Sundance Institute has revealed the showcase of independent feature films selected for its flagship festival, with Miss Americana, Crip Camp, Us Kids and Happy Happy Joy Joy: The Ren & Stimpy Story among the documentaries premiering.
The U.S. Documentary Competition of the 2020 Sundance Film Festival comprises 16 world premieres, including Nicole Newnham and Jim LeBrecht’s Crip Camp (pictured), while the World Cinema Documentary Competition comprises 12 titles having their world or international premieres.
Crip Camp tells the story of a 1970s ramshackle summer camp for disabled teenagers; while Lana Wilson’s Taylor Swift documentary Miss Americana offers a “raw and emotionally revealing look” at the musician during a transformation period in her life. Kim A. Snyder’s Us Kids, meanwhile, sees the teenage survivors of the Parkland, Florida school shooting mobilize to “take back democracy”; and Ron Cicero and Kimo Easterwood’s Happy Happy Joy Joy: The Ren & Stimpy Story explores the rise and fall of animated series Ren & Stimpy and its controversial creator, John Kricfalusi.
A selection of 118 feature films across all categories announced today (Dec. 4) were culled from a record 15,100 submissions. The slate represents 27 countries and 44 first-time filmmakers. Of the 65 directors in all four competition categories, 46% are women, 38% are people of color and 12% are LGBTQ+.
In this year’s U.S. documentary competition, 45% of directors are women; 23% are people of color; 23% are LGBTQ+.
The festival hosts screenings in Park City, Salt Lake City and at Sundance Mountain Resort, from Jan. 23 to Feb. 2, 2020.
Keri Putnam, executive director of Sundance Institute, said: “At this year’s festival, we’ll explore the theme of ‘imagined futures,’ inside the theaters and in the conversations sparked by the work we are presenting. We believe diverse stories from independent artists around the world open us up to new perspectives and possibilities – at a time when fresh thinking and dialogue is urgently needed.”
Below is a list of 2020 Sundance Film Festival documentary slate. To see a full list of films, visit the Sundance Institute website.
DOCUMENTARY PREMIERES
Aggie (U.S.)
Director and screenwriter: Catherine Gund
Producers: Catherine Gund, Tanya Selvaratnam
Assassins (U.S.)
Director: Ryan White
Producers: Jessica Hargrave, Ryan White
Disclosure: Trans Lives On Screen (U.S.)
Director: Sam Feder
Producers: Amy Scholder, Sam Feder
The Dissident (U.S.)
Director: Bryan Fogel
Screenwriters: Mark Monroe, Bryan Fogel
Producers: Bryan Fogel, Jake Swantko, Mark Monroe, Thor Halvorssen
Giving Voice (U.S.)
Directors: James D. Stern, Fernando Villena
Producers: James D. Stern, Karen Bove, Fernando Villena, Schoen Smith, Craig Piligian
The Go-Go’s (U.S., Ireland, Canada)
Director: Alison Ellwood
Producers: Trevor Birney, Corey Russell, Eimhear O’Neill
Happy Happy Joy Joy: The Ren & Stimpy Story (U.S.)
Directors and Screenwriters: Ron Cicero, Kimo Easterwood
Producer: Ron Cicero
Miss Americana (U.S.)
Director: Lana Wilson
Producers: Morgan Neville, Caitrin Rogers, Christine O’Malley
Natalie Wood: What Remains Behind (U.S.)
Director: Laurent Bouzereau
Producers: Natasha Gregson Wagner, Manoah Bowman, Laurent Bouzereau
Okavango: River of Dreams (Director’s Cut) (Botswana)
Directors and Producers: Dereck Joubert, Beverly Joubert
Screenwriter: Dereck Joubert
Rebuilding Paradise (U.S.)
Director: Ron Howard
Producers: Brian Grazer, Ron Howard, Xan Parker, Sara Bernstein, Justin Wilkes
Untitled Kirby Dick/Amy Ziering Film (U.S.)
Directors: Kirby Dick, Amy Ziering
Screenwriters: Kirby Dick, Amy Ziering, Sara Newens
Producers: Amy Ziering, Kirby Dick, Amy Herdy, Jamie Rogers
Vivos (Germany, Mexico)
Director and Producer: Ai Weiwei
U.S. DOCUMENTARY COMPETITION
A Thousand Cuts (U.S., Philippines)
Director and screenwriter: Ramona S. Diaz
Producers: Ramona S. Diaz, Leah Marino, Julie Goldman, Chris Clements, Carolyn Hepburn
Be Water (U.S., UK)
Director: Bao Nguyen
Producer: Julia Nottingham
Bloody Nose, Empty Pockets (U.S.)
Directors: Bill Ross, Turner Ross
Producers: Michael Gottwald, Chere Theriot
Boys State (U.S.)
Directors: Jesse Moss, Amanda McBaine
Producers: Amanda McBaine, Jesse Moss
Code for Bias (U.S., UK, China)
Director, screenwriter and producer: Shalini Kantayya
The Cost of Silence (U.S.)
Director: Mark Manning
Producers: Mark Manning, Langdon Page, Reuben Aaronson
Crip Camp (U.S.)
Directors: Nicole Newnham, Jim LeBrecht
Producers: Sara Bolder, Jim LeBrecht, Nicole Newnham
Dick Johnson Is Dead (U.S.)
Director: Kirsten Johnson
Screenwriters: Nels Bangerter, Kirsten Johnson
Producers: Katy Chevigny, Marilyn Ness
Feels Good Man (U.S.)
Director: Arthur Jones
Producers: Giorgio Angelini, Caryn Capotosto, Aaron Wickenden
The Fight (U.S.)
Directors: Elyse Steinberg, Josh Kriegman, Eli Despres
Producers: Elyse Steinberg, Josh Kriegman, Eli Despres, Maya Seidler, Peggy Drexler, Kerry Washington
Mucho Mucho Amor (U.S.)
Directors: Cristina Costantini, Kareem Tabsch
Producer: Alex Fumero
Spaceship Earth (U.S.)
Director: Matt Wolf
Producers: Stacey Reiss, Matt Wolf
Time (U.S.)
Director: Garrett Bradley
Producers: Lauren Domino, Kellen Quinn, Garrett Bradley
Us Kids (U.S.)
Director: Kim A. Snyder
Producers: Kim A. Snyder, Maria Cuomo Cole, Lori Cheatle
Welcome to Chechnya (U.S.)
Director: David France
Producers: Alice Henty, David France, Askold Kurov, Joy A. Tomchin
Whirlybird (U.S.)
Director: Matt Yoka
Producers: Diane Becker, Matt Yoka
WORLD CINEMA DOCUMENTARY COMPETITION
Acasa, My Home (Romania, Germany, Finland)
Director: Radu Ciorniciuc
Screenwriters: Lina Vdovii, Radu Ciorniciuc
Producer: Monica Lazurean-Gorgan
The Earth Is Blue as an Orange (Ukraine, Lithuania)
Director: Iryna Tsilyk
Producers: Anna Kapustina, Giedrė Žickytė
Epicentro (Austria, France, U.S.)
Director and screenwriter: Hubert Sauper
Producers: Martin Marquet, Daniel Marquet, Gabriele Kranzelbinder, Paolo Calamita
Influence (South Africa, Canada)
Directors and Screenwriters: Diana Neille, Richard Poplak
Producers: Bob Moore, Neil Brandt
Into the Deep (Denmark)
Director: Emma Sullivan
Producers: Mette Heide, Roslyn Walker
The Mole Agent (Chile)
Director and screenwriter: Maite Alberdi
Producer: Marcela Santibañez
Once Upon A Time in Venezuela (Venezuela, UK, Brazil, Austria)
Director: Anabel Rodríguez Ríos
Screenwriters: Anabel Rodríguez Ríos, Sepp R. Brudermann
Producer: Sepp R. Brudermann
The Painter and the Thief (Norway)
Director: Benjamin Ree
Producer: Ingvil Giske
The Reason I Jump (UK)
Director: Jerry Rothwell
Producers: Jeremy Dear, Stevie Lee, Al Morrow
Saudi Runaway (Switzerland)
Director and screenwriter: Susanne Regina Meures
Producer: Christian Frei
Softie (Kenya)
Director and screenwriter: Sam Soko
Producers: Toni Kamau, Sam Soko
The Truffle Hunters (Italy, U.S., Greece)
Directors: Michael Dweck, Gregory Kershaw
Producers: Michael Dweck, Gregory Kershaw