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Sundance Film Festival · 2014

Sundance Film Festival 2014

Documentary Premieres

Programme

11 films · 1 review

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The Battered Bastards Of Baseball

Hollywood veteran Bing Russell creates the only independent baseball team in the country - alarming the baseball establishment and sparking the meteoric rise of the 1970s Portland Mavericks.

(Country: US; Year: 2014; Director: Chapman Way, Maclain Way)

World premiere

Finding Fela!

Review preview for Finding Fela!

Though Gibney’s film has an interesting figure at its heart, the film never really feels like it is giving either strand of Kuti’s life: the music and the politics, enough attention.

Owen Van Spall · 3 out of 5
Documentary about a renowned Nigerian Musician who inspired many people in the music scene including Bob Marley and James Brown.

(Country: US; Year: 2014; Director: Alex Gibney; Stars: Fela Kuti, Yeni Kuti, Femi Kuti, Seun Kuti, Bill T. Jones, Okwechime Abdul, Tony Allen, Kewe Anikulapo-Kuti, Hettie Barnhill, J.K. Braimah, John Darnton, Lemi Ghariokwu, Ogugua Iwelu, Sandra Izsadore, Francis Kertekian)

Full review

World premiere

Freedom Summer

In the summer of 1964, more than 700 students descended on violent, segregated Mississippi. Defying authorities, they registered voters, created freedom schools, and established the Mississippi Freedom Democratic Party. Fifty years later, eyewitness accounts and never-before-seen archival material tell their story. Not all of them would make it through.

(Year: 2014; Director: Stanley Nelson)

World premiere

Happy Valley

The children of "Happy Valley" were victimised for years, by a key member of the legendary Penn State college football programme. But were Jerry Sandusky’s crimes an open secret? With rare access, director Amir Bar-Lev delves beneath the headlines to tell a modern American parable of guilt, redemption, and identity.

(Country: US; Year: 2014; Director: Amir Bar-Lev)

World premiere

Last Days In Vietnam

During the chaotic final weeks of the Vietnam War, the North Vietnamese Army closes in on Saigon as the panicked South Vietnamese people desperately attempt to escape. On the ground, American soldiers and diplomats confront a moral quandary: whether to obey White House orders to evacuate only US citizens.

(Country: US; Year: 2014; Director: Rory Kennedy; Writer: Mark Bailey, Keven McAlester, Keven McAlester)

World premiere

Life Itself

The story of the surprising and entertaining life of renowned film critic and social commentator Roger Ebert. The film details his early days as a freewheeling bachelor and Pulitzer Prize winner, his famously contentious partnership with Gene Siskel, his life-altering marriage, and his brave and transcendent battle with cancer.

(Country: US; Year: 2014; Director: Steve James; Stars: Roger Ebert)

World premiere

Mitt

A filmmaker is granted unprecedented access to a political candidate and his family as he runs for President.

(Country: US; Year: 2014; Director: Greg Whiteley; Writer: Greg Whiteley; Stars: Mitt Romney)

World premiere

This May Be The Last Time

Filmmaker Sterlin Harjo's Grandfather disappeared mysteriously in 1962. The community searching for him sang songs of encouragement that were passed down for generations. Harjo explores the origins of these songs as well as the violent history of his people.

(Year: 2014; Director: Sterlin Harjo)

World premiere

To Be Takei

Over seven decades, actor and activist George Takei journeyed from a World War II internment camp to the helm of the Starship Enterprise, and then to the daily news feeds of five million Facebook fans. Join George and his husband, Brad, on a wacky and profound trek for life, liberty, and love.

(Country: US; Year: 2014; Director: Jennifer M Kroot; Stars: William Shatner, Leonard Nimoy, George Takei, Nichelle Nichols, Howard Stern, Lea Salonga, Dan Savage, Brad Takei, Telly Leung, Daniel Inouye, Tom Ammiano, Lorenzo Thione, Jimi Yamaichi, Sybil Jordan Hampton, Jay Kuo)

World premiere

We Are The Giant

The stories of ordinary individuals who are transformed by the moral and personal challenges they encounter when standing up for what they believe is right. Powerful and tragic, yet inspirational, their struggles for freedom echo across history and offer hope against seemingly impossible odds.

(Country: US, UK; Year: 2014; Director: Greg Barker)

World premiere

Whitey Bulger (WHITEY: United States of America v James J Bulger)

Infamous gangster James "Whitey" Bulger’s relationship with the FBI and Department of Justice allowed him to reign over a criminal empire in Boston for decades. Joe Berlinger’s documentary chronicles Bulger’s recent sensational trial, using it as a springboard to explore allegations of corruption within the highest levels of law enforcement.

(Country: US; Year: 2014; Director: Joe Berlinger)

World premiere