By: Alyssa James Staff Writer
On January 29, the Sundance Film Festival came to a close in Park City, UT. It started on January 19, showing over 100 new, feature-length, independent films throughout the 10 day festival according to sundance.org. Within this festival, there are multiple different sections for the films which include: U.S. dramatic competition, U.S. documentary competition, world cinema dramatic competition, world cinema documentary competition, and next. As 2017 continues, we will start to see some of these titles more and more as they make a presence in the theaters.
One film shown within the U.S. dramatic competition was “Ingrid Goes West.” The film showcases the social media idolization of this age. As a young woman, Ingrid, played by Aubrey Plaza, grows an obsession with Instagram user Taylor Sloane, portrayed by Elizabeth Olsen. Because of her obsession, Ingrid decides to moves to L.A. to become friends with Taylor. According to slashfilm.com says the film is, “not just your average comedy film, but a smart commentary on our social media obsessed world.”
“Last Men in Aleppo” is a documentary that follows some of the founding members of The White Helmets, the group of men who go around in attempt to save people from the war-stricken state of their country, Syria.Kutv.com reported that, “everything about the fly-on-the-wall documentary is deeply grim. There are no interviews, just cameras showing the raw struggle to save lives.” This documentary is directed by Feras Fayyad and Steen Johannessen and has been said to be one of the documentaries that is most difficult to see this year, according to theguardian.com.
Kumail Nanjiani and Emily V. Gordon wrote the screenplay for the comedy-drama film, “The Big Sick,” based off their own lives and the difficulty of their interracial romance. It focuses on the culture-clash between Nanjiani’s pakistani culture and the culture of Emily, an american. Sundance.org wrote that Nanjiani mined “… his personal stories for comedy gold, he shares his experiences that are uniquely Pakistani but will resonate for everyone who has ever fallen in love.” This film was a huge hit at the Sundance Film Festival and is anticipated to have major success.
There was a vast variety of films showed at Sundance. As people are talking about the films that are receiving Oscars for this year, this festival sets up the movies that will be contenders for next year. The Sundance Film Festival desires to make available a place for artists to present the work that they poured their heart and soul into to create. All of the filmmakers have something that they want to convey to their audience and the best part is that we are able to watch and enjoy these films, and maybe even be moved by them.
