email print share on Facebook share on Twitter share on LinkedIn share on reddit pin on Pinterest

SUNDANCE 2020

A strong contingent of European films prepares to head to Sundance

by 

- 18 European co-productions will be debuting in competition at the US gathering, including movies by Zeina Durra, Amanda Kernell and Visar Morina

A strong contingent of European films prepares to head to Sundance
Luxor by Zeina Durra

Three UK co-productions – Zeina Durra’s romance Luxor [+see also:
film review
trailer
interview: Zeina Durra
film profile
]
, Aneil Karia’s robbery yarn Surge [+see also:
film review
interview: Aneil Karia
film profile
]
and Brandon Cronenberg’s avatar thriller Possessor [+see also:
film review
film profile
]
– make up a quarter of the films selected for the World Cinema Dramatic Competition at the Sundance Film Festival (23 January-2 February 2020).

(The article continues below - Commercial information)

They shall be competing against the Swedish divorce drama Charter [+see also:
film review
trailer
interview: Amanda Kernell
film profile
]
by Amanda Kernell; writer-director Maïmouna Doucouré’s Cuties [+see also:
film review
trailer
interview: Maïmouna Doucouré
film profile
]
, about young French dancers; writer-director Zoé Wittock’s Jumbo [+see also:
film review
trailer
interview: Zoé Wittock
film profile
]
, a French-Luxembourgish-Belgian tale set in an amusement park; and the German-Belgian-Kosovar co-production about bullying in the workplace Exile [+see also:
film review
trailer
interview: Visar Morina
film profile
]
, written and directed by Visar Morina. There is also Italian involvement in Lemohang Jeremiah Mosese’s African-set story This Is Not a Burial, It's a Resurrection [+see also:
film review
trailer
film profile
]
, and French, German and Swiss involvement in Massoud Bakhshi’s Yalda, a Night for Forgiveness [+see also:
film review
trailer
interview: Massoud Bakhshi
film profile
]
.

Ten of the 12 films in the World Cinema Documentary Competition have European involvement. Radu Ciorniciuc’s Acasa, My Home follows children in the Bucharest delta, Iryna Tsilyk introduces us to kids making a film as a way to cope with living in a war zone in The Earth Is Blue as an Orange, Hubert Sauper takes a look at Cuba as a romantic vision and a warning in Epicentro [+see also:
film review
trailer
film profile
]
, Emma Sullivan’s Into the Deep is about the murder of Danish journalist Kim Wall, Anabel Rodríguez Ríos visits the town of Congo Mirador in Once Upon a Time in Venezuela [+see also:
film review
trailer
film profile
]
, Benjamin Ree tells the story of an unlikely friendship in The Artist and the Thief, Jerry Rothwell takes a look at autism in The Reason I Jump [+see also:
trailer
film profile
]
, Susanne Regina Meures takes aim at patriarchy in Saudi Runaway [+see also:
film review
film profile
]
, and the rare Alba truffle is being tracked down in Michael Dweck’s The Truffle Hunters [+see also:
film review
trailer
interview: Gregory Kershaw and Michael…
film profile
]
.

There is also a UK co-production in the US Documentary Competition, Be Water by Bao Nguyen, which is a documentary about martial-arts legend Bruce Lee.

The non-competitive Premieres section has a number of UK-co-produced narrative world premieres. They are Euros Lyn’s Dream Horse [+see also:
trailer
film profile
]
, starring Toni Collette and Damian Lewis; Viggo Mortensen’s directorial debut, Falling [+see also:
film review
trailer
film profile
]
; Florian Zeller’s London-set The Father [+see also:
film review
trailer
interview: Florian Zeller
film profile
]
; Phyllida Lloyd’s house-building yarn Herself [+see also:
film review
trailer
interview: Clare Dunne
film profile
]
; Dominic Cooke’s Cuban Missile Crisis spy-drama The Courier [+see also:
trailer
film profile
]
; and Sean Durkin’s The Nest [+see also:
film review
film profile
]
, starring Jude Law.

Showing in Documentary Premieres is the Irish co-production The Go-Go's, helmed by Alison Ellwood. Meanwhile, there are two UK productions in the Midnight section: Romola Garai’s debut, Amulet, and Remi Weekes’ refugee tale His House.

In the Kids section is Frederike Migom’s excellent Belgian drama Binti [+see also:
film review
trailer
film profile
]
and the world premiere of Brenda Chapman’s Come Away, starring Angelina Jolie, David Oyelowo and Michael Caine.

Here is the full list of titles in Sundance 2020’s World Cinema Dramatic Competition and World Cinema Documentary Competition:

World Cinema Dramatic Competition

Charter [+see also:
film review
trailer
interview: Amanda Kernell
film profile
]
Amanda Kernell (Sweden)
Cuties [+see also:
film review
trailer
interview: Maïmouna Doucouré
film profile
]
 – Maïmouna Doucouré (France)
Exile [+see also:
film review
trailer
interview: Visar Morina
film profile
]
 – Visar Morina (Germany/Belgium/Kosovo)
High Tide – Verónica Chen (Argentina)
Jumbo [+see also:
film review
trailer
interview: Zoé Wittock
film profile
]
 – Zoé Wittock (France/Luxembourg/Belgium)
Luxor [+see also:
film review
trailer
interview: Zeina Durra
film profile
]
 – Zeina Durra (Egypt/UK)
Possessor [+see also:
film review
film profile
]
  Brandon Cronenberg (Canada/UK)
Non Distinguishing Features [+see also:
film review
trailer
film profile
]
  Fernanda Valadez (Mexico/Spain) 
Summer White – Rodrigo Ruiz Patterson (Mexico)
Surge [+see also:
film review
interview: Aneil Karia
film profile
]
  Aneil Karia (UK)
This Is Not a Burial, It's a Resurrection [+see also:
film review
trailer
film profile
]
 – Lemohang Jeremiah Mosese (Lesotho/South Africa/Italy)
Yalda, a Night for Forgiveness [+see also:
film review
trailer
interview: Massoud Bakhshi
film profile
]
  Massoud Bakhshi (France/Germany/Luxembourg/Switzerland/Iran/Lebanon)

World Cinema Documentary Competition

Acasă - My Home [+see also:
film review
trailer
interview: Radu Ciorniciuc
film profile
]
 – Radu Ciorniciuc (Romania/Germany/Finland)
The Earth Is Blue as an Orange [+see also:
film review
trailer
interview: Iryna Tsilyk
film profile
]
 – Iryna Tsilyk (Ukraine/Lithuania)
Epicentro [+see also:
film review
trailer
film profile
]
 – Hubert Sauper (Austria/France/USA)
Influence – Diana Neille (South Africa/Canada)
Into the Deep – Emma Sullivan (Denmark)
The Mole Agent [+see also:
film review
trailer
interview: Maite Alberdi
film profile
]
 – Maite Alberdi (Chile/USA/Germany/Netherlands/Spain)
Once Upon a Time in Venezuela [+see also:
film review
trailer
film profile
]
 – Anabel Rodríguez Ríos (Venezuela/UK/Brazil/Austria)
The Painter and the Thief [+see also:
film review
trailer
interview: Benjamin Ree
film profile
]
 – Benjamin Ree (Norway)
The Reason I Jump [+see also:
trailer
film profile
]
 – Jerry Rothwell (UK)
Saudi Runaway [+see also:
film review
film profile
]
 – Susanne Regina Meures (Switzerland)
Softie – Sam Soko (Kenya)
The Truffle Hunters [+see also:
film review
trailer
interview: Gregory Kershaw and Michael…
film profile
]
Michael Dweck (Italy/USA/Greece)

(The article continues below - Commercial information)

Did you enjoy reading this article? Please subscribe to our newsletter to receive more stories like this directly in your inbox.

Privacy Policy