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SUNDANCE 2019

Sundance announces its full selection of features

by 

- European (co-)productions set to world-premiere at the US festival include new titles by Joanna Hogg, Gabriel Mascaro and Johannes Nyholm

Sundance announces its full selection of features
The Souvenir by Joanna Hogg

A slew of eagerly awaited new films hailing from Europe have been announced for the upcoming Sundance Film Festival (24 January-3 February 2019), which has unveiled the line-ups for its competition sections, as well as its Premieres, Documentary Premieres, NEXT, Midnight, Spotlight and Kids selections.

As usual, the World Cinema Dramatic Competition will play host to a batch of European (co-)productions that have been generating quite a buzz in recent months. One of the highlights, The Souvenir [+see also:
film review
trailer
film profile
]
by British filmmaker Joanna Hogg (Archipelago [+see also:
film review
trailer
film profile
]
, Exhibition [+see also:
trailer
film profile
]
), stars Tilda Swinton and her daughter Honor Swinton Byrne in a story that follows a film student who begins finding her voice as an artist while navigating a turbulent courtship with a charismatic but untrustworthy man. Another highlight is Divine Love [+see also:
film review
trailer
film profile
]
by Brazil’s Gabriel Mascaro (Neon Bull [+see also:
film review
trailer
film profile
]
), co-produced by Denmark and Norway, which whisks us away to Brazil in 2027 to meet a deeply religious woman confronted with a crisis in her marriage that ultimately brings her closer to God. Also present are Sweden’s Johannes Nyholm (The Giant [+see also:
film review
trailer
interview: Johannes Nyholm
film profile
]
) with Koko-di Koko-da [+see also:
film review
trailer
interview: Johannes Nyholm
film profile
]
(which follows a couple on a trip who are lured into a maelstrom of psychological terror and humiliating slapstick), the Netherlands’ Sacha Polak (Zurich [+see also:
film review
trailer
film profile
]
) with Dirty God [+see also:
film review
trailer
interview: Sacha Polak
film profile
]
(about a young mother forced to reconstruct her life after an acid attack leaves her severely burned), and Colombia’s Alejandro Landes (Porfirio [+see also:
trailer
film profile
]
) with Monos [+see also:
film review
trailer
film profile
]
(about eight kids with guns watching over a hostage on a faraway mountaintop). Dolce Fine Giornata [+see also:
film review
trailer
interview: Jacek Borcuch
film profile
]
by Poland’s Jacek Borcuch, The Last Tree [+see also:
film review
trailer
interview: Shola Amoo
film profile
]
by the UK’s Shola Amoo, Queen of Hearts [+see also:
film review
trailer
interview: Gustav Lindh
interview: May el-Toukhy
film profile
]
by Denmark’s May el-Toukhy and The Sharks [+see also:
film review
trailer
film profile
]
by Uruguay’s Lucía Garibaldi round off the European presence in the section.

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The World Cinema Documentary Competition will welcome the European titles Cold Case Hammarskjold​​ [+see also:
film review
trailer
interview: Mads Brügger
interview: Mads Brügger
film profile
]
by Denmark’s Mads Brügger, The Disappearance of My Mother [+see also:
film review
trailer
film profile
]
​​ by Italy’s Beniamino Barrese, Gaza [+see also:
film review
trailer
film profile
]
by Ireland’s Garry Keane and Andrew McConnell, Honeyland [+see also:
film review
trailer
interview: Ljubomir Stefanov, Tamara K…
interview: Tamara Kotevska, Ljubomir S…
film profile
]
by Macedonia’s Ljubomir Stefanov and Tamara Kotevska, The Magic Life of V [+see also:
film review
trailer
film profile
]
​​ by Bulgaria’s Tonislav Hristov, Sea of Shadows [+see also:
film review
trailer
film profile
]
by Austria’s Richard Ladkani, Shooting the Mafia [+see also:
film review
trailer
film profile
]
​​ by the UK’s Kim Longinotto and Stieg Larsson ​​– ​​The Man Who Played With Fire [+see also:
trailer
film profile
]
​ by Sweden’s Henrik Georgsson, as well as the co-productions Advocate [+see also:
film review
trailer
interview: Rachel Leah Jones, Lea Tsemel
film profile
]
​​ by Rachel Leah Jones and Philippe ​Bellaïche, and Midnight Traveler [+see also:
film review
trailer
film profile
]
by Hassan Fazili.

The Premieres section is also peppered with films from the Continent. British (co-)productions such as the directorial debut by actor Chiwetel Ejiofor, The Boy Who Harnessed the Wind [+see also:
film review
trailer
film profile
]
, and titles by Gurinder Chadha (Blinded by the Light [+see also:
film review
trailer
film profile
]
), Sophie Hyde (Animals [+see also:
film review
trailer
film profile
]
), Gavin Hood (Official Secrets [+see also:
trailer
film profile
]
) and Stanley Nelson (the documentary Miles Davis: Birth of the Cool [+see also:
trailer
film profile
]
) have all been selected, as well as Ritesh Batra's Photograph [+see also:
film review
trailer
film profile
]
(India/Germany/US) and Laure de Clermont-Tonnerre's The Mustang [+see also:
film review
trailer
interview: Laure de Clermont-Tonnerre
film profile
]
(France/Belgium/US). Proceedings will be given a Norwegian touch thanks to Sundance regular Anne Sewitsky, who is returning with Sonja – The White Swan [+see also:
trailer
interview: Anne Sewitsky
interview: Ine Marie Wilmann
film profile
]
, and Germany’s David Wnendt, with the Norwegian co-production The Sunlit Night [+see also:
trailer
film profile
]
.

Lastly, there are a few surprises in store in the NEXT section, which has selected the Spanish-US title Paradise Hills [+see also:
film review
trailer
film profile
]
, a fantastical first feature directed by Alice Waddington and co-written by Nacho Vigalondo, and the Midnight section, which includes the new feature by Austrian directorial duo Veronika Franz and Severin Fiala, following Goodnight Mommy [+see also:
film review
trailer
interview: Severin Fiala and Veronika …
film profile
]
, the British co-production The Lodge [+see also:
film review
trailer
film profile
]
, and The Hole in the Ground​​ [+see also:
film review
trailer
film profile
]
by Ireland’s Lee Cronin.

Here is the full list of films selected in the international competition sections:

World Cinema Dramatic Competition 

Dirty God​ [+see also:
film review
trailer
interview: Sacha Polak
film profile
]
- Sacha Polak (Netherlands/UK/Belgium/Ireland)
Divine Love [+see also:
film review
trailer
film profile
]
- Gabriel Mascaro (Brazil/Uruguay/Denmark/Norway)
Dolce Fine Giornata [+see also:
film review
trailer
interview: Jacek Borcuch
film profile
]
- Jacek Borcuch (Poland)
Judy & Punch - Mirrah Foulkes (Australia)
Koko-di Koko-da [+see also:
film review
trailer
interview: Johannes Nyholm
film profile
]
- Johannes Nyholm (Sweden/Denmark)
The Last Tree [+see also:
film review
trailer
interview: Shola Amoo
film profile
]
​​ - Shola Amoo (UK)
Monos [+see also:
film review
trailer
film profile
]
​ - Alejandro Landes (Colombia/Argentina/Netherlands/Germany/Sweden/Uruguay)
Queen of Hearts​​ [+see also:
film review
trailer
interview: Gustav Lindh
interview: May el-Toukhy
film profile
]
- May el-Toukhy (Denmark)
The Sharks​​ [+see also:
film review
trailer
film profile
]
- Lucía Garibaldi (Uruguay/Argentina/Spain)
The Souvenir [+see also:
film review
trailer
film profile
]
​ - Joanna Hogg (UK)
This Is Not Berlin​​ – Hari Sama (Mexico)
We Are Little Zombies - Makoto Nagahisa (Japan) 

World Cinema Documentary Competition 

Advocate​​ [+see also:
film review
trailer
interview: Rachel Leah Jones, Lea Tsemel
film profile
]
- Rachel Leah Jones, Philippe ​Bellaïche (Israel/Canada/Switzerland)
Cold Case Hammarskjold​​ [+see also:
film review
trailer
interview: Mads Brügger
interview: Mads Brügger
film profile
]
- Mads Brügger (Denmark)
Untitled Brazil Documentary​​ - Petra Costa (Brazil)
The Disappearance of My Mother​​ [+see also:
film review
trailer
film profile
]
- Beniamino Barrese (Italy)
Gaza [+see also:
film review
trailer
film profile
]
-​​ Garry Keane, Andrew McConnell (Ireland)
Honeyland [+see also:
film review
trailer
interview: Ljubomir Stefanov, Tamara K…
interview: Tamara Kotevska, Ljubomir S…
film profile
]
- Ljubomir Stefanov, Tamara Kotevska (Macedonia)
Lapü​​ - Juan Pablo Polanco, César Alejandro Jaimes (Colombia)
The Magic Life of V​​ [+see also:
film review
trailer
film profile
]
- Tonislav Hristov (Finland/Denmark/Bulgaria)
Midnight Traveler [+see also:
film review
trailer
film profile
]
- Hassan Fazili (USA/Qatar/UK/Canada)
Sea of Shadows [+see also:
film review
trailer
film profile
]
- Richard Ladkani (Austria)
Shooting the Mafia [+see also:
film review
trailer
film profile
]
​​ - Kim Longinotto (Ireland)
Stieg Larsson ​​– ​​The Man Who Played With Fire [+see also:
trailer
film profile
]
​ - Henrik Georgsson (Sweden)

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