Cinema Styles at the 2023 Sundance Film Festival
(Editor’s Note: This is the first of a two-part series on the Sundance Film Festival)
For the first time since January 2020, the Sundance Film Festival was held in-person in Park City, Utah from January 19 to January 29. The festival had a hybrid format this year, with almost all of the films available for viewing online shortly after their premieres. The Sundance Film Festival has always been an incredible platform for independent cinema and this year was no different. This year’s festival included 111 feature-length films and 64 short films, all from a pool of nearly 16,000 submissions. The Sundance team did a phenomenal job carefully selecting an assortment of films that reflect the diverse perspectives in the world today.
Robert Redford, Sundance Institute Founder and President, said “maintaining an essential place for artists to express themselves, take risks, and for visionary stories to endure and entertain is distinctly Sundance.” Joana Vicente, Sundance Institute CEO, said “these stories are needed to provoke discussion, share diverse viewpoints, and challenge us.” Kim Yutani, Sundance Film Festival Director of Programming, said “impactful storytelling by fearless artists continues to provide space for the community to come together to be entertained, challenged, and inspired.”
Sundance always has an excellent array of documentaries on their film slate. In fact, all five nominees for Best Documentary at this year’s Academy Awards all premiered at the 2022 Sundance Film Festival. This year was another strong year for documentary films.
The U.S. Documentary Competition jury consisted of W. Kamau Bell, Ramona Diaz, and Carla Gutierrez, and they awarded the Grand Jury Prize to Going to Mars: The Nikki Giovanni Project, directed by Joe Brewster and Michèle Stephenson. 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. The jury statement about the film read as follows: “This film focuses on a singular, unapologetic voice, and through her story it captures the experience of the collective. The strong directorial vision illuminates the joy and the raw reality of the Black experience.”
The World Cinema Documentary Competition jury consisted of Karim Amer, Petra Costa, and Alexander Nanau, and they awarded the Grand Jury Prize to The Eternal Memory, directed by Maite Alberdi. Augusto and Paulina have been together for 25 years. Eight years ago, he was diagnosed with Alzheimer’s disease. Both fear the day he no longer recognizes her. The jury statement about the film read as follows: “This film opened our hearts by bringing us closer to the meaning of life and death, and the element that threads sense into all of it — love. Through a simple yet complex portrayal of confinement, it brings us to the lives of these fascinating characters who make us wiser and more loving the longer we stay with them.”
The World Cinema Dramatic Competition jury consisted of Shozo Ichiyama, Annemarie Jacir, and Funa Maduka, and they awarded the Grand Jury Prize to Scrapper, directed by Charlotte Regan. Georgie is a dreamy 12-yearold girl who lives happily alone in her London flat, filling it with magic. Out of nowhere, her estranged father turns up and forces her to confront reality. The jury statement about the film read as follows: “A charming and empathetic film full of integrity and life. Scrapper is a poignant study on grief and how the protagonist attempts to shrink her world. Through a child’s eyes, we observe abandonment, detachment and coldness, delivered with love, humor and warmth. The jury was drawn by the honest and sincere performances, strong direction, playful cinematography, and impressive script. The authenticity and command of place and space by the filmmaker and her insistence in creating a world where pain and joy align perfectly delivered a story full of heart and soul.”
The U.S. Dramatic Competition jury consisted of Jeremy O. Harris, Eliza Hittman, and Marlee Matlin, and they awarded the Grand Jury Prize to A Thousand and One, directed by A.V. Rockwell. Convinced it’s one last, necessary crime on the path to redemption, unapologetic and free-spirited Inez kidnaps 6-year-old Terry from the foster care system. Holding on to their secret and each other, mother and son set out to reclaim their sense of home, identity, and stability in New York City. The jury statement about the film read as follows: “Never have I seen a life so similar to my own rendered with such nuance and tenderness. I walked out of the theater and wept in front of people I barely know because this film reached into my gut and pulled from it every emotion I’ve learned to mask in these spaces. As a jury we know how impossible it is to make work that is real, full of pain, and fearless in its rigorous commitment to emotional truth born of oppressive circumstances.”
The Short Film Program Competition jury consisted of Destin Daniel Cretton, Marielouise Khondji, and Deborah Stratman, and they awarded the Grand Jury Prize to When You Left Me On That Boulevard, directed by Kayla Abuda Galang. Teenager Ly and her cousins get high before a boisterous family Thanksgiving at their auntie’s house in southeast San Diego in 2006. The jury statement about the film read as follows: “From the first moment, we were fully on board for this rowdy ride. An uproarious take on extended family, irreverence and tradition with incredible attunement to details and frame. This directorial feat of freshness is our enthusiastic choice.”
Several audience awards were also given out during the festival. The Festival Favorite Award went to Radical, directed by Christopher Zalla. In a Mexican border town plagued by neglect, corruption, and violence, a frustrated teacher tries a radical new method to break through his students’ apathy and unlock their curiosity, their potential… and maybe even their genius. Based on a true story. The Audience Award for the U.S. Documentary Competition went to Beyond Utopia, directed by Madeleine Gavin. Hidden camera footage augments this perilous high-stakes journey as we embed with families attempting to escape oppression from North Korea, ultimately revealing a world most of us have never seen. The Audience Award for the U.S. Dramatic Competition went to The Persian Version, directed by Maryam Keshavarz. When a large Iranian-american family gathers for the patriarch’s heart transplant, a family secret is uncovered that catapults the estranged mother and daughter into an exploration of the past. Toggling between the United States and Iran over decades, mother and daughter discover they’re more alike than they know.
The Audience Award for the World Cinema Documentary went to 20 Days in Mariupol, directed by Mstyslav Chernov. As the Russian invasion begins, a team of Ukrainian journalists trapped in the besieged city of Mariupol struggle to continue their work documenting the war’s atrocities. The Audience Award for the World Cinema Dramatic Competition went to Shayda, directed by Noora Niasari. Shayda, a brave Iranian mother, finds refuge in an Australian women’s shelter with her 6-yearold daughter. Over Persian New Year, they take solace in Nowruz rituals and new beginnings, but when her estranged husband re-enters their lives, Shayda’s path to freedom is jeopardized. The film stars Zar Amir Ebrahimi, winner of the Best Actress award at the 2022 Cannes Film Festival for Holy Spider. The Audience Award for the NEXT Competition went to Kokomo City, a documentary directed by D. Smith. Four Black transgender sex workers explore the dichotomy between the Black community and themselves, while confronting issues long avoided.
Bobby Styles studied Film at UCLA, and worked as an editor and producer on several film, commercial, and music video projects in Los Angeles. He currently teaches the intermediate and advanced Video Production courses in the Multimedia & Technology Academy at Monache High School. His column appears weekly in The Recorder.