PARK CITY, Utah (AP) – The Sundance Film Festival Park City, Utah welcomed three Oscar-winning documentary filmmakers to help kick off the annual independent film showcase.
Thursday night at the Ray Theater, “20 Days in Mariupol” Filmmaker Mstyslav Chernov, who Won the Oscar Last year, launched his latest dispatch from Ukraine, “2000 Meters to Andryukka,” a harrowing journey to the front lines of the 2023 retaliation. A few hours later, in Eccles, Red “Quest Love” Thompson, For which he won an Oscar. “Summer of the Soul” In 2022, unveiled his Sly Stone portrait, “SLY LIVES! (aka The Burden of Black Genius). Previously, “One Day in September” Filmmaker Kevin MacDonald also showcased his film “One to One: John and Yoko,” which debuted at last year’s Venice Film Festival and will be released in IMAX on April 11 before hitting Max later this year.
Some critics reflected that. 2000 meters from Andrioka, A co-production between the Associated Press and PBS Frontline, “20 Days in Mariupol” was even more powerful. “Wrong Lives!” (Feb. 13 on Hulu) was called “brilliant” and “illuminated” in an underappreciated, shape-shifting intelligence test.
“I’ve been coming here since 2000 and I thought the best thing you could do was DJ and have an after party,” Thompson said before the screening. “I never had this dream for my future, so it’s really embarrassing.”
It was a full circle for the day that started with the documentary slate. Oscar nomination All are somehow connected to the Sundance Institute. Some were supported by the institute, some debuted at the fair as recently as last year.
“Black Box Diaries,” about a Japanese filmmaker investigating her sexual assault, premiered in Park City last year and was supported by the institute’s Doc Film Program. “No Other Land” Made by a Palestinian-Israeli collective, the film was also supported by the Fund. “Porcelain War,” about Ukrainian artists in wartime, debuted at the festival in 2024, where it won the Grand Jury Prize. “The Soundtrack of Coup d’Etat” about the assassination of Congolese leader Patrice Lumumba In 1961, also started last year and won a special jury prize. and finally, “multiply,” A 2024 festival premiere investing in abused and missing children at an Indian residential school was supported by a Sundance grant.
“It’s really special,” said Sundance senior programmer Basil Tsioukos. “It speaks to what Sundance brings to the artistic community and the support we show the artists there.”
On Friday night, “Sugarcane” filmmakers Julian Breau Noiscate and Emily Casey are also being honored at the institute’s fundraising gala. New Oscar nominee James Mangold And Cynthia Ario Respect is also given.
It’s not lost on festival programmers and artists’ programs how important early support can be to someone trying to make a documentary.
“The funding landscape is challenging, especially in the nonfiction space,” Tsiokos said. “Getting early support from artist programs, from documentary feature programs, is a kind of seal of approval, the encouragement that later helps other funders take the seed of the idea and bring it to fruition.”
The Oscars and Sundance have long been linked, especially in the documentary space. For the past 25 years, every year there has been at least one Sundance film that has received an Oscar nomination. Some that have won the statue include “An Inconvenient Truth,” “Man on a Wire,” “Finding Sugarman,” “20 Feet from Stardom,” “Icarus,” “American Factory” and “Novalny.”
“We just provide a place for movies,” Tsiokos said. Films belong to artists. He has a vision to make these films possible. We provide them a platform to meet their audience. This is a very important role that we take very seriously.
This year, the festival has around 40 feature documentaries being presented in sections on everything. Marley Matlin and Selena Quintanilla, about Nairobi women who transform a former white library into a cultural center, while Florida Stand Your Ground Laws. While it’s hard to predict what might happen in next year’s Oscar race, Tsiokos sees a trend that could help audiences pick and choose. can
The influence of international voters is growing. In the last few years especially, most of the nominees for the Oscar race have been international titles,” Tsiokos said. “I would tell people to check out the World Cinema Documentary Competition. There are some real gems.”
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