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Sundance Film Festival · 2019

Sundance Film Festival 2019

Documentary Premieres

Programme

13 films · 6 reviews

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Ask Dr Ruth

A documentary portrait chronicling the incredible life of Dr. Ruth Westheimer, a Holocaust survivor who became America's most famous sex therapist. As her 90th birthday approaches, Dr. Ruth revisits her painful past and her career at the forefront of the sexual revolution.

(Country: US; Year: 2019; Director: Ryan White)

World premiere

The Brink

Review preview for The Brink

Whilst one cannot imagine that the film provides quite the propaganda he might have hoped for, understanding the subtlety of what Klayman has created requires a type of empathy that it's not clear he possesses.

Jennie Kermode · 3.5 out of 5
Following former White House chief strategist Steve Bannon through the 2018 mid-term elections.

(Country: US; Year: 2019; Director: Alison Klayman; Stars: Stephen K Bannon, Louis Aliot, Sean Bannon, Patrick Caddell, Steve Cortes, Sharice Davids, Yasmine Dehaene-Modrikamen, Filip Dewinter, Kent Ekeroth, Lena Epstein, Nigel Farage, Laure Ferrari, Daniel Fleuette, David Frum, Paul Gosar)

Full review See: Alison Klayman ‪in conversation on‬ The Brink

World premiere

The Great Hack

Data, arguably the world’s most valuable asset, is being weaponized to wage cultural and political wars. The dark world of data exploitation is uncovered through the unpredictable personal journeys of players on different sides of the explosive Cambridge Analytica/Facebook data story.

(Country: US; Year: 2019; Director: Karim Amer, Jehane Noujaim; Writer: Karim Amer)

World premiere

Halston

Review preview for Halston

The film works wonderfully as an introduction to this important fashion designer for those who never heard of him or connected his name to Seventies minimalist style.

Anne-Katrin Titze · 4 out of 5
From Iowa to Studio 54, this investigation into the rags-to-riches story of America's first superstar designer uncovers the cautionary tale of an artist who sold his name to Wall Street.

(Country: US; Year: 2019; Director: Frédéric Tcheng)

Full review See: Frédéric Tcheng ‪in conversation on‬ his director's cut, Charles James, Truman Capote's Black and White Ball, and the business of Halston , Frédéric Tcheng ‪in conversation on‬ Liza Minnelli, Tavi Gevinson, Elsa Peretti and the Battle of Versailles in Halston

World premiere

The Inventor: Out For Blood In Silicon Valley

Review preview for The Inventor: Out For Blood In Silicon Valley

The film’s visuals are at their best when contrasting truth and lies.

Jeremy Mathews · 3.5 out of 5
With a magical new invention that promised to revolutionize blood testing, Elizabeth Holmes became the world's youngest self-made billionaire, heralded as the next Steve Jobs. Then, overnight, her $10-billion-dollar company dissolved. The rise and fall of Theranos is a window into the psychology of fraud.

(Country: US; Year: 2019; Director: Alex Gibney; Writer: Alex Gibney)

Full review

World premiere. Day One Film

Love, Antosha

Review preview for Love, Antosha

The inevitable sadness is balanced by so much joy and energy that it's a delight to watch.

Jennie Kermode · 4.5 out of 5
A portrait of the life and career of actor Anton Yelchin.

(Country: US; Year: 2019; Director: Garret Price; Stars: Anton Yelchin, Chris Pine, Zachary Quinto, Zoe Saldana, John Cho, Bryce Dallas Howard, Jennifer Lawrence, Jodie Foster, Martin Landau, Willem Dafoe, Frank Langella, JJ Abrams, Joe Dante)

Full review

World premiere

Marianne & Leonard: Words Of Love

Review preview for Marianne & Leonard: Words Of Love

There's a genuine beauty here - this is as much a love letter to love as it is the story of a complicated relationship and the branches (Broomfield included) that sprang from it.

Andrew Robertson · 3.5 out of 5
A story of enduring love between Leonard Cohen and his Norwegian muse Marianne Ihlen. The film follows their relationship from the early days in Greece, a time of ‘free love’ and open marriage, to how their love evolved when Leonard became a successful musician.

(Country: US; Year: 2019; Director: Nick Broomfield)

Full review

World premiere

Merata: How Mum Decolonised The Screen

An intimate portrayal of pioneering filmmaker Merata Mita, told through the eyes of her children. Using hours of archive footage, some never before seen, her youngest child discovers the filmmaker he never knew and shares with the world the mother he lost.

(Country: New Zealand; Year: 2018; Director: Heperi Mita; Stars: Awatea Mita, Eruera 'Bob' Mita, Heperi Mita, Alanis Obomsawin, Rafer Rautjoki, Rhys Rautjoki, Richard Rautjoki, N. Bird Runningwater, Taika Waititi, Awatea Mita, Eruera 'Bob' Mita, Heperi Mita, Alanis Obomsawin, Rafer Rautjoki, Rhys Rautjoki)

World premiere

Miles Davis: Birth Of The Cool

A visionary, innovator, and originator who defied categorisation and embodied the word cool: a foray into the life and career of musical and cultural icon Miles Davis.

(Country: US, UK; Year: 2019; Director: Stanley Nelson)

World premiere

Raise Hell: The Life & Times Of Molly Ivins

Molly Ivins was six feet of flame-haired Texas trouble, a prescient political journalist, best-selling author and Bill of Rights warrior. She took no prisoners, leaving both sides of the aisle laughing and craving more of her razor-sharp wit. It's time to Raise Hell like Molly!

(Country: US; Year: 2019; Director: Janice Engel; Writer: Janice Engel)

World premiere

Toni Morrison: The Pieces I Am

Review preview for Toni Morrison: The Pieces I Am

Longstanding fans will enjoy her extensive contributions, as considered and witty as ever.

Jennie Kermode · 4.5 out of 5
This artful and intimate meditation on the legendary storyteller examines her life, her works and the powerful themes she has confronted throughout her literary career. Toni Morrison leads an assembly of her peers, critics and colleagues on an exploration of race, history, America and the human condition.

(Country: US; Year: 2019; Director: Timothy Greenfield-Sanders; Stars: Toni Morrison, Hilton Als, Oprah Winfrey, Russell Banks, Angela Davis, Robert Gottlieb, Walter Mosley, Fran Lebowitz, Peter Sellars, Farah Griffin, Paula Giddings, David Carrasco, Sonia Sanchez, Richard Danielpour, Muhammad Ali)

Full review See: Timothy Greenfield-Sanders in conversation on Toni Morrison: The Pieces I Am, Lou Reed and Toni Morrison condensing language, filming direct-to-camera, and what's in a gaze

World premiere

Untouchable

The inside story of the rise and fall of Harvey Weinstein reveals how, over decades, he acquires and protects his power even as scandal threatens to engulf him. Former colleagues and accusers detail the method and consequences of his alleged abuse, hoping for justice and to inspire change.

(Country: US; Year: 2019; Director: Ursula Macfarlane)

World premiere

Words From A Bear

A visual journey into the mind and soul of Pulitzer Prize-winning author Navarro Scott Momaday, relating each written line to his unique Native American experience representing ancestry, place, and oral history.

(Year: 2019; Director: Jeffrey Palmer)

World premiere