PARK CITY, Utah — When the 36th annual edition of the Sundance Film Festival wrapped Sunday after 11 days of snow and cinema, it had ushered in an avalanche of new voices.
The festival, a wintery bastion of independent film held in the ski town of Park City, has worked harder than most similar events to showcase and develop fresh talent from a wide spectrum of backgrounds. And this year, especially, the results were often enthralling.
Here are seven films you won’t want to miss.
“Minari”: Lee Isaac Chung’s film, the winner of both the festival’s dramatic competition and the audience award, was the standout of Sundance. An autobiographical tale, based on Chung’s upbringing, about a family of Korean immigrants (Steven Yeun and Yeri Han play the parents) who move to rural Arkansas.
“Boys State”: Jesse Moss and Amanda McBaine’s film, winner of the festival’s documentary competition, is a comic, frightful depiction of American politics in microcosm. The film, which reportedly set a record acquisition price for a doc at Sundance in its $12 million sale to A24 and Apple, is about a Texas leadership conference put on by the American Legion where some 1,000 17-year-old boys from around the country divide into rival parties and create a mock government.
“Never Rarely Sometimes Always”: Eliza Hittman’s third feature is so artfully and delicately calibrated that it gathers a devastating force. A 17-year-old Pennsylvania young woman (Sidney Flanigan) is pregnant. Without local support, she and her cousin Skylar (Talia Ryder) travel to New York for an abortion.
“The Truffle Hunters”: If a film festival is like uncovering rare delicacies, Gregory Kershaw and Michael Dweck’s documentary about the old Italian men who, with their faithful canine, gather truffles was the ultimate Sundance movie. Produced by Luca Guadagnino (“Call Me By Your Name”), the film chronicles the pursuit of the white Alba truffle in the forests of Northern Italy.
“Palm Springs”: Max Barbokow’s “Groundhog Day”-esque twist on the romantic comedy, starring Andy Samberg and Cristin Milioti, just barely set a Sundance record with its $17,500,000.69 purchase by Neon and Hulu. The Sundance entry with the most obvious broad appeal, “Palm Springs” was also the festival’s most unabashedly fun romp.
“The Dissident”: A documentary and a real-life thriller, Bryan Fogel’s investigation into the Saudi assassination of Washington Post columnist Jamal Khashoggi is an immaculately assembled and massively damning non-fiction work.
“Shirley”: Josephine Decker’s psychological drama, starring Elisabeth Moss as Shirley Jackson, is far more caustic and compelling than anything that would typically be categorized as a “biopic.” Moss’ fury-filled performance is a standout. But the film, executive produced by Martin Scorsese, is foremost further proof of Decker’s commanding talent.
