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Sundance Film Festival · 2018

Sundance Film Festival 2018

Documentary Premieres

Programme

13 films · 5 reviews

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Bad Reputation

A look at the life of Joan Jett, from her early years as the founder of The Runaways and first meeting collaborator Kenny Laguna in 1980 to her enduring presence in pop culture as a rock ‘n’ roll pioneer.

(Country: US; Year: 2018; Director: Kevin Kerslake; Writer: Joel Marcus)

World premiere

Believer

Imagine Dragons’ Mormon frontman Dan Reynolds is taking on a new mission to explore how the church treats its LGBTQ members. With the rising suicide rate amongst teens in the state of Utah, his concern with the church’s policies sends him on an unexpected path for acceptance and change.

(Country: US; Year: 2018; Director: Don Argott; Stars: Dan Reynolds, Aja Volkman, Ben McKee, Daniel Platzman, Wayne Sermon, Tyler Glenn)

World premiere

Chef Flynn

Review preview for Chef Flynn

There's an impressive range of mouthwatering dishes on display, constantly being adapted and upgraded.

Jennie Kermode · 3.5 out of 5
A documentary following a talented child chef who is determined to make it to the top of his chosen profession.

(Country: US; Year: 2018; Director: Cameron Yates; Stars: Flynn McGarry, Meg McGarry, Paris McGarry)

Full review

World premiere

Generation Wealth

A portrait of a materialistic, image-obsessed culture. Simultaneously personal journey and historical essay, the film bears witness to the global boom–bust economy, the corrupted American Dream and the human costs of late stage capitalism, narcissism and greed.

(Country: US; Year: 2018; Director: Lauren Greenfield; Stars: Florian Homm)

World premiere. Day One

The Game Changers

Review preview for The Game Changers

As Psihoyos dissects the marketing that has kept men believing in meat for decades, he's also gently shifting the concept of masculinity itself into a more positive space.

Jennie Kermode · 3 out of 5
James Wilks, an elite special forces trainer and winner of The Ultimate Fighter, embarks on a quest for the truth in nutrition and uncovers the world's most dangerous myth.

(Country: US; Year: 2018; Director: Louie Psihoyos; Writer: Shannon Kornelsen, Mark Monroe, Joseph Pace; Stars: James Wilks, Arnold Schwarzenegger, Patrik Baboumian, Dotsie Bausch, Tia Blanco, Nimai Delgado, Rip Esselstyn, Kendrick Farris, Mischa Janiec, Bryant Jennings, Scott Jurek, Damien Mander, Morgan Mitchell, Lucious Smith, Griff Whalen)

Full review

World premiere

Half The Picture

Review preview for Half The Picture

Despite its conventional approach, Adrion’s doc reveals itself to be a comprehensive and important study

Owen Van Spall · 3 out of 5
Successful women directors tell the stories of their art, lives and careers - and the inequalities that have held them back.

(Country: US; Year: 2018; Director: Amy Adrion; Stars: Rosanna Arquette, Lena Dunham, Sam Taylor-Johnson, Penelope Spheeris, Jennifer Warren, Ava DuVernay, Mary Harron, Jill Soloway, Karyn Kusama, Catherine Hardwicke, Kasi Lemmons, Kimberly Peirce, Miranda July, Lynn Shelton, Gina Prince-Bythewood)

Full review

World premiere

Jane Fonda In Five Acts

Girl nextdoor, activist, so-called traitor, fitness tycoon, Oscar winner: Jane Fonda has lived a life of controversy, tragedy and transformation – and she's done it all in the public eye. An intimate look at one woman's singular journey.

(Country: US; Year: 2018; Director: Susan Lacy)

World premiere

King In The Wilderness

From the passage of the Voting Rights Act in 1965 to his assassination in 1968, Martin Luther King, Jr. remained a man with an unshakeable commitment to nonviolence in the face of an increasingly unstable country. A portrait of the last years of his life.

(Country: US; Year: 2018; Director: Peter W Kunhardt)

World premiere

Quiet Heroes

In Salt Lake City, Utah, the socially conservative religious monoculture complicated the AIDS crisis, where patients in the entire state and intermountain region relied on only one doctor. This is the story of her fight to save a maligned population everyone else seemed willing to just let die.

(Country: US; Year: 2017; Director: Jenny Mackenzie)

World premiere

Robin Williams: Come Inside My Mind

This intimate portrait examines one of the world’s most beloved and inventive comedians. Told largely through Robin’s own voice and using a wealth of never-before-seen archive, the film takes us through his extraordinary life and career and reveals the spark of madness that drove him.

(Country: US; Year: 2018; Director: Marina Zenovich)

World premiere

RBG

Review preview for RBG

Less a cross-examination than a powerful summing up of her career, Cohen and West succeed in revealing the personality of the woman beneath the gown but there's no doubt they want to heavily influence our verdict.

Amber Wilkinson · 3.5 out of 5
An intimate portrait of an unlikely rock star: Justice Ruth Bader Ginsburg.

(Country: US; Year: 2018; Director: Julie Cohen, Betsy West; Stars: Bill Clinton, Sharron Frontiero, Jane C Ginsburg, Martin D. Ginsburg, Ruth Bader Ginsburg, Orrin Hatch, Lilly Ledbetter, Rush Limbaugh)

Full review

World premiere

Studio 54

Studio 54 was the pulsating epicentre of 1970s hedonism: a disco hothouse of beautiful people, drugs, and sex. The journeys of Ian Schrager and Steve Rubell - two best friends from Brooklyn who conquered New York City - frame this history of the "greatest club of all time".

(Country: US; Year: 2018; Director: Matt Tyrnauer)

World premiere

Won't You Be My Neighbor?

Review preview for Won't You Be My Neighbor?

Neville makes a solid case about why Rogers' impact remains so great even if the man himself remains partially concealed from us.

Owen Van Spall · 4 out of 5
Documentary about the US public TV children's show host who had a lasting influence.

(Country: US; Year: 2018; Director: Morgan Neville; Stars: Fred Rogers)

Full review See: Morgan Neville in conversation on the humanist ideas of Fred Rogers, emotional learning, being in the present, and the title Won't You Be My Neighbor? , Morgan Neville ‪in conversation on‬ Won't You Be My Neighbor?

World premiere. Salt Lake City opening night