The penultimate Sundance Film festival to run in Park City ended over the weekend in a flurry of awards. There was scarcely any on-site activity by way of completed acquisitions, although deals will follow in the weeks and months ahead. And there were genuine discoveries, reflecting the accepted wisdom that Sundance is a complicated beast and is many things to many people. The big talking point is where will the revered soul of independent cinema house itself starting in The festival hierarchy will reveal all before long.
Screen looks at some of the key talking points to emerge from the festival, which ran January February 2. Most likely it was a combination of all three, but buyers bemoaned the fact that the selection was, on the whole, sobering and bleak. No other acquisition title came close to being as commercially appealing. The good news is Sundance has indeed been bringing back the discoveries and in there were several that caused a stir for all the right reasons.
Anybody who saw Sorry, Baby in particular will know that writer-director-actor Eva Victor is a major talent. Her feature debut blends a deep sense of unease over a shocking event with a touching and darkly humourous character study wrapped in a puzzle. As usual, Sundance wore its world-class non-fiction credentials on its sleeve and programmed some absolute corkers that should remain in the conversation throughout the year with robust festival lives and perhaps the odd Telluride screening and awards season run.
Visitors and locals arguing for and against Sundance in Park City is nothing new, but the debate has intensified since the pandemic and Sundance acted, inviting bids from would-be hosts.
Commonly heard refrains: Sundance has outgrown Park City and become too corporate. Prices have soared. Local businesses love Sundance and will miss it. The city and state will miss the income if the festival leaves Utah.
