Jenny Slate film among competitors at Sundance Fest

LOS ANGELES — Jenny Slate reunites with her Obvious Child director in the ’90s-set Landline, Sam Elliott plays a stoner Western film icon in The Hero, Aubrey Plaza gets serious in Ingrid Goes West and Jennifer Aniston teams up with the future Han Solo, Alden Ehrenreich, in the Gulf War drama The Yellow Birds in some of the films in competition at the 2017 Sundance Film Festival.

The Sundance Institute on Wednesday unveiled its first batch of films set to premiere at the annual Park City, Utah-based festival founded by Robert Redford, including a new thematic thread of environmentally focused programming.

There were 66 narrative and documentary films selected for the U.S. Competition, the World Competition and NEXT section, which highlights works from new directors.

At the 2017 festival, Lily Collins stars in the anorexia drama To the Bone from Buffy the Vampire Slayer writer Marti Noxon, Jason Schwartzman reteams with his Listen Up Philip director Alex Ross Perry in Golden Exits, and Moonlight breakout Trevante Rhodes stars alongside Alfre Woodard in Burning Sands, about violent fraternity hazing. There’s also a new film from Pete’s Dragon director David Lowery, A Ghost Story, which brings him back together with his Ain’t Them Bodies Saints stars Rooney Mara and Casey Affleck.

“Eclectic” is the only word to describe the batch for festival director John Cooper, who with his team selects films for their originality and who the stories are about.

“What we saw in contrast to the polarizing state we’re in in our country is the human side, the whole story of who we are coming through in many, many stories that will be playing at Sundance this year,” Cooper said. .

The 2017 Sundance Film Festival runs from Jan. 19 through Jan. 29. More films will be announced in the coming days.