The next Sundance Film Festival will be the last in Utah, but as organizers selected which movies will debut, they tried not to think about it.
“At the back of our minds,” said festival programming director Kim Yutani, there’s “‘This is the last time I’m going to be stepping on the Eccles [Theatre] stage.’ That’s such a weird and weighty thing.”
Festival organizers on Wednesday announced the 90 feature-length films that will screen during the event, Jan. 22 to Feb. 1, in Park City and Salt Lake City.
The 2026 festival will operate under two shadows: Its imminent move to Boulder, Colorado, in 2027, after more than 40 years in Utah, and the absence of the Sundance Institute’s founder, actor-director-activist Robert Redford, who died in September at age 89.
“It would be debilitating to think about both of those aspects so acutely as we are putting together a program,” Yutani said.
Instead, she said, programmers concentrated on the “rich selection” of submissions — 16,201 films from 164 countries or territories, including 4,255 feature-length movies.
“That’s where our focus is,” Yutani said.
If there’s a thread that connects this year’s themes, festival director Eugene Hernandez said, it’s legacy — both in Redford’s support of independent film and the festival’s years in Utah.
“It’s the whole experience that we’re curating,” Hernandez said. “It includes the films, it includes the guests that are coming to town. … The films create an invitation to an audience to watch some new work, to watch some older work. Also, it brings a community together, a temporary community that grows in Park City and Salt Lake City for 11 days.”
About 40% of the feature films were made by first-time directors, Yutani said. Several were also directed by Sundance veterans.
Three alone will include singer Charli XCX: Sundance veteran Gregg Araki’s comedy-drama “I Want Your Sex,” Cathy Yan’s satire “The Gallerist,” and Aidan Zamiri’s mockumentary “The Moment,” in which the singer plays a fictionalized version of herself.
Individual tickets for in-person and online festival screenings cost $35 each and go on sale Jan. 14. Passes and ticket passages for in-person screenings are sold out, while a $350 package of 10 tickets for online screenings is still available at sundance.org.
Of the 90 new feature-length movies set to screen in theaters in Park City and Salt Lake City, 54 will also be available to stream through the festival’s online portal.
Those streaming options include all 40 of the U.S. and World Cinema competition films (both dramas and documentaries), the nine films in the festival’s “Next” competition and five other films scattered through the “Premieres” and “Midnight” sections.
Below is a list of all 90, starting with the 54 that will be available to stream followed by the 36 others planned. (All were produced in the U.S., unless otherwise noted.)
U.S. Dramatic
Bedford Park • In writer-director-editor Stephanie Ahn’s debut feature, Audrey (Moon Choi) is a Korean American woman who returns home after her mother is in a car crash. There, she faces memories of an abusive childhood and forms a romantic bond with the man (Sukku Son) who caused the wreck. Also starring Won Mi Kyung, Kim Eung Soo and Jefferson White.
Carousel • Chris Pine plays a divorced doctor whose life changes when his daughter (Abby Ryder Fortson, from “Are You There, God? It’s Me, Margaret.”) has aspirations to be a debate champ and a past love (Jenny Slate) returns. Written and directed by Rachel Lambert (whose “Sometimes I Think About Dying” premiered at Sundance in 2023), the movie also stars Sam Waterston and Katey Sagal.
The Friend’s House Is Here • (U.S., Iran) Two women in Tehran’s underground art scene build a world of freedom and sisterhood — and when it’s exposed, must fight to save each other. Directed and written by Hossein Keshavarz and Maryam Ataei, the movie stars Mahshad Bahram, Hana Mana, Farzad Karen and Zohreh Pirnia.
Ha-Chan, Shake Your Booty! • Rinko Kikuchi (the star of 2014 Sundance hit “Kumiko, the Treasure Hunter”) plays a former ballroom dancer in Tokyo who withdraws after a tragedy but is coaxed back into the studio, where she becomes infatuated with the new instructor. Also starring Alberto Guerra, Alejandro Edda, actor “YOU,” Yoh Yoshida and Damián Alcázar. Directed by Josef Kubota Wladyka, who co-wrote with Nicholas Huynh.
Hot Water • In writer-director Ramzi Bashour’s road trip movie, an American teen (Daniel Zolghadri) and his Lebanese mom (“Incendies” star Lubna Azabal) head west when he’s kicked out of his Indiana high school.
Josephine • Writer-director Beth de Araújo’s thriller centers on an 8-year-old girl who witnesses a crime in San Francisco’s Golden Gate Park. The cast includes Mason Reeves, Channing Tatum, Gemma Chan, Philip Ettinger, Syra McCarthy and Eleanore Pienta.
The Musical • In this dark comedy, Will Brill plays a frustrated playwright and middle-school drama teacher who learns his ex-girlfriend (Gillian Jacobs) is dating his nemesis, the school’s principal (Rob Lowe) — so he hatches a scheme to stage a musical that will destroy the principal’s academic reputation. Directed by Giselle Bonilla, written by Alexander Heller.
Run Amok • In writer-director NB Mager’s comedy-drama, a teen girl (Alyssa Marvin) stages a musical about the one day her school wishes it could forget. Also starring Patrick Wilson, Margaret Cho, Sophia Torres, Elizabeth Marvel and Molly Ringwald.
Take Me Home • In an expanded take on her 2023 short film that premiered at Sundance, writer-director Liz Sargent again casts her sister, Anna, as a 38-year-old Korean adoptee with a cognitive disability. The story tells of the fragile balance Anna faces caring for her aging parents and what happens when it’s shattered in a Florida heat wave. Also starring Victor Slezak, Ali Ahn, Marceline Hugot and Shane Harper.
Union County • In writer-director Adam Meeks’ drama, Cody (Will Poulter) is assigned to a county-mandated drug court program, where he hopes to find his way through recovery during the opioid epidemic in rural Ohio. Also starring Noah Centineo, Elise Kibler, Emily Meade and Annette Deao.
U.S. Documentary
American Doctor • (U.S., State of Palestine, Malaysia, Qatar) Director Poh Si Teng profiles three American doctors — one Palestinian, one Jewish and one Zoroastrian — who go to Gaza and find themselves caught between medicine and politics.
American Pachuco: The Legend of Luis Valdez • Writer-director David Alvarado profiles Luis Valdez, one of the first prominent Chicano filmmakers in Hollywood, responsible for such films as “Zoot Suit” and “La Bamba.”
Barbara Forever • Director Brydie O’Connor presents a portrait of pioneering lesbian filmmaker Barbara Hammer, capturing her life, work and legacy mostly through archival footage. Hammer premiered her films “Nitrate Kisses” and “Tender Fictions” at Sundance, in 1993 and 1996, respectively.
Joybubbles • Rachael J. Morrison directs this documentary about a Minnesota man who was born blind, but who at age 5 discovered he could manipulate the phone system by whistling particular tones — a skill that helped launch a subculture and shape the future of hacking and technology.
The Lake • Abby Ellis, a Utah-based filmmaker, directed this look at “an environmental nuclear bomb” — the Great Salt Lake — and how two scientists and a political insider race the clock to defuse it.
Nuisance Bear • (U.S., Canada) A migrating polar bear encounters the human world — tourists, wildlife officers and hunters — in this documentary, directed by Gabriela Oslo Vanden and Jack Weisman, who expanded their 2021 short film.
Public Access • Director David Shadrack Smith uses rare archives from New York’s underground scene to highlight the rule-breaking creators who turned TV sets into a free-speech battleground.
Seized • Director Sharon Liese retells explores the 2023 police raid of the Marion County Record, a small newspaper in Kansas, and the death of its 98-year-old owner that lit up a firestorm about journalism, government power and the Constitution.
Soul Patrol • Director J.M. Harper tells the long-hidden story of the Vietnam War’s first Black special-ops team — asking whether reckoning with the past can bring peace to those who lived it.
Who Killed Alex Odeh? • Directors Jason Osder and William Lafi Youmans trace the 40-year-old case of Alex Odeh, a Palestinian American activist killed in a bombing in California in 1985.
World Cinema Dramatic
Big Girls Don’t Cry • (New Zealand) Sid Bookman (Ani Palmer), 14, comes of age in rural New Zealand in 2006, influenced by older girls and the Internet, in writer-director Paloma Schneideman’s drama. Also starring Rain Spencer and Noah Taylor.
Extra Geography • (United Kingdom) Two teen girls (Marni Duggan, Galaxie Clear) in an English boarding school work on their summer project: Falling in love. Alice Englert also stars in this coming-of-age story, directed by Molly Manners and written by Miriam Battye.
Filipiñana • (Singapore, United Kingdom, Philippines, France, Netherlands) Isabel (Jorrybell Agoto) works at a country club, where she’s strangely drawn to the club’s president, Dr. Palanca. But there’s more under the club’s surface, and Isabel realizes she shares a sinister history with Palanca. Directed and written by Rafael Manuel, expanding on his 2020 short film.
Hold Onto Me (Κράτα Με) • (Cyrpus, Denmark, Greece) Iris (Maria Petrova), 11, follows her estranged father (Christos Passalis) to a dilapidated shipyard. There, a fragile bond develops in writer-director Myrsini Aristidou’s feature debut.
How to Divorce During the War • (Lithuania, Luxembourg, Ireland, Czech Republic) Marija realizes she wants to divorce her husband, Vytas. It’s also 2022, in Vilnius, Lithuania, just as Russia is about to invade Ukraine. Andrius Blaževičius wrote and directed this drama, which stars Marius Repšys, Žygimantė Elena Jakštaitė, Amelija Adomaitytė, Indrė Patkauskaitė and Gintarė Parulytė.
The Huntress (La Cazadora) • (Mexico, U.S.) In Juarez, where violence against women is relatively common, an unlikely defender emerges in this drama inspired by true events. Written and directed by Suzanne Andrews Correa, the film stars Adriana Paz, Teresa Sánchez, Jennifer Trejo, Eme Malafe and Guillermo Alonso.
Lady • (United Kingdom, Nigeria) In writer-director Olive Nwosu’s drama, a cab driver (Jessica Gabriel’s Ujah) in Lagos meets a group of reckless sex workers. Their sisterhood pulls her into a journey of danger, joy and transformation. Also starring Amanda Oruh, Tinuade Jemiseye, Binta Ayo Mogaji, Seun Kuti and Bucci Franklin.
Levitating • (Indonesia, Singapore, France) In a small town where pleasure is equated to possession by spiritual beings, Bayu (Angga Yunanda) wants to become a shaman of a trance party, so he can earn enough money to avoid eviction. Directed by Wregas Bhanuteja, who co-wrote with Defi Mahendra and Alicia Angelina, the movie also stars Anggun C. Sasmi, Maudy Ayunda, Bryan Domani and Chicco Kurniawan.
Shame and Money • (Germany, Kosovo, Slovenia, Albania, North Macedonia, Belgium) A Kosovar family loses everything and must move to the capital city, seeking a place in a hypercapitalist society. Director Visar Morina co-wrote with Doruntina Basha. The cast includes Astrit Kabashi, Flonja Kodheli, Kumrije Hoxha, Fiona Gllavica and Alban Ukaj.
Tell Me Everything • (Israel, France) Writer-director Moshe Rosenthal’s coming-of-age drama is set in the late 1980s, when pop music was hot and HIV rates were rising. It centers on Boaz, 12, who finds a shattering secret about his father that he spends years trying to reconcile. The cast includes Yair Mazor, Ido Tako, Assi Cohen, Keren Tzur, Mor Dimri, Neta Orbach
World Cinema Documentary
All About the Money • (Ireland) Writer-director Sinéad O’Shea takes viewers inside a communist revolutionary base in rural Massachusetts, created by a son of one of America’s wealthiest families, determined to disrupt the capitalist system he grew up in.
Birds of War • (United Kingdom, Syrian Arab Republic, Lebanon) A Lebanese BBC reporter, Janay Boulos, asks a Syrian cameraman, Abd Alkader Habak, for footage from the besieged city of Aleppo. Thus starts a professional relationship and love story, told through 13 years of personal archives amid revolution, war and exile. Boulos and Habak are the film’s co-directors and co-writers.
Closure • (Poland) A documentary about Daniel, a man searching for his 16-year-old son last seen on a bridge over the Vistula River, looking down. Director Michal Marczak won two awards at Sundance 2016 for his documentary “All These Sleepless Nights.”
Everybody to Kenmure Street • (United Kingdom) Director Felipe Bustos Sierra chronicles one of the most spontaneous and successful acts of civil resistance in recent British memory, when hundreds of residents of a diverse Scottish neighborhood piled into the streets to stop a deportation raid by the U.K. Home Office in May 2021.
Hanging by a Wire • (U.S., United Kingdom, Pakistan) Eight passengers, including six schoolboys, were riding on a cable car in the Himalayan foothills when a wire snapped, leaving rescue teams just 10 hours to save everyone dangling 900 feet above a ravine. Pakistani director Mohammed Ali Naqvi tells the story.
Kikuyu Land • (Kenya) Directors Andrew H. Brown and Bea Wangondu follow a Nairobi journalist who’s probing a land battle between the local government and a multinational corporation, uncovering old wounds and family secrets.
One in a Million • (United Kingdom) A girl’s journey from Syria to Germany and back, through war and exile, captures the refugee experience. Filmed over 10 years, the documentary was directed by Itab Azzam and Jack MacInnes.
Sentient • (Australia) “Can we still justify harming animals and ourselves in the name of science?” asks Dr. Lisa Jones Engel, a primatologist-turned-animal welfare expert who’s the focus of this investigation into laboratory research on animals. Director Tony Jones wrote the film with Rachel Grierson-Johns.
Silenced • (Australia) Human rights lawyer Jennifer Robinson takes on a new battle during the age of #MeToo: The weaponization of defamation laws to silence survivors of gender violence. Directed by Selina Miles.
To Hold a Mountain • (Serbia, France, Montenegro, Slovenia, Croatia) A shepherd mother and daughter in Montenegro try to defend their ancestral mountain from the threat of becoming a military training ground for NATO — an effort that stirs memories of violence that harmed their family. Directed and written by Biljana Tutorov and Petar Glomazić.
‘Next’ category
A program dedicated to films with lower budgets and more innovative approaches to storytelling.
Aanikoobijigan [ancestor/great-grandparent/great-grandchild] • (U.S., Denmark) Tribal repatriation specialists comb through museum archives in an effort to return and rebury Indigenous human remains in this documentary examining the worldview that justified collecting them to begin with. Directed by Adam Khalil and Zack Khalil, both from the Ojibway tribe.
Burn • (Japan) Writer-director Makoto Nagahisa, whose first feature, “We Are Little Zombies,” won two awards at Sundance 2019, returns with this drama. Ju-Ju (Nana Mori) is a runaway teen who initially finds belonging with a tribe of misfit youths but later discovers the haven is a prison and she must take back control.
Ghost in the Machine • Writer-director Valerie Veatch explores the origins of artificial intelligence and the power dynamic that explains them in this documentary looking at “the fantasies behind the hype” and what happens next.
If I Go Will They Miss Me • Lil Ant, 12, starts seeing surreal, almost spectral visions of boys drifting around his neighborhood — which may reveal a link between himself and his father. Written and directed by Walter Thompson-Hernández, the movie stars Danielle Brooks (“The Color Purple,” “A Minecraft Movie”) and J. Alphonse Nicholson.
The Incomer • (United Kingdom) Siblings Isla (Gayle Rankin) and Sandy (Grant O’Rourke) hunt birds, talk to mythical beings and fend off outsiders on their remote Scottish island. Then an awkward official, Daniel (Domhnall Gleeson), comes to try to relocate them. Written and directed by Louis Paxton, the film also stars Emun Elliott, Michelle Gomez and John Hannah.
Jaripeo • (Mexico, U.S., France) Directors Efrain Mojica and Rebecca Zweig enter Michoacán’s hypermasculine rodeos in this documentary examining the spectacle and sport from a queer perspective.
Night Nurse • In writer-director Georgia Bernstein’s thriller, an innocent nurse (Cemre Paksoy) gets involved with a mysterious patient in a retirement community that has been hit by perverse scam calls. The cast includes Bruce McKenzie, Eléonore Hendricks, Colleen Rose Trundy and Mimi Rogers.
TheyDream • After devastating losses, director William David Caballero and his mother try to rebuild 20 years of chronicling their Puerto Rican family — through tears, laughter and animation. Caballero wrote the documentary with co-writers Erin Ploss-Camoamor and Elaine del Valle.
zi • The writer-director Kogonada, whose 2017 debut “Columbus” and 2022 science-fiction drama “After Yang” both won awards at Sundance, returns with a story of a young woman in Hong Kong haunted by visions of her future self. Then she meets a stranger who changes her night, and maybe her life. The cast includes Michelle Mao, Haley Lu Richardson and Jin Ha.
Also on Sundance’s streaming platform
Five more titles — three from the “Premieres” program, two from the “Midnight” program — also will be available for streaming on Sundance’s online portal during the last four days of the festival, Jan. 29 to Feb. 1.
The Best Summer • (U.S., Australia, Indonesia, Thailand) Director Tamra Davis takes an immersive look at ‘90s rock icons in their prime in this documentary. The roster of musical acts includes the Beastie Boys, Sonic Youth, Foo Fighters, Pavement, Rancid, Beck, The Amps and Bikini Kill. (Midnight program.)
Chasing Summer • Comedian Iliza Shlesinger wrote and stars in this movie, playing Jamie, who moves back to her Texas home town after she loses her job and boyfriend — and runs into people from high school who once again turn her life upside down. Directed by Josephine Decker, a Sundance alum (“Madeline’s Madeline” in 2018, “Shirley” in 2020), the movie also stars Garrett Wareing, Lola Tung, Cassidy Freeman, Tom Welling and Megan Mullally. (Premieres program.)
Jane Elliott Against the World • Director Judd Ehrlich profiles Jane Elliott, an Iowa teacher who made national news with a 1968 lesson in discrimination by dividing the blue-eyed kids and the brown-eyed kids in her all-white third-grade class. Ehrlich interviews Elliott, now 92, about the current fights around race, history and power. (Premieres program.)
Rock Springs • (U.S., Canada) In writer-director Vera Maio’s horror movie, a girl (Aria Kim) moves to a new town with her mother and grandmother after the death of her father. There, she finds something monstrous in the town’s history and in the woods behind their house. The cast includes Kelly Marie Tran (“Star Wars: The Last Jedi”), Benedict Wong (“Doctor Strange”), Jimmy O. Yang and Fiona Fu. (Midnight program.)
Time and Water • (U.S., Iceland) Documentarian Sara Dosa, whose “Fire of Love” won an editing award at Sundance in 2022, profiles Icelandic writer Andri Snær Magnason, who faces the death of his country’s glaciers and the loss of his grandparents by turning his archives into a time capsule. (Premieres program.)
In-person only screenings
Films in the following programs, except for the five already mentioned, will only be shown during Sundance at in-person screenings in Park City and Salt Lake City.
‘Premieres’ category
The movies with the biggest stars and budgets at Sundance — and the ones more likely to later appear at your local multiplex or on streaming platforms.
The AI Doc: Or How I Became an Apocaloptimist • Director Daniel Roher, whose documentary “Navalny” won awards at Sundance and the Oscars after its 2022 premiere, returns with this look at artificial intelligence’s dangers and its promise. (Look for Roher’s narrative debut, “Tuner,” in the Spotlight section.)
Antiheroine • (United Kingdom, U.S.) Directors Edward Lovelace and James Hall profile singer, songwriter and actor Courtney Love, now sober and releasing her first new music in more than a decade. (Love in 1998 threatened to sue the festival if programmers didn’t remove the documentary “Kurt and Courtney,” about her marriage to the late Kurt Cobain. Sundance complied, and director Nick Broomfield took his film to the upstart Slamdunk Film Festival on Park City’s Main Street.)
The Brittney Griner Story • The WNBA star is profiled in director Alexandria Stapleton’s documentary, which explores how one of the sport’s best players had to play basketball outside the U.S., leading to her detainment in Russia, her determination to get free and her advocacy for others’ release.
Chasing Summer • (See streaming list above)
The Disciple • (U.S., United Kingdom) How did the Wu-Tang Clan make an album, “Once Upon a Time in Shaolin,” and only produce one copy? And how did that copy end up in the hands of one of America’s most loathed millionaires? Director Joanna Natasegara explains in this documentary.
Frank & Louis • (Switzerland, United Kingdom) An inmate serving a life sentence gets assigned to care for aging inmates with Alzheimer’s and dementia and begins a friendship with an aging inmate. Directed and written by Petra Biondina Volpe, it stars Kingsley Ben-Adir (“Bob Marley: One Love”), Rob Morgan, René Pérez Joglar, Rosalind Eleazar and Indira Varma.
Gail Daughtry and the Celebrity Sex Pass • Zoey Deutch plays Gail, a Midwesterner who makes a “free celebrity pass” deal with her fiancé. When she finds out he actually used his pass, Gail heads to Hollywood to even things out. Directed by David Wain (“Wet Hot American Summer”), who co-wrote with Ken Marino (who appears in the movie), the comedy also stars Jon Hamm, John Slattery, Miles Gutierrez-Riley and Ben Wang.
The Gallerist • (U.S., France) Natalie Portman stars in this comedy as a gallery owner who devises a scheme to sell a dead body at the Art Basel Miami exhibition. Cathy Yan, who directed the DC movie “Birds of Prey” and whose 2018 debut “Dead Pigs” premiered at Sundance, directs a script by James Pedersen. The cast includes Jenna Ortega, Sterling K. Brown, Zach Galifianakis, Da’Vine Joy Randolph, Catherine Zeta-Jones and Charli XCX.
Give Me the Ball! • Liz Garbus, a Sundance veteran, and Elizabeth Wolff direct this profile of tennis legend Billie Jean King, featuring rare archival footage and candid interviews with King and those closest to her.
The History of Concrete • Director John Wilson, after attending a workshop on how to write and sell a Hallmark movie, applies those lessons to sell a documentary about concrete.
I Want Your Sex • Independent-film legend Gregg Araki returns to Sundance as writer and director of this comedy-thriller centered on naive Elliot (Cooper Hoffman), who gets a job with a provocateur artist, Erika Tracy (Olivia Wilde), who chooses him to be her sexual muse. The cast includes Mason Gooding, Chase Sui Wonders, Daveed Diggs and Charli XCX. (Araki’s 2005 drama “Mysterious Skin” is also screening at Sundance this year, in the “Park City Legacy” series of restored classic independent films.)
In the Blink of an Eye • Director Andrew Stanton (“Finding Nemo,” “John Carter”) and screenwriter Colby Day collaborate on three storylines spanning thousands of years, that, according to the press notes, “intersect and reflect on hope, connection and the circle of life.” The cast includes Rashida Jones, Kate McKinnon, Daveed Diggs, Jorge Vargas and Tanaya Beatty. The movie has been named the winner of the Alfred P. Sloan Feature Film Prize, which goes to a film about science or scientists.
The Invite • Olivia Wilde directs and costars in this comedy, a remake of the 2020 Spanish film “The People Upstairs.” A couple on the verge of splitting up is invited by their upstairs neighbors to take part in their weekly orgies. The script is by Rashida Jones and Will McCormack and the cast features Wilde, Seth Rogen, Penelope Cruz and Edward Norton.
Jane Elliott Against the World • (See streaming list above)
Knife: The Attempted Murder of Salman Rushdie • Documentarian Alex Gibney — whose history with Sundance dates back to his 2005 debut, “Enron: The Smartest Guys in the Room” — adapts author Salman Rushdie’s recent memoir, describing the knife attack that nearly killed him. With footage captured by Rushdie’s wife, Rachel Elizabeth Griffiths, the film follows Rushdie’s physical rehabilitation and the restoration of his optimism.
The Last First: Winter K2 • Director Amir Bar-Lev, another Sundance veteran (“My Kid Could Paint That,” “The Tillman Story”), chronicles the race for mountaineering’s last unclaimed prize, climbing K2 in winter — and how the effort left five people dead and exposed problems within the climbing industry.
The Moment • Singer Charli XCX plays herself in this mockumentary, which purports to capture a rising pop star as she prepares for her first arena tour. Director Aidan Zamiri co-wrote the script with Bertie Brandes. The cast includes Rosanna Arquette, Kate Berlant, Jamie Demetriou, Hailey Benton Gates and Alexander Skarsgård. The movie is being released in theaters Jan. 30 by A24.
The Oldest Person in the World • Director Sam Green looks at the record no one holds for too long in this decade-long global journey that considers what the record says about time, fate and the human experience.
Once Upon a Time in Harlem • Legendary documentarian William Greaves and his son, David Greaves, are the credited directors for this film — released more than a decade after the elder’s death. It centers on what William Greaves considered the most important event he ever caught on film: A 1972 party he arranged with living members of the Harlem Renaissance.
The Only Living Pickpocket in New York • Noah Segan wrote and directed this crime thriller, in which a veteran pickpocket must travel across New York to reclaim stolen goods in a botched theft. The cast includes John Turturro, Giancarlo Esposito, Will Price, Tatiana Maslany and Steve Buscemi.
Paralyzed by Hope: The Maria Bamford Story • Bamford is a stand-up comic known for turning her mental health journey into material. Here, directors Judd Apatow (“The 40-Year-Old Virgin”) and Neil Berkeley create a portrait of an artist turning her personal struggle into art.
Queen of Chess • Documentarian Rory Kennedy, another Sundance veteran (“Ghosts of Abu Ghraib”) profiles Judit Polgár, a Hungarian-born chess prodigy who battled her father, the champion Garry Kasparov and the game’s patriarchy to become the greatest woman chess player ever.
See You When I See You • A comedy writer (Cooper Raiff) battles PTSD after the tragic death of her sister (Kaitlyn Dever) in this comedy-drama directed by Jay Duplass and written by Adam Cayton-Holland. The cast includes David Duchovny, Hope Davis, Lucy Boynton and Ariela Barer.
The S---heads • Writer-director Macon Blair, whose “I Don’t Feel at Home in This World Anymore” won Sundance’s Grand Jury Prize in 2017, returns with this comedy. Two not-so-bright guys (Dave Franco, O’Shea Jackson Jr.) are hired to take a rich teen (Mason Thames from “How to Train Your Dragon”) to rehab, but things spiral out of control. The cast includes Kiernan Shipka, Nicholas Braun and Peter Dinklage.
Time and Water • (See streaming list above)
Troublemaker • (South Africa, U.S., United Kingdom) Director Antoine Fuqua (“Training Day,” “The Equalizer” trilogy) chronicles the fight against apartheid, using recordings Nelson Mandela made while writing his autobiography, “Long Walk to Freedom.”
The Weight • This action drama is set in Oregon in 1933, focusing on a man (Ethan Hawke) sent to a brutal work camp where the warden (Russell Crowe) offers him a chance at early release — and a reunion with his daughter — if he smuggles gold through the deadly wilderness. Directed by Padraic McKinley, the script was written by Matthew Booi, Matthew Chapman and Shelby Gaines. The cast includes Julia Jones, Austin Amelio, Avi Nash and Sam Hazeldine.
When a Witness Recants • Longtime documentarian Dawn Porter (“Gideon’s Army,” “John Lewis: Good Trouble”) tells of author Ta-Nehisi Coates, who in 1983 learned that a 14-year-old boy was killed in his Baltimore middle school. When Coates looked into the case, he discovered that three teens were wrongfully convicted of the crime and spent 36 years in prison.
Wicker • Olivia Colman stars in this offbeat romantic comedy as a lonely woman in a fishing village who asks a basketmaker to weave her a husband. Written and directed by Eleanor Wilson and Alex Huston Fischer, the cast includes Alexander Skarsgård, Peter Dinklage, Elizabeth Debicki, Marli Siu and Nabhaan Rizwan.
‘Midnight’ category
The festival’s home for genre films: Horror, gross-out comedy and music films among them.
The Best Summer • (See streaming list above)
Buddy • A girl (Delaney Quinn) and her friends have to escape a kids TV show, in this horror movie, directed by Casper Kelly and written by Kelly and Jamie King. The cast includes Cristin Milioti, Topher Grace, Keegan-Michael Key, Michael Shannon and Patton Oswalt.
Leviticus • (Australia) In this horror-thriller by writer-director Adrian Chiarella, two teen boys must free themselves from a violent entity that appears as the person they most desire — each other. The cast includes Joe Bird, Stacy Clausen, Mia Wasikowska, Jeremy Blewitt, Ewan Leslie and Davida McKenzie.
Mum, I’m Alien Pregnant • (New Zealand) An underachiever discovers she’s been impregnated by an alien and must deal with skeptical doctors, a useless “baby daddy” and her oversharing mother. Written and directed by Thunderlips (the name of a filmmaking team), the movie stars Hannah Lynch, Yvette Parsons, Arlo Green and Jackie van Beek.
Rock Springs • (See streaming list above)
Saccharine • (Australia) In writer-director Natalie Erika James’ horror film, medical student Hana (Midori Francis) takes part in an obscure weight-loss craze — eating human ashes — and is terrorized by a hungry ghost. Also starring Danielle Macdonald and Madeleine Madden.
undertone • (Canada) Evy (Nina Kiri), the host of a paranormal podcast, is sent mysterious and terrifying recordings that soon haunt her in director-writer Ian Tuason’s horror thriller. Also starring Adam DiMarco, Michèle Duquet, Keana Lyn Bastidas and Jeff Yung.
Episodic
Entertainment in smaller bites — multiple episodes made for TV or streaming.
Bait • (United Kingdom, U.S.) Riz Ahmed plays a struggling actor who, after auditioning for the role of a lifetime, sees his life spin out of control. The cast includes Guz Khan, Sheeba Chaddha, Sajid Hasan and Aasiya Sha. The first three episodes of the six-episode run will be screened.
The Screener • Directors Jim Cummings and PJ McCabe direct this series about an independent film screener that is leaked from a talent agency. The cast includes Shereen Lani Younes, Joe Rudnitsky, B.K. Cannon, Boni Mata, Shaun Brown and Nicolette Doke. The first three episodes of the five-episode series will be screened.
Fiction Pilot Showcase • Three pilot episodes: “FreeLance,” directed by the Turner Brothers, in which a young filmmaker documents the making of his first movie; “Soft Boil,” written and directed by Alec Goldberg, in which a woman (Camille Wormser) takes a job as a nanny and gets a surprise; and “Worried,” directed by Nicole Holofcener (“Enough Said,” “You Hurt My Feelings“), about a couple in crisis.
Nonfiction Pilot Showcase • Two pilot episodes: “Murder 101,” directed by Stacey Lee,” in which a case that baffled Tennessee’s best detectives was cracked by a high school sociology class; and “The Oligarch and the Art Dealer” (Denmark, France, U.S.), directed by Andreas Dalsgaard, about the battle between a Russian oligarch and the Swiss art dealer who once secured him masterpieces from da Vinci to Rothko.
Spotlight
A program featuring movies that have played at other major film festivals.
Broken English • (United Kingdom) A documentary profiling music icon Marianne Faithfull, written and directed by Jane Pollard and Iain Forsyth.
Tuner • (Canada, U.S.) Documentarian Daniel Roher (“Navalny”) directs his first narrative film, co-writing with Robert Ramsey. It’s the story of a piano tuner (Leo Woodall) with a unique hearing condition that gives him an ability to crack safes. Also starring Dustin Hoffman, Havana Rose Liu, Lior Raz, Tovah Feldshuh and Jean Reno.
Family Matinee
Formerly the “Kids” program (and, briefly, “Sundance Kids”), this is where indie movies for all ages can be found.
Cookie Queens • In director Alysa Nahmias’ documentary, four ambitious girls work to become “Cookie Queen” during Girl Scout Cookie season, an $800 million business. This is the Salt Lake City Celebration Film, screening on July 23 at the Rose Wagner Performing Arts Center.
Fing! • (Australia, United Kingdom) A determined little girl (Iona Bell) and her parents must battle an entitled viscount (Taika Waititi) to protect Fing, a furry, one-eyed creature that could be exploited in the wrong hands. Directed by Jeffrey Walker and written by David Walliams and Kevin Cecil, the movie stars Mia Wasikowska, Blake Harrison, David Walliams and Penelope Wilton.
Special Screenings
The Story of Documentary Film • (United Kingdom) Filmmaker Mark Cousins follows his 2011 masterwork, the 15-part “The Story of Film: An Odyssey,” with a 16-part series that traces the history of documentary filmmaking.