Sundance announced its 2020 slew of films for the festival that kicks off in Park City on January 23rd. This writer is excited to start caring about a whole slew of new movies as the festival comes in at the thick of awards season when there’s almost nothing left to say about the previous year's movies.
Julianne Moore as Gloria Steinem in The Glorias
Sundance provided some statistics on their selection this year...
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118 feature-length films representing 27 countries and 44 first-time feature filmmakers.
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Of the 65 directors in all four competition categories, comprising 56 films, 46% are women, 38% are people of color, and 12% are LGBTQ+.
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44%, or 52, of all films announced were directed by one or more women; 34%, or 40, were directed by one or more filmmaker of color; 15% or 18 by one or more people who are LGBTQ+.
From this vast list I’ve chosen five films I’m excited about on first glance. Just because I liked the previous film from the filmmaker or have a long time affinity to an actor’s work. Last year I put Clemency at the top of my list because of Alfre Woodard yet didn’t add The Farewell or The Last Black Man in San Francisco until I heard the buzz on the ground in Park City. All three are among my favorites of the year, so take this list with a grain of salt.
Kajillionaire
Director and screenwriter: Miranda July
Cast: Evan Rachel Wood, Gina Rodriguez, Richard Jenkins, Debra Winger.
Low-stakes grifters, Old Dolio and her parents invite a chipper young woman into their insular clan, only to have their entire world turned upside down.
Reason to be excited: I have a long running love affair with Debra Winger's talent.
The Last Thing He Wanted
Director: Dee Rees, Screenwriters: Marco Vallalobos, Dee Rees.
Cast: Anne Hathaway, Ben Affleck, Willem Dafoe, Rosie Perez.
A veteran D.C. journalist loses the thread of her own narrative when a guilt-propelled errand for her father thrusts her from byline to unwitting subject in the very story she’s trying to break. Adapted from the Joan Didion novel of the same title.
Reason to be excited: Rees following up Mudbound (2018) with a Joan Didion adaptation.
Zola
Director: Janicza Bravo, Screenwriters: Janicza Bravo, Jeremy O. Harris
Cast: Taylour Paige, Riley Keough, Nicholas Braun, Colman Domingo.
2015: @zolarmoon tweets “wanna hear a story about why me & this bitch here fell out???????? It's kind of long but full of suspense.” Two girls bond over their “hoeism” and become fast friends. What's supposed to be a trip from Detroit to Florida turns into a weekend from hell.
Reason to be excited: Harris is the hottest current American playwright (Slave Play, Daddy) making his screenwriting debut. A film based on a twitter thread? Yes! Keough working again in American Honey milieu? double yes. My fave from If Beale Street Could Talk Domingo? Yes, yes, yes.
Shirley
Director: Josephine Decker, Screenwriter: Sarah Gubbins
Cast: Elisabeth Moss, Michael Stuhlbarg, Odessa Young, Logan Lerman.
A young couple moves in with the famed author, Shirley Jackson, and her Bennington College professor husband, Stanley Hyman, in the hope of starting a new life but instead find themselves fodder for a psycho-drama that inspires Shirley's next novel.
Reason to be excited:Decker's last film Madeline's Madeline (2018) showed a director at the top of their talent and this cast and premise sound promising.
The Nest
Director and screenwriter: Sean Durkin
Cast: Jude Law, Carrie Coon, Charlie Shotwell, Oona Roche.
Charismatic entrepreneur, Rory, relocates his family to England with dreams of profiting from booming 1980’s London. But as his wife, Allison, struggles to adapt, and the promise of a lucrative new beginning starts to unravel, the couple have to face the unwelcome truths lying beneath the surface of their marriage.
Reason to be excited: Where has Durkin been since Martha Marcy May Marlene (2011)? We know he has directed TV but hoping this is a strong follow up to that singular film.
For the full list head to the festival's website.
Other titles I'm curious about include Carey Mulligan in Promising Young Woman, Steven Yeun in Minari and Nicole Beharie in Miss Juneteenth. Mostly I’m excited to be surprised by someone whose name and work I don’t know yet.