Sundance Film Festival’s 40th Edition Unveils Diverse International Gems

For 40 years, the Sundance Film Festival has been the premiere launching pad for thousands of independent films, filmmakers and actors. It’s no surprise this year- the festival’s 40th edition, the Sundance Institute received a record 17,435 submissions from 153 countries. 90 of those titles were chosen for screenings, which will run from Jan. 18-28 at venues in Salt Lake City and Park City.

Included in those 90 selected films are nearly two dozen international films in the dramatic and documentary categories. But what made these films stand out above the rest? The programmers from the Sundance Film Festival told us what they saw in these films, and why they think Festival goers will love them too.

Brief History of a Family (China/France/Denmark/Qatar)

A middle-class family’s fate becomes intertwined with their only son’s enigmatic new friend in post one-child policy China, putting unspoken secrets, unmet expectations, and untended emotions under the microscope. In his feature debut, writer and director Jianjie Lin elegantly unfurls a story where, just under the surface of family dinners, polite manners, and daily school and extracurricular activities, lie dark truths and hidden yearnings threatening to explode into sight.

“We were struck by just how vividly contemporary Jianjie Lin’s Brief History of a Family is in the way it looks at an urban middle-class family and the legacy of China’s one-child policy through the lens of a taught, slow-simmer suspense drama that has an edgy, unnerving tension throughout.” - John Nein

Girls Will Be Girls (India/France/USA/Norway)

In a strict boarding school nestled in the Himalayas, 16-year-old Mira discovers desire and romance. But her sexual, rebellious awakening is disrupted by her mother who never got to come of age herself. With precision and sensitivity, first-time feature director Shuchi Talati invites us into the lives of characters she intimately understands and deciphers, allowing us to experience adolescent sexual discovery with all its conflicting emotions.

“Shuchi Talati’s Girls Will Be Girls explores the universal themes of coming of age and the complexity of mother-daughter relationships with a sensitively rendered cultural specificity that totally upended our expectations of what to expect in a tale of Indian girlhood. It’s a refreshing, nuanced portrait of female desire and empowerment.” - H.Z

Agent of Happiness (Bhutan/Hungary)

Amber is one of the many agents working for the Bhutanese government to measure people’s happiness levels among the remote Himalayan mountains. But will he find his own along the way? Viewers will follow Amber as he investigates various expressions of contentment across different households and lifestyles while navigating his own struggle as a Nepali minority. The holistic philosophy at the heart of the survey he conducts challenges the conventional metrics of fulfillment and success, often provoking some deeper soul-searching.

“Following an agent of the Bhutanese government as he surveys a range of people about their sense of contentment, Arun Bhattarai and Dorottya Zurbo’s Agent of Happiness is a thoroughly enjoyable exploration of the idea of fulfillment in a country that famously has made it a priority to promote nationwide happiness above everything.” - B.T.

“Malu” (Brazil)

Few things transcends the lines of time and culture than those stories about love - and complicated mothers. A mercurial, unemployed actress living with her conservative mother in a precarious house in a Rio de Janeiro slum — tries to deal with her strained relationship with her own adult daughter while surviving on memories of her glorious artistic past.

“Pedro Freire has lovingly crafted a film that is full of life and creativity as its flamboyant protagonist, Malu. We were fascinated by the larger-than-life dramatics between three generations of complicated women sharing one run-down house in the slums of Rio, and deeply enamored by the vibrant, moving performances of its exquisite female-led cast.” -H.Z.

“Coup d’Etat” (Belgium/France/Netherlands)

In 1960, United Nations: the Global South ignites a political earthquake, musicians Abbey Lincoln and Max Roach crash the Security Council, Nikita Khrushchev bangs his shoe denouncing America’s color bar, while the U.S. dispatches jazz ambassador Louis Armstrong to the Congo to deflect attention from its first African post-colonial coup.

Director Johan Grimonprez (Double Take, 2009) returns to Sundance with this magnificent essay film that vibrantly embodies the historic and continually evolving colonial machinations that underpin what author and Congolese writer In Koli Jean Bofane refers to as an ever-evolving “algorithm of Congo Inc.”

“Johan Grimonprez’s Soundtrack to a Coup d’Etat is a masterful, thought-provoking film that provides insight into global politics, focused on 1960 and the intersection of Cold War intrigue, the rise of African independence from European colonialism, and the US Civil Rights movement - and the unexpected role jazz music played in all of this.” B.T.

“Black Box Diaries” (JAPAN/UNITED STATES/UNITED KINGDOM)

Journalist Shiori Ito embarks on a courageous investigation of her own sexual assault in an improbable attempt to prosecute her high-profile offender. Her quest becomes a landmark case in Japan, exposing the country’s outdated judicial and societal systems. Black Box Diaries was born out of Ito’s need to document her investigation — a response to the authorities’ refusal to pursue her case in a meaningful manner. More importantly, it was a way to journal her fears and thoughts as she anticipated the backlash that followed.

“Journalist Shiori Ito makes a strong directorial debut with Black Box Diaries, a sensitively told and very personal reckoning with her own experience of sexual assault and how its investigation exposed troubling flaws within the Japanese criminal justice system.”- B.T.

“Sujo” (Mexico / United States / France)

When a cartel gunman is killed, he leaves behind Sujo, his beloved 4-year-old son. The shadow of violence surrounds Sujo during each stage of his life in the isolated Mexican countryside. As he grows into a man, Sujo finds that fulfilling his father’s destiny may be inescapable.

“Sujo is a perfect embodiment of what’s exciting about Mexican cinema right now; it’s a deeply-poetic film that completely reframes stories of cartel violence in order to focus on a coming-of-story about carving out his own moral character in a way that’s so full of humanity and emotion.” - J.N.

Residents looking to catch as many screenings as possible in the valley should try  The Salt Lake City Pass. With just one pass for the entire Festival, ticket holders will get priority access to unlimited films screenings in Salt Lake City theaters. Enjoy screenings of award-winning films, select screenings with live introductions and Q&As by filmmakers, short films, and episodic programs with this pass.

Visit https://festival.sundance.org/tickets/ to purchase your tickets today.