In addition to the films, keep an eye out for special virtual presentations with Almodóvar, Oscar contender Riz Ahmed, and recent Golden Globe winner Andra Day. And don t sleep on getting a ticket to one of the festival’s best additions in recent years, the Knight Heroes talk. This year’s series focuses on four accomplished female filmmakers in conversation: Radha Blank, Gina Prince-Bythewood, Adele Romanski, and Amy Seimetz.
But, of course, this is a
film festival, after all. So here are four movies worth checking out either virtually or in-person.
Apples
Director Christos Nikou proved prophetic with his enigmatic and intriguing feature debut,
Arguably the closest representation of life under the pandemic since the terrifyingly perceptive Contagion just premiered at the Sundance Film Festival and it was made before most of us even know what COVID-19 was.
10 Sundance films that tackled the pandemic
(Even if they didnât mean to)
by Angie Han
(Even if they didnât mean to)
by Angie Han
On the same day that the Sundance Film Festival kicked off last year, Wuhan, China, went into lockdown â not that many festival goers seemed to take much note of it at the time. A year later, however, it s become impossible to miss.
The coronavirus seemed to be everywhere I looked during Sundance 2021, starting with the experience itself â virtual, of course, in deference to the ongoing crisis. It was also all over the movies themselves, not only in the subject matter but in the way they were shot or the overall vibe they evoked. Sometimes, the virus even seemed to make its way into films that couldn t possibly have been about the virus to begin with.
Courtesy of Sundance Institute
Early in 2020, when we still had hope that the spread of Covid-19 would be suppressed in a few weeks or months and we’d be back to our lives in short order, film critics joked about what the 2021 Sundance Film Festival selection would be like. Dramas about parents trapped at home with their kids for a few weeks and having a personal revelation. Quirky romances between quarantined roommates. Zoom-mediated comedies. That sort of thing.
Back then, nobody dared think the festival itself would be held online it was too hard to imagine. But by fall the (wise) decision was made to make most of Sundance 2021 a virtual affair, with a little bit of satellite programming at small theaters and drive-ins around the country. I wondered, when I heard that announcement, how much “quarancinema” could really make its way into the lineup or address the situation, given the length of time it takes to write, shoot, and create a film.
The 15 Best Films We Saw at Sundance
Eliott Grover, provided by
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The 2020 Sundance Film Festival was one of the last major events of its kind –– or any kind –– to take place before the world changed forever. With little time to prepare a viable pivot, other festivals like SXSW and Cannes were forced to cancel. As the pandemic raged through the summer and into the fall, Sundance organizers understood that they would have to radically reimagine their event in order to save it.
The 2021 festival, which concluded yesterday, was entirely virtual. Some other festivals, fearful that sponsors and distributors could shy away from truncated or remote programs, are reluctant to abandon in-person expositions. Sundance, however, leaned in. Under the leadership of first-year director Tabitha Jackson, the programming team spent months designing a proprietary streaming platform and building a digital world to preserve the energy of a festival environment.