Sundance Film Festival 2020

View other Sundance Film Festival Films by strand: Documentary Premieres, Kids, Midnight, Next, Premieres, Spotlight, US Documentary Competition, US Dramatic Competition, World Cinema Documentary Competition

This Is Not A Burial, It's A Resurrection This Is Not A Burial, It's A Resurrection
This Is Not A Burial, It's A Resurrection and Exile
Charter (Country: Sweden; Year: 2020; Director: Amanda Kernell; Writer: Amanda Kernell; Stars: Eva Melander, Sverrir Gudnason, Ane Dahl Torp, Siw Erixon, Troy Lundkvist, Tintin Poggats Sarri)
After a recent and difficult divorce, Alice hasn't seen her children in two months as she awaits a custody verdict. When her son calls her in the middle of the night, Alice takes action, abducting the children on an illicit charter trip to the Canary Islands.
World premiere
Cuties (Country: France; Year: 2020; Director: Maïmouna Doucouré; Writer: Maïmouna Doucouré; Stars: Maïmouna Gueye, Fathia Youssouf Abdillahi, Demba Diaw, Medina El Aidi, Esther Gohourou, Ilanah Cami-Goursolas, Myriam Hamma, Maïmouna Gueye, Fathia Youssouf Abdillahi, Demba Diaw, Medina El Aidi, Esther Gohourou, Ilanah Cami-Goursolas, Myriam Hamma)
Amy, 11 years old, meets a group of dancers called "Cuties”. Fascinated, she initiates herself to a sensual dance, hoping to join their band and escape family dysfunction...
World premiere
Exile (Exil) (Country: Germany, Belgium, Kosovo; Year: 2020; Director: Visar Morina; Writer: Visar Morina; Stars: Misel Maticevic, Sandra Hüller, Rainer Bock, Uwe Preuss, Stephan Grossmann, Thomas Mraz, Flonja Kodheli, Daniel Sträßer, Piet Fuchs, Christian Skibinski, Misel Maticevic, Sandra Hüller, Rainer Bock, Uwe Preuss, Stephan Grossmann)
A chemical engineer feeling discriminated against and bullied at work plunges into an identity crisis.
World premiere
High Tide (Country: Argentina; Year: 2020; Director: Verónica Chen; Writer: Verónica Chen; Stars: Gloria Carrá, Jorge Sesán, Cristian Salguero, Mariana Chaud, Camila Fabbri, Héctor Bordoni)
Laura is spending a few days at her beach house to supervise the construction of a barbecue shed. One afternoon, she seduces the chief builder, who never returns. Over the following days, the builders continually invade her home – until Laura grows ferocious.
World premiere
Identifying Features (Sin Señas Particulares) (Country: Mexico, Spain; Year: 2020; Director: Fernanda Valadez; Writer: Fernanda Valadez, Astrid Rondero; Stars: Mercedes Hernández, David Illescas, Juan Jesús Varela, Ana Laura Rodríguez, Laura Elena Ibarra, Xicoténcatl Ulloa)
Magdalena makes a journey to find her son, gone missing on his way to the Mexican border with the US. Her odyssey takes her to meet Miguel, a man recently deported from the US. They travel together, Magdalena looking for her son, and Miguel hoping to see his mother again.
World premiere
Jumbo Jumbo
Jumbo and Luxor
Jumbo (Country: France, Luxembourg, Belgium; Year: 2020; Director: Zoé Wittock; Writer: Zoé Wittock; Stars: Noémie Merlant, Emmanuelle Bercot, Sam Louwyck)
Jeanne, a shy young woman, works in an amusement park. Fascinated by carousels, she still lives at home with her mother. That’s when Jeanne meets Jumbo, the park’s new flagship attraction...
World premiere
Luxor (Country: Egypt, UK, United Arab Emirates; Year: 2020; Director: Zeina Durra; Writer: Zeina Durra; Stars: Andrea Riseborough, Karim Saleh, Shahira Fahmy, Sherine Reda, Salima Ikram, Michael Landes, Ahmed Talaat, Indigo Rønlov, Janie Aziz, Trude Reed, Andrea Riseborough, Michael Landes, Karim Saleh, Shahira Fahmy, Sherine Reda)
When British aid worker Hana returns to Luxor, a sleepy city on the banks of the Nile, she comes across Sultan, a talented archeologist and former lover. As she wanders, haunted by the familiar place, she struggles to reconcile the choices of the past with the uncertainty of the present.
World premiere
Possessor (Country: UK, Canada; Year: 2020; Director: Brandon Cronenberg; Writer: Brandon Cronenberg; Stars: Andrea Riseborough, Christopher Abbott, Rossif Sutherland, Tuppence Middleton, Sean Bean, Jennifer Jason Leigh)
Vasya is a corporate agent who uses brain-implant technology to inhabit other people’s bodies, driving them to commit assassinations for the benefit of the company. When something goes wrong on a routine job, she finds herself trapped inside a man whose identity threatens to obliterate her own.
World premiere
Summer White (Blanco De Verano) (Country: Mexico; Year: 2020; Director: Rodrigo Ruiz Patterson; Writer: Rodrigo Ruiz Patterson, Raúl Sebastián Quintanilla; Stars: Adrián Rossi, Sophie Alexander-Katz, Fabián Corres)
Rodrigo is a solitary teenager, a king in the private world he shares with his mother. Things change when she takes her new boyfriend home to live. He must decide if he fights for his throne and crushes the happiness of the person he loves the most.
World premiere
Surge (Country: UK; Year: 2020; Director: Aneil Karia; Writer: Rupert Jones, Rita Kalnejais; Stars: Ben Whishaw, Jasmine Jobson, Ryan McKen, Laurence Spellman, Muna Otaru, Ray Calleja, Paul Blackwell, Abdul Hakim Joy, Jack Pierce, Ranjit Singh Shubh, Yohanna Ephrem, Bradley Taylor, Modupe Adeyeye, Laraine Dix, Haqi Ali)
A man goes on a bold and reckless journey of self-liberation through London. After he robs a bank he releases a wilder version of himself, ultimately experiencing what it feels like to be alive.
World premiere
Possessor Possessor
Possessor and Cuties
This Is Not A Burial, It's A Resurrection (Country: Lesotho; Year: 2019; Director: Lemohang Jeremiah Mosese; Writer: Lemohang Jeremiah Mosese; Stars: Jerry Mofokeng, Tseko Monaheng, Makhaola Ndebele, Siphiwe Nzima-Ntskhe, Mary Twala, Jerry Mofokeng, Tseko Monaheng, Makhaola Ndebele, Siphiwe Nzima-Ntskhe, Mary Twala)
When her village is threatened with forced resettlement due to reservoir construction, an 80-year-old widow finds a new will to live and ignites the spirit of resilience within her community.
International premiere
Yalda, A Night For Forgiveness (Country: Iran, France, Germany, Switzerland; Year: 2020; Director: Massoud Bakhshi; Writer: Massoud Bakhshi; Stars: Sadaf Asgari, Behnaz Jafari, Babak Karimi, Fereshteh Sadr Orafaee, Forough Ghajebeglou, Fereshteh Hosseini)
Maryam accidentally killed her husband Nasser and is sentenced to death. The only person who can save her is Mona, Nasser's daughter. All Mona has to do is appear on a TV show and forgive Maryam. But forgiveness proves difficult when they are forced to relive the past.
International premiere
News

59th New York Film Festival early bird highlights Futura, Jane By Charlotte, James Baldwin: From Another Place and The Velvet Underground

More news and features

Playing Now

Eye For Film continues to support festivals both locally and across the world. At the moment, we're covering:

Abertoir

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

London Korean Film Festival

In the Archive


Archive of festival coverage.

Daily diary and reviews from 2005-2018.

Coverage of the lynchpin German festival.