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Sundance Film Festival Unveils 2017 Premieres, Midnight, Spotlight Sections

From a documentary about the 1995 Oklahoma City bombing to a thriller in which Texas tries to secede from the United States, the 2017 Sundance Film Festival gets more eclectic as director John Cooper and programming head Trevor Groth announce the lineups for the upcoming edition’s Premieres, Documentary Premieres, Spotlight, Midnight, and Kids sections on Monday. New films range from a look at the early days of novelist J.D. Salinger to a pair of future-set, sci-fi love stories, in a program that boasts many returning filmmakers.

For example, three years after debuting “The One I Love” in Premieres, director Charlie McDowell will unveil “The Discovery,” starring Jason Segel, Rooney Mara, and Sundance chief Robert Redford himself. Actual discoveries may seem fewer and farther between these days (many observed how few first-timers there were among the films selected for competition last week), though Cooper and Groth insist that quality is up overall in the 4,068 films they screened this year.

In fact, while there are more people making movies now than ever, it’s increasingly difficult for directors submitting blind to catch the Sundance programmers by surprise these days. “We’re seeing more and more of a trajectory of filmmakers coming of age through their short films, up through a small feature, even through webisodes,” explained Cooper, whose team proactively seeks sparks of talent and tracks them, as potential voices develop feature projects that could prove Sundance-worthy.

So, while Premieres predictably makes room for new films from the likes of Miguel Arteta (“Beatriz at Dinner”), Michael Almereyda (“Marjorie Prime”), and Ry Russo-Young (“Before I Fall”), the programmers also found spots for newcomer Alethea Jones’ feature debut, “Fun Mom Dinner,” starring Toni Collette and Molly Shannon; and Oscar-winning short helmer Shawn Christensen’s “Sidney Hall,” featuring Sundance darlings Logan Lerman and Elle Fanning.

The Premieres section boosts Sundance’s star factor considerably, including German artist Julian Rosefeldt’s “Manifesto,” a virtual one-woman show in which Cate Blanchett reads various artists’ statements (a multi-screen version of the project can be seen at Park Avenue Armory, beginning this week in New York).

Returning Sundance directors with glitzy new projects include Luca Guadagnino, whose gay-themed “Call Me by Your Name” pairs Armie Hammer with “Homeland’s” Timothée Chalamet; “Pariah” helmer Dee Rees, whose adaptation of “Mudbound” features Mary J. Blige; Maya Forbes (“Infinitely Polar Bear”), whose true-story con-man comedy “The Polka King” stars Jack Black; and “Mother of George’s” Andrew Dosunmu, directing Michelle Pfeiffer and Kiefer Sutherland in “Where Is Kyra?” For the second year in a row, the festival will close with a film by Jim Strouse — in this case, “The Incredible Jessica James,” featuring former “The Daily Show” correspondent Jessica Williams (who also appeared in Strouse’s Sundance-competing “People Places Things”).

Though behind-the-camera diversity is down somewhat in competition, five of the Premieres directors are women, while the Documentary Premieres lineup boasts an additional four, including fresh work from Barbara Kopple and Lucy Walker.

“We have a lot of women directors in the midnight lineup, including Marianna Palka’s film ‘Bitch,’ which is a really smart horror comedy, and [the omnibus project] ‘XX,’ in which four women directors made shorts that don’t just feel like any other genre film, which makes for a very different viewing experience,” said Groth. The same could be said for French director Julia Ducournau’s “Raw,” a cannibalism-themed shocker that premiered at Cannes and reportedly caused some viewers to pass out in midnight screenings at Toronto.

Of course, inclusivity matters not only on the creation side, but also in terms of to whom the films appeal, and Groth senses a wider range in the potential target demographic for this year’s program. “If you look back at our competition lineup historically, it skewed more toward younger protagonists. This year, we have that, but also middle-aged and older protagonists — so we’re kind of expanding the notion of who these stories are for, and who they’re about,” he said.

One such example is Mark Pellington’s “The Last Word” — the “Penelope” director’s first film in a decade, which features a cross-generational friendship between characters played by Amanda Seyfried and Shirley MacLaine.

The festival itself runs from Jan. 19 to Jan. 29.

Source: Hollywood Reporter