Students from Tampa Bay’s Eckerd College are headed to Sundance—here are 10 movies they’re looking forward to

For over 20 years, faculty and students from Eckerd College have made the annual pilgrimage from sunny St. Petersburg to snowy Park City, Utah, to learn about the current landscape of independent film and blog about the experience. This year marks the first time we are returning in-person after attending and covering the festival virtually in 2021 and 2022. The Sundance Film Festival, which marks its 40th edition this year, is the world’s premiere independent film festival where art and commerce meet and mingle and stories often not told by mainstream studios get to shine.

This year’s festival runs Jan. 18-28 and repeats 2023’s hybrid format, with in-person screenings exclusively for the first week of the festival and then online access to selected films from Jan. 25-28.

This year’s festival selection was highly competitive, with 17,000 films submitted for 83 feature and 52 short film spots. Ticket selection felt equally fierce as many in-person screenings sold out within a day or two of when they went on sale in early January.

Despite this appearance of high demand and supply, this will be a pivotal year for Sundance and independent film in the post-pandemic mediascape. While streaming services like Netflix, Apple TV+, and Hulu have been a lifeline for independent film over the past few years, the rise of streaming as the predominant film experience for many viewers has also diminished the sense of urgency to attend in-person screenings and many small indies have gotten lost in the few years without the in-person buzz. At the same time, the opportunity to stream festival films within weeks or months of their premiere at festivals has made independent film more accessible than ever. What lies ahead for independent film? Sundance, as always, will serve as that barometer.

From Jan. 17-25, ten Eckerd students and two faculty members will travel to Sundance and report back about the buzz and vibe at this year’s festival, including what films and filmmakers to watch out for that may be coming to a theater or streaming service near you. Follow our coverage at Creative Loafing Tampa and at the Eckerd @ Sundance blog.

Here’s a list of 10 titles we are excited for at this year’s Sundance Film Festival:

https://youtube.com/watch?v=LLOS877FkjI

“Freaky Tales” – The latest film from Ryan Fleck and Anna Boden (“Half Nelson”, “Captain Marvel”) is one of the buzziest films of this year’s festival so far with all screenings already all sold-out. Bolstered by Pedro Pascal’s star power, this film features one of the most intriguing descriptions of the fest: “In 1987 Oakland, a mysterious force guides The Town’s underdogs in four interconnected tales: Teen punks defend their turf against Nazi skinheads, a rap duo battles for hip-hop immortality, a weary henchman gets a shot at redemption, and an NBA All-Star settles the score. Basically another day in the Bay.”

“A New Kind of Wilderness” – This World Cinema documentary explores a family’s shift from their previously “wild and free” lifestyle in an isolated Norwegian forest to adapt to modern society that reads like something than can only be stranger than fiction.

“Little Death” – The first feature from music video director Jack Begert is a dark comedy premiering in the NEXT section (which tells stories in new and innovative ways) about “Hollywood dreams and disappointments” in following a Los Angeles screenwriter (David Schwimmer) as he navigates a midlife crisis. The film promises “surreal montage and oddball AI animation” in conjunction with its familiar setting of contemporary show business.

“I Saw the TV Glow” – The latest surreal horror film from writer-director Jane Schoenbrun, whose “We’re All Going to the World’s Fair” turned heads at virtual Sundance in 2021, returns to the question of how youthful reality is mediated by screens. This film has already been picked up for distribution by A24 and boasts true indie star power with Justice Smith, Phoebe Bridgers, and Fred Durst starring and Emma Stone as producer.

“A Different Man” – Another early A24 acquisition, this psychological thriller stars Sebastian Stan as an actor who undergoes surgery to acquire the face of his dreams but finds that this transformation is not all that it is cracked up to be. Renate Reinsve (“The Worst Person in the World”) co-stars in her English-language debut.

“A Real Pain” – The latest film from writer-director Jesse Eisenberg (“When You Finish Saving the World”) follows two cousins (Eisenberg and Kieran Culkin) as they travel through Poland to honor their grandmother.

“How to Have Sex” – This debut feature from writer-director Molly Manning Walker comes into Sundance with a few laurels already, including the Un Certain Regard Prize at the 2023 Cannes Film Festival. This coming-of-age film follows three British teenage girls on holiday in this “devastatingly honest examination of sexuality and consent” within the context of female friendship.

“Kneecap” – Premiering the NEXT category which honors innovation in storytelling, this film presents the true story of Kneecap, a Northern Ireland rap group who became “unlikely figureheads of a civil rights movement to save their mother tongue.”

“As We Speak” – Another take on contemporary rap, this documentary from writer-director J.M. Harper explores the weaponization of rap lyrics as evidence in criminal cases targeting Black artists and the implications for First Amendment rights of all.

“Dìdi (弟弟)” – A 13-year-old Taiwanese American boy learns “how to skate, how to flirt, and how to love your mom” in the waning month of summer before high school.

Follow our coverage of this year’s festival here at Creative Loafing and at the Eckerd @ Sundance blog.

Subscribe to Creative Loafing newsletters.

Follow us: Apple News | Google News | NewsBreak | Reddit | Instagram | Facebook | Twitter | Or sign up for our RSS Feed

This article appears in Jan 11-17, 2024.