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PARK CITY — This week marks the opening of the 2016 Sundance Film Festival.
Each year, talented people from around the world converge upon Park City to celebrate and promote tiny, but often extraordinary, films the average movie fan will never hear about. In many cases, these Sundance titles find a reasonable level of distribution — possibly as an HBO documentary or listed among the indie offerings throughout the iTunes and Netflix libraries. But if you're not on the lookout, Sundance gems can get lost in a sea of usually-terrible, straight-to-DVD or VOD offerings.
To do my small part in bringing some of these movies to light, I've come up with a list of eight of the most talked about projects showing throughout the festival. Keep in mind I have yet to see the included titles, but as fellow-KSL.com movie guy John Clyde and I do, we'll update you with our reviews here as we see them.
'The Birth of a Nation'
"The Birth of a Nation" was the first film on the Sundance program to catch my eye, not because of the project itself, but because the classic 1915 film with the same name is one of the most impressive, though mind-blowingly racist, films I've ever seen. I imagine it's no coincidence that this 2016 Sundance entry, set in the antebellum South and following the true story of literate slave, Nat Turner, shares the same name. The film stars Armie Hammer, Nate Parker and Gabrielle Union.
'Manchester by the Sea'
The synopsis of this movie sounds a bit sleepy — a handyman in Boston is asked to become the guardian of his dead brother's teenage son. I mean, there could be something there, but that description hardly jumps off a page full of Festival contenders.
What does jump off the page, however, is the creative team behind this project. Writer and director Kenneth Lonergan is responsible for the "Gangs of New York" screenplay, both Casey Affleck and Michelle Williams are consistently solid with demanding performances, and Matt Damon is listed as one of the many credited producers. Is this the dream team of independent filmmaking? Possibly. At the very least it's a team to take notice of.
'Christine'
Word on the street is Rebecca Hall's performance as Christine Chubbuck, a news reporter most famous for taking her own life on live television in 1974, will be one of the most talked about aspects of this year's festival. "Christine" is one of two Sundance films focusing on Chubbuck's tragic story. In the documentary section, "Kate Plays Christine" will follow actress Kate Lyn Sheil's journey to portray the reporter in a separate production.
'Snowtime!'
"Snowtime!" will be showing up in the new Sundance Kids category and tells the story of a group of friends embarking on an epic snowball fight. Based on the Andr Melanon film, "La Guerre des Tuques," "Snowtime!" hopes to appeal to a very young audience, channeling material that would feel at home on the Nick Jr. or Disney Junior channels. It will be interesting to see how the Sundance Kids category evolves over the next five to 10 years, and "Snowtime!" will probably be a project that influences that conversation. As it stands, this might be one to watch with the 3-6 crowd.
'Newtown'
In the U.S. Documentary Competition, director Kim A. Snyder takes an intimate look inside the homes of those who lost children during the Sandy Hook Elementary School shooting. The film explores the aftermath of that terrible day and asks why nothing has been done to prevent similar tragedies from happening again. According to the synopsis, the filmmakers concede there are no easy answers relating to why what happened actually happened, or what can be done to prevent another similar event from happening again, so it will be interesting to see how the personal nature of this project shapes the direction of the film's message.
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This movie originally made the cut for our list because of its perfect title. Then we saw the promotional photo of Viggo Mortensen's red suit, and we almost changed this article to read "Eight reasons we all need to see 'Captain Fantastic.'" The problem of course is we haven't actually seen this movie yet, and we've been led astray by some crafty wardrobe decisions in the past. So, we'll keep this tale of a father and his six young kids on our radar and report back as to whether this movie lives up to its name as soon as we possibly can.
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Premiering at this year's festival is director Whit Stillman's take on Jane Austen's unpublished novella, "Lady Susan." The film stars Kate Beckinsale and Stephen Fry, and follows the story of a woman trying to outlast some local gossip by taking up residence with her in-laws. In classic Austen style, there are courtships and suitors and miscommunications taking place on the estate, but more importantly, the synopsis talks about "bon mots and witty dialogue." Now true, I believe bon mots and witty dialogues are pretty much the same thing, but what does that matter when the synopsis finds a way to include the criminally-underused term "bon mots."
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John Krasinski fans might be interested to hear about the actor's second feature-length attempt in the director's chair. While "Brief Interviews with Hideous Men," his first go, was largely dismissed by critics, he's since tackled a few TV episodes and is now back at Sundance with a cast that includes Mary Elizabeth Winstead, Anna Kendrick, Shallot Copley and of course, one John Krasinski. Like "Manchester by the Sea," the synopsis about a man returning to his small hometown sounds pretty generic, but the creative team involved has us interested once again.
So there you have it, eight Sundance films that might just be amazing. Of course we missed a few titles worth consideration, and if you know of any, let us know in the comments. Otherwise, keep an eye out for our Sundance coverage over the coming weeks and here's hoping 2016 in Park City is remembered as one of the greats.
