Playlist

Sundance Film Festival 2019

The 2019 Sundance Film Festival took place from January 24 to February 3, 2019. The first lineup of competition films was announced on November 28, 2018.
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Clemency (2020)

FILM United States 2020 · 112 min
Chinonye Chukwu

<p>Years of carrying out death row executions have taken a toll on prison warden Bernadine Williams. As she prepares to execute another inmate, Bernadine must confront the psychological and emotional demons her job creates, ultimately connecting her to the man she is sanctioned to kill.</p>

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Luce (2019)

FILM United States 2019 · 109 min
Julius Onah

<p>A married couple is forced to reckon with their idealized image of their son, adopted from war-torn Eritrea, after an alarming discovery by a devoted high school teacher threatens his status as an all-star student.</p>

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The Sound of Silence

FILM United States 2019 · 85 min
Michael Tyburski

<p>A self-taught scientist, Peter works in New York as a &ldquo;house tuner&rdquo;&mdash;a unique, highly specialized profession he&rsquo;s invented. His clients approach him with troubles like depression, anxiety, or fatigue. After extensive analysis of their homes&rsquo; acoustic characteristics, he identifies some sonic combination&mdash;a radiator mixed with a kitchen appliance, for instance&mdash;that&rsquo;s altering their mood. Despite some skepticism, his clients see results &hellip; until he meets Ellen, who is experiencing exhaustion. After his initial conclusion proves incorrect, Peter obsessively searches for the fault in his practice.</p>

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Always in Season (2019)

FILM United States 2019 · 89 min
Jacqueline Olive

<p>When 17-year-old Lennon Lacy is found hanging from a swing set in rural North Carolina in 2014, his mother&rsquo;s search for justice and reconciliation begins as the trauma of more than a century of lynching African Americans bleeds into the present.</p>

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American Factory (2019)

FILM United States 2019 · 110 min
Steven Bognar Julia Reichert

<p>In post-industrial Ohio, a Chinese billionaire opens a new factory in the husk of an abandoned General Motors plant, hiring two thousand blue-collar Americans. Early days of hope and optimism give way to setbacks as high-tech China clashes with working-class America .</p>

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Apollo 11 (2019)

FILM United States 2019 · 93 min
Todd Douglas Miller

<p>A purely archival reconstruction of humanity&rsquo;s first trip to another world, featuring never-before-seen 70mm footage and never-before-heard audio from the mission.</p>

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Bedlam (2019)

FILM United States 2019 · 86 min
Kenneth Paul Rosenberg

<p>A psychiatrist makes rounds in ERs, jails, and homeless camps to tell the intimate stories behind one of the greatest social crises of our time. A personal and intense journey into the world of the seriously mentally ill.</p>

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Jawline (2019)

FILM United States 2019 · 99 min
Liza Mandelup

<p>The film follows 16-year-old Austyn Tester, a rising star in the live-broadcast ecosystem who built his following on wide-eyed optimism and teen girl lust, as he tries to escape a dead-end life in rural Tennessee.</p>

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Knock Down the House

FILM United States 2019 · 87 min
Rachel Lears

<p>A young bartender in the Bronx, a coal miner&rsquo;s daughter in West Virginia, a grieving mother in Nevada and a registered nurse in Missouri build a movement of insurgent candidates challenging powerful incumbents in Congress. One of their races will become the most shocking political upset in recent American history. Cast: Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez.</p>

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Midnight Family (2019)

FILM Mexico, United States 2019 · 81 min
Luke Lorentzen

<p>In Mexico City&rsquo;s wealthiest neighborhoods, the Ochoa family runs a private ambulance, competing with other for-profit EMTs for patients in need of urgent help. As they try to make a living in this cutthroat industry, they struggle to keep their financial needs from compromising the people in their care.</p>

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One Child Nation

FILM United States 2019 · 83 min
Nanfu Wang Jialing Zhang

<p>After becoming a mother, a filmmaker uncovers the untold history of China&rsquo;s one-child policy and the generations of parents and children forever shaped by this social experiment.</p>

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Tigerland (2019)

FILM United States 2019 · 91 min
Ross Kauffman

<p>Conservation activists talk about and illustrate the desperate fight to save the tiger, actually two of the remaining subspecies. For the Bengal tiger, the (great-)grandson of the India forestry director who lobbied to make PM Indira Ghandi sign the world&#39;s first tiger protection legislation and set up reserves, while converting the mentality of the colonial age prestige tiger hunts and cattle protective culling into guarding the national icon. A Russian WWF nature fan risks life and limbs to save the Siberian tiger from poachers and villages inside reserves.</p>

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Where’s My Roy Cohn?

FILM United States 2019 · 97 min
Matt Tyrnauer

<p>Roy Cohn personified the dark arts of American politics, turning empty vessels into dangerous demagogues &ndash; from Joseph McCarthy to his final project, Donald J. Trump. This thriller-like exposé connects the dots, revealing how a deeply troubled master manipulator shaped our current American nightmare.</p>

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Monos (2019)

FILM Colombia, Argentina, Netherlands, Germany, Sweden, Uruguay, United States, Switzerland, Denmark​ 2019 · 102 min
Alejandro Landes

<p>On a faraway mountaintop, eight kids with guns watch over a hostage and a conscripted milk cow.</p>

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The Sharks (2019)

FILM Uruguay, Argentina, Spain 2019 · 80 min
Lucía Garibaldi

<p>While a rumor about the presence of sharks in a small beach town distracts residents, 14-year-old Rosina begins to feel an instinct to shorten the distance between her body and Joselo&rsquo;s.</p>

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This Is Not Berlin (2019)

FILM Mexico 2019 · 115 min
Hari Sama

<p>1986, Mexico City. Seventeen-year-old Carlos doesn&rsquo;t fit in anywhere, not in his family nor with the friends he has chosen in school. But everything changes when he is invited to a mythical nightclub where he discovers the underground nightlife scene: punk, sexual liberty and drugs.</p>

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Advocate (2019)

FILM Israel, Canada, Switzerland, Germany, Netherlands, United Kingdom 2019 · 114 min
Rachel Leah Jones Philippe Bellaïche

<p>Lea Tsemel defends Palestinians: from feminists to fundamentalists, from non-violent demonstrators to armed militants. As a Jewish-Israeli lawyer who has represented political prisoners for nearly 50 years, Tsemel, in her tireless quest for justice, pushes the praxis of a human rights defender to its limits.</p>

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Gaza (2019)

FILM Ireland, United Kingdom, Germany, France, Sweden, Denmark 2019 · 92 min
Garry Keane Andrew McConnell

<p>Gaza brings us into a unique place beyond the reach of television news reports to reveal a world rich with eloquent and resilient characters, offering us a cinematic and enriching portrait of a people attempting to lead meaningful lives against the rubble of perennial conflict.</p>

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Honeyland

FILM Macedonia 2019 · 87 min
Tamara Kotevska Ljubomir Stefanov

<p>A woman utilises ancient beekeeping traditions to cultivate honey in the mountains of North Macedonia. When a neighbouring family tries to do the same, it becomes a source of tension as they disregard her wisdom and advice.</p>

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The Magic Life of V (2019)

FILM Finland, Denmark, Bulgaria 2019 · 87 min
Tonislav Hristov

<p>Haunted by childhood traumas, Veera is trying to become more independent through live roleplaying. As she guides herself and her mentally-challenged brother through worlds of multiple roles and identities, witches and wizards, she finds the courage to face the demons of her own past and her abusive father&rsquo;s legacy.</p>

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Midnight Traveler

FILM Qatar, United Kingdom, Canada, United States 2019 · 88 min
Hassan Fazili

<p>When the Taliban puts a bounty on Afghan director Hassan Fazili&rsquo;s head, he is forced to flee with his wife and two young daughters. Capturing their uncertain journey, Fazili shows firsthand the dangers facing refugees seeking asylum and the love shared between a family on the run.</p>

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Sea of Shadows (2019)

FILM Austria 2019 · 104 min
Richard Ladkani

<p>A looming disaster in one of the most spectacular environments on Earth sparks a rescue mission unlike any other in SEA OF SHADOWS, a riveting new documentary with the intensity of a Hollywood thriller from National Geographic Documentary Films and winner of the Sundance audience award. When Mexican drug cartels and Chinese traffickers join forces to poach the rare totoaba fish in the Sea of Cortez, their deadly methods threaten to destroy virtually all marine life in the region, including the most elusive and endangered whale species on Earth, the vaquita porpoise. SEA OF SHADOWS follows a team of dedicated scientists, high-tech conservationists, investigative journalists and courageous undercover agents as well as the Mexican Navy as they put their lives on the line to save the last remaining vaquitas and bring the vicious international crime syndicate to justice.</p>

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Shooting the Mafia

FILM United States, Ireland 2019 · 94 min
Kim Longinotto

<p>Sicilian Letizia Battaglia began a lifelong battle with the Mafia when she first pointed her camera at a brutally slain victim. Documenting the Cosa Nostra&rsquo;s barbaric rule, she bore unflinching witness to their crimes. Her photographs, art, and bravery helped to bring an end to a shocking reign of slaughter.</p>

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Give Me Liberty (2019)

FILM United States 2019 · 110 min
Kirill Mikhanovsky

<p>When a riot breaks out in Milwaukee, America&rsquo;s most segregated city, medical transport driver Vic is torn between his promise to get a group of elderly Russians to a funeral and his desire to help Tracy, a young black woman with ALS.</p>

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The Infiltrators (2019)

FILM United States 2019 · 95 min
Cristina Ibarra Alex Rivera

<p>When Claudio Rojas is seized by ICE outside his home, his family hastily seeks help from a group of young, undocumented activists working tirelessly to expose the conditions on the inside of the Broward Transitional Center in Florida. In this seamless blend of reenactment and reality, two members of the National Immigrant Youth Alliance (NIYA) successfully enter the holding center to stop the unjust deportations of detainees. The members connect detainees to NIYA cohorts on the outside, and we witness the remarkable positive results of NIYA&rsquo;s relentless efforts. Six hundred men and 100 women wait, sometimes for years, inside this for-profit center imprisoning immigrants without trial. Scripted scenes with actors take us inside the mechanisms of the center and NIYA&rsquo;s thrilling mission of community and freedom. These sequences are interwoven with footage of the actual participants, who describe the events as they unfold. With impressive care, The Infiltrators presents exhilarating evidence of the power of unified youth in subverting the system.</p>

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The Boy Who Harnessed the Wind

FILM United Kingdom, Malawi 2019 · 113 min
Chiwetel Ejiofor

<p dir="ltr"><span style="background-color:transparent; color:#000000; font-family:Calibri,sans-serif; font-size:11pt">A 13-year-old boy is thrown out of the school he loves when his family can no longer afford the fees. He sneaks into the library and learns how to build a windmill to save his village from a famine.</span></p>

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I Am Mother (2019)

FILM Australia 2019 · 113 min
Grant Sputore

<p>In the wake of humanity&rsquo;s extinction, a teenage girl is raised by a robot designed to repopulate the earth. But their unique bond is threatened when an inexplicable stranger arrives with alarming news.</p>

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The Mustang (2019)

FILM France, Belgium, United States 2019 · 96 min
Laure de Clermont-Tonnerre

<p>While participating in a rehabilitation program training wild mustangs, a convict at first struggles to connect with the horses and his fellow inmates, but learns to confront his violent past as he soothes an especially feisty horse.</p>

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Don't Let Go (Relive) (2019)

FILM United States​ 2019 · 107 min
Jacob Estes

<p>After a man&rsquo;s family dies in what appears to be a murder, he gets a phone call from one of the dead, his niece. He&rsquo;s not sure if she&rsquo;s a ghost or if he&rsquo;s going mad &mdash; but as it turns out, he&rsquo;s not. Instead, her calls help him rewrite history.</p>

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Troop Zero (2019)

FILM United States​ 2019 · 94 min
Bert & Bertie

<p>In rural 1977 Georgia, a misfit girl dreams of life in outer space. When a national competition offers her a chance at her dream, to be recorded on NASA&rsquo;s Golden Record, she recruits a makeshift troupe of Birdie Scouts, forging friendships that last a lifetime and beyond.</p>

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Ask Dr. Ruth (2019)

FILM United States 2019 · 100 min
Ryan White

<p>A documentary portrait chronicling the incredible life of Dr. Ruth Westheimer, a Holocaust survivor who became America&rsquo;s most famous sex therapist. As her 90th birthday approaches, Dr. Ruth revisits her painful past and her career at the forefront of the sexual revolution.</p>

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The Great Hack (2019)

FILM United States 2019 · 113 min
Karim Amer Jehane Noujaim

<p>Data, arguably the world&rsquo;s most valuable asset, is being weaponized to wage cultural and political wars. The dark world of data exploitation is uncovered through the unpredictable personal journeys of players on different sides of the explosive Cambridge Analytica/Facebook data story.</p>

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Little Monsters (2019)

FILM Australia, United States, United Kingdom 2019 · 94 min
Abe Forsythe

<p>A film dedicated to all the kindergarten teachers who motivate children to learn, instill them with confidence and stop them from being devoured by zombies.</p>

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Memory – The Origins of Alien

FILM United States 2019 · 95 min
Alexandre O. Philippe

<p>The untold origin story behind Ridley Scott&rsquo;s Alien &ndash; rooted in Greek and Egyptian mythologies, underground comics, the art of Francis Bacon, and the dark visions of Dan O&rsquo;Bannon and H.R. Giger. A contemplation on the symbiotic collaborative process of moviemaking, the power of myth, and our collective unconscious.</p>

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Sweetheart (2019)

FILM United States 2019 · 82 min
JD Dillard

<p>Jenn has washed ashore a small tropical island and it doesn&rsquo;t take her long to realize she&rsquo;s completely alone. She must spend her days not only surviving the elements, but must also fend off the malevolent force that comes out each night.</p>

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Anthropocene: The Human Epoch (2018)

FILM Canada 2018 · 87 min
Nicholas de Pencier Jennifer Baichwal Edward Burtynsky

<p>The filmmakers take us on a worldwide tour encompassing concrete seawalls in China, which now cover 60 percent of the mainland coast; the biggest terrestrial machines ever built in Germany; potash mines in Russia&rsquo;s Ural Mountains; a heavy metal festival in the closed city of Norilsk, Siberia; the devastated Great Barrier Reef in Australia; and lithium evaporation ponds in South America&rsquo;s Atacama Desert. High-end production values and stateof-the-art camera techniques capture evidence of human planetary domination. At the intersection of art and science, this film bearswitness to a critical moment in geological history.</p>

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Maiden (2018)

FILM United Kingdom 2018 · 93 min
Alex Holmes

<p>The incredible, against-all-odds story of sailor Tracy Edwards, who skippered the first all-female international crew in the 1989 Whitbread Round the World Yacht Race.</p>

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The Biggest Little Farm (2018)

FILM United States​ 2018 · 92 min
John Chester

<p>Two dreamers and a dog embark on an odyssey to bring harmony to their lives and the land. As their plan to create perfect harmony takes a series of wild turns, they will have to reach a far greater understanding of the intricacies and wisdom of nature, and life itself. (</p>

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The Mountain (2018)

FILM United States​ 2018 · 106 min
Rick Alverson

<p>1950s America. Since his mother&lsquo;s confinement to an institution, Andy has lived in the shadow of his stoic father. A family acquaintance, Dr. Wallace Fiennes, employs the introverted young man as a photographer to document an asylum tour advocating for his increasingly controversial lobotomy procedure.</p>

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The Witch Hunters (2018)

FILM Serbia, North Macedonia 2018 · 90 min
Rasko Miljkovic

<p>10-year-old Jovan is often escaping reality to immerse himself into a fantasy world. It all changes when he befriends his new classmate Milica and the adventure to hunt her &lsquo;witch&rsquo; stepmother starts.</p>