Sales Contact: Cinetic
“Blindspotting”
Daveed Diggs and Rafael Casal in “Blindspotting”
Courtesy of Sundance Institute
Section: U.S. Dramatic Competition, Opening Night
“Unbreakable Kimmy Schmidt” star Daveed Diggs follows up his breakout Broadway role in musical “Hamilton” by writing with Rafael Casal a fast-talking poetic musical buddy comedy. They star in the film set where they grew up, “The Town” (Oakland, California). They’ve been working on the script for years and finally raised financing after Diggs won the Tony. Another pal, Chapman grad Carlos López Estrada, who directed several music videos for Diggs’ L.A. rap group Clipping, directs this story about the strained dynamic between this rough Bay Area community and the police. Diggs’ character has to stay out of trouble through the last five days of his probation, a countdown that becomes a challenge (Lopez Estrada is also unveiling at Sundance his eight-episode “High & Mighty” series of 15-minute shorts).
Sales Contact: Endeavor
“Colette”
Section: Premieres
With films like “Atonement,” “Pirates of the Caribbean,” and “Pride & Prejudice,” Keira Knightley built a career on period dramas. Yet sales agents cautioned that “Colette” is not an excuse for the two-time Oscar nominee to don a corset, describing the biopic from director/co-writer Wash Westmoreland (“Quinceañera,” “Still Alice”) of the mononymous French novelist (1873-1954) as a well-executed and timely tale of female empowerment. To oblige her first husband (Dominic West), Colette published four popular novels under his name, but was deprived of those earnings after their divorce, since he maintained the copyrights. Living on scraps and refusing to see herself as a victim, she began acting — even playing her novel’s young heroine — causing a massive scandal in 1907 when she shared a same-sex kiss onstage with her real-life partner. While Colette’s relationships would also include two more marriages and a dalliance with her teenage stepson, her literary legacy was sealed when she earned a late-in-life Nobel Prize nomination.
Expect a sale to the likes of specialty distributors Sony Pictures Classics, Focus Features, or Bleecker Street.
Sales Contact: CAA/Endeavor Content
“Crime + Punishment”
“Crime + Punishment”
Courtesy of Sundance Institute
Section: U.S. Documentary Competition
Word is that director Stephen Maing’s NYPD exposé boasts both superb visuals plus David Simon-level journalistic chops. That’s not a surprise, as the film is produced by Oscar-winning documentarian Laura Poitras (“Citizenfour”). “Crime + Punishment” examines the ever-present racism in the quota system enforced by our nation’s largest police department – and the group of black and Latino cops who refuse to acquiesce, the NYPD12, irate that dire sentences are routinely handed down to non-violent offenders.
However, these whistleblowers are tormented by colleagues on the force, as evident in secret recordings and hidden camera footage culled from four years of undercover access. One of the film’s central characters is Manny Gomez, an officer-cum-private investigator who helps those unjustly jailed extract before they become forgotten by the system. This is the second feature-length documentary from Maing, who previously screened his look at China’s premiere citizen journalists, “High Tech, Low Life” (2012), at the Tribeca Film Festival and Hot Docs.
Sales Contact: Submarine
“The Happy Prince”
Rupert Everett in “The Happy Prince”
Courtesy of Sundance Institute, photo by Wilhelm Moser
Section: Premieres
Actor Rupert Everett’s directorial debut, filmed in Bavaria, France, Belgium, and Italy, expands on his stage portrayal of Oscar Wilde in David Hare’s “The Judas Kiss.” Everett explores the physical and emotional dimensions of this brilliant writer as he winds down his life in relative poverty in exile after being released from prison in England for his love affair with Lord Alfred Bosie Douglas (Colin Morgan). He tries to keep up his spirits by entertaining his coterie including Bosie, literary agent Robbie Ross (Edwin Thomas), Reggie Turner (Colin Firth), and his estranged wife Constance (Emily Watson).
Sales Contact: CAA
“Inventing Tomorrow”
“Inventing Tomorrow”
Courtesy of Sundance Institute, photo by IQ 190 Productions
Section: U.S. Documentary Competition
Laura Nix, a 2017 Sundance Institute and Documentary Impact Fellow, has previously co-directed a pair of feature documentaries: “The Light in Her Eyes” and “The Yes Men Are Revolting.” The latter mocked companies that refuse to acknowledge the reality of climate change, and her first solo venture in the genre tracks six far-flung high school scientists intent on stopping mankind’s destruction of the planet. “Inventing Tomorrow” is one of two Sundance documentaries this year set at the 2017 International Science and Engineering Fair in Los Angeles (the other, “Science Fair,” screens out of competition as part of the kids’ program). Nix follows charismatic subjects who could easily change the world and steers away from typical competition doc tropes. The film promises to restore some much-needed faith in those who watch the Trump administration’s lack of environmental accountability with gritted teeth.
Sales Contact: Submarine
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