Well, January is just around the corner, and the Sundance film festival 2021 is all ready to flash with its glorious and magnificent platform for young talent. What makes this stage more appealing is that it’s not only for their native people, but it also appreciates talent from all over the world. From these submissions, Sundance Institute has selected 118 independent feature films, in which about 44 directors will present their debut films in various categories.
The categories in this year’s Sundance movie festival are:
- U.S. Dramatic Competition
- U.S. Documentary Competition
- World Cinema Dramatic Competition
- World Cinema Documentary Competition
- NEXT
- Premiers
- Documentary Premiers
- Midnight
- Spotlight
- Kids
Sundance Festival 2021 Lineup
The first big announcement by sundance institute gives the lineup of the whole 2021 festival including all 118 independent feature-films with competing categories. Now, all we have to see is which ones among the directors mentioned below will qualify themselves for the Sundance film festival winners tag. And how many of the listed sundance movies will be considered as the best Sundance movies of 2021 festival.
118 Feature Films for 2021 Sundance Festival
U.S Dramatic Competition
This category presents 16 world premiered feature films and from the directors competing in this category, 47% are women, 52% are people of color and 5% are LGBTQ+.
The 40-Year-Old Version
Based on the story of a miserable singer who recreate herself by becoming a rapper at the age of 40. Directed by Radha Blank, starring Radha Blank, Peter Kim, Oswin Benjamin, Reed Birney, Imani Lewis, T.J. Atoms.
Blast Beat
The plot of this story focuses on two brothers who migrated from Colombia and their adaptation to the new environment in America. Directed by, Esteban Arango starring Moises Arias, Mateo Arias, Daniel Dae Kim, Kali Uchis, Diane Guerrero, Wilmer Valderrama.
Charm City Kings
A story of 14-years old Mouse who desperately wanted to be a part of Midnight riders, but he ends up on a road of gravy train and wildness. Directed by Angel Manuel Soto starring Jahi Di’Allo Winston, Meek Mill, Will Catlett, Teyonah Parris, Donielle Tremaine Hansley, Kezia Curtis.
Other movies in this category are
- Dinner in America (Directed by: Adam Rehmeier)
- The Evening Hour (Directed by: Braden King)
- Farewell Amor (Directed by: Ekwa Msangi)
- Minari (Directed by: Lee Isaac Chung)
- Miss Juneteenth (Directed by: Channing Godfrey Peoples)
- Never Rarely Sometimes Always (Directed by: Eliza Hittman)
- Nine Days (Directed by: Edson Oda)
- Palm Springs (Directed by: Andy Siara)
- Save Yourselves! (Directed by: Alex Huston Fischer, Eleanor Wilson)
- Shirley (Directed by: Sarah Gubbins)
- Sylvie’s Love (Directed by: Eugene Ashe)
- Wander Darkly (Directed by: Tara Miele)
- Zola (Directed by: Janicza Bravo)
U.S Documentary Competition
Movies are a great escape and full of entertainment, but one should also know about the real world and its struggles. 16 documentaries with bright ideas and events are competing in this category at Sundance 2021.
Be Water
Struggle of Bruce Lee after his rejection in Hollywood and a brief meetup with his family all encapsulated in this beautiful documentary. Directed by Bao Nguyen.
Boys State
A union of thousands of teenagers from texas to form a firm ground of their representative government as an experiment. Directed by Jessie moss and Amanda McBaine.
Other documentaries in this category are:
- Bloody nose, Empty pockets (Directed by: Bill Ross, Turner Ross)
- A thousand cuts (Directed by: Ramona S. Dias)
- Code for Bias (Directed by: Shalini kantayya)
- The cost of silence (Directed by: Mark Manning)
- Crip Camp (Directed by: Nicole Newnham, Jim LeBrecht)
- Dick Johnson Is Dead (Directed by: Kristen Johnson)
- Feels good man (Directed by: Arthur jones)
- The Fight (Directed by: Elyse Steinberg, Josh Kriegman, Eli Despres)
- Mucho Mucho Amor (Directed by: Cristina Costantini, Kareem Tabsch)
- Spaceship Earth (Directed by: Matt Wolf)
- Time (Directed by: Garrett Bradley)
- U kids (Directed by: Kim A. Snyder)
- Welcome to Chechnya (Directed by: David France)
- Whirlybird (Directed by: Matt Yoka)
World Cinematic Dramatic Competition
Replenished perspectives and innovative presentations encapsulated in 12 films served justly by filmmaking talents from around the globe.
Charter / Sweden
Based on the story of a mother facing difficulties in meeting her children after a traumatic process of her divorce. Directed by Amanda Kernell starring Ane Dahl Torp, Troy Lundkvist, Tintin Poggats Sarri, Sverrir Gudnason, Eva Melander, Siw Erixon.
Cuties / France
A journey of 11 years old Amy with a dance group called “Cuties”. Directed by Maïmouna Doucouré starring Fathia Youssouf, Médina El Aidi-Azouni, Esther Gohourou, Ilanah Cami-Goursolas, Myriam Hamma, Maïmouna Gueye.
Other movies include:
- Exil / Germany (Directed by: Visar Morina)
- High Tide / Argentina (Directed by: Verónica Chen)
- Jumbo / France (Directed by: Zoé Wittock)
- Luxor / Egypt (Directed by: Zeina Durra)
- Possessor/ Canada (Directed by: Brandon Cronenberg)
- Identifying Features (Sin Señas Particulares) / Mexico (Directed by: Fernanda Valadez)
- Summer White (Blanco de Verano) / Mexico (Directed by: Rodrigo Ruiz Patterson)
- Surge/ United Kingdom (Directed by: Aneil Karia)
- This Is Not A Burial, It’s A Resurrection / Lesotho, South Africa, Italy (Directed by: Lemohang Jeremiah Mosese)
- Yalda, a Night for Forgiveness / Iran, France, Germany, Switzerland, Luxembourg (Directed by: Massoud Bakhshi)
World Cinema Documentary Competition
Acasa, My Home / Romania, Germany, Finland
A visit to Bucharest delta in the story of a big family who is now striving in urban life. Directed by Radu Ciorniciuc.
The earth is blue like an orange / Ukraine, Lithuania
A daily life struggle of Anna and her children in the war zone and dangerous surroundings. Directed by Iryna Tsilyk.
Other documentaries listed are:
- Epicentro / Austria, France, U.S.A. (Directed by: Hubert Sauper)
- Influence / South Africa, Canada (Directed by: Diana Neille, Richard Poplak)
- Into the Deep / Denmark (Directed by: Emma Sullivan)
- The Mole Agent / Chile, U.S.A., Germany, The Netherlands, Spain (Directed by: Maite Alberdi)
- Once Upon A Time in Venezuela / Venezuela, United Kingdom, Brazil, Austria (Directed by: Anabel Rodríguez Ríos)
- The Painter and the Thief / Norway (Directed by: Benjamin Ree)
- The Reason I Jump / United Kingdom (Directed by: Jerry Rothwell)
- Saudi Runaway / Switzerland (Directed by: Susanne Regina Meures)
- Softie / Kenya (Directed by: Sam Soko)
- The Truffle Hunters / Italy, U.S.A., Greece (Directed by: Michael Dweck, Gregory Kershaw)
NEXT
The NEXT program exhibit for what the festival is called “Pure, bold works prominent by an innovative forward-thinking approach to story-telling.” as replacement of the old spectrum that chuck out from the festival in the late 2000s.
This category only received submissions from the U.S.
- Beast Beast (Directed by: Dany Madden)
- Black Bear(Directed by: Lawrence Michael Levine
- I carry you with me (Directed by: Heidi Ewing)
- The killing of two lovers (Directed by: Robert Machoian)
- La Leyenda Negra (Directed by: Patricia Vidal Delgado)
- The Mountains Are a Dream That Call to Me (Directed by: Cedric Cheung-Lau)
- Omniboat: A Fast Boat Fantasia
Director and Screenwriters: The Daniels, Hannah Fidell, Alexa Lim Haas, Lucas Leyva, Olivia Lloyd, Jillian Mayer, The Meza Brothers, Terence Nance, Brett Potter, Dylan Redford, Xander Robin, Julian Yuri Rodriguez, Celia Rowlson-Hall,
- Some Kind of Heaven (Directed by: Lance Oppenheim)
- Spree (Directed by: Eugene Kotlyarenko)
- Summertime (Directed by:Carlos López Estrada)
Premiers
A series of world premiers featuring this year,
- Downhill / U.S.A (Directed by: Nat Faxon, Jim Rash)
- Dreamhorse/ United Kingdom (Directed by: Euros Lyn)
- Falling / Canada, United Kingdom, Denmark (Directed by: Viggo Mortensen)
- The Father / United Kingdom, France (Directed by: Florian Zeller)
- Four Good Days / U.S.A. (Directed by: Rodrigo Garcia)
- The Glorias / U.S.A. (Directed by: Julie Taymor)
- Herself / Ireland, United Kingdom (Directed by: Phyllida Lloyd)
- Horse girl / U.S.A (Directed by:Jeff Baena)
- Ironbark / United Kingdom (Directed by: Dominic Cooke)
- Kajillionaire / U.S.A. (Directed by: Miranda July)
- The last shift/ U.S.A. (Directed by: Andrew Cohn)
- The Last Thing He Wanted / U.S.A. (Directed by: Dee Rees)
- Lost girls / U.S.A. (Directed by:Liz Garbus)
- The Nest / United Kingdom, Canada (Directed by: Sean Durkin)
- Promising young woman / U.S.A. (Directed by: Emerald Fennell)
- Sergio/ U.S.A. (Directed by: Greg Barker)
- Tesla (Directed by: Michael Almereyda)
- Uncle Frank / U.S.A. (Directed by:Alan Ball)
- Wendy (Directed by: Benh Zeitlin)
- Worth / U.S.A. (Directed by: Sara Colangelo)
Documentary Premiers
- Aggie (Directed by: Catherine Gund)
- Assassins (Directed by:Rayan white)
- Disclosure: Trans Lives On Screen (Directed by: Sam Feder)
- The dissident (Directed by: Bryan Fogel)
- Giving voice (Directed by: James D. Stern, Fernando Villena)
- The Go-Go’s/ U.S.A, Ireland, Canada (Directed by: Alison Ellwood)
- Happy Happy Joy Joy – The Ren & Stimpy Story / U.S.A. (Directed by:Ron Cicero, Kimo Easterwood)
- Natalie Wood: What Remains Behind (Directed by: Laurent Bouzereau)
- Okavango: River of Dreams (Directed by: Dereck Joubert, Beverly Joubert)
- Rebuilding Paradise (Directed by: Ron Howard)
- Taylor Swift: Miss Americana (Directed by: Lana Wilson)
- Untitled Kirby Dick/Amy Ziering Film (Directed by: Kirby Dick, Amy Ziering)
- Vivos / Germany, Mexico (Directed by: Ai Weiwei)
Midnight
- Amulet/ United Kingdom (Directed by: Romola Garai)
- Bad hair/ U.S.A (Directed by: Justin Simien)
- His House / United Kingdom (Directed by: Remi Weekes)
- Impetigore / Indonesia (Directed by: Joko Anwar)
- The Night House / U.S.A. (Directed by: David Bruckner)
- The Nowhere Inn / U.S.A. (Directed by: Bill Benz)
- Relic / Australia (Directed by: Natalie Erika James)
- Run Sweetheart Run / U.S.A. (Directed by: Shana Feste)
- Scare Me / U.S.A. (Directed by: Josh Ruben)
Spotlight
- And Then We Danced / Sweden, Georgia, France (Directed by: Levan Akin)
- The Assistant / U.S.A. (Directed by: Kitty Green)
- The Climb / U.S.A. (Directed by: Michael Angelo Covino)
- Collective / Romania, Luxembourg (Directed by: Alexander Nanau)
- Ema / Chile (Directed by: Pablo Larraín)
- La Llorona / Guatemala, France (Directed by: Jayro Bustamante)
- The Perfect Candidate / Germany, Saudi Arabia (Directed by: Haifaa Al Mansour)
Kids
- Binti / Belgium (Directed by: Frederike Migom)
- Come Away / United Kingdom, U.S.A. (Directed by: Brenda Chapman)
- Timmy Failure: Mistakes Were Made / U.S.A. (Directed by: Tom McCarthy)
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