It’s nearly that time again: when filmmakers and industry types brave the chilly climes of Utah’s Park City for the Sundance Film Festival. The 2015 incarnation of the event has just released its list for the U.S. and World Cinema Dramatic and Documentary Competitions and the out-of-competition NEXT <=> sections, with movies starring the likes of Jack Black, Chris Pine, Cobie Smulders, James Marsden, Nick Offerman and more set to be screened.
Amongst this year’s offerings are The D Train, which sees Black and Marsden in a school reunion comedy, Z For Zachariah, the post-apocalyptic drama starring Pine, Margot Robbie and Chiwetel Ejiofor, (T)ERROR, a documentary following a counterterrorism sting with murky morals, Racing Extinction from the Cove team that looks at endangered species, and a film called James White, that does not chronicle the exciting private life of this writer (that would involve too much CGI), but is instead Josh Mond’s film about a New Yorker struggling to take control of his self-destructive behaviour in order to help his family.
"The work of independent artists inevitably reflects the state of our culture and the times in which we live,” says festival president Robert Redford. “Their stories are often irreverent, challenging, compelling and unexpected, and not only possess the power to move and hopefully inspire audiences, but also to speak to our shared humanity."
The full list can be found at Sundance’s site. See if you can spot which might end up as breakout films to stand alongside the likes of **Fruitvale Station **and the upcoming Whiplash. Plus, our festival veteran Damon Wise will be reporting from the streets of Park City, so keep an eye out for his reports. Sundance 2015 runs from January 22 to February 1.