Yesterday gave us the first inkling of our Sundance Film Festival 2014, as the U.S. and World competition films (in both dramatic and documentary sections) were unveiled, along with the NEXT section. While the films revealed a batch of familiar faces, they are also presented a fresh slate of newcomers that will be vying for attention, awards, and acquisition in Park City.
Today brings another slate, as Spotlight, which includes films that have already played over the world, Park City at Midnight, which celebrates genre entries, and New Frontier, which features outside-the-box films and media installation, have unveiled their slates. Check out the line-up below, including first look photos of our anticipated titles, and return for our coverage from the festival. One can also click titles below to read our reviews of specific films where available.
SPOTLIGHT
Regardless of where these films have played throughout the world, the Spotlight program is a tribute to the cinema we love.
Blue Ruin / U.S.A. (Director and screenwriter: Jeremy Saulnier) — A mysterious outsider’s quiet life turns upside down when he returns to his childhood home to carry out an act of vengeance. Proving to be an amateur assassin, he winds up in a brutal fight to protect his estranged family. Cast: Macon Blair, Amy Hargreaves, Sidné Anderson, Devin Ratray, Kevin Kolack.
The Double / United Kingdom (Director: Richard Ayoade, Screenwriter: Avi Korine) — Jesse Eisenberg plays Simon, a timid and isolated man who is overlooked at work. When James, a new coworker arrives, he upsets the balance because he is both Simon’s physical double and his opposite: confident and good with women. Then James slowly starts taking over Simon’s life. Cast: Jesse Eisenberg, Mia Wasikowska, Wallace Shawn, Noah Taylor, Cathy Moriarty, James Fox.
Ida / Poland (Director: Pawel Pawlikowski, Screenwriters: Pawel Pawlikowski, Rebecca Lenkiewicz) — Anna, a young novitiate nun in 1960s Poland, is on the verge of taking her vows when she discovers a dark family secret dating back to the years of the Nazi occupation. Cast: Agata Kulesza, Agata Trzebuchowska, Dawid Ogrodnik.
Locke / United Kingdom (Director and screenwriter: Steven Knight) — Locke is a feat of dynamic storytelling from Academy Award–nominated writer/director Steven Knight, anchored by Tom Hardy’s fantastic performance. Unfolding in real time, the film is a gripping story of choices, consequences, and a man who risks everything he holds dear to do the right thing. Cast: Tom Hardy, Ruth Wilson, Olivia Colman, Andrew Scott, Tom Holland, Bill Milner.
The Lunchbox / India, France, Germany (Director and screenwriter: Ritesh Batra) — A mistake made by the dabbawallahs, Mumbai’s famously efficient lunchbox delivery system, connects a young housewife to a stranger in the dusk of his life. Through notes in the lunchbox, the two build a fantasy world that gradually threatens to overwhelm their reality. Cast: Irrfan Khan, Nimrat Kaur, Nawazuddin Siddiqui, Denzil Smith, Bharati Achrekar, Nakul Vaid Nakul Vaid.
Only Lovers Left Alive / U.S.A. (Director and screenwriter: Jim Jarmusch) — Set against the desolation of Detroit and Tangier, an underground musician, depressed by the direction the world is taking, reunites with his lover. Their love story has endured for centuries, but the woman’s uncontrollable sister disrupts their idyll. Can these wise outsiders continue to survive as the world collapses around them? Cast: Tom Hiddleston, Tilda Swinton, Mia Wasikowska, John Hurt, Anton Yelchin, Jeffrey Wright.
R100 / Japan (Director and screenwriter: Hitoshi Matsumoto) — A mild-mannered family man with a secret taste for S&M finds himself pursued by a gang of ruthless dominatrices—each with a unique talent—in this hilarious and bizarre take on the sex comedy from Japanese comic mastermind Hitoshi Matsumoto. Cast: Nao Ohmori, Lindsay Kay Hayward, Hairi Katagiri.
Stranger by the Lake / France (Director and screenwriter: Alain Guiraudie) — Frank spends his summer searching for companionship at a lake in France. He meets Michel, an attractive, mysterious man and falls blindly in love. When a death occurs, Frank and Michel become the primary suspects. Stranger by the Lake is an erotic thriller testing the limits of sexual desire. Cast: Pierre Deladonchamps, Christophe Paou, Patrick d’Assumçao.
PARK CITY AT MIDNIGHT
From horror flicks to comedies to works that defy any genre, these unruly films will keep you edge-seated and wide awake. Each is a world premiere.
The Babadook / Australia (Director and screenwriter: Jennifer Kent) — A single mother, plagued by the violent death of her husband, battles with her son’s fear of a monster lurking in the house, but soon discovers a sinister presence all around her. Cast: Essie Davis, Noah Wiseman, Daniel Henshall, Hayley McElhinney, Barbara West, Ben Winspear.
Cooties / U.S.A. (Directors: Jonathan Millott, Cary Murnion, Screenwriters: Leigh Whannell, Ian Brennan) — A mysterious virus hits an isolated elementary school and transforms the students into a feral swarm of mass savages; then an unlikely hero must lead a motley band of teachers in the fight of their lives. Cast: Elijah Wood, Rainn Wilson, Alison Pill, Jack McBrayer, Leigh Whannell, Nasim Pedrad.
Dead Snow; Red vs. Dead / Norway (Director: Tommy Wirkola, Screenwriters: Tommy Wirkola, Stig Frode Henriksen, Vegar Hoel) — The gruesome Nazi Zombies are back to finish their mission, but our hero is not willing to die. He is gathering his own army to give them a final fight. Cast: Vegar Hoel, Stig Frode Henriksen, Martin Starr, Ørjan Gamst, Monica Haas, Jocelyn DeBoer.
The Guest / U.S.A. (Director: Adam Wingard, Screenwriter: Simon Barrett) — A soldier on leave befriends the family of a fallen comrade. He soon becomes a threat to everyone around him when it’s revealed he’s not who he says he is. Cast: Dan Stevens, Maika Monroe, Leland Orser, Lance Reddick, Chase Williamson, Brendan Meyer.
Killers / Japan, Indonesia (Directors: The Mo Brothers, Screenwriters: Timo Tjahjanto, Takuji Ushiyama) — Two serial killers post their violent crimes online in a psychotic battle for notoriety. It soon becomes clear that they will square off with one another face to face. Cast: Kazuki Kitamura, Oka Antara, Rin Takanashi, Luna Maya, Ray Sahetapy.
The Signal / U.S.A. (Director: William Eubank, Screenwriters: William Eubank, Carlyle Eubank, David Frigerio) — Three college students disappear under mysterious circumstances while tracking a computer hacker through the Southwest. Cast: Laurence Fishburne, Brenton Thwaites, Olivia Cooke, Beau Knapp.
Under the Electric Sky (EDC 2013) / U.S.A. (Directors: Dan Cutforth, Jane Lipsitz) — This 3-D film chronicles the love, community, and life of festivalgoers during Electric Daisy Carnival Las Vegas, the largest music festival in the U.S. Behind-the-scenes footage and exclusive interviews with Insomniac’s Pasquale Rotella reveal the magic that makes this three-night, 345,000-person event a global phenomenon.
What We Do in the Shadows / New Zealand, U.S.A. (Directors and screenwriters: Taika Waititi, Jemaine Clement) — This mockumentary follows the struggles of a group of New Zealand–based vampires to understand modern society and adapt to the ever-changing world around them. Cast: Jemaine Clement, Taika Waititi, Jonny Brugh, Cori Gonzales-Macuer, Stu Rutherford.
SUNDANCE KIDS
To reach our youngest independent film fans, we have created a new section of the Festival especially for them. Programmed in cooperation with Tumbleweeds, Utah’s premiere film festival for children and youth.
Ernest and Celestine / France, Belgium, Luxembourg (Directors: Benjamin Renner, Stéphane Aubier, Vincent Patar, Screenwriter: Daniel Pennac) — Unlike her fellow mice, Celestine is an artist and a dreamer. When she nearly ends up as breakfast for a bear named Ernest, the two form an unlikely bond that is quickly challenged by their respective communities. Cast: Forest Whitaker, Mackenzie Foy, Lauren Bacall, Paul Giamatti, William H. Macy, Megan Mullally. World Premiere (English version)
Zip & Zap and the Marble Gang / Spain (Director: Oskar Santos, Screenwriters: Francisco Roncal, Jorge Lara, Oskar Santos) — Zip and Zap are punished by being sent to a re-education center. Guided by intelligence, they uncover a mysterious secret hidden deep within the school and end up having the most exciting adventure of their lives. Cast: Javier Gutiérrez, Daniel Cerezo, Raúl Rivas, Claudia Vega, Marcos Ruiz, Fran García. U.S. Premiere
NEW FRONTIER
Clouds
Artists: James George, Jonathan Minard
Assembled from code and stunning 3D-scanned conversations, Clouds is a cutting-edge interactive documentary that features the emerging generation of artists and hackers who are creating tools for poetic and socially engaged experiments in technology.
Digital Diaspora Family Reunion
Artist: Thomas Allen Harris
The transmedia companion to the feature documentary, Through A Lens Darkly, Digital Diaspora Family Reunion (DDFR) re-imagines the social network the the building of ONE WORLD-ONE FAMILY ALBUM, a database of family photographs. Audiences are invited to upload images to Instagram at #DDFRtv, or bring them to New Frontier to participate in a special LIVE event.
EVE: Valkyrie
Artists: CCP Games
In one of the most anticipated video-game releases of 2014, award-winning Icelandic independent-game developer CCP Games presents EVE: Valkyrie—a virtual-reality experience like no other. In this special preview, audiences can put on an Oculus Rift headset, take a seat inside the cockpit of a spaceship, and enter a 360-degree-surround dogfight against enemy invaders.
I Love Your Work
Artist: Jonathan Harris
I Love Your Work is a beautifully designed interactive documentary by Jonathan Harris about the private lives of nine women who make lesbian porn. It consists of more than two thousand 10-second video clips, taken at five-minute intervals over 10 consecutive days—around six hours of footage. Cast: Dylan Ryan, Jincey Lumpkin, Ela Darling, Ryan Keely.
I Want You To Want Me
Artists: Jonathan Harris, Sep Kamvar
An alluring work of data visualization, this interactive installation explores the world of online dating. A giant touch screen displays a sky filled with balloons containing silhouettes, each one representing a real person’s dating profile. Viewers can touch the balloons to learn personal information about the person inside and rearrange them to view things like top turn-ons, most popular first dates, and people’s biggest desires.
The Measure of All Things
Artists: Sam Green, yMusic
The Measure of All Things is a live documentary featuring a series of portraits of record-holding people, places, and things. Inspired loosely by the Guinness Book of Records, Academy Award-nominated filmmaker Sam Green and yMusic create a poem about fate, time, and the contours of the human experience.
Mesocosm
Artist: Marina Zurkow
Mesocosm (Wink, Texas) and Mesocosm (Northumberland, UK) are two parts of a series of animated landscapes that change over time in response to software-driven data inputs. Individual hand-drawn animated elements are dynamically choreographed according to algorithms that dictate constraints in real time: one day takes 24 minutes to elapse; a year takes 144 hours.
My 52 Tuesdays
Artists: Sophie Hyde, Sam Haren, Dan Koerner
Picture an interactive photo booth where you get more than just your printed picture. It’s a year-long, participatory project accessed via smartphones with a series of questions designed to ‘’tune in” to your life. Like its companion film, 52 Tuesdays, this work explores themes of desire, responsibility, and transformation. How much are you willing to share? Cast: Tilda Cobham-Hervey.
Not Eye
Artist: Lauren Moffatt
Not Eye is an immersive, 3D stereoscopic experience that invites you to meet a woman who can no longer take the constant violation of being looked at and spied on every day of her life by the devices that populate the modern landscape. She is so tormented that she decides to take action, creating a helmet designed not only to defend herself but also to strike back. Cast: Danièle Hennebelle, Julien Bucci.
Reifying Desire Anthology
Artist: Jacolby Satterwhite
Comprised of live performance, custom-made wallpaper, and six CGI-animated and rotoscoped videos, Reifying Desire Anthology is a fantasy hyperlink that transcends brick and mortar, as well as electronic and biological realms, to source a universe where sexuality runs hungry and wild through the psycho-bioelectric matrix seeking transformation and liberation. Cast: Jacolby Satterwhite, Antonio Biaggi.
Sound + Vision
Artists: Chris Milk, Beck
When Beck reimagined David Bowie’s 1977 single “Sound and Vision,” Chris Milk set out to recreate its experience—literally its sound and vision—for both the live concert and its recording. He captured the performance using newly patented technologies like full spherical video and 360-degree binaural audio. This is the first live-action VR film designed for the Oculus Rift. Cast: Beck.
Street
Artist: James Nares
Street employs a high-speed Phantom Flex HD camera to slow down the densely busy streets of New York City and create this mesmerizing video installation. Hot dog vendors, children on scooters, lovers, fighters, pigeons, bike riders, traffic cops, even a flicked cigarette butt sailing onto the curb—all acquire an ethereal dimension enhanced by cofounder of Sonic Youth Thurston Moore’s evocative, acoustic 12-string guitar soundtrack.
This World Made Itself; Myth and Infrastructure; Dreams of Lucid Living
Artist: Miwa Matreyek
In a body of work that spans six years, Miwa Matreyek will present three of her multimedia solo live performance pieces featuring projected animation and her body, traversing ocean scapes, cityscapes, and dreamscapes. Cast: Miwa Matreyek
NEW FRONTIER FILMS
The Better Angels / U.S.A. (Director and screenwriter: A.J. Edwards) — Set in the harsh wilderness of Indiana, this is the story of Abraham Lincoln’s youth. It tells of the hardships that shaped him, the tragedy that marked him forever, and the two women who guided him to immortality. Cast: Jason Clarke, Diane Kruger, Brit Marling, Wes Bentley. World Premiere
The Girl from Nagasaki / Germany, U.S.A., Japan, Italy (Director: Michel Comte, Screenwriters: Anne-Marie Mackay, Ayako Yoshida, Michel Comte) — This 3D feature film production of the classic Puccini opera Madame Butterfly is directed by world-renowned photographer Michel Comte. It’s a modern-day tale that starts with the young madame emerging from the ashes of the atomic bomb in Nagasaki. Cast: Christopher Lee, Sasha Alexander, Michael Wincott, Michael Nyqvist, Robert Evans, Polina Semionova. International Premiere
HIT RECORD ON TV / U.S.A.(Director: Joseph Gordon-Levitt) — HIT RECORD ON TV is a new kind of variety show with host Joseph Gordon-Levitt directing a global online community of artists as they create short films, music, animation, and more. Anybody with an Internet connection is invited to contribute, and each episode focuses on a different theme. World Premiere
Living Stars / Argentina (Directors: Mariano Cohn, Gastón Duprat) — Argentinians open their homes to the public and perform dance numbers they normally only do alone, in front of a mirror. The directors portray them in their houses, with improvised sets, revealing a collection of urban curiosities. World Premiere
Through a Lens Darkly: Black Photographers and the Emergence of a People / U.S.A. (Director: Thomas Allen Harris, Screenwriters: Thomas Allen Harris, Don Perry, Paul Carter Harrison) — Through a Lens Darkly is an epic film that moves poetically between the present and the past through the work of contemporary photographers and artists. Their pictures and stories seek to reconcile legacies of pride and shame while giving a voice to images long suppressed, forgotten, or hidden from sight. World Premiere
Sundance Film Festival 2014 runs from January 16th to the 26th.
What films are you most looking forward to?