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More highlights from the 2024 Sundance Film Festival
The 2024 Sundance Film Festival concludes this weekend with in-person screenings in Park City and Salt Lake City, Utah, and with online screenings available across the U.S., ending Sunday, January 28.
Highlights of the festival, from among the 81 documentaries and narrative films that are making their bows, are presented below. [Click here to read reviews of other highlights, some of which are also available to stream online though Sunday.]
Courtesy of Sundance Institute
“A Real Pain” (World Premiere)
Jesse Eisenberg wrote and directed this disarming and poignant comedy of cousins reconnecting on a tour to Poland, to visit the home that their recently-departed grandmother had left behind decades before. Despite their brotherly bond, David (Eisenberg) and Benji (a charming Kieran Culkin) use their reunion to dissect their personal traumas – and the greater societal traumas that the tour group explores during its visit to the sites of Jewish ghettoes and concentration camps.
Smartly shot and edited, it’s a funny and touching discourse on the notion of guilt – as family members, as Jewish survivors of the Holocaust – and how it plays into finding one’s place in the 21st century. With Jennifer Grey, Will Sharpe and Kurt Egyiawan. Winner, Waldo Salt Screenwriting Award. Screens January 28. Streams online through Jan. 28. To be released by Searchlight Pictures later in 2024.
Courtesy of Sundance Institute
“Kneecap” (World Premiere)
Winner of the Audience Award in the festival’s NEXT sidebar, “Kneecap” is the buoyant, quirky, quasi-fictional origin story of Kneecap, a hip-hop trio from Belfast that proudly performs in the Irish language – a stick in the eye to the British in Northern Ireland. Featuring the group’s members playing versions of themselves, the film is a rambunctious tale of anti-establishment musical rebellion, in which a pair of drug dealers, after a chance encounter with a music teacher in a police station, become the unlikeliest advocates for rescuing the mother tongue, by using it to sing about sex and drugs.
In addition to Kneecap members Naoise Ó Cairealláin, JJ Ó Dochartaigh and Liam Óg Ó Hannaidh, the film costars Michael Fassbender as an absent father – hiding from the police as part of an “operation” serving the Republican cause – whose void is filled by a son armed not with bullets but with rap lyrics (which the police may think are even more dangerous). Filmmaker Rich Peppiatt captures some of the same spirit of Danny Boyle’s “Trainspotting,” and even if this legend of Kneecap doesn’t match the reality, it’s still pretty damn entertaining. Screens January 28. Streams online through Jan. 28. To be released by Sony Pictures Classics.
Photo by Cine Diaz/Courtesy of Sundance Institute
“And So It Begins” (World Premiere)
“And So It Begins” captures the 2022 presidential campaign in the Philippines to succeed the autocratic Rodrigo Duterte, pitting a progressive woman running against the son of dictator Ferdinand Marcos, who had been deposed decades earlier by the People Power Revolution. We follow vice president Leni Robredo, the progressive candidate and Duterte critic, who is subjected to sexism and smears about her personal life; and we see the disinformation being promulgated online, to convince voters that the Marcos dictatorship was actually a good thing. We also follow Filipino-American journalist Maria Ressa, a Nobel Peace Prize-winner who was prosecuted by the Duterte government, of which she had been highly critical.
While it’s easy to be jaded about political campaigns, there is something both familiar and distressing when watching Filipinos sing Beatles song with lyrics rewritten to accommodate a candidate. But when we see journalists train for how to respond to government forces raiding their offices and threatening arrest, it’s a reminder that democracy is extremely fragile and, in some societies, on life support. Screens January 28. Streams online through Jan. 28.
Photo by Justine Yeung; courtesy of Sundance Instutute
“Love Me” (World Premiere)
The most whimsical storyline at the festival, this science fiction romance stars Kristen Stewart and Steven Yeun in a post-apocalyptic tale of two artificial intelligences – a buoy and a satellite – who “meet cute” as they pursue their programmed functions long after humanity has disappeared. Using the online traces left behind by a pair of social media influencers, “Me” and “Iam” try to recreate themselves as humans engaged in typical human activities, while seeking an answer to the question: What is life?
Though mostly animated, the film depicts the buoy and satellite as beings yearning – over the course of their existence spanning a billion years – to experience the pleasure and pain of consciousness, whether it’s touching water or tasting ice cream, or understanding what it means to hear someone say, “I love you.”
Writer-directors Sam and Andy Zuchero take a surreal premise and create a wry chamber piece involving lovers navigating boundaries, distance, attention, and their sense of purpose. Even with its nods to “Wall-E,” “Love Me” is an original expression of finding one’s identity in the gaze of a lover’s eyes (or, as the case may be here, a lens). Winner, Alfred P. Sloan Science-In-Film Initiative Feature Film Award. Screens in-person Jan. 28. Streams online through Jan. 28.
Courtesy of Sundance Institute
“In the Land of Brothers” (World Premiere)
With their first feature, Iranian filmmakers Raha Amirfazli and Alireza Ghasemi tell three interconnected stories of an extended Afghan family living as refugees in Iran, where they are viewed with suspicion and face deportation, separation, or violence at the hands of police. In the first tale, a student without papers, routinely detained by police to be used as forced labor, catches the eyes of an officer whose attention suggests an erotic attraction. In the second, a woman hired by a wealthy Iranian family as a live-in maid tries to hide the death of her husband, fearing she would be deported if the authorities become involved. In the third, a father learns of the death of his son, and tries to compassionately hide it from the young man’s mother.
While the moral choices made by the characters – colored by their fears of living a life in the shadows – are made to protect their loved ones, the cost of those choices is immense and life-changing. Amirfazli and Ghasemi, who won the festival’s directing award in the World Cinema Dramatic category, gift us with an emotional glimpse into the lives of refugees, steeped in irony and grief. The performances are stellar all around, with a script that consistently avoids predictability. Streams online through Jan. 28.
“Handling the Undead” (World Premiere)
Renata Reinsve, whose breakout role was playing “The Worst Person in the World” in the 2021 hit from Norway, stars in this unsettling film about the resurrection of the dead – one of the more quietly unnerving entries in the zombie genre.
She plays Anna, still mourning the loss of her young son, who is suddenly, mysteriously reanimated and returned to her. And the child isn’t alone. While the cause of the strange revivals of the dead is suggested by electrical phenomena, the emergence of a walking corpse, or a fatal accident victim suddenly alive again, are seen as a new beginning for loved ones who had accepted the permanence of death, rewriting their relationships with the undead.
Director Thea Hvistendahl, who cowrote the script with John Ajvide Lindqvist (based on his novel), avoids the more common movie tropes about zombies, and apart from one shock, imbues his film with a weighty sadness. Digging out a coffin to free the tapping person within may seem a heroic act, but it’s one that condemns that soul, and their loved ones, to a perpetual grief; and in the case of one elderly character, their return – and the caring attention paid her by her partner – suggests an allegory for the cruel burden of Alzheimer’s.
Winner, World Cinema Dramatic Special Jury Award for Original Music. Streams online through Jan. 28. To be released by Neon.
To watch a trailer for “Handling the Undead” click on the video player below:
Courtesy of Sundance Institute
“Lolla: The Story of Lollapalooza” (World Premiere)
For Gen X, Woodstock may have been a festival for Boomers, but it was also an inspiration for punk rockers in the late ’80s fighting barriers from major labels and mainstream radio. In this three-part documentary series, director Michael John Warren and Lollapalooza co-founder Perry Farrell explore how the collapse of Farrell’s alternative rock band Jane’s Addiction led to the synthesis of a farewell tour that invited several other bands from the microcosm of punk, industrial, metal and rap (including Nine Inch Nails, Siouxsie and the Banshees, Butthole Surfers, Henry Rollins Band, and Ice-T) to tour 20 cities – with activists for progressive causes tagging along.
With terrific archive footage interlaced with new interviews, “Lolla” captures the anti-corporate ethos of its founders (the aim being to present “live music from a dark place”), the mini-disasters of their fledgling multi-city touring operation (the heat in Phoenix melted NIN’s electronics), the introduction of young artists to new audiences, and the joyful exuberance of the crowds, who found in Lollapalooza a Woodstock all their own.
Parts one and two of this three-part series are available to stream online through Jan. 28. To be released later this year by Paramount+.
Photo by Wolfgang Held; courtesy of Sundance Institute
“War Game” (World Premiere)
The violent insurrection at the U.S. Capitol on January 6, 2021 – in which supporters of the losing presidential candidate sought to block the certification of Joe Biden’s win – failed to prevent the counting of Electoral College votes. But might insurrectionists succeed next time? In “War Game,” a bipartisan group of lawmakers, defense officials and policymakers participate in a role-playing exercise in which elements of the U.S. military join with a losing presidential candidate to usurp Congress’ certification of the election in January 2025. Seated in a mock White House situation room, they contend with mutinous National Guard troops, white nationalists, fiery propaganda videos on social media, and the fine strictures of the law. They have six hours to avoid a civil war.
A stress test on American institutions and on democracy itself, “War Game” plays out its chilling scenario like a thriller, in which the mock president, cabinet and Defense Department must decide how to protect and defend the Constitution without subverting it. Not available to stream online. Theatrical release not yet announced.
Despite losing his boxing match to Jake Paul, Mike Tyson in a social media post Saturday said he had “no regrets” to getting “in ring one last time.”
The boxing legend was defeated by social media star Jake Paul in a highly anticipated fight on Friday night with an age difference of over three decades between the two contenders.
Netflix said Saturday that 60 million households worldwide tuned in to watch the match. The two fighters went eight full rounds, with each round two minutes long. Paul defeated Tyson by unanimous decision and the 27-year-old upset boxer and 58-year-old former heavyweight champion hugged afterward.
Paul was expected to earn about $40 million from the fight, and Tyson was expected to take around $20 million for the fight, according to DraftKings and other online reports.
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Tyson said on his social media that “this is one of those situations when you lost but still won. I’m grateful for last night.”
The fight almost didn’t happen after Tyson experienced an ulcer flare-up while on a plane in March. He addressed his illness Saturday, writing that he “almost died in June.” He said he had eight blood transfusions and “lost half my blood and 25lbs in hospital and had to fight to get healthy to fight so I won.”
Tyson retired from boxing in 2005 after a 20-year career. He last fought in a 2020 exhibition match against former four-division world champ Roy Jones Jr.
“To have my children see me stand toe to toe and finish 8 rounds with a talented fighter half my age in front of a packed Dallas Cowboy stadium is an experience that no man has the right to ask for. Thank you,” he said.
Alex Sundby and
contributed to this report.
In their final meeting, China’s leader Xi Jinping told U.S. President Biden that his nation was “ready to work with a new administration,” as President-elect Donald Trump prepares to take over.
The two leaders gathered Saturday on the sidelines of the annual Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation summit. Mr. Biden was expected to urge Xi to dissuade North Korea from further deepening its support for Russia’s war on Ukraine. It marked their first in-person meeting since they met in Northern California last November.
Without mentioning Trump’s name, Xi appeared to signal his concern that the incoming president’s protectionist rhetoric on the campaign trail could send the U.S.-China relationship into another valley.
“China is ready to work with a new U.S. administration to maintain communication, expand cooperation and manage differences so as to strive for a steady transition of the China-U.S. relationship for the benefit of the two peoples,” Xi said through an interpreter.
LEAH MILLIS/POOL/AFP via Getty Images
Mr. Biden, meanwhile, spoke in broader brushstrokes about where the relationship has gone and reflected not just on the past four years, but on their long relationship.
“Over the past four years, China-U.S. relations have experienced ups and downs, but with the two of us at the helm, we have also engaged in fruitful dialogues and cooperation, and generally achieved stability,” he said.
Mr. Biden and Xi, with top aides surrounding them, gathered around a long rectangle of tables in an expansive conference room at Lima’s Defines Hotel and Conference Center.
There’s much uncertainty about what lies ahead in the U.S.-China relationship under Trump, who campaigned promising to levy 60% tariffs on Chinese imports.
Bobby Djavaheri, president of Los Angeles-based Yedi Houseware Appliances — which manufactures its products in China — told CBS News in an interview this week that such tariffs “would decimate our business, but not only our business. It would decimate all small businesses that rely on importing.”
Trump has also proposed revoking China’s Most Favored Nation trade status, phasing out all imports of essential goods from China and banning China from buying U.S. farmland.
Already, many American companies, including Nike and eyewear retailer Warby Parker, have been diversifying their sourcing away from China. Shoe brand Steve Madden says it plans to cut imports from China by as much as 45% next year.
White House national security adviser Jake Sullivan said Biden administration officials will advise the Trump team that managing the intense competition with Beijing will likely be the most significant foreign policy challenge they will face.
It’s a big moment for Mr. Biden as he wraps up more than 50 years in politics. He saw his relationship with Xi as among the most consequential on the international stage and put much effort into cultivating that relationship.
Mr. Biden and Xi first got to know each other on travels across the U.S. and China when both were vice presidents, interactions that both have said left a lasting impression.
“For over a decade, you and I have spent many hours together, both here and in China and in between. And I think we’ve spent a long time dealing with these issues,” Mr. Biden said Saturday.
But the last four years have presented a steady stream of difficult moments.
The FBI this week offered new details of a federal investigation into Chinese government efforts to hack into U.S. telecommunications networks. The initial findings have revealed a “broad and significant” cyberespionage campaign aimed at stealing information from Americans who work in government and politics.
U.S. intelligence officials also have assessed China has surged sales to Russia of machine tools, microelectronics and other technology that Moscow is using to produce missiles, tanks, aircraft and other weaponry for use in its war against Ukraine.
And tensions flared last year after Mr. Biden ordered the shooting down of a Chinese spy balloon that traversed the United States.
President-elect Donald Trump has selected Chris Wright, a campaign donor and fossil fuel executive, to serve as energy secretary in his upcoming, second administration.
CEO of Denver-based Liberty Energy, Wright is a vocal advocate of oil and gas development, including fracking, a key pillar of Trump’s quest to achieve U.S. “energy dominance” in the global market.
Trump also said in a statement Saturday that Wright will serve on the newly-created National Energy Council, which will be chaired by North Dakota Gov. Doug Burgum, Trump’s selection for secretary of the Interior.
Burgum will oversee a panel that crosses all executive branch agencies involved in energy permitting, production, generation, distribution, regulation and transportation, Trump said in a previous statement.
Wright has been one of the industry’s loudest voices against efforts to fight climate change and could give fossil fuels a boost, including quick action to end a year-long pause on natural gas export approvals by the Biden administration.
Wright also has criticized what he calls a “top-down” approach to climate by liberal and left-wing groups and said the climate movement around the world is “collapsing under its own weight.”
Consideration of Wright to head the administration’s energy department won support from influential conservatives, including oil and gas tycoon Harold Hamm.
Hamm, executive chairman of Oklahoma-based Continental Resources, a major shale oil company, is a longtime Trump supporter and adviser who played a key role on energy issues in Trump’s first term.
Hamm helped organize an event at Trump’s Mar-a-Lago resort in April where Trump reportedly asked industry leaders and lobbyists to donate $1 billion to Trump’s campaign, with the expectation that Trump would curtail environmental regulations if re-elected.
The Energy Department is responsible for advancing energy, environmental and nuclear security of the United States. The agency is in charge of maintaining the country’s nuclear weapons, oversees 17 national research laboratories and approves natural gas exports, as well as ensuring environmental cleanup of the nation’s nuclear weapons complex. It also promotes scientific and technological research.
Republican Sen. John Barrasso, who is expected to become chairman of the Senate Energy and Natural Resources Committee, said Trump promised bold choices for his Cabinet, and Wright’s nomination delivers.
“He’s s an energy innovator who laid the foundation for America’s fracking boom. After four years of America last energy policy, our country is desperate for a secretary (of energy) who understands how important American energy is to our economy and our national security,″ Barrasso said of Wright, adding: “Wright will help ensure America remains committed to an all-of-the-above energy policy that puts American families first.”
Thomas Pyle, president of the American Energy Alliance, a conservative group that supports fossil fuels, said Wright would be “an excellent choice” for Energy secretary. Pyle led Trump’s Energy Department’s transition team in 2016.
Liberty is a major energy industry service provider, with a focus on technology. Wright, who grew up in Colorado, earned undergraduate degree at MIT and did graduate work in electrical engineering at the University of California-Berkeley and MIT. In 1992, he founded Pinnacle Technologies, which helped launch commercial shale gas production through hydraulic fracturing, or fracking.
He later served as chairman of Stroud Energy, an early shale gas producer, before founding Liberty Resources in 2010.