Author Archives: basiltsiokos

GIRLS STATE
Teenage girls from wildly different backgrounds across Missouri navigate a week-long immersive experiment in American democracy, build a government from the ground up, and reimagine what it means to govern.

Directors/Producers:
Amanda McBaine, Jesse Moss

Festival Section:
Premieres

More Info:
McBaine and Moss were most recently at Sundance with this film’s companion project, BOYS STATE, and before that with THE OVERNIGHTERS. Moss has a second feature at this year’s Festival, WAR GAME, in the Special Screenings section.

Check out the Sundance website for more details, including screening info, by clicking on the film title above.

DEVO
Born in response to the Kent State massacre, new wave band Devo took their concept of “de-evolution” from cult following to near–rock star status with groundbreaking 1980 hit “Whip It” while preaching an urgent social commentary.

Director:
Chris Smith

Producers:
Chris Holmes, Anita Greenspan, Danny Gabai

Festival Section:
Premieres

Country of Origin:
UK/US

More Info:
Smith has previously screened documentaries AMERICAN MOVIE, HOME MOVIE, and THE YES MEN, as well as fiction features AMERICAN JOB and THE POOL, at Sundance.

Check out the Sundance website for more details, including screening info, by clicking on the film title above.

AND SO IT BEGINS
Amidst the traditional pomp and circumstance of Filipino elections, a quirky people’s movement rises to defend the nation against deepening threats to truth and democracy. In a collective act of joy as a form of resistance, hope flickers against the backdrop of increasing autocracy.

Director/Producer:
Ramona S Diaz

Festival Section:
Premieres

Country of Origin:
US/Philippines

More Info:
Diaz returns to the Festival for the fourth time, following IMELDA, MOTHERLAND, and A THOUSAND CUTS.

Check out the Sundance website for more details, including screening info, by clicking on the film title above.

SEEKING MAVIS BEACON
Launched in the late ’80s, educational software Mavis Beacon Teaches Typing taught millions globally, but the program’s Haitian-born cover model vanished decades ago. Two DIY investigators search for the unsung cultural icon, while questioning notions of digital security, AI, and Black representation in the digital realm.

Director:
Jazmin Renée Jones

Producer:
Guetty Felin

Festival Section:
NEXT

More Info:
Check out the Sundance website for more details, including screening info, by clicking on the film title above.

REALM OF SATAN
An experiential portrait depicting Satanists in both the everyday and in the extraordinary as they fight to preserve their lifestyle: magic, mystery, and misanthropy.

Director:
Scott Cummings

Producers:
Caitlin Mae Burke, Pacho Velez, Molly Gandour

Festival Section:
NEXT

More Info:
Check out the Sundance website for more details, including screening info, by clicking on the film title above.

DESIRE LINES
Past and present collide when an Iranian American trans man time-travels through an LGBTQ+ archive on a dizzying and erotic quest to unravel his own sexual desires.

Director/Producer:
Jules Rosskam

Producers:
André Pérez, Amy E Powell, Brittani Ward

Festival Section:
NEXT

More Info:
Check out the Sundance website for more details, including screening info, by clicking on the film title above.

SOUNDTRACK TO A COUP D’ETAT
In 1960, United Nations: the Global South ignites a political earthquake, musicians Abbey Lincoln and Max Roach crash the Security Council, Nikita Khrushchev bangs his shoe denouncing America’s color bar, while the US dispatches jazz ambassador Louis Armstrong to the Congo to deflect attention from its first African post-colonial coup.

Director:
Johan Grimonprez

Producers:
Daan Milius, Rémi Grellety

Country of Origin:
Belgium/France/Netherlands

Festival Section:
World Cinema Documentary Competition

More Info:
Grimonprez makes his return to Sundance following DOUBLE TAKE.

Check out the Sundance website for more details, including screening info, by clicking on the film title above.

NOCTURNES
In the dense forests of the Eastern Himalayas, moths are whispering something to us. In the dark of night, two curious observers shine a light on this secret universe.

Director/Producer:
Anirban Dutta

Director:
Anupama Srinivasan

Country of Origin:
India

Festival Section:
World Cinema Documentary Competition

More Info:
Check out the Sundance website for more details, including screening info, by clicking on the film title above.

A NEW KIND OF WILDERNESS
In a forest in Norway, a family lives an isolated lifestyle in an attempt to be wild and free, but a tragic event changes everything, and they are forced to adjust to modern society.

Director:
Silje Evensmo Jacobsen

Producer:
Mari Bakke Riise

Country of Origin:
Norway

Festival Section:
World Cinema Documentary Competition

More Info:
Check out the Sundance website for more details, including screening info, by clicking on the film title above.

NEVER LOOK AWAY
New Zealand-born groundbreaking CNN camerawoman Margaret Moth risks it all to show the reality of war from inside the conflict, staring down danger and confronting those who perpetuate it.

Director/Producer:
Lucy Lawless

Producers:
Matthew Metcalfe, Tom Blackwell

Country of Origin:
New Zealand

Festival Section:
World Cinema Documentary Competition

More Info:
Check out the Sundance website for more details, including screening info, by clicking on the film title above.