Film wasn’t the only thing on people’s minds at this year’s Sundance Film Festival, which comes to a close Sunday in Park City, Utah ( and online ).
The effects of the wildfires in Southern California loomed large, as did the bittersweet knowledge that this year will be the second to last Sundance based in Park City. 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 41st edition of the festival.
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-Silverman’s “Rebuilding,” starring Josh O’Connor 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 “Didn’t Die.” Sundance artist labs head Michelle Satter 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.
“It’s 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,” Satter said. “As a friend recently noted, and I have to listen to this, ‘Take a deep breath … We lost our village, but at the end of the day we are the village.'”
The festival’s move to another city dominated conversations
It was a topic bound to come up in nearly every conversation: The festival’s new home in 2027. “Where do you think it will go? How do you feel about it leaving Park City? What would Sundance in Ohio even look like?” No one had any answers, but everyone had an opinion 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 narrowed the finalist cities 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 institute’s board, was hopeful about a new city.
“I think that Sundance has more to do with the spirit and community, and I think that’s evergreen,” Thompson said. “Regardless of where Sundance is, Sundance will always be.”
Politics were also top of mind, but less public
In the early days of U.S. President Donald Trump’s second administration, politics were also a main topic of private discussions at least. Several films (mostly documentaries) had direct relevance to recent news, like “Heightened Scrutiny,” about transgender lawyer Chase Strangio and the media coverage of transgender issues amid a pending Supreme Court case.
Even “Kiss of the Spider Woman” filmmaker Bill Condon quoted Trump’s “two genders” mandate before his film screened.
“That’s a sentiment I think you’ll see that the movie has a different point of view on,” Condon said.
There also wasn’t 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 “The Alabama Solution,” about the abusive Alabama prison systems which the AP has reported extensively on, 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 “Train Dreams,” Clint Bentley’s lyrical Denis Johnson adaptation, with Joel Edgerton and Felicity Jones, and Neon acquired the Dave Franco and Alison Brie relationship body horror “Together.”
As always, some films came in with distribution in place: Focus Features with “The Ballad of Wallis Island”; A24 with “If I Had Legs I’d Kick You,” “Opus,” and “The Legend of Ochi”; Bleecker Street with “The Wedding Banquet”; Nat Geo with the Sally Ride documentary “Sally”; MUBI with “Magic Farm”; and Apple with “Deaf President Now!”; HBO Documentary Films with “The Alabama Solution” and “Enigma.”
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 Condon’s adaptation of “Kiss of the Spider Woman” 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 isn’t the end of the story for new films — it’s just the beginning. Last year’s 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 you’ll be hearing about
Perhaps the biggest discovery of the festival is “Sorry, Baby,” 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 “Twinless,” which picked up the U.S. dramatic audience prize and a special award for his star Dylan O’Brien. The movie is about a bromance between two men in a twin bereavement group.
On the documentary side there was much chatter about “André Is an Idiot,” a documentary about a “brilliant idiot” who is dying because he didn’t 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 Gates’ war satire “Atropia” got mixed reviews from critics, but premiere audiences were very enthusiastic (as was the U.S. dramatic jury who gave it the festival’s top prize ).
As of publication, all are still seeking distribution.
Others that played notably well with audiences and critics include: “If I Had Legs I’d Kick You,” “DJ Ahmet,” “Cactus Pears,” “2000 Meters to Andriivka,” “Plainclothes,” “Ricky,” “Prime Minister,” “Selena y Los Dinos,” “The Stringer,””SLY LIVES!,” “The Alabama Solution,” “Predators,” “East of Wall,” “Folktales,” “Free Leonard Peltier,” “Peter Hujar’s Day,” “The Ballad of Wallis Island” and “Train Dreams.”
AP Entertainment Journalist Krysta Fauria contributed from Park City, Utah.
