Anna Boden and Ryan Fleck remember the feeling of being the new kids at the Sundance Film Festival. In 2004, they’d come to Park City, Utah, armed with a short film “Gowanus, Brooklyn,” some homemade promotional postcards and dreams of breaking through. Their short not only won a prize that year but also enough support to make the feature version, “Half Nelson,” which would later earn Ryan Gosling his first Oscar nomination.
“I remember being like, oh my God, this festival has been around 20 years, it’s such an old festival,” Boden said in a recent interview with The Associated Press. “Now it’s 20 years later and we’re the old people.”
Of course, “old” is relative when it comes to a discovery festival like Sundance, where directors fresh out of film school can get a shot at a breakthrough. Remember, Kevin Smith was just 23 when he brough “Clerks” to Park City. Like many of their contemporaries that started at Sundance — including Steven Soderbergh, who is also coming with a new film, “Presence” — Boden and Fleck have gone on to bigger projects, including “Captain Marvel.”
The first day also boasts the world premieres of several high-profile documentaries, including Jesse Moss and Amanda McBaine’s “Girls State,” Yance Ford’s “Power” and “Frida,” directed by Emmy-nominated editor Carla Gutiérrez, and playing in the U.S. documentary competition.
As an immigrant and a former art student, Gutiérrez has long admired Frida Kahlo. In “Frida,” she uses Kahlo’s words from her diary, letters and essays to let the artist tell her own story.
“Uncovering her own words and her own voice, I think what we’re presenting is a new way of getting into her world and in her mind and her heart and really understanding the art in a more intimate, raw way,” Gutiérrez said.
Other anticipated documentaries playing across various sections include “Daughters,” about four young girls reuniting with their incarcerated fathers at a dance, “Gaucho Gaucho,” from “The Truffle Hunters” filmmakers, “Sue Bird: In the Clutch,” “DEVO,” “Super/Man: The Christopher Reeve Story,” “Seeking Mavis Beacon,” and “The Greatest Night in Pop,” featuring never-before-seen footage about the making of “We Are The World.” The programmers are also predicting that “Will & Harper,” about a road trip Will Ferrell takes with his friend of 30 years who has come out as a trans woman, will be a big crowd pleaser.
As always, an army of celebrities are expected to descend on Park City, including Kristen Stewart, with two buzzy films (“Love Me” and “Love Lies Bleeding”), Saoirse Ronan, Kieran Culkin, Sebastian Stan, Glen Powell, Woody Harrelson, Steven Yeun, Lucy Liu, Danielle Deadwyler, Aubrey Plaza, Melissa Barrera and Laura Linney.
Chiwetel Ejiofor is also bringing his sophomore feature, “Rob Peace,” a biographical drama about the tragically short life of a brilliant kid from East Orange, New Jersey, which he wrote, directed and co-stars in alongside Jay Will, Mary J. Blige and Camila Cabello.
“I’ve been fortunate to be there many times as an actor and a director as well,” Ejiofor said. “It’s a dream to take this film there as well. It’s an American story, it’s an independent film and it wants to sit in that world.”
Sundance programmers culled through 17,435 submissions to arrive at the 83 feature films playing across the 10 days, featuring a diverse mix of behind-the-camera talent. There are new episodic projects from Debra Granik and Richard Linklater, as well as 31 feature debuts.
Gutiérrez is one of those first-time directors, as is Titus Kaphar, an acclaimed contemporary artist and MacArthur Fellow who is making his narrative debut with the competition title “Exhibiting Forgiveness.” Featuring André Holland and Aunjanue Ellis-Taylor, Kaphar uses his own paintings to tell this very personal story of an artist who is visited by his estranged father (John Earl Jelks). He wanted to find a way to talk to his children about his life experience and examine generational trauma in a new medium, and he’s honored to have the festival’s support.
