2023 Sundance Film Festival Announces Additional Films to the Lineup

PARK CITY, UTAH, January 4, 2023 — Today the nonprofit Sundance Institute announced an additional five world premiere feature films, plus four award-winning feature films from previous Festivals, to the 2023 Sundance Film Festival lineup. The 2023 Festival will take place January 19–29, 2023, in person in Park City, Salt Lake City, and the Sundance Resort, along with a selection of films available online across the country January 24–29, 2023. Single Film Tickets for in-person and online go on sale January 12 at 10 a.m. MT. 

The latest feature films world premiering at the upcoming Festival include: Beyond Utopia, playing in the U.S. Documentary Competition section; Earth Mama, Flora and Son, and Past Lives, playing in the Premieres section; and Stephen Curry: Underrated, playing in the Special Screenings section. 

Returning to the Festival as Encore Special Screenings are CODA (2021 Sundance Film Festival), Klondike (2022 Sundance Film Festival), Navalny (2022 Sundance Film Festival), and Summer of Soul (…Or, When The Revolution Could Not Be Televised) (2021 Sundance Film Festival). This will be the first time these Sundance award winners will screen in person at the Festival in Park City. Encore Special Screenings will screen January 25–27, with many of the filmmakers in attendance for post-screening Q&A’s. 

“These five new films round out our program in an exciting and emotional way. They are cinematic experiences that delight, entertain, and keep us on the edge of our seats. The works introduce us to new voices, along with directors we’re excited to welcome back to the Festival,” said Kim Yutani, Sundance Film Festival Director of Programming. “Having four encore films play in Utah is truly a homecoming. While they reached audiences around the world, wherever they were, this year they will return to fuel the energy and excitement at the heart of the Sundance community.”

The Sundance Film Festival is an artist program of the Sundance Institute. Proceeds earned through Festival ticket sales go to uplifting and developing emerging artists on a year-round basis through focused labs, direct grants, fellowships, residencies, and more.

Today’s additions add to the 2023 Festival slate, where 110 feature-length films will screen representing 28 countries, and 45 of 124 (36%) feature film directors are first-time feature filmmakers. 17 of the feature films and projects were supported by Sundance Institute in development through direct granting or residency labs. 

98, or 89%, of the Festival’s 110 feature films will be world premieres. Director demographics are available in an editor’s note below.

The latest additions to the 2023 Sundance Film Festival by section are:

U.S. DOCUMENTARY COMPETITION 

Beyond Utopia / U.S.A. (Director: Madeleine Gavin, Producers: Jana Edelbaum, Rachel Cohen, Sue Mi Terry) — Hidden camera footage augments this perilous high-stakes journey as we embed with families attempting to escape oppression, ultimately revealing a world most of us have never seen. World Premiere. Available online.

PREMIERES

Earth Mama / U.S.A (Director, Screenwriter, and Producer: Savanah Leaf, Producers: Cody Ryder, Shirley O’Connor, Medb Riordan, Sam Bisbee) — A pregnant single mother with two children in foster care embraces her Bay Area community as she fights to reclaim her family. Cast: Tia Nomore, Erika Alexander, Doechii, Sharon Duncan Brewster, Dominic Fike, Bokeem Woodbine. World Premiere. Fiction. 

Flora and Son / U.S.A, Ireland (Director, Screenwriter, and Producer: John Carney, Producers: Anthony Bregman, Peter Cron, Rebecca O’Flanagan, Robert Walpole) — Single mom Flora is at war with her teenage son, petty thief Max. Encouraged by the police to find Max a hobby, she rescues a beat-up guitar from a dumpster and finds that one person’s trash can be a family’s salvation. Cast: Eve Hewson, Joseph Gordon-Levitt, Orén Kinlan, Jack Reynor. World Premiere. Fiction. 

Past Lives / U.S.A (Director and Screenwriter: Celine Song, Producers: Christine Vachon, Pamela Koffler, David Hinojosa) — Nora and Hae Sung, two deeply connected childhood friends, are wrest apart after Nora’s family emigrates from South Korea. Two decades later, they are reunited in New York for one fateful week as they confront notions of destiny and love, and the choices that make a life. Cast: Greta Lee, Teo Yoo, John Magaro. World Premiere. Fiction. 

SPECIAL SCREENINGS

Stephen Curry: Underrated / U.S.A. (Director and Producer: Peter Nicks, Producers: Ryan Coogler, Erick Peyton) — Stephen Curry is one of the most influential, dynamic, and unexpected players in the history of basketball. Intimate cinematic video, archival footage, and on-camera interviews reveal Curry’s rise from an undersized college player to a four-time NBA champion. World Premiere. Documentary.

ENCORE SPECIAL SCREENINGS

CODA / U.S.A, France (Director and Screenwriter: Siân Heder, Producers: Philippe Rousselet, Fabrice Gianfermi, Patrick Wachsberger) — As a CODA – Child of Deaf Adults – Ruby is the only hearing person in her deaf family. When the family’s fishing business is threatened, Ruby finds herself torn between pursuing her love of music and her fear of abandoning her parents. Cast: Emilia Jones, Eugenio Derbez, Troy Kotsur, Ferdia Walsh-Peelo, Daniel Durant, Marlee Matlin. World Premiered in the 2021 Sundance Film Festival’s U.S. Dramatic Competition section, where it won the U.S. Grand Jury Prize: Dramatic, Audience Award: U.S. Dramatic, and U.S. Dramatic Special Jury Award for Ensemble Cast. 

Klondike / Ukraine, Turkey (Director, Screenwriter, and Producer: Maryna Er Gorbach, Producers: Mehmet Bahadir Er, Sviatoslav BulakovskyI) — The story of a Ukrainian family living on the border of Russia – Ukraine during the start of war. Irka refuses to leave her house even as the village gets captured by armed forces. Shortly after they find themselves at the center of an air crash catastrophe on July 17, 2014. Cast: Oxana Cherkashyna, Sergey Shadrin, Oleg Scherbina, Oleg Shevchuk, Artur Aramyan, Evgenij Efremov. World Premiered in the 2022 Sundance Film Festival’s World Cinema Dramatic Competition section, where it won the Directing Award: World Cinema Dramatic. 

Navalny / U.S.A. (Director: Daniel Roher, Producers: Odessa Rae, Diane Becker, Melanie Miller, Shane Boris) — Anti-authoritarian Russian opposition leader Alexei Navalny recovers in Berlin after nearly being poisoned to death with the nerve agent Novichok. He makes shocking discoveries about his assassination attempt and bravely decides to return home – whatever the consequences. World Premiered in the 2022 Sundance Film Festival’s U.S. Documentary Competition section, where it won Festival Favorite and the Audience Award: U.S. Documentary. 

Summer of Soul (…Or, When The Revolution Could Not Be Televised) / U.S.A. (Director: Ahmir “Questlove” Thompson, Producers: David Dinerstein, Robert Fyvolent, Joseph Patel) — An epic event that celebrated Black history, culture, and fashion shines a light on the importance of history and the healing power of music during times of unrest. World Premiered in the 2021 Sundance Film Festival’s U.S. Documentary Competition section, where it won the U.S. Grand Jury Prize: Documentary and Audience Award: U.S. Documentary. 

The Sundance Film Festival®

The Sundance Film Festival, a program of the nonprofit, Sundance Institute, is the pre-eminent gathering of original storytellers and audiences seeking new voices and fresh perspectives. Since 1985, hundreds of films launched at the Festival have gone on to gain critical acclaim and reach new audiences worldwide. The Festival has introduced some of the most groundbreaking films and episodic works of the past three decades, including Fire of Love, Cha Cha Real Smooth, Flee, CODA, Passing, Summer Of Soul (…or, When the Revolution Could Not Be Televised), Clemency, Never Rarely Sometimes Always, Zola, O.J.: Made in America, On The Record, Boys State, The Farewell, Honeyland, One Child Nation, The Souvenir, The Infiltrators, Sorry to Bother You, Top of the Lake, Won’t You Be My Neighbor?, Hereditary, Call Me By Your Name, Get Out, The Big Sick, Mudbound, Fruitvale Station, Whiplash, Brooklyn, Precious, The Cove, Little Miss Sunshine, An Inconvenient Truth, Napoleon Dynamite, Hedwig and the Angry Inch, Reservoir Dogs and sex, lies, and videotape. The program consists of fiction and nonfiction features and short films, series and episodic content, emerging media, and performances, as well as conversations, and other events. The Festival takes place both in person in the state of Utah and online, connecting audiences across the U.S. to bold new artists and films. The 2023 Festival takes place January 19–29. Be a part of the Festival at Sundance Film Festival and follow the Festival at Facebook, Instagram, Twitter, and YouTube.

The Festival is a program of the nonprofit Sundance Institute. To date, 2023 Festival sponsors include: Presenting Sponsors – Acura, AMC+, Chase Sapphire®, Adobe; Leadership Sponsors – Audible, DIRECTV, Netflix, Omnicom Group, Shutterstock, Stacy’s Pita Chips, United Airlines, XRM Media; Sustaining Sponsors – Canada Goose, Canon U.S.A., Inc., DoorDash, Dropbox, World of Hyatt®, IMDb, Lyft, MACRO, Rabbit Hole Bourbon & Rye, Stanley, University of Utah Health, White Claw Hard Seltzer; Media Sponsors – IndieWire, Los Angeles Times, NPR, Variety, Vulture, The Wall Street Journal. Sundance Institute recognizes critical support from the State of Utah as Festival Host State. The support of these organizations helps offset the Festival’s costs and sustain the Institute’s year-round programs for independent artists. festival.sundance.org

Sundance Institute

As a champion and curator of independent stories, the nonprofit Sundance Institute provides and preserves the space for artists across storytelling media to create and thrive. Founded in 1981 by Robert Redford, the Institute’s signature Labs, granting, and mentorship programs, dedicated to developing new work, take place throughout the year in the U.S. and internationally. Sundance Collab, a digital community platform, brings a global cohort of working artists together to learn from each other and Sundance Advisors and connect in a creative space, developing and sharing works in progress. The Sundance Film Festival and other public programs connect audiences and artists to ignite new ideas, discover original voices, and build a community dedicated to independent storytelling. Sundance Institute has supported and showcased such projects as Summer of Soul (…or, When the Revolution Could Not Be Televised), CODA, Flee, Passing, Clemency, Never Rarely Sometimes Always, Zola, On The Record, Boys State, The Farewell, Honeyland, One Child Nation, The Souvenir, The Infiltrators, Sorry to Bother You, Won’t You Be My Neighbor?, Hereditary, Call Me By Your Name, Get Out, The Big Sick, Mudbound, Fruitvale Station, City So Real, Top of the Lake, Between the World & Me, Wild Goose Dreams and Fun Home. Join Sundance Institute on Facebook, Instagram, Twitter, and YouTube.

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EDITOR NOTE: DIRECTOR DEMOGRAPHICS 

The data we are sharing reflects information provided directly by the artists. Some artists chose not to self-identify in all data areas.

U.S. COMPETITION:

Dramatic: 61% or 8 of the 13 directors in this year’s U.S. Dramatic Competition identify as women; 61% or 8 of the 13 identify as people of color; 23% or 3 of the 13 identify as LGBTQ+. 

Documentary: 65% or 11 of the 17 directors in this year’s U.S. Documentary Competition identify as women; 65% or 11 of the 17 identify as people of color; 12% or 2 of the 17 identify as LGBTQ+; 6% or 1 of the 17 identify as a person with a disability. 

WORLD COMPETITION:

Dramatic: 58% or 7 of the 12 directors in the World Dramatic Competition identify as women; 50% or 6 of the 12 identify as people of color; 25% or 3 out of 12 directors identify as LGBTQ+.

Documentary: 46% or 6 of the 13 directors in the World Documentary Competition identify as women; 38% or 5 of the 13 as people of color; 23% or 3 of the 13 identify as LGBTQ+; 8% or 1 of the 13 identify as a person with a disability. 

FEATURE FILM SUBMISSIONS: Of the 4,061 feature film submissions, 1,662 were from the U.S. and 2,399 were international; 1,105 (27%) were directed by one or more filmmakers who identify as women; 91 (2%) were directed by one or more filmmakers who identify as nonbinary individuals; 1,676 (41%) were directed by one or more filmmakers who identify as people of color; 547 (13%) were directed by one or more filmmakers who identify as LGBTQ+. 

ALL FEATURES: Of the 110 feature films announced so far, 59 (57%) were directed by one or more filmmakers who identify as women; 5 (5%) were directed by one or more filmmakers who identify as nonbinary individuals; 49 (45%) were directed by one or more filmmakers who identify as people of color; 20 (18%) by one or more filmmakers who identify as LGBTQ+; 3 (3%) by one or more filmmakers who identifies as a person with a disability. 

INDIE EPISODIC: Of the 7 directors across the four projects announced, 2 or 29% identify as women; 1 or 14% identify as people of color.

ALL SHORTS: Of the 64 short films announced who opted to provide identity information, 30 (46%) were directed by one or more filmmakers who identify as women; 4 (6%) were directed by one or more filmmakers who identify as nonbinary or gender non-conforming individuals; 40 (62%) were directed by one or more filmmakers who identify as people of color; 23 (35%) by one or more filmmakers who identify as LGBTQ+; 5 (8%) were directed by one or more filmmakers who identify as a person with a disability. 

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