Sundance 2020 sets tone for new year in cinema

Sundance Film Festival is about beginnings. Not only are careers launched there, but a precedent is set for the new year in cinema. Sundance 2020 saw the premieres of myriad daring and relevant films. Topical movies that do not shy away from the grittier parts of life work because they expose viewers to a raw and arresting perspective of reality through a palatable art form. 

Sundance is one of the three major global film festivals and takes place in late January to early February, followed by the Cannes Film Festival and the Venice Film Festival later in the year. The running theme of Sundance 2020 seemed to be occasionally difficult to watch, always important to consume.

Safe to say, attending Sundance 2020 was, for many, nothing short of a dream come true. The general atmosphere of Park City, Utah  was full of excitement, curiosity and innovation. All around barriers were broken as new voices were heard through inspiring new modes of storytelling. 

Documentaries like Ron Howard’s “Rebuilding Paradise” and Jesse Moss and Amanda McBaine’s “Boys State” (U.S. Grand Jury Prize winner in Documentary) touched on important topics like the climate crisis and the projected future of the United States government without being politically overt about their subjects and alienating audiences. The documentaries work because they bite off just the right amount of an otherwise large dish and both follow the people at the heart of it all. 

In “Rebuilding Paradise,” Ron Howard reports on the devastating Paradise wildfires that took the lives of 85 people and destroyed 19,000 buildings in 2018. Interestingly enough though, in an interview, Howard claims it is not an environmental crisis film.

The point of the work is to tell personal stories because those are what appeals to an audience’s emotions.

And that’s really what the entire medium of filmmaking is all about. “Boys State” follows an annual conference where young men build an entirely new representative government system from scratch. Every summer, more than 1,000 adolescent males belonging to a leadership group called Boys State meet in the Texas Capitol for an American Legion-sponsored conference where they split into Nationalists and Federalists. 

“Boys State’s” success can be credited to the fact that it does not try to be bigger than it is. These young men are a microcosm of the U.S.government. They are kids with their own drama, and while some of their problems are childishly petty, so are adult politics. 

The narrative features did not hold back either: Movies such as Emerald Fennell’s “Promising Young Woman” and Lee Isaac Chung’s “Minari” were also major talking points at the festival — the latter of which took home double prizes in the Dramatic category for the U.S. Grand Jury prize and the Audience award. “Promising Young Woman” is an audacious directorial debut that follows a young woman, Cassie, as she single-handedly tricks and confronts male sexual abusers. She’s a larger-than-life character, yet she resonates with the frustration and helplessness that so many women feel crushed by today. 

“Minari” gives us a new take on the American Dream. David is a 7-year-old Korean American boy whose father decides to move their family from California to Arkansas to pursue farming. The film explores changing and unchanging generational aspirations and a persistent hope for success in a foreign land that is handed down from father to son. “Minari” debuted to tears, laughter and a standing ovation from the Sundance crowd because it’s a story that resonates. While the film is uniquely Korean American and does not shy away from its deeply rooted identity in Asian American cultural assimilation, at its core it’s a story about relationships and the compromise between individual goals and the greater good of a family. 

Every screening had a Best In Festival pre-screening wrap up where each wrap focused on the biggest premieres and panels of the previous day. Notably, there was a spotlight on representation of people with disabilities in cinema. Videos and photos of conversations with the crew of “Crip Camp,” a documentary about a camp for people with disabilities run by hippies in the ’60s and ’70s, were shown, calling attention to a community of people who have been denied access to the film industry. 

Another highlight was a short video before each screening featuring a member of a Utah Native American tribe-member as a means of honoring the history of the Native land the festival takes place on. Sundance has followed through on its commitment to support indigenous artists from its very start and has launched the Native Filmmakers Lab, an organization spanning three generations that works to find and give platforms to Native American creators.

The atmosphere of Sundance was also one where networking and connection-making were airborne. But Sundance Film Festival doesn’t feel elitist. While the festival is accredited and renowned worldwide, anyone can go. People were eager to engage in conversation, whether it was about what they were seeing or how one can get connected and stay in touch for opportunities post-festival. 

But the festival didn’t feel fake, for lack of a better term. And no other place was this more obvious than the USC reception party Sunday of the first weekend. On Main Street, the USC Alumni Association had rented out the Riverhorse Hall and hosted a formal meetup between Trojans at the festival. 

USC alumnus Erick Castrillon premiered his film “Blast Beat,” a story about two Colombian brothers preparing to move to America right before the new millennium. 

For him it was an unforgettable dream come true, he said. Being part of the dramatic competition with a story partially in another language represented and elevated everything he stood for: family. Castrillon’s team was able to deliver its message for a more inclusive America and to its surprise, the audience was receptive. It is Sundance, after all.

Sundance Film Festival has, in its 30-plus years, made a name for itself as ground zero for the cinematic storytelling of the future. Between snow-capped mountains and snowy ski lodges, magic was brewing constantly between attendees and creators at Sundance. For the last two weekends, Park City, Utah has been an epicenter for original ideas and fresh perspectives in filmmaking. And there’s no sign of the festival going back on that promise in the coming years.