Napoleon Dynamite, the confidently nerdy Idaho teen created by Utah filmmakers Jared and Jerusha Hess, is scheduled to make a triumphant return to the Sundance Film Festival in January.
A remastered 4K version of the Hesses’ 2004 comedy “Napoleon Dynamite” is one of eight classic independent films that got their start in Park City that will be screened at the 2024 Sundance Film Festival — celebrating its 40th year of operations under Robert Redford’s nonprofit Sundance Institute.
The institute announced the special screenings, as well as two other special events for the 40th festival, on Tuesday. Also announced were the 53 short films chosen to screen at this year’s festival, which runs Jan. 18-28 at venues in Park City and Salt Lake City.
The 40th Edition Celebration Screenings, as the festival bills them, “will showcase films from Sundance’s rich history, each having made an indelible impact on culture,” Eugene Hernandez, the festival’s director, said in a statement.
The celebration screenings are scheduled between Tuesday and Friday, Jan. 23 to 26. The eight movies will screen one time each in Park City, with discussions after. Six of them also will screen one time each in Salt Lake City. Here are the movies, and their screening times:
“The Babadook” (Australia) • Director Jennifer Kent’s chilling horror thriller, about a single mom (Essie Davis) who discovers the monster in her child’s book is all too real, premiered at Sundance in 2014. Kent is scheduled to sit for a conversation after the screening, Thursday, Jan. 25, at 10:30 p.m., at The Ray Theatre, Park City.
“Dig! XX” • Director Ondi Timoner and producer David Timoner (her brother) have created an extended cut of their Grand Jury Prize-winning 2004 documentary, which follows the ups and downs of rival bands The Dandy Warhols and the Brian Jonestown Massacre. The new version includes 35 more minutes of never-before-seen footage, and new narration by Brian Jonestown Massacre member Joel Gion. The Timoners and Gion are scheduled to appear for a discussion after the screening, Tuesday, Jan. 23, at 8:30 p.m., at the Library Center Theatre, Park City. It also will screen Friday, Jan. 19, at 8:30 p.m., at the Broadway Centre Cinemas, Salt Lake City.
“Go Fish” • Director Rose Troche’s groundbreaking 1994 comedy — digitally restored by the Academy Film Archive and the UCLA Film & Television Archive — follows Max (Guinevere Turner) in her search for the perfect lesbian romance. Troche is scheduled to speak after the screening, Wednesday, Jan. 24, at noon, at the Egyptian Theatre, Park City. It also will screen Saturday, Jan. 20, at 1:45 p.m., at the Broadway Centre Cinemas, Salt Lake City.
“Mississippi Masala” • Premiering at Sundance in 1991 (the first year the event was officially called the Sundance Film Festival), director Mira Nair’s cross-cultural romance centers on a young Indian woman (Sarita Choudhury), whose family emigrated from Uganda to Mississippi during Idi Amin’s reign, and a charming carpet cleaner (Denzel Washington, in one of his early leading-man roles). Nair is scheduled to take part in a conversation after the screening, Wednesday, Jan. 24, at 3:15 p.m., at the Egyptian Theatre, Park City. It also will screen Friday, Jan. 19, at 5 p.m., at the Broadway Centre Cinemas, Salt Lake City.
“Napoleon Dynamite” • A 20th anniversary screening of the 2004 comedy, directed by Jared Hess and written by Jared and Jerusha Hess, which chronicles the school year of an Idaho teen (played by the Hesses’ Brigham Young University classmate, Jon Heder) who enjoys tater tots, sweet jumps, and helping his friend Pedro (Efren Ramirez) win election as class president. A conversation with the Hesses and Heder will follow the screening, set for Wednesday, Jan. 24, at 7 p.m., at The Ray Theatre, Park City. It also will screen Saturday, Jan. 20, at 12:30 p.m., at the Broadway Centre Cinemas, Salt Lake City.
“Pariah” • Director Dee Rees’ 2008 debut follows a Brooklyn teenage poet (Adepero Oduye) risks a friendship, heartbreak and her family as she seeks to express her sexuality. Rees is scheduled to take part in a conversation after the screening, Friday, Jan. 26, at 6:45 p.m., at the Egyptian Theatre, Park City.
“Three Seasons” • In Vietnam’s Ho Chi Minh City, formerly Saigon, four characters — a cyclo driver (Duong Don) giving a ride to a call girl (Zoe Bui), a young woman (Ngoc Hiep Nguyen) who gets a job harvesting lotuses, and an American ex-G.I. (Harvey Keitel) searching for the daughter he fathered during the war — intersect in writer-director Tony Bui’s 1999 drama, a Grand Jury Prize winner. Bui is expected to take part in a conversation after the screening, Thursday, Jan. 25, at 7 p.m., at the Egyptian Theatre, Park City. It also screens Saturday, Jan. 20, at 10:30 a.m., at the Broadway Centre Cinemas, Salt Lake City.
“The Times of Harvey Milk” • Screening at the first Sundance Institute-operated United States Film Festival in 1985, director Rob Epstein’s pioneering documentary documented the career of San Francisco politician and gay icon Harvey Milk, as well as his assassination and the trial of the man who killed him, Dan White. Epstein is scheduled to take part in a conversation after the screening, Thursday, Jan. 25, at 12:15 p.m., at the Egyptian Theatre, Park City. It also screens Friday, Jan. 19, at 5:45 p.m., at the Broadway Centre Cinemas, Salt Lake City.
Two more events marking the festival’s 40th season are also scheduled:
• A panel discussion, “Power of Story: Four Decades of Taking Chances,” featuring four veteran independent filmmakers: Directors Miguel Arteta (“Chuck & Buck,” SFF ‘00 and others), Richard Linklater (“Slacker,” SFF ‘91; “Before Sunrise,” SFF ‘95; “Boyhood,” SFF ‘14 and others) and Dawn Porter (“Gideon’s Army,” SFF ‘13; “Trapped,” SFF ‘16; “Luther: Never Too Much,” SFF ‘24), and producer Christine Vachon, whose resumé includes “Poison” (SFF ‘91), “I Shot Andy Warhol” (SFF ‘96), “Hedwig and the Angry Inch” (SFF ‘01) to the 2024 festival title “A Different Man.” It happens Tuesday, Jan. 23, at 3 p.m., at the Egyptian Theatre in Park City.
• “The 40th Edition Short Film Show,” in which producers and filmmakers Mark and Jay Duplass, who got their Sundance start with a short film (“This Is John,” SFF ‘03), present a mixtape of short films that have screened at Sundance over the last 40 years. Programmers promise to bring back some of the filmmakers for a “surprise screening.” The program runs Tuesday, Jan. 23, at 7:30 p.m., at the Egyptian Theatre in Park City.
Festival programmers chose 53 short films from a pool of 12,098 submissions, a record. Of those, 5,323 were from the United States; 6,799 are from the rest of the world. The 53 chosen films represent work from 22 countries.
Here are the short films chosen for the festival (with synopses provided by festival programmers):
U.S. Fiction short films
“Bay of Herons” • Director: Jared James Lank. “Calling on the strength of his ancestors, a young Mi’kmaq man reflects on the pain of bearing witness to the destruction of his homelands.”
“Boi de Conchas (The Shell Covered Ox)” (United States / Brazil) • Director-writer: Daniel Barosa. “While mourning her missing sister, Rayane balances helping her fisherman father and practicing for the school’s music festival — provided she doesn’t become an ox first, a misfortune assailing several teenagers in the area.” Cast: Bebé Salvego, Daniela Dams, Walter Balthazar, Bianca Melo, Giulia Sposito, Kaique Martins De Paula, Kyuja Ohanna, Maitê Dias, Tainara Corrêa and Thiago Klein.
“Border Hopper” • Director-writer: Nico Casavecchia; Screenwriter: Mercedes Arturo. “When a Latinx filmmaker is offered a dream job abroad, she discovers a supernatural way to navigate the U.S. immigration system and get the coveted travel permit she needs. But what seems like a magic solution soon shows unexpected consequences.” Cast: Gabriela Ortega, Santiago Reyes MacAllister.
“Bust” • Director: Angalis Field; Screenwriters: Angalis Field, Eliza Barry Callahan. “A trans cop with the New York City Police Department goes undercover to make a drug bust.” Cast: Lux Pascal, Nicky DeMarie.
“Didn’t Think I’d See You Here” • Director-writer: Dylan Guerra. “Rory thinks there’s a ghost haunting his shower and decides to investigate its origin. But when he goes to a party and meets a romantic interest, his spectral mystery begins to unravel.” Cast: Yaron Lotan, Holly Settoon, Marquis Rodriguez, Jose Useche.
“Dream Creep” • Director-writer: Carlos A.F. Lopez. “A couple awakens in the night to sounds emanating from an unlikely orifice.” Cast: Ian Edlund, Sidney Jayne Hunt. World Premiere. Available online for Public.
“Flail” • Director-writer: Ben Gauthier; Screenwriter: Allie Levitan. “It’s her boss’s birthday, and Allie is trying as hard as she can.” Cast: Allie Levitan, David Brown, Natalie Rotter-Laitman, Isabella Gerasole, Krista Levitan.
“Grace” • Director-writer: Natalie Jasmine Harris. “Sixteen-year-old Grace prepares for her baptism in the rural 1950s South. When she learns she must repent before the ritual, she begins to question the budding romantic feelings she has toward her best friend, Louise.” Cast: Jordan Rayanna Wells, Alexis Cofield, Mikayla LaShae Bartholomew, C L Simpson, JeVon Blackwell.
“guts” • Director: Margaux Susi; Screenwriter: Jan Rosenberg. “Desperate for help, a woman in recovery asks an unlikely stranger on a dinner date.” Cast: Kate Burton, Angela Giarratana.
“The Heart” • Director-writer: Malia Ann. “A lonely man grieves the death of his mother after an argument about groceries and an odd request in her will.” Cast: Tunde Adebimpe, LaTonya Borsay.
“The Looming” • Director-writer: Masha Ko. “When a virtual home assistant speaker, Luna, picks up the strange noise Chester has heard in his house, he realizes that it may not be a symptom of dementia.” Cast: Joseph Lopez, Kolten Horner, Brianne Buishas, Alyssa Nicole.
“The Looming Cloud” • Director-writer: Matthew Tyler. “Three siblings return home after their mother’s death and face their most daunting task: figuring out how to post about it on social media.” Cast: Mitzi Akaha, Jason Amerling, Connie Shi.
“The Lost Season” • Director-writer: Kelly Sears. “Winter is over. Continue watching.” Cast: Skinner Myers.
“Pasture Prime” • Director: Diffan Sina Norman; Screenwriter: Carolyn Purnell. “A widow falls for a younger man she meets at the Cowboy Church.” Cast: Gail Cronauer, Patrick Kirton, Chris Alan Evans, Susan Kirton, Joshua Ogden-Davis.
“Pathological” • Director-writer: Alison Rich. “A woman who’s a pathological liar wakes up one day to discover her lies have become true.” Cast: Alison Rich, Meaghan Rath, Luke Cook, Adam Lustick, Heather Pasternak, George Kareman.
“The Rainbow Bridge” • Director-writer: Dimitri Simakis. “Tina and her elderly dog MeeMoo discover a clinic promising human-to-pet communication. However, two sinister doctors uncover a bond between them so strong, it transcends time and space. They might be the key to something greater, but at what cost?” Cast: Thu Tran, Heather Lawless, James Urbaniak, David Brown, Fat Tony.
“Say Hi After You Die” • Director: Kate Jean Hollowell; Screenwriters: Kate Jean Hollowell, Ruby Caster. “A grieving woman believes her deceased best friend has come back to visit her… as a port-a-potty.” Cast: Kate Jean Hollowell, Ruby Caster, George Basil.
“Shé (Snake)” (United States / United Kingdom) • Director-writer: Renee Zhan. “Fei is the top violinist in her elite youth orchestra. When another Chinese violinist arrives to challenge her place, Fei’s internal demons take external form. They whisper to her, urging her to be the best, no matter the cost.” Cast: Xiaonan Wang, Alina Lew, Simon Paisley Day, Elizabeth Chan, Leslie Ching, Grace Fan.
“Thirstygirl” • Director-writer: Alexandra Qin. “On a road trip with her younger sister, Charlie struggles to hide a secret sex addiction.” Cast: Samantha Ahn, Claire Dunn.
International Fiction short films
“Basri & Salma in a Never-Ending Comedy” (Indonesia) • Director-writer: Khozy Rizal. “A married couple who own an Odong-Odong (a mini-carousel) spend their days entertaining other people’s children. Between relatives, self-doubt, and an explosive confrontation, they uncover why they have not been blessed with a child.” Cast: Arham Rizky Saputra, Rezky Chik, Hj. Sugiati, Alghifari Jasin, Alif Anggara, Sri Eka Putri.
“Bold Eagle” (Philippines) • Director-writer: Whammy Alcazaren. “Trapped at home with hallucinogenic drugs and his talking cat, an ‘alter’ anonymously performs lascivious acts on the Internet, seeking refuge in the strong arms of strange men, hoping to masturbate his way to true happiness.” Cast: Brian, Monty, Gio Gahol, Ricky Davao.
“Bye Bye, Bowser” (Austria) • Director: Jasmin Baumgartner; Screenwriter: Lorenz Uhl. “Luna rebels against the indifference of her artsy friends by writing a punk song about Laugo, the construction worker from across the street. Will the clashing worlds of affluent neglect and working life lead to the collapse of their romance?” Cast: Luna Jordan, Laurence Hadschieff.
“Dreams like paper boats” (Haiti) • Director-writer: Samuel Frantz Suffren. “Edouard and his daughter live with a cassette received from his wife in the United States, a long time ago. After years of absence, what can we expect from a distant love?” Cast: Kenny Laguerre, Zaraina Ruth-Amma Suffren, Clorette Jacinthe.
“Essex Girls” (United Kingdom) • Director: Yero Timi-Biu; Screenwriter: Busayo Ige. “After an incident at her high school pulls her into the orbit of the only other Black girl in her year, ‘Essex Girl’ Bisola is plunged into a journey to discover a whole new side of herself.” Cast: Busayo Ige, Corinna Brown, Maisie Smith, Adrianna Bertola, Krysstina Frempong, Rebecca Dike.
“Lea Tupu’anga / Mother Tongue” (New Zealand) • Director: Vea Mafile’o; Screenwriter: Luciane Buchanan. " A young speech therapist disconnected from her Tongan heritage lies about her Tongan language skills to get a job. Out of her depth, she must find a way to communicate or risk her patient’s life.” Cast: Luciane Buchanan, Albert Rounds, Mikey Falesiu, Michael Koloi, Elizabeth Thomson.
“The Masterpiece” (Spain) • Director: Alex Lora Cercos; Screenwriters: Lluis Quilez, Alfonso Amador. “Leo and Diana, a wealthy couple, meet Salif and Yousef, two scrap dealers, at a recycle center. Offering them more junk, Diana invites them to their mansion, but the immigrants actually might be the ones with something she wants.” Cast: Daniel Grao, Babou Cham, Melina Matthews, Adam Nourou, Guido Grao.
“Phoebe” (Greece / Cyprus) • Director-writer: Vaggelio Soumeli. “Having been recently discharged from rehab, 26-year-old Phoebe takes her young son on a road trip that will determine their future.” Cast: Athina Pavlou Benazi, Nikolas Drosopoulos, Orestis Raissis.
“Pisko the Crab Child Is in Love” (Japan) • Director-writer: Makoto Nagahisa. “Pisko’s father is a crab while her mother is human. Pisko falls in love with her teacher but is heartbroken when he leaves her because she is half-crab. Pisko finally finds love and companionship with her friend Kubokayo.” Cast: Aiko Kano, Saya, Maki Fukuda, Kanta Sato.
“Shalal” (Iran) • Director-writer: Amir Ali Sisipour. “Mehran and his mother, Ziba, don’t have shadows, so they use a black fur to catch the shadows of people and drink them. One day, Mehran decides to catch someone’s shadow alone.” Cast: Masomeh Emamai, Amir Reza Sisipour, Javad Ansari, Fataneh Imani.
“The Stag” (Taiwan) • Director-writer: An Chu. “At a deer farm in Changhua County, a middle-aged man is asked to cut off a stag’s antlers in front of his two kids.” Cast: Yung-He Chen, Wei-Jen Chen, Si-Kai Chen.
“Terra Mater” (Rwanda) • Director-writer: Kantarama Gahigiri. “Technology and waste in our lands, systems, and bones. Here she stands, confidently, like a goddess surrounded by endless mountains of plastic, stench, and rare earths. She cannot help but wonder, where is the space for healing?” Cast: Cheryl Isheja.
“Viaje de Negocios” (Mexico) • Director-writer: Gerardo Coello Escalante. “Daniel arrives at school wearing brand-new sneakers from America, gifted to him by his father. When he sees another boy wearing the same sneakers, he begins to suspect that their shoes are the key to a terrible secret.” Cast: Rodrigo Mota, Pablo Torres, Gerardo Saldaña, Lila Urbina.
“Voice Ever” (France) • Directors-writers: Céline Perreard, Pauline Archange. “Over the course of an evening, Romane, Sarah, Emmanuel, and Boris connect on Voice Ever, a new dating app where you choose your date based on their voice. Their weaknesses and vulnerabilities will surface in their desire to meet.” Cast: Alexandra Desloires, Kelly Bellacci, Vincent Pasdermadjian, Xavier Lacaille, Maya Raad, Edith Baldy.
Animation short films
“Baigal Nuur - Lake Baikal” (Canada / Germany) • Director-writer: Alisi Telengut. “The formation of Lake Baikal in Siberia is reimagined, featuring the voice of a Buryat woman who can still recall some words in her endangered Buryat language (a Mongolian dialect).”
“The Bleacher” • Directors-writers: Nicole Daddona, Adam Wilder. “The disappearance of her sock at a local laundromat sends a fragile Rita over the edge. Hellbent on finding it, she searches deep and gets sucked into a washing machine, entering an otherworldly cycle from which she may never escape.” Cast: Kate Micucci, Ben Sinclair, Sky Elobar.
“Bug Diner” • Director-writer: Phoebe Jane Hart. “A dissatisfied marriage, a secret crush, and workplace fantasies come to a head in a diner run by a mole with a hot ass.” Cast: Jacob Levy, Phoebe Hart.
“Dona Beatriz Ñsîmba Vita” (Brazil) • Director-writer: Catapreta. “Kimpa Vita fulfills the prophetic mission of leading her people in a racist and unequal society. Set in contemporary Brazil and inspired by the true story of Kimpa Vita, a 17th-century Congolese religious leader.”
“Drago” • Director-writer: Daniel Zvereff. “A young boy’s dream of becoming a doctor is challenged when war forces him and his mother to flee their village and start a new life in New York City.”
“Larry” • Directors: Takeshi Murata, Christopher Rutledge; Screenwriter: Takeshi Murata. “A dog loses its grasp of shape and time while balling like Shaq.”
“Martyr’s Guidebook” (Poland) • Director-writer: Maks Rzontkowski. “Tony is the ultimate good guy, sometimes to a fault. From nabbing the smallest slice of cake in grade school to guiding lost strangers in the city, his kindness knows no bounds. He also lives with an angel.” Cast: Maks Rzontkowski, Julia Woronowicz, Jaś Dąbrówka.
“Matta and Matto” (Switzerland) • Directors-writers: Bianca Caderas, Kerstin Zemp. “In a time when all interpersonal closeness is forbidden, the hourly hotel Vaip offers wondrous rooms where guests snuggle up to devices built with great skill and let themselves fall into the perfect illusion of human touch.” Cast: Bianca Caderas, Kerstin Zemp, Etienne Mory, Amélie Cochet, Danay Gijzen, Martine Ulmer.
“Miisufy” (Estonia) • Director: Liisi Grünberg; Screenwriter: Aurelia Aasa. “Digital pet cat Miisu gets tired of her owner and starts to revolt. Inspired by Tamagotchi — observing the world through the eyes of digital pets.” Cast: Maria Ehrenberg.
“27″ (France / Hungary) • Director-writer: Flóra Anna Buda. “Alice is 27 years old today. Even though she is suffocating a bit, she still lives with her parents and tends to live in her dreams to escape her dreary everyday life.”
Nonfiction short films
“Alok” • Director: Alex Hedison. “A compelling portrait of Alok Vaid-Menon, acclaimed nonbinary author, poet, comedian, and public speaker. Executive-produced by Jodie Foster.”
“Bob’s Funeral” • Director-writer-animator: Jack Dunphy. “Searching for the root of generational trauma, the director sneaks a camera into his estranged grandfather’s funeral.”
“Ekbeh” • Director: Mariah Eli Hernandez-Fitch. “While learning to make gumbo, the creator shares personal stories about their grandparents as a way to honor and preserve their Indigenous history and life.”
“14 Paintings” (China) • Director: Dongnan Chen. “A field study of 14 paintings from China’s Dafen village, as the government rebrands the copy-painting district as a hub for original art.”
“Merman” • Director-writer: Sterling Hampton IV. “A 58-year-old Black Queer man speaks the truth about his life as an emergency nurse, a leather enthusiast, husband, and civil rights advocate.”
“Object 817″ (Belgium) • Director-writer: Olga Lucovnicova. “A poetic journey to the heart of the Ural, where the discovery of an alien creature uncovers a haunting secret.”
“Salone Love” (United States / United Kingdom / Sierra Leone) • Director: Tajana Tokyo. “A scrapbook of opinions and advice about love in Sierra Leone.”
“The Smallest Power” (Iran) • Director: Andy Sarjahani. “During the Woman, Life, Freedom uprising in Iran, in the aftermath of the murder of Jina Mahsa Amini, a medical resident finds her voice when the chaos in the streets comes to her hospital floor.”
“To Be Invisible” • Director-writer: Myah Overstreet. “Every week for the past three years, Alexis and Kellie have stood outside Durham County’s child welfare agency, demanding the return of their children. Together, they embark on a journey to bring their children home.”
“Winding Path” • Directors: Alexandra Lazarowich, Ross Kauffman. “Eastern Shoshone MD-PhD student Jenna Murray spent summers on the Wind River Indian Reservation helping her grandpa anyway she could. When he suddenly dies, she must find a way to heal before realizing her dream of a life in medicine.”
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