Sundance announces feature titles

Festival returns with hybrid event

by Amber Wilkinson

William Oldroyd's Eileen
William Oldroyd's Eileen Photo: Courtesy of Sundance Institute
Sundance Film Festival has announced a line-up of 99 features as it returns as a hybrid event next year.

After last year's intended hybrid moved online, this week mark the first in person edition since 2020.

The festival runs from January 19 to 29 and all the competition films will be available online during the second half of the festival.

Festival founder Robert Redford said: "Maintaining an essential place for artists to express themselves, take risks, and for visionary stories to endure and entertain is distinctly Sundance,” said Robert Redford, Sundance

“The Festival continues to foster these values and connections through independent storytelling. We are honored to share the compelling selection of work at this year’s Festival from distinct perspectives and unique voices.”

“The program for this year’s Festival reiterates the relevancy of trailblazing work serving as an irreplaceable source for original stories that resonate and fuel creativity and dialogue,” said Kim Yutani, Sundance Film Festival Director of Programming. “In so many ways this year’s slate reflects the voices of communities around the world who are speaking out with urgency and finally being heard. Across our program, impactful storytelling by fearless artists continues to provide space for the community to come together to be entertained, challenged, and inspired."

UK interest in the World Dramatic competition this year lies with Girl, directed by Adura Onashile and staying French up and comer Déborah Lukumuena. Also vying for the awards is Charlotte Regan's Scrapper, starring Harris Dickinson.

In the World Documentary section, the UK's Is There Anybody Out There? by Ella Glendinning will compete.

Nida Manzoor's Polite Society will feature in the Midnight section.

There's UK talent in the Premieres section too, as Lady Macbeth director William Oldroyd brings Eileen, starring Thomasin McKenzie and Anne Hathaway. UK produced films in the stand also include Cynthia Erivo refugee drama and freediver doc The Deepest Breath, directed by Laura McGann and co-produced in Ireland. Also screening is Raine Allen-Miller's Rye Laine, which charts an encounter between two twentysomethings in London in the wake of bad break-ups.

Read the full list of Sundance feature films by section.

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