5 Takeaways From the Sundance Film Festival: From Frozen Indie Markets to Next Year’s Awards Contenders

The Sundance Movie Pageant closed its second digital version on Sunday, having fielded just a few breakout new movies and filmmakers, in addition to some huge gross sales.

With the indie movie field workplace within the doldrums, lots of the most aggressive patrons had been streaming giants, which have each an insatiable want for content material and a need to generate some awards buzz. Whereas a number of the motion pictures acquired a extra muted reception than in previous years, when a standing ovation at Park Metropolis’s Eccles Theater was sufficient to set off an all-night bidding struggle, there’s been no scarcity of headline-making moments. Plus, a slow-burning gross sales market caught fireplace as Sundance got here to a detailed, leaving some indie filmmakers the richer for his or her pageant expertise. Listed below are some key takeaways:

Peak Pandemic Politics

America has by no means felt extra divided, and lots of the movies premiering at this 12 months’s Sundance shine a light-weight on that political chasm. From abortion rights (“Name Jane”) and company greed (“Downfall: The Case In opposition to Boeing”) to campus racism (“Grasp”) and earnings inequality (“The American Dream and Different Fairy Tales), each the narrative options and the non-fiction work on show spoke communicate reality to energy and  highlighted a gaggle of filmmakers who’re decided to make use of their artwork to reveal what they see because the nation’s ethical failings.

Get Able to Fall in Love With Cooper Raiff

The 24 year-old multi-hyphenate behind “Cha Cha Actual Easy” scored the pageant’s largest deal, a $15 million greenback pact from Apple. The movie, which Raiff directed, wrote, produced, edited and starred in is a heartfelt, often hilarious story of a latest school grad who types a bond with a single mom and her autistic daughter. Its charms are virtually unimaginable to withstand and studios will likely be lining as much as work with the successful Raiff sooner or later. However Sundance success has its perils and may put a goal on an up-and-comer’s again. In spite of everything, numerous motion pictures like “Brittany Runs a Marathon” and “Blinded by the Mild” have scored with festival-goers, solely to falter with most people.

Hollywood Opened Its Pockets (Finally)

Gone had been the all-night bidding wars that make Sundance so exhausting and exhilarating for gross sales brokers, filmmakers and the commerce press. The truth is, issues had been downright glacial via the pageant’s first weekend with solely a handful of documentaries promoting. However then issues began to sizzle. Not solely did Raiff’s “Cha Cha Actual Easy” rating a $15 million pact, however “Good Luck to You, Leo Grande” bought to Hulu and Searchlight for $7.5 million, “Am I Okay?” went to HBO Max and Warner Bros. for practically $7 million (a second high-profile sale for Erik Feig’s Picturestart) and “Dwelling” bought to Sony Footage Classics for roughly $5 million. These are very respectable numbers even in regular years. However some high-profile movies stumbled out of the gate, most notably Lena Dunham’s “Sharp Stick,” which was maimed by critics, and have but to safe distribution. It’s notable, nevertheless, that many of the main gross sales had some form of streaming element. With the field workplace for adult-oriented motion pictures on life help, most studios are cautious of overpaying for motion pictures might wrestle to attract crowds as pandemic uncertainty continues.

Buzz Constructing Proves Tough

Talking of so-called “pageant fever,” the second consecutive digital Sundance appears to disclose one thing essential in regards to the DNA of those occasions – — that expertise and trade varieties must trek up the mountain to name consideration to their work. Celebrities rocking cable-knit sweaters and beanies for every day picture ops go a good distance in towards creating consciousness across the artwork type, as do lengthy standing ovations in crowded theaters and interviews in shiny media studios. Whereas many have marveled on the ease of an on-demand video library showcasing these motion pictures, the shortage of dialogue and press protection across the lineup doesn’t bode effectively for the well being of Sundance or the filmmakers. Various Hollywood powerbrokers have been discussing a come-to-Jesus with the pageant, urging it to completely transfer farther away from the vacation season.

Oscar Futures Unsure

Whereas not as well-positioned within the movie awards cycle because the Cannes and Toronto festivals, Sundance is sort of all the time good for an awards participant or two. Due to the protracted, pandemic-jammed Oscar season at the moment taking part in out — and the beforehand talked about tepid market — it’s unclear what movies is perhaps primed to interrupt out as subsequent 12 months’s contenders.

“Nanny,” the narrative grand jury prize winner with an electrical lead flip by Anna Diop and backed by a superb supporting forged in Sinqua Partitions, Michelle Monaghan and Morgan Spector, might effectively bait our bodies just like the Gotham Awards and the Indie Spirits. The issue? It hasn’t discovered a purchaser but. Likewise, Dunham’s “Sharp Stick” stays unsold and was ravaged by critics, however one ought to by no means rely her out as a director with a singular perspective.

After buying “Leo Grande” for a streaming launch at Hulu, the workforce at Searchlight will probably try some recognition for Thompson — whose many on-screen items are at play within the intercourse employee drama, together with a poignant full-frontal nude scene which is able to absolutely encourage conversations about self-acceptance and pleasure at all ages. After chopping a $15 million examine, Apple Studios could possibly be desperate to get Raiff’s “Cha Cha” in entrance of voters and guilds. The status label Sony Footage Classics can also be certain to trot out “Dwelling,” the well-received remake of Akira Kurosawa’s traditional meaning-of-life story “Ikiru,” led by Invoice Nighy.