LOVE MACHINA
Futurists Martine and Bina Rothblatt commission an advanced humanoid AI named Bina48 to transfer Bina’s consciousness from a human to a robot in an attempt to continue their once-in-a-galaxy love affair for the rest of time.
Director/Producer:
Peter Sillen
Producer:
Brendan Doyle
Festival Section:
US Documentary Competition
More Info:
Check out the Sundance website for more details, including screening info, by clicking on the film title above.
Filed under Documentary, Film, Film Festivals, Recommendations, Sundance
GAUCHO GAUCHO
A celebration of a community of Argentine cowboys and cowgirls, known as Gauchos, living beyond the boundaries of the modern world.
Directors/Producers:
Michael Dweck, Gregory Kershaw
Producers:
Cameron O’Reilly, Christos V Konstantakopoulos, Matthew Perniciaro
Festival Section:
US Documentary Competition
More Info:
Dweck and Kershaw return to Sundance following THE TRUFFLE HUNTERS and THE LAST RACE.
Check out the Sundance website for more details, including screening info, by clicking on the film title above.
Filed under Documentary, Film, Film Festivals, Recommendations, Sundance
FRIDA
An intimately raw and magical journey through the life, mind, and heart of iconic artist Frida Kahlo. Told through her own words for the very first time — drawn from her diary, revealing letters, essays, and print interviews — and brought vividly to life by lyrical animation inspired by her unforgettable artwork.
Director:
Carla Gutiérrez
Producers:
Katia Maguire, Sara Bernstein, Justin Wilkes, Loren Hammonds, Alexandra Johnes
Festival Section:
US Documentary Competition
More Info:
After editing previous Sundance titles RBG, WHEN TWO WORLDS COLLIDE, and CESAR’S LAST FAST, Gutiérrez makes her feature directorial debut.
Check out the Sundance website for more details, including screening info, by clicking on the film title above.
Filed under Documentary, Film, Film Festivals, Recommendations, Sundance
EVERY LITTLE THING
Amid the glamour of Hollywood, Los Angeles, a woman finds herself on a transformative journey as she nurtures wounded hummingbirds, unraveling a visually captivating and magical tale of love, fragility, healing, and the delicate beauty in tiny acts of greatness.
Director:
Sally Aitken
Producers:
Bettina Dalton, Oli Harbottle, Anna Godas
Festival Section:
US Documentary Competition
More Info:
Aitken returns to Sundance following 2021’s PLAYING WITH SHARKS.
Check out the Sundance website for more details, including screening info, by clicking on the film title above.
Filed under Documentary, Film, Film Festivals, Recommendations, Sundance
The following past Sundance Film Festival documentaries are scheduled for release this month:
>January 8
On TV: HBO & Streaming: MAX
GOING TO MARS
Sundance 2023
Director:
Joe Brewster, Michèle Stephenson
About:
Intimate vérité, archival footage, and visually innovative treatments of poetry take us on a journey through the dreamscape of legendary poet Nikki Giovanni as she reflects on her life and legacy.
>January 8
On TV: Independent Lens
BEYOND UTOPIA
Sundance 2023
Director:
Madeleine Gavin
About:
Hidden camera footage augments this perilous, high-stakes journey as we embed with families attempting to escape oppression, ultimate revealing a world most of us have never seen.
>January 9
On DVD/VOD
PIANOFORTE
Sundance 2023
Director:
Jakub Piątek
About:
Young pianists take part in the legendary International Chopin Piano Competition. A unique chance of a lifetime, portrayed from backstage and set to Chopin’s music.
>January 9
On VOD
THE DISAPPEARANCE OF SHERE HITE
Sundance 2023
Director:
Nicole Newnham
About:
Shere Hite’s 1976 bestselling book, The Hite Report, liberated the female orgasm by revealing the most private experiences of thousands of anonymous survey respondents. Her findings rocked the American establishment and presaged current conversations about gender, sexuality, and bodily autonomy. So how did Shere Hite disappear?
>January 12
In Theatres: Anthology Film Archives
LAST THINGS
Sundance 2023
Director:
Deborah Stratman
About:
Evolution and extinction from the point of view of rocks. A humid take on minerals, where sci-fi meets sci-fact. The geo-biosphere is a place of evolutionary possibility, where humans disappear but life endures.
>January 18
Streaming: Hulu
INVISIBLE BEAUTY
Sundance 2023
Director:
Bethann Hardison, Frédéric Tcheng
About:
Fashion revolutionary Bethann Hardison looks back on her journey as a pioneering Black model, modeling agent, and activist, shining a light on an untold chapter in the fight for racial diversity.
>January 23
On DVD/VOD
SMOKE SAUNA SISTERHOOD
Sundance 2023
Director:
Anna Hints
About:
In the darkness of a smoke sauna, women share their innermost secrets and intimate experiences, washing off the shame trapped in their bodies and regaining their strength through a sense of communion.
>January 24
On DVD
PLAN C
Sundance 2023
Director:
Tracy Droz Tragos
About:
A hidden grassroots organization doggedly fights to expand access to abortion pills across the United States keeping hope alive during a global pandemic and the fall of Roe v Wade.
>January 29
Streaming: Netflix
THE GREATEST NIGHT IN POP
Sundance 2024
Director:
Bao Nguyen
About:
In 1985, 46 music icons, including Lionel Richie, Michael Jackson, Bruce Springsteen, Cyndi Lauper, Diana Ross, and Stevie Wonder, came together for the most star-studded recording session in history. This is the untold story of the legendary global pop song “We Are the World” — which very nearly didn’t happen.
>January 30
On DVD
FANTASTIC MACHINE
Sundance 2023
Director:
Axel Danielson, Maximilien Van Aertryck
About:
From the first camera to 45 billion cameras worldwide today, the visual sociologist filmmakers widen their lens to expose both humanity’s unique obsession with the camera’s image and the social consequences that lay ahead.
Filed under Documentary, Film, Film Festivals, Recommendations, Releases, Sundance
DAUGHTERS
Four young girls prepare for a special Daddy Daughter Dance with their incarcerated fathers, as part of a unique fatherhood program in a Washington DC jail.
Directors:
Angela Patton, Natalie Rae
Producers:
Natalie Rae, Lisa Mazzotta, Justin Benoliel, Mindy Goldberg, Sam Bisbee, Kathryn Everett, Laura Choi Raycroft, James Cunningham
Festival Section:
US Documentary Competition
More Info:
Check out the Sundance website for more details, including screening info, by clicking on the film title above.
Filed under Documentary, Film, Film Festivals, Recommendations, Sundance
AS WE SPEAK
Bronx rap artist Kemba explores the growing weaponization of rap lyrics in the United States criminal justice system and abroad — revealing how law enforcement has quietly used artistic creation as evidence in criminal cases for decades.
Director/Producer:
JM Harper
Producers:
Sam Widdoes, Peter Cambor, Sam Bisbee
Festival Section:
US Documentary Competition
More Info:
Harper makes his feature directorial debut; he previously edited 2022 Sundance title JEEN-YUHS: A KANYE TRILOGY, among other projects.
Check out the Sundance website for more details, including screening info, by clicking on the film title above.
Filed under Documentary, Film, Film Festivals, Recommendations, Sundance
The 40th Edition of the Sundance Film Festival will run January 19-28, in-person in Utah, with a selection of titles also available online. The announced lineup consists of 82 features, 8 episodic projects, 1 participatory experience, 8 retrospective features, and 53 shorts.
As a Senior Programmer for the Festival, I’m excited to introduce these films to audiences next month. Leading up to opening day, I’ll be highlighting each of our feature and long-form episodic docs in this space with a simple pointer post. Sundance Don’t Miss Docs begins this coming Tuesday.
Filed under Documentary, Film, Film Festivals, Recommendations, Sundance
The lineup has been announced for the 2024 Sundance Film Festival, taking place in-person in Utah, as well as online, January 18-28.
Today’s announcement reveals 91 projects in the US and World Cinema Documentary and Dramatic Competitions, NEXT, Premieres, Midnight, Episodic, Spotlight, Family Matinee, Special Screenings, and New Frontier sections, and may be found here. Shorts and Collection titles will be revealed in an upcoming announcement.
Filed under Documentary, Film, Film Festivals, Overviews, Recommendations, Sundance
The following past Sundance Film Festival documentaries are scheduled for release this month:
>December 1
In Theatres
PIANOFORTE
Sundance 2023
Director:
Jakub Piątek
About:
Young pianists take part in the legendary International Chopin Piano Competition. A unique chance of a lifetime, portrayed from backstage and set to Chopin’s music.
>December 1
In Theatres
JOONAM
Sundance 2023
Director:
Sierra Urich
About:
Spurred by a provocative family memory and a lifetime of separation from the country her mother left behind, a young filmmaker delves into her mother and grandmother’s complicated pasts and her own fractured Iranian identity.
>December 19
On DVD
INVISIBLE BEAUTY
Sundance 2023
Director:
Bethann Hardison, Frédéric Tcheng
About:
Fashion revolutionary Bethann Hardison looks back on her journey as a pioneering Black model, modeling agent, and activist, shining a light on an untold chapter in the fight for racial diversity.
>December 21
Streaming: Paramount+
WILLIE NELSON & FAMILY
Sundance 2023
Director:
Thom Zimny, Oren Moverman
About:
The first authorized work exploring the extraordinary life of Willie Nelson traverses the personal and career ups, downs, and in-betweens of one of the world’s most beloved musicians, by turns spiritual, dramatic, and playful.
>December 31
Re-released on DVD
THE AMBASSADOR
Sundance 2012
Director:
Mads Brügger
About:
A provocative look at high level international governmental corruption.
Filed under Documentary, Film, Film Festivals, Recommendations, Releases, Sundance
what (not) to doc 