The Sundance Film Festival is all about discovery, that’s why I wouldn’t worry too much about this afternoon’s announced lineup for the 2022 edition of the Park City event. Then again, having marquee directors show up to screen their new films in the Premieres section of the fest has been a much-welcome bonus in recent years. Alas, the festival going digital probably has something to do with that. And so, that means the biggest-named director set to premiere their film at next January’s edition will be .. Lena Dunham?
Yes, Dunham’s “Sharp Stick” will premiere at Sundance 2022, her first film since 2010’s “Tiny Furniture.” Dunham will have two directorial efforts released next year, the other one, titled “Catherine, Called Birdy,” is supposed to be atrociously bad.
Cooper Raiff, who directed the endearing SXSW winner “Shithouse” will be in U.S. Dramatic Competition for “Cha Cha Real Smooth,” which stars Dakota Johnson. “Dual” by Riley Stearns will most definitely be on my radar since I adored his last film, the slapstick dark comedy “The Art of Self Defense." There must also be something very wrong with Michel Hazanavicius’s “Final Cut” since the French filmmaker is bypassing a Cannes premiere for Sundance, and possibly Berlin? The film sounds goofy and is a remake of “One Cut of the Dead.” Jesse’s Eisenberg’s directorial debut, “When You Finish Saving the World,” will be one of the very few A24 titles premiering at the fest this year. A test-screening earlier this year had some semi-positive reactions.
I’m honestly not worried about the lack of big names. The above will most likely not be the highlights of the 2022 edition of Sundance. Again, it’s all about the discovery and there are plenty of films, almost 80 of them to choose from this year.
I had skepticism going into this year’s all-virtual Sundance, but count me as wholly impressed by the way they pulled it off. This should be the way every other festival does it digitally. The streaming was smooth, the sense of community very present and the quality of the movies was, surprisingly, decent. It ended up delivering “Flee, “Passing,” “Summer of Soul,” “CODA,” and “Mass” — all critically-acclaimed and all from unproven filmmakers.
The dates announced for next year’s event will be from Jan. 20-30. It is set to happen both in-person and online.
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