PARK CITY, Utah (AP) â Film wasnât the only thing on peopleâs minds at this yearâs Sundance Film Festival, which comes to a close Sunday in Park City, Utah ( ).
The effects of loomed large, as did the bittersweet knowledge that this year will be . Some films offered an escape from reality; others were a pointed reminder of the domestic and international political landscape, from transgender rights to the war in Ukraine.
Here are some of the key takeaways from the .
The effects of the Southern California fires were deeply felt
The wildfires were still burning in parts of Los Angeles when Sundance began last week and reminders of its devastation were everywhere, even on screen. Max Walker-Silvermanâs âRebuilding,â starring as a cowboy who loses his ranch in a wildfire and forms a community with fellow survivors in a FEMA camp, hit close to home for many.
Filmmakers Meena Menon and Paul Gleason lost their home in Altadena where they filmed some of their zombie apocalypse movie âDidnât Die.â Sundance artist labs head lost her Palisades home as well. Satter had an audience of Sundance Institute donors in tears early in the festival while accepting an honor at a fundraising gala.
âItâs a deeply devastating time for us and so many others, a moment that calls for all of us coming together to support our bigger community,â Satter said. âAs a friend recently noted, and I have to listen to this, âTake a deep breath ... We lost our village, but at the end of the day we are the village.ââ
The festivalâs move to another city dominated conversations
It was a topic bound to come up in nearly every conversation: The festivalâs new home in 2027. âWhere do you think it will go? How do you feel about it leaving Park City? What would Sundance in Ohio even look like?â No one had any answers, but about the fact that next year will be the last year in which the center of activity is in Park City. Sundance Institute leadership has to Salt Lake City, Utah, Boulder, Colorado, and Cincinnati, Ohio, and is expected to announce the winner before spring.
Actor Tessa Thompson, who serves on the instituteâs board, was hopeful about a new city.
âI think that Sundance has more to do with the spirit and community, and I think thatâs evergreen,â Thompson said. âRegardless of where Sundance is, Sundance will always be.â
Politics were also top of mind, but less public
In the early days of second administration, politics were also a main topic of private discussions at least. Several films (mostly documentaries) had direct relevance to recent news, like âHeightened Scrutiny,â about transgender lawyer and the media coverage of transgender issues amid a pending Supreme Court case.
Even âKiss of the Spider Womanâ filmmaker Bill Condon quoted Trumpâs âtwo gendersâ mandate before his film screened.
âThatâs a sentiment I think youâll see that the movie has a different point of view on,â Condon said.
There also wasnât the spirit of public protest that was unavoidable eight years ago when Trump first took office, when A-listers took to the streets to march for women's rights. But audiences at Q&As for films like about the abusive Alabama prison systems which the were curious how they could help change things.
A muted market? Deals aren't the full story.
There have been essentially two major deals out of the festival so far: Netflix took Clint Bentleyâs lyrical Denis Johnson adaptation, with Joel Edgerton and Felicity Jones, and Neon acquired the Dave Franco and Alison Brie relationship body horror âTogether.â
As always, some films came in with distribution in place: Focus Features with âThe Ballad of Wallis Islandâ; A24 with âOpus,â and âThe Legend of Ochiâ; Bleecker Street with âThe Wedding Banquetâ; Nat Geo with the Sally Ride documentary âSallyâ; MUBI with âMagic Farmâ; and Apple with âDeaf President Now!â; HBO Documentary Films with âThe Alabama Solutionâ and âEnigma.â
Most deals happen after the festival ends, but there have been private grumblings that the market this year was weaker than usual, and the films were not commercial enough. Several insiders singled out Condonâs adaptation of âKiss of the Spider Womanâ with Jennifer Lopez as being too expensive for anyone but a streaming service. But there are also plenty of deals in the works, some of which will be finalized soon, while others may be settled at the Berlin Film Festival market.
As festival programmers like to say, Sundance isnât the end of the story for new films â itâs just the beginning. Last yearâs program had over 100 films distributed to audiences through traditional means, and only a small fraction of those were announced during the festival.
The breakout films youâll be hearing about
Perhaps the biggest discovery of the festival is âSorry, Baby,â from writer-director-star Eva Victor in her feature debut. This funny and quietly piercing film is about Agnes, who was sexually assaulted by her thesis advisor. Instead of making it about depicting the incident itself (Victor keeps the camera firmly planted outside of the home where it occurs, showing the passage of time through light), Victor, who could be the next Greta Gerwig and/or Phoebe Waller-Bridge, stays focused on how it affects Anges.
Filmmaker James Sweeney also scored a big win with âTwinless,â which picked up the U.S. dramatic audience prize and a special award for his star Dylan OâBrien. The movie is about a bromance between two men in a twin bereavement group.
On the documentary side there was much chatter about âAndrĂ© Is an Idiot,â a documentary about a âbrilliant idiotâ who is dying because he didnât get a colonoscopy and trying to live out his final days happily.
The in-person experience at Sundance is also a good reminder that reviews are only part of the equation when it comes to judging the response to a film. Hailey Gatesâ war satire âAtropiaâ got mixed reviews from critics, but premiere audiences were very enthusiastic (as was the U.S. dramatic jury who gave it ).
As of publication, all are still seeking distribution.
Others that played notably well with audiences and critics include: âIf I Had Legs I'd Kick You,â âDJ Ahmet,â âCactus Pears,â âPlainclothes,â âRicky,â âPrime Minister,â âSelena y Los Dinos,â âThe Alabama Solution,â âPredators,â âEast of Wall,â âFolktales,â âFree Leonard Peltier,â âPeter Hujarâs Day,â âThe Ballad of Wallis Islandâ and âTrain Dreams.â
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AP Entertainment Journalist Krysta Fauria contributed from Park City, Utah.
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Lindsey Bahr, The Associated Press