Film industry gathers in person once again for Sundance 2023
Los Angeles, US, Jan 19 (EFE).- Sundance Film Festival, the most important independent cinema event in the world, kicked off its 2023 edition in Park City, Utah, on Thursday in a celebratory return of its face-to-face format.
“It feels so good to be back in person,” Sundance Institute CEO Joana Vicente said. “There’s nothing like the magic of being together in Park City.”
Vicente said the development and scope that the festival had during the two years that the Covid-19 pandemic forced it online, triggered the team’s decision to also offer a digital program this year of almost 80 films.
Although Sundance 2023 will be entirely in-person, there will also be an online program for professionals in the film sector, the media and fans.
During the opening, director of programming Kim Yutani and senior programmer John Nein said the films this year achieve their own personal visions of urgent international issues.
Some examples are works that address Russia’s war in Ukraine, such as “20 Days In Mariupol” and “Iron Butterflies,” as well as the drama “Shayda,” which brings to the table the Iranian diaspora through the eyes of a mother.
Yutani said they received a huge number of productions on the lives of celebrities, such as documentaries about two stars from the 1980s: “Still: A Michael J. Fox Movie” and “Pretty Baby: Brooke Shields.”
Sundance 2023 will also see the return of indie directors, including American filmmaker Ira Sachs who will present the premiere of “Passages,” a drama that reflects the attraction of a gay man to a young woman, and Christopher Zalla with “Radical,” about the potential children can manifest with the help of an innovative teacher.
John Carney with “Flora and Son” and Peter Nicks with “Stephen Curry: Underrated” are other examples of regular Sundance filmmakers who did not want to miss the return to Park City.
Sundance Film Festival is supported by the Sundance Institute, a nonprofit organization founded by actor Robert Redford in 1981, and which funds independent filmmakers, composers, directors, and theater performers from around the world. EFE
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