The Sundance Film Festival has announced further additions to its lineup for 2023, including five more features that will there make their world premieres, and four award-winners from years past to receive encore special screenings.
Among the features world premiering at the upcoming edition of the Utah festival are Flora and Son and Stephen Curry: Underrated — the latest efforts from returning directors John Carney (Sing Street) and Peter Nicks (Homeroom). The former is a family drama with musical elements starring Eve Hewson, Joseph Gordon-Levitt and more that’s set to play in the Premieres section; the latter, a doc on the Golden State Warriors’ Stephen Curry from producers Ryan Coogler and Erick Peyton, which will play in Special Screenings.
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Also returning for another go-round at Sundance this year is filmmaker Madeleine Gavin (What I Want My Words to Do to You), whose film Beyond Utopia will screen in U.S. Documentary Competition. Then, there’s Savanah Leaf and Celine Song, who are set to make their Sundance debuts with the Premieres titles Earth Mama and Past Lives.
Films screening in-person at the upcoming fest for the first time, after premiering there online sometime in the last two years due to the Covid pandemic, include 2022 Best Picture Oscar winner CODA; 2022 Best Documentary Feature Oscar winner Summer of Soul; Maryna Er Gorbach’s Ukrainian war drama Klondike; and Daniel Roher’s doc Navalny on Russian opposition leader Alexei Navalny, which has made the Documentary Feature Oscar shortlist for 2023. Encore Special Screenings will take place in Park City from January 25-27, with many of the filmmakers in attendance for post-screening Q&A’s.
“These five new films round out our program in an exciting and emotional way. They are cinematic experiences that delight, entertain, and keep us on the edge of our seats,” said the Sundance Film Festival’s Director of Programming, Kim Yutani. “The works introduce us to new voices, along with directors we’re excited to welcome back to the Festival. Having four encore films play in Utah is truly a homecoming. While they reached audiences around the world, wherever they were, this year they will return to fuel the energy and excitement at the heart of the Sundance community.”
Sundance will this year take place in Park City and Salt Lake City, and at the Sundance Resort from January 19–29, with a large selection of films also to be made available online from the 24th to the 29th. Single tickets go on sale at this link on January 12 at 9 a.m. PT.
More information on today’s new additions to the 2023 Festival can be found below.
U.S. DOCUMENTARY COMPETITION
Beyond Utopia / U.S.A. (Director: Madeleine Gavin, Producers: Jana Edelbaum, Rachel Cohen, Sue Mi Terry) — Hidden camera footage augments this perilous high-stakes journey as we embed with families attempting to escape oppression, ultimately revealing a world most of us have never seen. World Premiere. Available online.
PREMIERES
Earth Mama / U.S.A (Director, Screenwriter, and Producer: Savanah Leaf, Producers: Cody Ryder, Shirley O’Connor, Medb Riordan, Sam Bisbee) — A pregnant single mother with two children in foster care embraces her Bay Area community as she fights to reclaim her family. Cast: Tia Nomore, Erika Alexander, Doechii, Sharon Duncan Brewster, Dominic Fike, Bokeem Woodbine. World Premiere. Fiction.
Flora and Son / U.S.A, Ireland (Director, Screenwriter, and Producer: John Carney, Producers: Anthony Bregman, Peter Cron, Rebecca O’Flanagan, Robert Walpole) — Single mom Flora is at war with her teenage son, petty thief Max. Encouraged by the police to find Max a hobby, she rescues a beat-up guitar from a dumpster and finds that one person’s trash can be a family’s salvation. Cast: Eve Hewson, Joseph Gordon-Levitt, Orén Kinlan, Jack Reynor. World Premiere. Fiction.
Past Lives / U.S.A (Director and Screenwriter: Celine Song, Producers: Christine Vachon, Pamela Koffler, David Hinojosa) — Nora and Hae Sung, two deeply connected childhood friends, are wrest apart after Nora’s family emigrates from South Korea. Two decades later, they are reunited in New York for one fateful week as they confront notions of destiny and love, and the choices that make a life. Cast: Greta Lee, Teo Yoo, John Magaro. World Premiere. Fiction.
SPECIAL SCREENINGS
Stephen Curry: Underrated / U.S.A. (Director and Producer: Peter Nicks, Producers: Ryan Coogler, Erick Peyton) — Stephen Curry is one of the most influential, dynamic, and unexpected players in the history of basketball. Intimate cinematic video, archival footage, and on-camera interviews reveal Curry’s rise from an undersized college player to a four-time NBA champion. World Premiere. Documentary.
ENCORE SPECIAL SCREENINGS
CODA / U.S.A, France (Director and Screenwriter: Siân Heder, Producers: Philippe Rousselet, Fabrice Gianfermi, Patrick Wachsberger) — As a CODA – Child of Deaf Adults – Ruby is the only hearing person in her deaf family. When the family’s fishing business is threatened, Ruby finds herself torn between pursuing her love of music and her fear of abandoning her parents. Cast: Emilia Jones, Eugenio Derbez, Troy Kotsur, Ferdia Walsh-Peelo, Daniel Durant, Marlee Matlin. World Premiered in the 2021 Sundance Film Festival’s U.S. Dramatic Competition section, where it won the U.S. Grand Jury Prize: Dramatic, Audience Award: U.S. Dramatic, and U.S. Dramatic Special Jury Award for Ensemble Cast.
Klondike / Ukraine, Turkey (Director, Screenwriter, and Producer: Maryna Er Gorbach, Producers: Mehmet Bahadir Er, Sviatoslav BulakovskyI) — The story of a Ukrainian family living on the border of Russia – Ukraine during the start of war. Irka refuses to leave her house even as the village gets captured by armed forces. Shortly after they find themselves at the center of an air crash catastrophe on July 17, 2014. Cast: Oxana Cherkashyna, Sergey Shadrin, Oleg Scherbina, Oleg Shevchuk, Artur Aramyan, Evgenij Efremov. World Premiered in the 2022 Sundance Film Festival’s World Cinema Dramatic Competition section, where it won the Directing Award: World Cinema Dramatic.
Navalny / U.S.A. (Director: Daniel Roher, Producers: Odessa Rae, Diane Becker, Melanie Miller, Shane Boris) — Anti-authoritarian Russian opposition leader Alexei Navalny recovers in Berlin after nearly being poisoned to death with the nerve agent Novichok. He makes shocking discoveries about his assassination attempt and bravely decides to return home – whatever the consequences. World Premiered in the 2022 Sundance Film Festival’s U.S. Documentary Competition section, where it won Festival Favorite and the Audience Award: U.S. Documentary.
Summer of Soul (…Or, When The Revolution Could Not Be Televised) / U.S.A. (Director: Ahmir “Questlove” Thompson, Producers: David Dinerstein, Robert Fyvolent, Joseph Patel) — An epic event that celebrated Black history, culture, and fashion shines a light on the importance of history and the healing power of music during times of unrest. World Premiered in the 2021 Sundance Film Festival’s U.S. Documentary Competition section, where it won the U.S. Grand Jury Prize: Documentary and Audience Award: U.S. Documentary.
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