Taylor Swift, Olivia Colman lead diverse Sundance 2020 lineup

PARK CITY, Utah -- Women directors and stars will be at the forefront of this year's Sundance Film Festival starting on Thursday, at a time when a lack of diversity among nominees has been the focus of the Hollywood awards season.

Women directed 44% of the 118 feature-length films to be previewed at the 10-day festival in the ski resort town of Park City, Utah. Minorities have directed 34%, and directors identifying as LGBTQ 15%.

Last year, women directed 40% of the official selection at Sundance.

At the upcoming Academy Awards on Feb. 9, no female directors are up for an Oscar, and stories by or about men dominate the Best Picture lineup.

"It's part of a trend at Sundance," said Brent Lang, executive editor for film and media at movie trade magazine Variety.

"Over the last decade the festival's put a real premium on providing a platform for female filmmakers, for under-represented filmmakers of all stripes, and I think this is a continuation of that effort."


Kicking off Sundance, the biggest U.S. showcase for independent cinema, will be director and Emmy winner Lana Wilson with her Netflix documentary, "Taylor Swift: Miss Americana," which the streaming service says promises a "raw and emotionally revealing look" at the pop star.

RECORD SUBMISSIONS

Organizers of the festival founded by actor Robert Redford say they received a record-breaking 15,100 submissions this year.

Angelina Jolie stars in the children's movie "Come Away," which explores the stories of Peter Pan and Alice in Wonderland; Olivia Colman plays a daughter trying to look after her elderly parent in "The Father," and Carey Mulligan is a woman who seeks revenge after a tragic event in "Promising Young Woman."

Elisabeth Moss plays horror author Shirley Jackson in "Shirley," Ethan Hawke plays Serbian-American inventor Nikola Tesla in "Tesla," and Benedict Cumberbatch is a spy during the Cold War in "Ironbark."


Across the documentary categories, Ron Howard’s "Rebuilding Paradise" shows the wildfires in California that destroyed the town of Paradise in 2018; "Be Water" explores the life of Bruce Lee; and the 4-part Hulu series "Hillary" centers on former Secretary of State, Hillary Rodham Clinton.

Meanwhile, streaming platforms hope to use Sundance to generate buzz around their offerings.

Along with the opening film, Netflix titles include "Crip Camp," a documentary about a camp for disabled teenagers from Barack and Michelle Obama's Higher Ground Productions.

source: news.abs-cbn.com

Cancer movie wins top prize at Sundance

LOS ANGELES -- "Me and Earl and the Dying Girl," a moving drama about a teenager who befriends a classmate with cancer, won the top prize at the Sundance Film Festival Saturday.

The US documentary award, meanwhile, went to "The Wolfpack," while in the non-US categories the main prizes went to a Scottish filmmaker and a movie about Ukraine's ongoing struggle in the shadow of its former Soviet masters.

Sundance winners regularly go on to critical and awards success at Hollywood's main prize-giving ceremonies. Last year's top winner, "Whiplash," is nominated for best picture at this year's Oscars.

"Me and Earl and the Dying Girl" by Alfonso Gomez-Rejon took the Grand Jury Prize for a US drama at the end of a two-hour awards ceremony in the Utah mountain resort Park City.

The best director for US drama was named as Robert Eggers for his horror movie "The Witch."

Among US documentaries, "The Wolfpack" by Crystal Moselle took the Grand Jury Prize, while best director went to Matthew Heineman for "Cartel Land," about drug wars in Mexico.

In the world cinema categories, the Grand Jury Prize for a drama went to "Slow West" by Scottish filmmaker John Maclean, which follows a teenager on a journey across 19th century frontier America in search of the woman he loves.

"Thanks to dad for taking me to see Westerns when I was a wee boy," he said in a message to the festival.

The world documentary Grand Jury Prize was given to "The Russian Woodpecker," which takes a stab at Russian President Vladimir Putin, in a story about the revolution in Ukraine and the 1986 Chernobyl nuclear disaster.

"I don't think we can stop Russia with bombs, but I think with a little bit of art and truth maybe we can make some progress," said the movie's American director Chad Gracia.

The 2015 Sundance Film Festival opened on January 22 and officially ends on Sunday.

source: www.abs-cbnnews.com

Newcomer Gina Rodriguez wows Sundance as 'Filly Brown'

PARK CITY, Utah - Gina Rodriguez may have arrived at the Sundance Film Festival as a complete unknown, but the 27-year Puerto Rican is leaving it an indie film star.

Rodriguez became the toast of the Sundance Film Festival's opening weekend playing the title character in new movie "Filly Brown," about a young Latina rapper struggling to keep her family together after her mom is jailed on drug charges.

When Filly gets a crack at musical stardom, she must make a choice between staying true to her poetic lyrics or accepting a deal that focuses on her sexuality but guarantees a paycheck.

Under the tutelage of Latin hip-hop record veterans Lisa "Khool-Aid" Rios and Edward "E-Dub" Rios, who served as the film's music producers, Rodriguez was so convincing as a singer that in a question-and-answer session after the film's premiere, audience members asked where they could buy her music.

The Hollywood Reporter said Rodriguez delivered a "magnetic star turn" and a "dynamic breakout performance" in a film where her screen time is split between churning out dramatic acting and rapping numerous hip-hop numbers.

With reactions and reviews like that, there can be little doubt that "Filly Brown" marks a career-making performance for Rodriguez, who last year appeared on TV soap opera "The Bold and the Beautiful" and in a supporting role in the film "Go For It!"

She told Reuters that playing Filly Brown was amazing opportunity to portray a character with whom she could identify.

"It's a powerful Latina lead, and seldom do I get the opportunity to audition for something like that," said Rodriguez. "Filly is tough, or least she uses the toughness to hide her pain sometimes, and I think we all do that."

"Filly had a dream, and she didn't know how to go about doing it and she didn't really have help," Rodriguez said. "I can understand that."

From Chicago to Sundance

Born and raised in an inner city neighborhood of Chicago, Rodriguez "came from nothing" as the youngest of three sisters of Puerto Rican immigrants who stressed education with their daughters. Heeding that advice, Rodriguez's older sisters went on to become an investment banker and a lawyer, but Rodriguez wanted to act, much to her father's dismay.

She studied at New York University's Tisch School of the Arts and worked in theater before booking her first guest-starring role on TV crime show "Law & Order." But it was her father seeing her play Mexican artist Frida Kahlo in an American Stage production of "Casa Blue" that served as a turning point for the young actress.

"He turned to me and said he was proud," said Rodriguez, her eyes tearing up. "Having him accept what I did, that was my big break. It's so important to me to make my father and mother proud. And I want to do it with integrity and respect."

With buzz building, she already has secured a talent development deal at the ABC television network and is plotting to work on a movie where she'd play a female boxer.

Additionally, now that she's a legitimate music artist thanks to the songs she recorded in "Filly Brown," Rodriguez is not averse to pursuing a music career.

"I've always had an alter ego; I sing in the shower like everybody else does," she laughed.

She is spending time in a recording studio with Khool-Aid and E-Dub, both of whom helped Rodriguez find her voice and introduced her to Latino hip-hop and artists and others.

But even as movie and music executives come knocking at her with the riches promised by stardom, Rodriguez wants to use any new fame to be a role model for young Latina girls.

"I want to give a voice to these girls in the 'hood where I grew up and let them know that you can be an investment banker, or a doctor, and we can portray that on screen," said Rodriguez.

"Any dream you have takes hard work, doesn't happen over night and you shouldn't be afraid of that," she said. "If you put your heart and soul into it, and you do it with honesty and integrity and respect, you will succeed. I am a testament to that." — Reuters

source:gmanetwork.com