Eye For Film >> Festivals >> Sundance >> 2016 >> US Dramatic Competition
The festival says: "Presenting the world premieres of 16 narrative feature films, the Dramatic Competition offers festivalgoers a first look at groundbreaking new voices in American independent film."
View other Sundance Film Festival Films by strand: Documentary Premieres, Midnight, New Frontier, Next, Premieres, Spotlight, Sundance Kids, Sundance London - Main Features, Sundance London - Road to Stardom, US Documentary Competition, World Cinema Documentary Competition, World Cinema Dramatic Competition
Morris From America and Tallulah
As You Are
(Country: US; Year: 2015; Director: Miles Joris-Peyrafitte; Writer: Madison Harrison, Miles Joris-Peyrafitte; Stars: Owen Campbell, Charlie Heaton, Amandla Stenberg, John Scurti, Scott Cohen, Mary Stuart Masterson, Andrew Polk, Annemarie Lawless, John Romeo, Billy Thomas Myott)
World premiere
The telling and retelling of a relationship between three teenagers as it traces the course of their friendship through a construction of disparate memories prompted by a police investigation.
Audrie & Daisy
(Country: US; Year: 2016; Director: Bonni Cohen, Jon Shenk)
World premiere
After two high school girls in different towns are sexually assaulted by boys they consider friends, online bullying leads each girl to attempt suicide. Tragically, one dies. Assault in the social media age is explored from the perspectives of the girls and boys involved, as well as their torn-apart communities.
The Birth Of A Nation
(Country: US; Year: 2016; Director: Nate Parker; Writer: Jean McGianni Celestin, Nate Parker; Stars: Armie Hammer, Jackie Earle Haley, Gabrielle Union, Aja Naomi King, Penelope Ann Miller, Aunjanue Ellis, Mark Boone Junior, Nate Parker, Colman Domingo, Roger Guenveur Smith, Griffin Freeman, Jeryl Prescott, Steve Coulter, Katie Garfield, Cullen Moss)
The story of Nat Turner's slave uprising.
World premiere
Christine
(Country: US; Year: 2016; Director: Antonio Campos; Writer: Craig Shilowich; Stars: Rebecca Hall, Michael C. Hall, Maria Dizzia, J. Smith-Cameron, Kim Shaw, Timothy Simons, Tracy Letts, Rachel Hendrix, John Cullum, Morgan Spector, Susan Pourfar, Kimberley Drummond, Ritchie Montgomery, Jayson Warner Smith, Masey McLain)
True story of a driven but troubled TV news reporter.
World premiere
Equity
(Country: US; Year: 2015; Director: Meera Menon; Writer: Amy Fox; Stars: Anna Gunn, James Purefoy, Sarah Megan Thomas, Alysia Reiner, Craig Bierko, Margaret Colin, Nate Corddry, Nick Gehlfuss, Carrie Preston, Samuel Roukin, Tracie Thoms, Lee Tergesen, Sophie von Haselberg, James Naughton, Roe Hartrampf)
World premiere
A female investment banker, fighting to get a promotion at her competitive Wall Street firm, leads a controversial tech IPO in the post-financial-crisis world, where regulations are tight but pressure to bring in big money remains high.
Christine and The Birth Of A Nation
The Free World
(Country: US; Year: 2016; Director: Jason Lew; Writer: Jason Lew; Stars: Boyd Holbrook, Elisabeth Moss, Sue-Lynn Ansari, Waleed Zuaiter, Darren Pettie, James Moses Black, Nazeema Bartek, Vivian Fleming-Alvarez, Jean Claude Leuyer, Tony Beard, Kirk Robertson, Seth Gabel)
An ex-con risks his new-found freedom to help a woman he has just met.
World premiere
The Intervention
(Country: US; Year: 2016; Director: Clea DuVall; Writer: Clea DuVall; Stars: Cobie Smulders, Alia Shawkat, Melanie Lynskey, Natasha Lyonne, Jason Ritter, Clea DuVall, Ben Schwartz, Vincent Piazza, Kira Pozehl, Melissa Lloyd-Wade, David Bernon, Sam Slater, Krista Mack, Merrik Foune)
World premiere
A weekend getaway for four couples takes a sharp turn when one of the couples discovers the entire trip was orchestrated to host an intervention on their marriage.
Joshy
(Country: US; Year: 2016; Director: Jeff Baena; Writer: Jeff Baena; Stars: Thomas Middleditch, Adam Pally, Alex Ross Perry, Nick Kroll, Brett Gelman, Jenny Slate, Lauren Graham, Aubrey Plaza, Joe Swanberg, Kris Swanberg, Alison Brie, Paul Weitz, Brian Patrick Farrell, Jake Johnson, Frankie Shaw)
World premiere
Josh treats what would have been his bachelor party as an opportunity to reconnect with his friends.
Lovesong
(Country: US; Year: 2016; Director: So Yong Kim; Writer: Bradley Rust Gray, So Yong Kim; Stars: Jena Malone, Riley Keough, Brooklyn Decker, Ryan Eggold, Rosanna Arquette, Amy Seimetz, Marshall Chapman, Jessie Ok Gray, Sky Ok Gray, Juliet Fitzpatrick, Neal Huff, William Tyler, Justin Tarrents, Rick Duvall, Karen Kaforey)
World premiere
Neglected by her husband, Sarah embarks on an impromptu road trip with her young daughter and her best friend, Mindy. Along the way, the dynamic between the two friends intensifies before circumstances force them apart. Years later, Sarah attempts to rebuild their intimate connection in the days before Mindy’s wedding.
Morris From America
(Country: Germany, US; Year: 2016; Director: Chad Hartigan; Writer: Chad Hartigan; Stars: Craig Robinson, Carla Juri, Jakub Gierszal, Eva Löbau, Kai Michael Müller, Lina Keller, Markees Christmas, Levin Henning, Marie Löschhorn, Patrick Güldenberg, Roger Ditter, Florian Von Stockum, Benedikt Crisand, Manuel Hafner, Hugo Manuel)
A 13-year-old American comes of age in Germany.
World premiere
The Free World and As You Are
Other People
(Country: US; Year: 2015; Director: Chris Kelly; Writer: Chris Kelly; Stars: Jesse Plemons, Bradley Whitford, Molly Shannon, Zach Woods, June Squibb, Retta, Maude Apatow, Kerri Kenney, Paul Dooley, J.J. Totah, Toni French, Madisen Beaty, Kanoa Goo, Karli Karissa, Waymond Lee)
World premiere
A struggling comedy writer, fresh from breaking up with his boyfriend, moves to Sacramento to help his sick mother. Living with his conservative father and younger sisters, David feels like a stranger in his childhood home. As his mother worsens, he tries to convince everyone (including himself) he's "doing okay".
Southside With You
(Country: US; Year: 2016; Director: Richard Tanne; Writer: Richard Tanne; Stars: Tika Sumpter, Vanessa Bell Calloway, Parker Sawyers, Alex Zelenka, Donald Paul, Jerod Haynes, Fred Nance Jr., Preston Tate Jr., Jeremy Michael Pereira, Deanna Reed Foster, Gabrielle Lott-Rogers)
World premiere
A chronicle of the summer afternoon in 1989 when the future president of the United States of America, Barack Obama, wooed his future First Lady on an epic first date across Chicago's South Side.
Spa Night
(Country: US; Year: 2016; Director: Andrew Ahn; Writer: Andrew Ahn; Stars: Joe Seo, Haerry Kim, Youn Ho Cho, Tae Song, Ho Young Chung, Linda Han)
World premiere
A young Korean-American man works to reconcile his obligations to his struggling immigrant family with his burgeoning sexual desires in the underground world of gay hookups at Korean spas in Los Angeles.
Swiss Army Man
(Country: US; Year: 2016; Director: Dan Kwan, Daniel Scheinert; Writer: Dan Kwan, Daniel Scheinert; Stars: Paul Dano, Daniel Radcliffe, Mary Elizabeth Winstead, Timothy Eulich, Richard Gross, Marika Casteel, Aaron Marshall, Antonia Ribero)
World premiere
Hank, a hopeless man stranded in the wild, discovers a mysterious dead body. Together the two embark on an epic journey to get home. As Hank realises the body is the key to his survival, this once-suicidal man is forced to convince a dead body that life is worth living.
Tallulah
(Country: US; Year: 2016; Director: Sian Heder; Writer: Sian Heder; Stars: Elliot Page, Allison Janney, Zachary Quinto, Uzo Aduba, David Zayas, Tammy Blanchard, John Benjamin Hickey, Fredric Lehne, Evan Jonigkeit, Jasson Finney, Doris McCarthy, Charlotte Ubben, Stacey Thunder, Nimo Gandhi, Jason Tottenham)
A woman 'kidnaps' a toddler and passes her off as her own.
World premiere
Equity and Spa Night
White Girl
(Country: US; Year: 2016; Director: Elizabeth Wood; Writer: Elizabeth Wood; Stars: Morgan Saylor, Brian 'Sene' Marc, Justin Bartha, Chris Noth, Adrian Martinez, India Menuez, Annabelle Dexter-Jones, Ralph Rodriguez, Anthony Ramos, Eden Marryshow, Celia Au, Tamika Sonja Lawrence, Kyanna Simone, Jermel Howard, Stefano Villabona)
World premiere
Summer, New York City: A college student goes to extremes to get her drug dealer boyfriend out of jail.
59th New York Film Festival early bird highlights Futura, Jane By Charlotte, James Baldwin: From Another Place and The Velvet Underground
Eye For Film continues to support festivals both locally and across the world. At the moment, we're covering:
DOC NYC
New York's celebration of factual film
Tallinn Black Nights Film Festival
One of the largest film gatherings in northern Europe
French Film Festival
The UK's longest running celebration of Francophone cinema
Cannes Film Festival
Archive of festival coverage.
Sundance Film Festival
Daily diary and reviews from 2005-2018.
Berlin Film Festival
Coverage of the lynchpin German festival.
Search Movie Database
Browse our full archive
Browse our short film archive
Browse our media archive
