Films From Sundance to Keep an Eye out for During this Film Festival Season

by Katie Kern 



“Barbara Forever.” Space Time Films. All images courtesy of Sundance Institute
Sundance wrapped its last year in Utah, and instead of mounds of snow stretching across the horizon, Park City was mostly green with brat hats everywhere (Yes, I have one).

And while the festival is way over, it also rang in the start of film festival season. If you are lucky enough to attend a film festival in the coming months, some of these films very well may be there.

I saw 17. Here are the ones to keep an eye out for.


BARBARA FOREVER
Brydie O’Connor

I hope this travels to other festivals because it's fantastic. A true ode to a singular human. The break from traditional form really works, with an innovative chronology that feels executed in the spirit of Barbara herself. Tactile and textural in a way that matches its subject completely. Feminist in the way it feels rather than just the way it thinks. I cried for about 80 percent of it. Also, amazing work from the editor.

HA-CHAN SHAKE YOUR BOOTY!
Josef Kubota Wladyka

Where a Greg Araki film attempts something similar in tone, this one actually pulls it off. I kept thinking about how the dancing was bad, but it felt so sincere that it didn't matter, and the color palette was genuinely mesmerizing. I felt deeply connected to the bird costume motif, which speaks to how tasteful the whole thing was; moments that could've easily tipped into cheesiness just didn't. The director brought the whole crew onstage after the screening, which also made it feel like a film you just want to be part of.

JOSEPHINE
Beth de Araújo

The POV work is remarkable, putting you completely inside the eyes of a child, and the film earns every devastating moment it puts you through. Not something I could probably watch again, but it works in all the right ways.




“Once Upon a Time in Harlem.” William Greaves Productions

ONCE UPON A TIME IN HARLEM
William Greaves
David Greaves

I can't believe this exists. Another one I really hope travels to other festivals this year, I'd assume NYFF will pick it up. The two-frame approach worked beautifully, incorporating William Greaves’ formal experimentalism while adding contemporary context to these historic figures in a way that feels earned rather than imposed. Go find this film if you can.


                                                                                                                                               
“Wicker.” Photograph by Lol Crawley

WICKER
Eleanor Wilson
Alex Huston Fischer

Fantastic cinematography. I just had a good old time with it. It’s really the year of the Skarsgård. I can best describe this film as what Emerald Fennell’s films are trying to be.

ALL ABOUT THE MONEY
Sinéad O’Shea

Felt completely locked in for the entire film. Says a lot about our country's bizarre wealth dynamics. And there’s so much to say. Just a fantastic doc everyone should go find.