The Sundance Film Festival, running from January 19-29, has added five US films to its line-up, all of them world premieres.
Savannah Leaf’s Earth Mama, John Carney’s Flora And Son and Celine Song’s Past Lives will all screen in Premieres. Madeleine Gavin’s Utopia has joined US Documentary Competition, while Peter Nick’s Stephen Curry: Underrated will be a Special Screening.
Earth Mama was developed and co-financed by the UK’s Film4 with A24, which is handling the global roll-out, It is the directoral debut of Leaf, a former Olympic volleyball player and Grammy-winning music video director. Earth Mama is the story of a young single mother trying to reclaim her children.
Irish director Carney’s Flora And Son, is a US-Ireland co-production from Dublin-based Treasure Entertainment. Eve Hewson and Joseph Gordon-Levitt star in the film about a woman inspired by a guitar she finds in a bin for her teenage son.
Song’s Past Lives is about two friends reunited as adults in New York after growing up together in South Korea. Greta Lee and Teo Yoo star in the film, produced by Killer Films for A24.
Also added to the line-up as Encore Special Screenings are four films that won awards at Sundance in 2021 or 2022 but did not screen in person at the festival because of pandemic restrictions: Coda, Klondike, Navalny and Summer of Soul (…Or, When The Revolution Could Not Be Televised). The four titles will screen between January 25 and 27 in Park City, with many of the filmmakers in attendance for Q&A sessions.
Added to the titles previously announced in December the new additions bring this year’s Sundance line-up to a total of 110 feature-length films – 98 of them world premieres - representing 28 countries.
This year’s festival takes place in person in Park City, Salt Lake City and the Sundance Resort, with a selection of films being made available online across the US between January 24 and 29. Single tickets for festival screenings go on sale January 12.
Sundance Film Festival director of programming Kim Yutani commented: “These five new films round out our programme in an exciting and emotional way. They are cinematic experiences that delight, entertain, and keep us on the edge of our seats. The works introduce us to new voices, along with directors we’re excited to welcome back to the festival.”
US DOCUMENTARY COMPETITION
Beyond Utopia
Dir: Madeleine Gavin
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. Available online.
PREMIERES
Earth Mama
Dir: Savanah Leaf
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.
Flora and Son
Dir: John Carney
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.
Past Lives
Dir: Celine Song
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.
SPECIAL SCREENINGS
Stephen Curry: Underrated
Dir: Peter Nicks
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.
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