The countdown to Sundance Film Festival 2018 has officially begun.
The festival announced Wednesday that it will screen 110 feature-length films from 29 countries in January.
True to Sundance’s roots in growing filmmakers, 47 of the films are by first-time filmmakers (30 in competition).
The Festival hosts screenings in Park City, Salt Lake City and at Sundance Mountain Resort from Jan. 18–28. The festival drew 72,000 attendees in 2017 and generated $151.5 million in economic activity for Utah.
“The work of independent storytellers can challenge and possibly change culture, illuminating our world’s imperfections and possibilities,” Robert Redford, President and Founder of Sundance Institute, said in a release. “This year’s Festival is full of artfully-told stories that provoke thought, drive empathy and allow the audience to connect, in deeply personal ways, to the universal human experience.”
The U.S. dramatic competition includes:
—American Animals, the story of four young men who mistake their lives for a movie and attempt an audacious art heist.
—Blaze, directed by Ethan Hawke, the film reimagines the life of Blaze Foley, a songwriting legend of the Texas Outlaw Music movement.
– Burden that chronicles a Klansman who falls in love with a single mom who forces him to confront his senseless hatred.
—The Kindergarten Teacher, with Maggie Gyllenhaal (show above), is a drama about a Staten Island teacher who discovers one of her students is a prodigy.
—Wildlife is a dramatic portrait of a Montana family in crisis, based on the novel by Richard Ford, with Jake Gyllenhaal and Carey Mulligan.
The U.S. Documentary Competition includes:
—Dark Money follows the contributions made possible by the U.S. Supreme Court’s Citizens United ruling and Montana’s attempt to push back.
– The Devil We Know documents a group of West Virginia citizens who take on a powerful corporation that is dumping a toxic chemical.
— Hal follows Hal Ashby’s obsessive genius that resulted in a string of Oscar-winning classics, including Harold and Maude, Shampoo and Being There.
For more information and details on the lineup go to sundance.org/festival.
