANT LIFE
(Acquisition Title)
Destitute without electricity and running water, Yolanda Signorelli Von Braunhut has lost control of her late husband Harold’s iconic Amazing Live Sea Monkeys novelty. Yet she alone knows their secret formula, and from her crumbling estate on the Potomac, Yolanda wages legal and existential battles to fully win them back.
Section: Indie Episodic Program
Directed by: Mark Becker, Aaron Schock
Producers: Mark Becker, Aaron Schock, Julie Gaynin
Maika Monroe appears in Watcher by Chloe Okuno, an official selection of the U.S. Dramatic Competition at the 2022 Sundance Film Festival. Courtesy of Sundance Institute.
Director/Writer Chloe Okuno of Watcher, an official selection of the U.S. Dramatic Competition at the 2022 Sundance Film Festival. (Photo courtesy of 42 West)
