Sundance Film Festival 2021 – It’s a Wrap!

Sundance Film Festival 2021 presented an abundance of  World Premieres in a variety of genres. Here are reviews of the 20 some films we screened this year with Cinema Cafes and Q & As we attended. Watch for video interviews on our You Tube Channel. And see these films soon to be released in theaters and on demand. 

CODA– Opening this year’s Sundance Festival with their World Premiere, this film is a unique drama with incredible performances directed by Sian Heder and starring Marlee Matlin, Emilia Jones, Eugenio Derbez, Ferdia Walsh-Peelo, Amy Forsyth. Heder has created a poignant drama that has a lot of humor and humanity about a hearing child in a deaf family who finds herself torn between pursuing her love of music and being there for her family when they need her most to help with their fishing business. Interesting that several of the deaf actors had worked together before which was evident in their amazing chemistry. Beautiful character development. Remarkable film.

JUDAS AND THE BLACK MESSIAH – Remarkable performances. Director Shaka King returns to Sundance, this time directing Daniel Kaluuya who is in the zone channeling Black Panther Fred Hampton’s ability to energize and unite communities with his prose in 1969. But the story takes on totally different tone told from FBI informant William O’Neal’s point of view. LaKeith Stanfield plays a man with conflicting allegiances so well you don’t know whether to feel sorry for him or hate him. Dominique Fishback plays Deborah Johnson (now known as Mother Akua Njeri), Hampton’s life partner who had his child. We actually interviewed her in Chicago and with the child when he was just 5 years old. King’s film is powerful, enlightening, and so reminiscent and relevant to today’s racial issues and Black Lives Matter/Power to the People protests.

SUMMER OF SOUL (… Or, When the Revolution Could Not Be Televised) – In the summer of 1969 there was Woodstock, but also a series of concerts called the Harlem Cultural Festival at Mt. Morris Park in NYC. Legendary musician Ahmir “Questlove” Thompson in his filmmaking debut presents part documentary, part concert, part historical record that was filmed 50 years ago that has never seen the light of day, till now.  He went through files of archives including old video tapes, film, recordings, photos and contracts to bring back the flavor and the feeling of the series of concerts starring one iconic performance after another: Stevie Wonder, Mavis Staples, Mahalia Jackson, Gladys Knight and the Pips, Hugh Masekela, The Fifth Dimension, even Sly and the Family Stone. It’s an epic trip down memory lane that radiated Black history, culture, fashion, and music. More than a concert, it’s a gift from the past.

HOW IT ENDS – What a creative, enjoyable film about the end of the world. Shot during COVID, but not about it. There’s an asteroid coming to obliterate Earth but this handles the situation with hilarious comedy as well as pathos. Festival alum writer/directors Daryl Wein (White Rabbit) and Zoe Lister-Jones (Band Aid) assemble an impressive all-star cast—including Helen Hunt, Olivia Wilde, Fred Armisen, Lamorne Morris, and Nick Kroll—for this  pre-apocalyptic comedy following Lister-Jones in the lead as the woman and her young alter ego walk around the neighborhood in LA to get some kind of closure. Both playful and empowering, this film relates to what we’re going through right now with tongue-in-cheek optimism.  Can the coming of the end of the world be fun? This movie is.

PASSING- This is a stunning and striking film from actress and first time director Rebecca Hall. Rebecca Hall in her directorial debut, uses 4:3 ratio black-and-white cinematography for this exquisite adaptation of Nella Larsen’s acclaimed 1929 Harlem Renaissance novel. Tessa Thompson plays a refined, upper-class 1920s woman who does all the right things. She finds refuge from a hot summer day in the grand tearoom of New York City’s Drayton Hotel when a woman staring her down approaches. It’s Ruth Negga as Clare. The two were in high school together, and while both are African American women who can “pass” as white, they have chosen to live on opposite sides of the color line. Their differences don’t stop there. Thompson is calm, restrained and boiling under the surface. Negga is ebullient, but tragic in her own way. The cinematography, costumes, especially the hats, and makeup 1920’s New York are exquisite.

JOCKEY -Don’t miss this is a beautiful film showing the life of a jockey from back of the track through the eyes of horse jockey, Jackson. Clifton Collins Jr., in his first lead role, gives a incredibly sensitive and insightful performance of a man nearing the end of his career because of age and injury. In what may be his last season, a budding young jockeyMoises Arias in maybe his best performances to date, shows up as the son Jackson didn’t know he had. Will he take the young man under his wing as part of his legacy? Molly Parker is sensitive and compassionate as the boss/trainer who has been there for Jackson and is trying to help him again. Beautifully shot at a live track in Arizona and directed by Clint Bentley, who grew up going to tracks watching his jockey father.

TOGETHER TOGETHER is an adorable comedy directed and written by Nikole Beckwith. starring Ed Helms, Patti Harrison, Tig Notaro, Julio Torres and Anna Konkle. A 40-year-old man pays a young woman to be surrogate for his baby and is obsessed with the process while the surrogate is just trying to carry on with her life. Their relationship ebbs and flows, but not as you expect it to as they go through each trimester trying to explain it to themselves as well as family and friends. Helms is cute and funny. Harrison is realistically adorable. Director Beckwith depicts all the ups and downs in the pregnancy as well as their relationship.

PRIME TIME – New Year’s Eve 1999. Twenty-year-old Sebastian, armed with a gun, hijacks a TV studio and takes two hostages—a famous TV presenter and a security guard. No one seems to know what he wants, including Sebastian himself. His demand is to deliver some message via live broadcast but is repeatedly thwarted by an uncertain police force and an egotistical network chairman. As the tense drama unfolds, there are moments of silliness and comedy as we learn more about each character. You get drawn into the situation as it slowly becomes a standoff with this one man who controls his hostages and see how the network tries to manage negotiations to bring it to a peaceful ending. Bartosz Bellenia’s characterization as the disturbing hostage-taker extraordinary and compelling. What a performance! In Polish with subtitles and well worth seeing.

LAND – Actress Robin Wright returns to Sundance, directing herself in a remote cabin in the Rockies under the harshest conditions. She didn’t intend to star in the film playing Edee, a woman who is trying to find a new life dealing with unimaginable grief by isolating herself from everyone and everything 8,000 ft about sea level.  Trying to survive the  elements, which included all four seasons in one day on the shoot, plus live bears. As Edee, she meets a compassionate man played by Demián Bichir who teaches her how to survive the elements and her grief When she asks he’s being so kind? He quietly explains, “Because you were in my path.” The vistas are breathtaking, but the conditions and emotions are raw.

CRYPTOZOO – an imaginative animated film by Dash Shaw. It starts with a couple who get lost  in the woods on a sex date when curiosity has them climb a security gate into a world of animals they’ve never seen before called cryptids, including a Baku (a rare legendary dream-eating hybrid creature).  They run into military brat Lauren who wants to rescue and shelter them becoming their cryptozookeeper. But shouldn’t these amazing animals be seen? The couple and Lauren get involved in a military action adventure to capture these amazing creatures set in this very detailed imaginary world.

ON THE COUNT OF THREE -Jerrod Carmichael in his directorial debut stars with Christopher Abbott in this darkly comic feature about hopelessness, true friendship, and what’s it’s like to feel that you’re not always in control. Can suicide be painless?  Ari Katcher and Ryan Welch won Sundance award for their script this year. With its twists and turns, it examines what these buddies are going through on the verge of giving up when it gets totally out of hand. Are they on the same page or what! With Henry Winkler in a surprising role.

LIFE IN A DAY  (2020) – Ten years after the 2011 Sundance Film Festival premiere of Life in a Day, award-winning director Kevin Macdonald returns to Sundance to present July 25, 2020. Following the concept of the original, this film is an extremely ambitious crowd-sourced documentary, compiled from 13,000 hours of footage submitted from 192 countries and made in collaboration with YouTube and Ridley Scott’s RSA Films. Life from birth to death around the world, with the addition of how it was or was not affected by COVID19 is captivating as it enters people’s lives a snippet at a time. Not only that, the Q & A with Director Kevin Macdonald and his editors tells how much work went into the project, and some of the subjects were present on zoom with life changing updates!

HIVE – The story of a brave woman who led the way to fight for others for a more modern world. Subtitled but little dialogue needed as actress Gashi does a superb job showing all on her face. First time collaboration with Switzerland, Kosovo director presents a film based on a true story about a woman standing up for herself when her husband goes missing during the war and she fails taking care of his bee hives. She learns to drive and starts a business to support the family in spite of opposition from the men in her village. The try to take advantage of her situation by snubbing and even attacking her. Yllka Gashi gives a remarkably subdued but intense performance. Blerta Basholli, writes and directs this, her first feature, capturing what Fahrije has overcome while trying to find her husband.

FLEE – This is compelling piece of filmmaking co-produced by Jonas Poher Rasmussen, written by Power Rasmussen incorporating actual audio interviews of an Afghan refugee (Amin-not his real name) using animation to protect his real identity and whereabouts voiced by Executive Producers, Riz Ahmed and Nikolaj Coster-Waldau.There is also historical archive footage to back why Amin left his war torn country as a child, plus how he has had to deal with the aftermath of his traumatic childhood, his gender identity and love story to survive. 

PRISONERS OF THE GHOSTLAND –Sion Sono creates one unbelievably crazy Western, samurai, post-apocalyptic thriller mashup. Nicholas Cage, in one of his most unhinged performances, swaggers through a wasteland of fearsome gunslingers, lethal swordsmen, vengeful ghosts, and a deranged desert cult to save a damsel so the rest of the world can live. Script by Aaron Hendry and Reza Sixo Safai, Sono orchestrates a large international cast through weird exploitation tropes, balletic fight scenes, and familiar songs in a film reminiscent of everything from Spaghetti Westerns, Blade Runner, Mad Max, Clockwork Orange and more. It was shot in Japan instead of in Mexico after Sono had a heart attack. Free from any specific genre. It’s got ’em all.

THE WORLD TO COME – This period romance, set in the old Northeast, is sour and dour, despite the earnest performances of the actors who play couples with marital problems. Director Mona Fastvold (The Mustang) creates less than picturesque setting for the uncomfortable lives of them and for us as an audience. Dutiful, bored wife, Abigail (Kathryn Waterston) and flamboyant Tallie (Vanessa Kirby) find connection and sexual intimacy they do not get from their husbands, distant Dyer (Casey Affleck) and Tallie’s controlling, brute Finney (Christopher Abbott).

AILEY – Insightful and informative documentary directed by Peabody, Emmy and NAACP award-winner, Jamila Wignot delves into Alvin Ailey’s childhood, love of dance to tell the story of his life and the Black experience.  Archival footage as well as interviews, rehearsals and performances of the present company under the tutelage of Rennie Harris, are awe inspiring. The depth and breadth of his talent will surprise you. He was the James Baldwin of dance. Ailey’s memories, layered with audio recordings, expounds on Ailey’s upbringing, his poetic way of communicating through dance to tell a story. His dance company became internationally famous for the caliber of his choreography and dancers. Interviews with celebrated company dancers and distinguished choreographers reveal Ailey’s talent, attitudes, and process  as well as his weaknesses. Beautifully narrated and so are the dance rehearsals as well as the performances.

RITA MORENO: Just a Girl Who Decided to Go for It – A candid Rita Moreno bares all in this documentary about her childhood in Puerto Rico, moving and finding her way in New York City, being bullied because she was a Latina, and sexually harassed by Studio execs as a young Hollywood movie star. Directed, produced, and edited by Mariem Pérez Riera it shows the multi-talented actress, dancer, singer with boundless talent and energy. She tells details of her life, behind-the-scenes stories including her years long love affair with Marlon Brando, and her marriages, She talks about being pigeonholed in roles, then breaking out to become an EGOT, winner of an Emmy, Grammy, Oscar andTony. And she’s still going strong in her 80’s with TV series produced by Norman Lear plus speaking engagements. What a spitfire!

STREET GANG: HOW WE GOT TO SESAME STREET- Open sesame! It was magic but do you know how it came to be? This  fascinating film is based on Michael Davis’ best selling book, but has procured behind-the-scenes footage that shows how the magic came to life on set. This groundbreaking children’s show was a dream of Joan Ganz Cooney who brought on Jim Henson for the purpose of giving inner city kids a head start by entertaining them as it educated them. In the process, the film shows how it mined the talent of creative but complicated, director, Jon Stone, composer Joseph Raposo who wrote the theme, plus “Bein’ Green” and thousands of songs. Plus it made Jim Henson and his puppets and puppeteer Frank Oz the stars who played off real guest stars who flocked to appear with the Muppets. Everyone who was anyone came to play at Sesame Street. This film is a must see.

MY NAME IS PAULI MURRAY – How in the world did we not know who Pauli Murray was! That was our first question after seeing this documentary on a transgender activist with a brilliant legal mind. She was one of the first women accepted into a NYC law firm, a professor of law who was a feminist, a Black Activist, a poet, and later in life, became a priest! Directed by Betsy West and Julie Cohen who won at Sundance in 2018 for RBG, relay that Ruth Bader Ginsberg credited Murray with support and inspiration by writing her name on the cover of RBG’s first legal brief. Murray was a complicated scholar who influenced landmark civil rights decisions and gender equality legislation that transformed our world. Her personal interests and relationships were also fascinating. You will remember her name when you see this film.

AMY TAN: Unintended Memoir –This was Jamie Redford’s last film before he passed away, that he fortunately screened just days before its World Premiere at Sundance 2021. This documentary meticulously covers the life of Amy Tan, known for the best-selling book “The Joy Luck Club” and based on her own family history. Tan reveals how she persevered the difficult transition moving to the United States as a childand the shocking details of her mother’s life and their relationship which has been influential on her life and writing. Tan is very open giving raw details about her marriage, her process, her art and the truth about her family history. Like her books, it’s hard to look away when you see this film.