Sundance Film Festival 2026

<p>Trapped in museum archives, Ancestors bend time and space to find their way home. History, spirituality, and the law collide as tribal repatriation specialists fight to return and rebury Indigenous human remains, offering a revealing look at the still-pervasive worldviews that justified collecting them in the first place. Aanikoobijigan [ancestor/great-grandparent/great-grandchild] documents the emotional and vital work of MACPRA (Michigan Anishinaabek Cultural Preservation and Repatriation Alliance). This alliance, made up of repatriation specialists representing all Michigan tribes, fights to bring their Ancestors and funerary objects home from settler colonial institutions like museums, libraries, and archives. Adam and Zack Khalil&rsquo;s monumental and formally daring film follows the pressing struggle to rebury Indigenous human remains that have been held in sterile storage, laying bare the history of Indigenous collections and the battle to recognize and enforce the laws intended to facilitate their repatriation to the communities they were originally stolen from. Using an essayistic approach alongside v&eacute;rit&eacute; portraits, the film celebrates the courageous individuals who carry out this hard and emotionally draining labor of return. &mdash; AP</p>

<p>A son of one of America&rsquo;s wealthiest families creates a communist revolutionary base in rural Massachusetts as a means of disrupting the capitalist system he grew up in, but has now come to despise. It&rsquo;s the starting point of an astonishing journey. Fergie Chambers is a communist who, as heir to one of the wealthiest families in American history, has the ability to create his vision of the world in a way that few do. He funds people and projects, like a Marxist-Leninist collective in Massachusetts, that seek to destroy the hypercapitalist structure that he himself is a product of. With his resources, it should be easy, but why isn&rsquo;t it? From director Sin&eacute;ad O&rsquo;Shea comes a fascinating study of the power money has to make and destroy, and what access to astronomical wealth does to a person and those around him. All About the Money is a documentary for our times of concentrated wealth and power, and the dream of creating another world while still being mired in this one.</p>

<p>American Doctor is a v&eacute;rit&eacute; non-fiction film following three prominent physicians&ndash;Palestinian, Jewish and Zoroastrian&mdash;friends who couldn&rsquo;t be more different but are bound by their shared oath to save lives. Dr. Thaer Ahmad is measured and strategic, Dr. Mark Perlmutter is blunt and wears his heart on his sleeve, and Dr. Feroze Sidhwa is media-savvy and prolific. Filmed in unfolding, on-the-ground scenes, the story follows them from a Gazan hospital under siege, to the halls of Congress. Together they fight to keep a promise to their Palestinian colleagues and patients, to continue the struggle where it matters most: the United States.</p>

<p>When workers at the Hormel meatpacking plant in Austin, Minnesota are forced to take a substantial pay cut, the local union takes a stand for its members. Their strike tests the fragile promise of the American ideal, revealing the cost of survival when the dream no longer feels shared. Over the course of six years, director Barbara Kopple documented the plight of 1,500 middle-class workers who believed in the idea that hard work and dedication would result in an increased standard of living. Sudden wage reductions provoked the union to strike, but corporate higher-ups were already prepared to stifle their dissension at any cost. American Dream is not a black-and-white story of injustices thrust upon the American worker &mdash; a strategic battle emerges within the union itself, creating a no-win situation that pits brother against brother and friend against friend. In documenting their struggle, Kopple&rsquo;s observational style is patient, intimate, and unobtrusive. Viewed through a contemporary lens, it serves as a modern manual for understanding the stakes of labor &mdash; a reminder that the American Dream still exists on contested ground.</p>

<p>Against political resistance and industry skepticism, Luis Valdez pushes Chicano storytelling from the fields to the film screen with Zoot Suit and La Bamba, crafting iconic works that challenge, celebrate, and expand America&rsquo;s story. Acclaimed playwright and director Luis Valdez recognized early on the profound impact of seeing one&rsquo;s own humanity reflected onstage and on screen. He used theater to ignite change while working alongside farmworkers and Cesar Chavez, and he made films that amplified Chicano experiences. His work expanded audiences, bringing in people who had rarely seen their stories told before. Now, director David Alvarado reveals the fuel behind his legendary career. Alvarado brings us close to Valdez, charting his career milestones and enduring cultural influence. He employs vibrant stylistic choices, using split screens, remarkable archival footage rescued from decay, and a pachuco narrator who tells it like it is by interjecting candid commentary throughout. Alvarado ensures Luis Valdez&rsquo;s contributions are unmistakable and that his message &mdash; &ldquo;America is Chicano&rdquo; &mdash; resonates proudly, which feels especially vital for today.</p>

<p>Singer, songwriter, and actor Courtney Love has long had an impact on rock and pop culture. Now sober and set to release new music for the first time in over a decade, Courtney is ready to reveal her story, unfiltered and unapologetic. Reflecting on the process of recording her new album, Courtney Love said, &ldquo;Don&rsquo;t do it until you can&rsquo;t hold it in anymore.&rdquo; That same ethos fuels Antiheroine, directed by Edward Lovelace and James Hall, who embrace the complexity, intensity, and unapologetic force Love embodies. These qualities helped make her an icon, but they also came with relentless scrutiny and impossible expectations. The film revisits the &ldquo;love at first sound&rdquo; connection between Love and Kurt Cobain &mdash; a relationship defined less by its length than by its extraordinary emotional voltage. It also traces the creative drive that led her to music and an electrifying film career, revealing a deepening self-awareness along the way. After years of watching others tell her story, Antiheroine marks the moment Courtney Love speaks entirely on her own terms &mdash; loud and clear.</p>

<p>Struggling actor Shah Latif auditions for the role of a lifetime, only to see his life spiral out of control over four frenetic days.</p>

<p>An archive-driven exploration of the life, work, and legacy of iconic, pioneering lesbian filmmaker Barbara Hammer.</p>

<p>Haunted by an abusive childhood, Audrey, a Korean American woman in her 30s, faces her emotional past. When her mother&rsquo;s car accident brings her back to her parents&rsquo; home, she meets the man responsible for the accident. Their relationship builds, passions ignite, and they form a loving connection. Audrey and Eli are very different people, but they are haunted by their past in a similar way. Having lived through difficult times as children of immigrant parents, they carry their hurt and isolation in their adulthood with the accompanying confusion of how to care for family and themselves. Actors Moon Choi and Son Sukku sparkle as two people who find each other amid all the guilt, anger, and &ldquo;han,&rdquo; and, in doing so, find a way to heal. In her feature debut, marked with great vulnerability, writer-director Stephanie Ahn beautifully articulates the complicated emotional landscape of immigrant children who are now all grown up. Bedford Park is a heartfelt expression of human experience not often seen on screen. It is a film so many have been waiting for.</p>

<p>Over one transformative summer in rural New Zealand in 2006, 14-year-old Sid Bookman discovers desire, identity, and the internet as she imitates the people she longs to be loved by. Paloma Schneideman, mentored through Jane Campion&rsquo;s film program, crafts an artful coming-of-age portrait of queer adolescence that beautifully inhabits the liminal space between youth and adulthood, desire and experience &mdash; a time when we&rsquo;re conscious of everything, but lacking language for any of it. With aching recognition, we&rsquo;re inescapably drawn into Sid (newcomer Ani Palmer in a stellar breakout performance) &mdash; her trying on of identities, mimicry, feigning of maturity, shame, and longing for acceptance &mdash; as she endears herself to a group of older teens, the first generation for whom sexual curiosity is entwined with the internet. Schneideman&rsquo;s voice is fresh and vibrant, her intimate, shallow-focus photography drawn to faces and bodies, full of precarity and vulnerability and perfectly attuned to these young people. The film breathes with specificity and authenticity, ironically rendering so sharply an interior life that is, by its nature, so obscure.</p>

<p>The love story of a London-based Lebanese journalist and a Syrian activist and cameraman as told through 13 years of personal archives across revolutions, war, and exile.</p>

<p>A new film by British artist&ndash;filmmakers Jane Pollard and Iain Forsyth, showcased Out of Competition at the 2025 Venice Film Festival. Running at 96 minutes, this narrative&ndash;documentary hybrid continues their lyrical exploration of music, memory, and experimentation in moving‑image form.</p>

<p>A brave girl and her friends must escape a kids television show.</p>

<p>When runaway teen Ju-Ju is embraced by a tribe of misfit youths in Kabukicho, she finds belonging for the first time &mdash; until betrayal and despair twist her haven into a prison, and she&rsquo;s left with one way to take back control.</p>

<p>A divorced doctor&rsquo;s carefully constructed life in Cleveland is upended when his daughter&rsquo;s debate aspirations and the unexpected return of a past love force him to confront his own choices and embrace a second chance. Noah (Chris Pine) is firmly entrenched in his life, which might be a bit lonely but allows him to care for his anxious daughter and his family medical practice. One night, though, he learns his old high school girlfriend Rebecca (Jenny Slate) has returned to town. Now with different life experiences, but the same attraction and shared history of heartbreak, they wonder if love is worth the inevitable pain and complications. Writer-director Rachel Lambert returns with a story told in a pitch-perfect winsome tone, with a sharp eye that captures essential truths, like to love is to lose. Featuring wonderful performances from Pine, Slate, and others, Carousel is a film about lovers, family, getting older &mdash; but maybe not growing up &mdash; and how change is the only constant in life.</p>

<p>After losing both her job and boyfriend, Jamie retreats to her small Texas hometown, where friends and flings from a fateful high school summer turn her life upside down. Celebrated Sundance Film Festival alum Josephine Decker (director of 2018&rsquo;s Madeline&rsquo;s Madeline and 2020&rsquo;s Shirley) collaborates with acclaimed comedian &mdash; and here, writer-star &mdash; Iliza Shlesinger to bring to life this charming and sensual story of generational subversions and unexpected second chances. Shlesinger&rsquo;s razor-sharp wit is in full form and pairs seamlessly with Decker&rsquo;s vibrant cinematic eye, making for an empowering and refreshing look at the consequences and pleasures of past-meets-present collisions. Shlesinger mines personal experience for a powerful and ardent performance, revealing a rare and nuanced vulnerability. Turning the millennial coming-of-age narrative on its head with humor and heart, Chasing Summer offers a relatable stroll down the messy crossroads that coming home can bring &mdash; in all its chaos and possibility.</p>

<p>After his teenage son goes missing, Daniel scours the depths of the Vistula River, torn between the dread of a fatal leap and the hope that his son may still be alive. The Vistula River is hauntingly transformed into a purgatory for grieving father, Daniel, as he painstakingly scours each of its winding turns, pulled between the uncertainty of life and death in his search for any trace of his missing son, Krzysztof. Director Michał Marczak intuitively lets his camera drift between the placid surface of Poland&rsquo;s longest river and the murky secrets of its depths, mirroring the stoic façade and inner tumult of a father torn between hope and grief. As weeks stretch into months and years, Daniel&rsquo;s search slowly expands beyond the physical realm, and into the digital world, when he begins to chart the darkened halls of his son&rsquo;s online footprint in an effort to understand how systems of connectivity can lead a generation to the abyss of isolation.</p>

<p>It&rsquo;s Girl Scout Cookie season, and four tenacious girls strive to be a top-selling &ldquo;Cookie Queen,&rdquo; navigating an $800 million business in which childhood and ambition collide. Meet Ara, Olive, Nikki, and Shannon Elizabeth: four Girl Scouts with big personalities and big ambitions. The mission? Cookie sales. But their entrepreneurial spirit hints at bright futures ahead &mdash; think future Supreme Court justices, CEOs, and beyond. Alysa Nahmias&rsquo; sparkling film follows the girls through a cookie-selling season, highlighting the girls&rsquo; charm and unsuspecting sharp business instincts. It isn&rsquo;t just fun and games though. The girls and their families make real financial and time sacrifices to hit their goals, trading laid-back weekends for hours outside, wagons full of cookies in tow. Nahmias stays focused on the girls and their individual journeys, offering a sincere, playful window into a multimillion-dollar industry powered by their cookie booths. It&rsquo;s a joyous, heartwarming, utterly sweet ride that cheers on the girls&rsquo; grit and ingenuity.</p>

<p>Astonishing Alpine location photography and a young Robert Redford in one of his earliest starring roles are just two of the visual splendors of Downhill Racer, the visceral debut feature of Michael Ritchie. In a beautifully understated performance, Redford is David Chappellet, a ruthlessly ambitious skier competing for Olympic gold with an underdog American team in Europe, and Gene Hackman provides tough support as the coach who tries to temper the upstart&rsquo;s narcissistic drive for glory. With a subtle screenplay by acclaimed novelist James Salter, Downhill Racer is a vivid character portrait buoyed by breathtakingly fast and furious imagery that brings the viewer directly into the mind of the competitor.</p>

<p>In May 2021, a U.K. Home Office dawn raid triggers one of the most spontaneous and successful acts of civil resistance in recent memory. In Scotland&rsquo;s most diverse neighborhood, hundreds of residents rush to the streets to stop the deportation of their neighbors. The morning in Glasgow, the first day of Eid, started as any other. However, when neighbors heard through community message networks that two local men were snatched up for deportation, hundreds of people left their breakfast tables, work Zoom calls, and daily lives to rush down to Kenmure Street to save them by putting their bodies on the line. Though mostly strangers, and with almost no planning, this extremely diverse group organized themselves, taking on essential roles to allow the collective to achieve their goal: protecting their own from government forces going after the weakest among them. An inspiring and profoundly moving portrait of what &ldquo;normal&rdquo; citizens are capable of in the face of injustice, Everybody To Kenmure Street reminds us of the power that is always inherent in the people.</p>

<p>In an English girls boarding school, two teenage best friends grapple with the challenges of girlhood &mdash; friendship, boys, studies, and growing up &mdash; and embark on their school project, falling in love. In her thoroughly funny, stylish debut feature, Molly Manners (In My Skin, One Day) offers a wry, poignant story about best friendship. Brought to life through standout debut performances from Galaxie Clear and Marni Duggan, Minna and Flic exist entirely in each others&rsquo; worlds &mdash; their perfectly synchronous thoughts and movements playfully accented by Manners&rsquo; visual style. Charming, adorably self-centered, codependent, and snide, they audition together for A Midsummer Night&rsquo;s Dream (despite Shakespeare being rubbish) and &mdash; knowing that love makes one &ldquo;worldly&rdquo; &mdash; decide their school project will be to fall in love with the first person they see: their geography teacher (Alice Englert). They hatch a plan, enamored of their own cleverness (&ldquo;We should probably dream about her.&rdquo;), but their synchronicity soon falters. Extra Geography offers a bittersweet lesson in unsinkable friendship: in life, love, and Shakespeare, someone always gets upstaged.</p>

<p>Tee girl Isabel feels strangely drawn to Dr. Palanca, the president of the country club where she works. However, after piecing together a violent picture of what lies beneath the club&rsquo;s pristine surface, she realizes that what began as an innocent infatuation is actually rooted in a sinister shared history. Displaying an extraordinary command of his surreal and unnerving visual language, first-time filmmaker Rafael Manuel adapts his award-winning 2020 short film of the same name to chilling effect. Manuel plumbs the depths of Filipino identity and national consciousness to uncover ominous fragments and cracks that defy picture-perfect unity. Through a stylized, colorful approach lensed with care and precision by cinematographer Xenia Patricia, Manuel takes us into a world where violence and control are exerted with the subtle flick of a wrist or tip of a hat. Painting a scathing portrait of class disparities and post-colonial power structures in ways that are both quiet and unsettling, Filipi&ntilde;ana announces the arrival of an accomplished writer-director who unflinchingly confronts his country&rsquo;s past, present, and future.</p>

<p>A demanding little girl and her parents, the Meeks, battle an outrageously entitled viscount to protect their rare, furry, one-eyed Fing from those fixated on exploiting this wondrous creature. In this lively, magical adventure, the cutely monstrous Fing is both a fantastical furball friend and a hurricane of hijinks. Myrtle, warmly and energetically portrayed by Iona Bell, is an equally matched complement to the Fing&rsquo;s chaotic force, as her parents, played by Mia Wasikowska and Blake Harrison, haphazardly yet lovingly pick up the pieces. Taika Waititi dazzles as the larger-than-life viscount, a cartoonish villain amid a menagerie of eccentric animals. Jeffrey Walker makes his Sundance Film Festival directorial debut with a film based on a beloved children&rsquo;s book of the same name by David Walliams, who co-writes and stars. Imbued with a characteristically British wit and vibrance, Fing! is just as funny as it is heartwarming &mdash; a colorful, charming delight for audiences of all ages.</p>

<p>Frank, serving a life sentence, takes a prison job caring for aging inmates with Alzheimer&rsquo;s and dementia. What begins as a self-interested bid for parole becomes a profound, transformative bond with fellow inmate Louis, offering Frank a glimpse of redemption in an unforgiving place. In prison for murder, Frank (Kingsley Ben-Adir) accepts a post caring for fellow inmates in the hopes of winning parole. He&rsquo;s assigned to frail, paranoid Louis (Rob Morgan), a once-feared inmate with early-onset dementia. Frank gradually wins his trust, but is soon confronted with his own memories and regrets. Anchored by Ben-Adir&rsquo;s and Morgan&rsquo;s quietly moving performances, Petra Biondina Volpe&rsquo;s understated prison drama explores the potential for rehabilitation through caretaking. As Frank forms an unusually intimate and tender connection with Louis, the film thoughtfully reflects on memory, guilt, and identity and explores the difference between punishment and redemption. Avoiding the sensational tropes of the prison genre, Frank &amp; Louis is a thoughtful story about the patient work of facing oneself while caring for others.</p>

<p>A young filmmaker documents his journey toward his first movie as he moves in with a friend group of ambitious creatives, all trying to support one another&rsquo;s dreams in an oversaturated market. This inexperienced crew of 20-somethings takes on unorthodox jobs to build their brand and pay rent.</p>

<p>Midwestern bride-to-be Gail Daughtry has a &ldquo;free celebrity pass&rdquo; agreement with her fianc&eacute; &mdash; who uses it. With her relationship in crisis, Gail sets out on an epic journey through Hollywood to even the scales.</p>

<p>The untold origins of artificial intelligence lie not in machines but in power, revealing the fantasies behind the hype that got us here and where we go next.</p>

<p>World champion tennis trailblazer Billie Jean King has had a game-changing impact on culture and sports. Rare archive and candid interviews with Billie Jean and those closest to her reveal how one woman put changing the world ahead of saving herself.</p>

<p>Haru and Luis love competing in Tokyo&rsquo;s ballroom dance scene, but after tragedy strikes, Haru withdraws into isolation. When friends coax her back to the studio, she develops an infatuation with the new instructor. She must face what comes next as sparks fly.</p>

<p>A routine school commute turns terrifying when a cable car&rsquo;s wire snaps, leaving eight passengers &mdash; including six schoolboys &mdash; dangling 900 feet above a ravine in the remote Himalayan foothills. With 10 hours before the remaining cable is expected to fail, a group of rescuers races to save them.</p>

<p>11-year-old Iris learns her estranged father, Aris, is back in town for his own father&rsquo;s funeral. Determined to know him, Iris tracks him down to a dilapidated shipyard, where he&rsquo;s been keeping to himself. What begins as a stubborn attempt to reconnect slowly unfolds into a fragile bond.</p>

<p>After he&rsquo;s kicked out of his Indiana high school, an American kid and his Lebanese mom hit the road west</p>

<p>In this dazzlingly imaginative teen comedy, the breakthrough feature debut by writer-director Reginald Hudlin, hip-hop duo Kid &rsquo;n Play bring their star power to the big screen as aspiring MCs preparing for the party of the year. When Kid&rsquo;s father (Robin Harris) forbids him from attending Play&rsquo;s party, Kid sneaks out anyway, kicking off a wild night full of dance-offs and rap battles, run-ins with bullies and cops, and a bit of romance. With an ensemble cast that also includes Tisha Campbell, AJ Johnson, Martin Lawrence, Daryl &ldquo;Chill&rdquo; Mitchell, and members of the music group Full Force, plus a hit soundtrack, House Party is a beloved, feel-good snapshot of early-1990s hip-hop culture that brought Black teenage experience to the mainstream, and that shines bright to this day.</p>

<p>In Vilnius in 2022, Marija has a revelation that she wants to divorce her husband, Vytas, right before Russia invades Ukraine. Forced to confront their crumbling relationship, they navigate the process of divorce as it collides with the ongoing war</p>

<p>Reunited after a decade apart, old pals Ben and Andrew (Mark Duplass and Joshua Leonard) decide to make an amateur gay porn together to submit to Seattle&rsquo;s HUMP! film festival. Complicating matters more than a little is the fact that both are, insofar as they know, heterosexual, and the whole idea was born of a &ldquo;mutual dare.&rdquo; What could easily have been a sniggery, one-joke affair becomes something much richer in the hands of Shelton, who tragically died in 2020 at age 54: a film about trust and intimacy that strips all the macho bluster from the buddy comedy to prod at the niggling insecurity underneath.</p>

<p>When fresh-faced Elliot lands a job with artist and provocateur Erika Tracy, his fantasies come true as she taps him to become her sexual muse. But Elliot finds himself out of his depth as Erika takes him on a journey into a world of sex, obsession, power, betrayal, and murder.</p>

<p>Twelve-year-old Lil Ant struggles to connect with his father when he begins to see surreal, almost spectral visions of boys drifting around his neighborhood. Their presence reveals a link between father and son, laying bare the threads that bind family, legacy, and place.</p>

<p>Three storylines, spanning thousands of years, intersect and reflect on hope, connection and the circle of life.</p>

<p>A rural Iowa schoolteacher becomes a national voice against racism after leading a controversial 1968 lesson in discrimination with her all-white third-grade class. Now nearly 90, she refuses to hold back amid today&rsquo;s fights about race, history, and power after a lifetime of speaking out.</p>

<p>A journey to Michoac&aacute;n&rsquo;s hypermasculine rodeos descends into the subconscious of memory, queer desire, and longing, leading to a reckoning with the wounds and beauty of a home left behind.</p>

<p>After 8-year-old Josephine accidentally witnesses a crime in Golden Gate Park, she acts out in search of a way to regain control of her safety while adults are helpless to console her.</p>

<p>Joybubbles discovers he can manipulate the telephone system by whistling a magic tone. Born blind and yearning for connection, his early obsession unwittingly lays the groundwork for a subculture that shapes the future of hacking and technology.</p>

<p>As a Nairobi journalist probes a land battle entangling the local government and a powerful multinational corporation, covered wounds are revealed and family secrets are exposed.</p>

<p>Previously unseen footage captured by Salman Rushdie&rsquo;s wife, Rachel Eliza Griffiths, documents his journey. Following not just his physical rehabilitation, but also the restoration of his spirit and optimism. Inspired by Rushdie&rsquo;s memoir Knife: Meditations After an Attempted Murder.</p>

<p>In the sprawling African metropolis of Lagos, a fiercely independent young cab driver meets a band of radiantly reckless sex workers whose sisterhood pulls her into danger and joy, setting her on a journey toward her own transformation.</p>

<p>In a town where pleasure equals being possessed by spiritual beings, Bayu aspires to be the shaman of a trance party so he can fundraise enough money to prevent an impending eviction.+</p>

<p>Two star-crossed teenage boys must escape a violent entity that takes the form of the person they desire most &mdash; each other.</p>

<p>A family determined to get their young daughter into the finals of a beauty pageant take a cross-country trip in their VW bus.</p>

<p>There is a saying that no one knows your body better than yourself. The protagonist, who believes she is pregnant with an alien&#39;s child, visits a gynecologist, but no one takes her seriously. In an attempt to prove her claims, she decides to reveal her boyfriend&#39;s significant (?) parts. This short film, presented as a farce, is rough around the edges but perfectly captures the essence of B-movie sensibilities.</p>

<p>A case that haunted Tennessee&rsquo;s best detectives for decades is cracked wide open by the most unlikely of investigators: a high school sociology class.</p>

<p>Two preadolescent boys both experienced a strange event and later it affects their lives in different ways. One becomes a reckless, adventurous sex worker, while the other retreats into a reclusive fantasy of alien abduction.</p>

<p>As a series of perverse scam calls unsettles an idyllic retirement community, a starry-eyed nurse becomes entangled with her mysterious patient</p>

<p>Churchill, Manitoba, is famous as an international destination for photographing polar bears. We&rsquo;ve seen the majestic images and classic wildlife series captured here - but what do these bears see of us? Through a shift in perspective &#39;Nuisance Bear&#39; reveals an obstacle course of tourist paparazzi and wildlife officers whom bears must navigate during their annual migration.</p>

<p>A decade after his death, one of the most significant and compelling filmmakers of the past century has one last trick up his sleeve: a trove of never-before-seen footage that he believed to be the most important he ever filmed. Genre-defying director William Greaves searches for the divine origins of his own creativity at a cocktail party he masterminded in 1972 for the living luminaries of the Harlem Renaissance.</p>

<p>Filmed over 10 years, one girl&rsquo;s epic journey from Syria to Germany and back again. She and her family navigate war, exile, and heartbreak in a foreign land, illuminating the complexities of the refugee experience.</p>

<p>Blurring the line between performance and personal crisis, comedian Maria Bamford turns her mental health journey into material that&rsquo;s riotously funny and ultimately inspiring. What emerges is a portrait of an artist transforming vulnerability into creative strength through honesty.</p>

<p>An unprecedented look inside one of the greatest media experiments to hijack American screens. Rare archives from New York&rsquo;s underground capture a world of creators who shattered rules, defied censors, and transformed our televisions into a free-speech battleground where anyone could be a star.</p>

<p>A Hungarian girl dreams of conquering international men&rsquo;s chess. After a 15-year battle against world champion Garry Kasparov and her domineering father, Judit Polg&aacute;r revolutionizes the sport&rsquo;s patriarchal culture to become one of the greatest chess prodigies in history and the greatest woman chess player of all time.</p>

<p>After the death of her father, a grieving young girl moves to an isolated house in a new town with her mother and grandmother, only to discover there is something monstrous hidden in the town&rsquo;s history and the woods behind their new home.</p>

<p>A teenage girl stages an elaborate musical about the one day her high school wishes it could forget.</p>

<p>Hana, a lovelorn medical student, becomes terrorized by a hungry ghost after taking part in an obscure weight loss craze: eating human ashes.</p>

<p>Two men awaken to find themselves on the opposite sides of a dead body, each with specific instructions to kill the other, escape or face the consequences. These two are the latest contestants in Jigsaw&rsquo;s games.</p>

<p>With the help of his family, a comedy writer battles PTSD after the tragic death of his sister.</p>

<p>When the small town of Marion, Kansas, is thrust into the international spotlight after a police raid on the Marion County Record and the death of its 98-year-old co-owner, a fierce debate ignites about the abuse of power, journalistic ethics, local journalism, and the United States Constitution.</p>

<p>An investigation into laboratory research on animals exposes a hidden world in which it&rsquo;s not just the animals getting hurt. The story of Dr. Lisa Jones Engel, a primatologist turned animal welfare advocate, asks whether harming animals and ourselves in science&rsquo;s name is justified.</p>

<p>After losing their livelihood in a village, a Kosovar family is forced to move to the capital in pursuit of a place in a hypercapitalist society</p>

<p>After #MeToo broke the cultural silence on gender violence, international human rights lawyer Jennifer Robinson fights against the weaponization of defamation laws to silence survivors.</p>

<p>Lulu takes a job as a nanny only to discover that her new boss isn&rsquo;t who she expected.</p>

<p>From deep behind enemy lines, a hidden chapter of American military history is uncovered, prompting the question of whether reckoning with the past can bring peace to those who lived it. The Vietnam War&rsquo;s first Black special operations team reunites to tell their story.</p>

<p>After their mother&rsquo;s death, a cognitively disabled woman and her estranged sister must learn to communicate in order to move forward</p>

<p>Amid the late &rsquo;80s pop craze and rising HIV epidemic, 12-year-old Boaz uncovers a devastating secret about the father he idolizes that threatens to tear his family apart. Across a yearslong journey, Boaz seeks to heal the wound and reclaim the father-son bond he never stopped yearning for. On the heels of his impressive first feature, Karaoke, Moshe Rosenthal crafts a captivating, deeply moving father-son story that explores the upheaval in a family after a startling revelation. Tell Me Everything is told with warmth and intimacy through the experience of Boaz, a boy nearing his bar mitzvah and manhood, yet still trying to understand masculinity and his father, his perspective blurred by confusion and fear. In exploring the truth, Boaz leaves his childhood behind with every step, carrying his shame, guilt, and anger into adulthood. Propelled by phenomenal performances, richly detailed storytelling, a vibrant visual sensibility, and a vivid evocation of the &rsquo;80s, Tell Me Everything is a poignant story of family, reckoning, and the search for a father &mdash; or maybe just the attempt to truly see him.</p>

<p>A father-to-be tries to figure out what is happening with the AI insanity, exploring the existential dangers and stunning promise of this technology that humanity has created. There&rsquo;s something deeply compelling about art born out of acute anxiety &mdash; perhaps because it stems from vulnerability and a need for clarity. The AI Doc: Or How I Became an Apocaloptimist grew out of co-director Daniel Roher&rsquo;s profound unease about the future, especially the role artificial intelligence will play in shaping it. Together with Charlie Tyrell, Roher explores both the dazzling possibilities and risks of these fast-evolving tools, along with the price they may carry. Combining expert interviews, home videos, and animations, the film meets this pressing AI discourse with curiosity and heart, clarifying complex ideas while acknowledging how much remains uncertain and deeply human. Rather than claiming to have all the answers, The AI Doc offers a conversation that feels urgent, hopeful, and impossible to ignore.</p>

<p>Immersive POV camera footage reveals electric performances, candid interviews, and intimate backstage life with the Beastie Boys, Sonic Youth, Foo Fighters, Pavement, Rancid, Beck, The Amps, and Bikini Kill &mdash; an all-access view inside an era-defining moment in music. While evacuating from the Palisades fires in January 2025, director Tamra Davis discovered a box of videotapes she shot in 1995 at Summersault, a little-known Australian indie music festival. With The Best Summer, Davis creates an oral and visual history of the tour, showcasing her treasure trove of never-before-seen footage. With her exclusive access, Davis captures band performances from her stage-adjacent perch, along with candid backstage banter and interviews conducted by Kathleen Hanna with the likes of Kim Gordon and Dave Grohl. A nostalgic time capsule, this 30-year-old archival film takes on a weighty significance by what it preserves and shares: rare moments of youth, friendship, and good music with arguably the coolest bands of the time.</p>

<p>Explores the circumstances that led to Brittney Griner playing basketball outside the U.S. despite being one of the best players in the sport, including her harrowing detainment, unwavering determination to secure her freedom, and her advocacy for the release of other wrongful detainees. The media frenzy surrounding the detainment and eventual release of Brittney Griner was highly politicized, fueled by speculation and attempts to leverage her narrative to advance political agendas. Now, director Alexandria Stapleton gives the floor to Griner to tell her story, alongside her wife, Cherelle, and an inner circle of friends and family. This intimate access grounds the film in Griner&rsquo;s humanity, reminding us she is a wife, parent, daughter, sister, and friend &mdash; far more than just an athlete-turned-political pawn. Griner opens up about her childhood, the disappointment and fear surrounding her detainment, her harrowing experience in a Russian penal colony, and the complicated negotiations to get her home. It&rsquo;s a riveting story of resilience, anchored by a family who never stopped pushing for her release and that of others.</p>

<p>An outsider fueled by relentless determination works his way into the inner circle of the Wu-Tang Clan, where his ambition and creativity converge in the making of an album poised to ignite global controversy. Throughout music history, few albums have achieved the mythical status of the Wu-Tang Clan&rsquo;s Once Upon a Time in Shaolin, a 31-track double album packaged in an ornate, handcrafted silver box. Auctioned off to the highest bidder in 2015, only one copy will ever legally exist. While the public may not fully experience it for decades to come, its scarcity serves as a protest; an argument that music still has intrinsic worth in a digital age, not just as content, but as fine art. Director Joanna Natasegara unmasks the decades-long story of Dutch Moroccan rapper and producer Cilvaringz, who became the unlikeliest of disciples to his childhood heroes. The result of his relentless grit and determination culminated in one of the most controversial artifacts of our time, sparking discussions about the convergence of art, technology, and ownership.</p>

<p>In Tehran&rsquo;s underground art scene, two young women build a blissful world of freedom and sisterhood. But when their creative circle is exposed, they must fight to save each other. Writer-directors Maryam Ataei and Hossein Keshavarz make their Festival directorial debut with a uniquely current film exploring artistic practice and community in contemporary Iran. Through bold cinematography and raw performances, the pair capture a clever, careful deconstruction of the line between theatricality and reality. The result is the permeation of a vibrant kindness and a creeping tension &mdash; a powerful, unexpected emotional rhythm. Central to the narrative is an authentic, radical care between women dedicated to holding one another in community through artistic and personal upheaval. As such, The Friend&rsquo;s House is Here is a rare film audiences aren&rsquo;t often gifted &mdash; one that reflects the softness and humanity of the Persian populace, a mass of passionate young artists for whom expression is an ultimate form of freedom. As life imitates art (and vice versa), the theater becomes a microcosm of modern Iran &mdash; the maintenance of artistic dignity the ultimate act of resistance.</p>

<p>A desperate gallerist conspires to sell a dead body at Art Basel Miami. Cathy Yan returns to the Sundance Film Festival (her debut, Dead Pigs, premiered at the 2018 Sundance Film Festival) with this wickedly fun, corrosive satire of the contemporary art world. Preparing for her Art Basel premiere, gallerist Polina Polinski (Natalie Portman) hosts an early look for art influencer Dalton Hardberry (Zach Galifianakis) to review emerging artist Stella Burgess (Da&rsquo;Vine Joy Randolph). Dalton&rsquo;s unimpressed with the gallery until he sees one piece that captures his attention and revs up the ruthless machine of the art world. Robust and precise with terrific performances by a stellar cast, The Gallerist reinforces Yan&rsquo;s buoyant ability to survey society&rsquo;s ills whilst illuminating poetic pools of beauty speckling the surrounds.</p>

<p>After attending a workshop on how to write and sell a Hallmark movie, filmmaker John Wilson tries to use the same formula to sell a documentary about concrete. Documentarian and observational humor connoisseur John Wilson makes his feature directorial debut with a film that is effortlessly hysterical and genuinely hard to describe. The How to With John Wilson creator&rsquo;s quick, permeating wit and boundless curiosity clock in, this time through the lenses of urbanism and, somehow, the institution of Hallmark. A heady comedic whiplash emerges as Wilson bounces between (literal) textures of the mundane. Underlying Wilson&rsquo;s well-established, unique filmmaking language are both an intellectual specificity and a strangely leveling impulse &mdash; a fascination with the breadth of American life and the built environment that contains it. The History of Concrete rests on a pure, generative desire to give warmth to the invisibly ubiquitous, answering key questions such as: &ldquo;Who removes the gum from our sidewalks?&rdquo; This is an unassumingly strange, joyful documentary that no one else could have made, perfect for the chronically online, the studied philosopher, and everyone in between.</p>

<p>In the border city of Ju&aacute;rez, Mexico, where violence against women is perpetrated with impunity, an unlikely defender emerges with a desperate call for change. Inspired by true events. Writer-director Suzanne Andrews Correa, an award-winning Sundance Film Festival shorts alum, returns to the Festival with a harrowing portrait of one woman pushed to extremes by an oppressive culture of violence, intimidation, and silence. Adriana Paz (Emilia P&eacute;rez) delivers a charged performance as Luz, a woman haunted by damage done to herself, her co-workers, and friends, who is desperate to protect her teenage daughter. Correa&rsquo;s electric direction and Maria Sarasvati Herrera&rsquo;s disorienting cinematography reinforce Luz&rsquo;s constant, propulsive fear and evoke a sense of the stalking dangers that surround her as she carries out her transgressive acts of defiance. Veteran actor Teresa S&aacute;nchez adds texture and nuance as Ximena, who leads the search for the disappeared and murdered, offering her own hard-fought resistance to the stifling, violent misogyny that envelopes their community.</p>

<p>On a remote Scottish isle, siblings Isla and Sandy hunt birds and talk to mythical beings while fighting off outsiders. Their lives change when Daniel, an awkward official, arrives to relocate them. Relocating a pair of siblings is easier said than done in Louis Paxton&rsquo;s delightful, uproariously funny, heartwarming first feature. A comedic inflection of Scottish island folklore, The Incomer draws us into its eclectic vision through sublime deadpan humor, formal inventiveness, a sprinkling of animation and fantastical creatures, and the charm of its oddball characters. Having lived in isolation and mistrustful of mainland folk, Isla and Sandy (brilliantly played by Gayle Rankin and Grant O&rsquo;Rourke) initially try to toss Daniel (Domhnall Gleeson) off the island &mdash; literally. But several days and one initiation ritual later, there&rsquo;s a thaw. The siblings share their lore and Daniel speaks of mainland virtues, like avocados and the internet. Their interactions are fresh and funny, but there&rsquo;s also a poignant exchange around belonging. These three people &mdash; who have experienced isolation, loss, and loneliness &mdash; lower their guard and embrace human connection.</p>

<p>Joe and Angela are on thin ice, and tonight might be when it all falls apart. Unfortunately, their upstairs neighbors are about to arrive for dinner, and everything that can go wrong goes worse. A fiercely energized chamber dramedy, The Invite revitalizes the classic, largely bygone cinema of marital strife. Olivia Wilde&rsquo;s scenes from a marriage are suitably raw and revealing, but also compassionate, deeply human, and incredibly funny. From a screenplay by Rashida Jones and Will McCormack, the film gleefully plunges two couples (Wilde and Seth Rogen; Pen&eacute;lope Cruz and Edward Norton) into the crucible of a seemingly innocuous evening, delighting in its contortions as awkward small talk turns to the unearthing of long-tenured grievances, insecurities, codependencies, failed aspirations, and sexual FOMO. Constructing a vibrant aesthetic and brilliantly orchestrated interactions, Wilde finds a universe of space within one location, and her process &mdash; workshopping material with the cast, shooting chronologically (on 35mm!), and inviting them to explore as they worked &mdash; gives The Invite a remarkable authenticity.</p>

<p>An environmental nuclear bomb looms in Utah. Two intrepid scientists and a political insider race the clock to save their home from unprecedented catastrophe. Urgency emanates from this sober record that local Utah filmmaker Abby Ellis logs in human history &mdash; a chapter of monumental ecological and social consequence unfolding in our shared home. Intertwining the inextricable fates of the Great Salt Lake and the millions of people who live, work, and travel surrounding it, Ellis achieves an existential scope that is both terrifying and motivating, wrought with divinity and doom. Balancing beautifully the perspectives, burdens, contributions, and challenges of Utah&rsquo;s top political leaders, agricultural providers, and scientific thinkers, The Lake captures the intricate complexity that binds these communities together. In tackling this epic tale about the power and responsibility of knowledge and how to disseminate it, Ellis is a responsible, constructive steward of her lineage both as a Utahn and an environmental filmmaker.</p>

<p>The race to grab the last great prize in mountaineering, K2 in winter, left five dead. It exposed deep fault lines in alpinism today: pressures from commercialization, toxic effects of social media, and long-brewing tensions between those who&rsquo;ve been marginalized and those who&rsquo;ve always basked in the sport&rsquo;s glory. In The Last First, master documentarian Amir Bar-Lev tells a complex, harrowing, and moving story that unpacks the industry of extreme mountain climbing and its changing culture. Focusing on a 2021 expedition, mountaineers John Snorri Sigurj&oacute;nsson, an Icelander, and Pakistani father-son team Ali and Sajid Sadpara set out to be the first to summit K2 in the winter, when the mountain&rsquo;s conditions are the cruelest. The men soon find themselves sharing the treacherous ascent with influencer climbers and their film crews, commercial expedition clients, and Nims, a Nepalese celebrity mountaineer, and his team of Sherpas. The Last First takes us to the icy heights and unpredictable weather of K2 and reveals a surprising and layered story &mdash; one of strategy and determination, class and caste, money and power &mdash; all under life and death circumstances.</p>

<p>A rising pop star navigates the complexities of fame and industry pressure while preparing for her arena tour debut. A flashy, tongue-in-cheek hyper-pop mockumentary, The Moment is Charli xcx&rsquo;s creative reflection on her own meteoric success with brat. Directed and co-written by &ldquo;360&rdquo; music video director Aidan Zamiri in his feature debut, the film has a stylishly effortless rhythm and a uniquely self-aware, ironic sense of humor. Charli xcx plays an exaggeratedly manic version of herself, surrounded by a cast of characters that mirror both the friends and foes of the era. Hailey Gates and Alexander Skarsg&aring;rd personify near-diametrically opposed influences in Charli xcx&rsquo;s dynamic career; pieces in the grand scheme of brat&rsquo;s enduring cultural power. Behind the satire and Charli xcx&rsquo;s celebrity is an earnest and heartfelt expression of the weight of success, the price of legacy, and the fight to preserve artistic integrity. The Moment is a film for fans and newcomers alike &mdash; a lively, current, dazzling capsule of one of the most iconic artists of our time.</p>

<p>When a frustrated playwright and middle school theater teacher finds out his ex-girlfriend has started dating his nemesis, the school&rsquo;s principal, he decides to ruin the principal&rsquo;s chances of winning the Blue Ribbon of Academic Excellence. In her colorful, constantly surprising feature debut, director Giselle Bonilla delivers a darkly funny, delightfully twisted ode to the inspirational power of spite. Alexander Heller&rsquo;s screenplay offers a witty takedown of public school performance culture and riffs on the politics of the theater world as it follows Doug Leibowitz down his unhinged path for revenge and recognition. Will Brill captivatingly embodies Doug&rsquo;s stewing toxic resentment as his personal and professional torment transform him from an uncharismatic sad sack into a hilariously dastardly antihero. Brill&rsquo;s bravura work is supported by veteran actors Rob Lowe and Gillian Jacobs as the couple whose relationship spurs Doug&rsquo;s quest for revenge, as well as the spirited comic turns of the talented young performers portraying the eager middle school theater troupe he influences with his antics.</p>

<p>A decade-long global journey chronicles the ever-changing record holders of the title of oldest person alive. What begins as a portrait of longevity becomes a meditation on the passage of time, the randomness of fate, and the joy and profound human experience of being alive. The oldest human being on the planet is not someone you encounter suddenly, nor someone you know for long. As the years go by, and Sam Green meets the next, and the next, oldest person in the world, his personal fascination with what the title means becomes entangled with his own experience of time, and the joys and pains of his own life. Green&rsquo;s work has been a cornerstone of documentary filmmaking for a generation of artists. With one of his most intimate films yet, he returns to the Sundance Film Festival with his unique mixture of wry wit, earnest feeling, and formal play. In The Oldest Person in the World, the profound and silly experience of being alive is articulated in a way only film can do.</p>

<p>Yves Bouvier brokers masterpieces, from da Vinci to Rothko, into the private collection of Dmitry Rybolovlev until Bouvier is accused of a billion-dollar betrayal. Rising ambitions, frayed relationships, and bruised egos fuel a decade-long all-out war between the Swiss art dealer and the elusive Russian oligarch.</p>

<p>When a theft goes awry, a veteran pickpocket is sent on a mission through New York to reclaim the stolen goods. Harry is a classic native New Yorker, an old-school hustler who has moved through life lubricating palms with pickpocket cash since the 1980s. He stays smooth, continually sharpening his skills, but times are changing for Harry. Now it&rsquo;s 2025, and the daily take from the streets? Fancy trackable phones. Cashless wallets full of credit cards. Gym bags holding cryptocurrency and guns. The Only Living Pickpocket in New York is a nostalgic portrait of a hustler getting lapped by today&rsquo;s digitally networked world, who now must prepare for the final act of his life. Director Noah Segan&rsquo;s modern metropolis is powered by the ephemera of a time gone by, with OG street action brought to radiant life by a terrific cast &mdash; led by John Turturro&rsquo;s exceptional turn as Harry.</p>

<p>An independent film screener leaks from a talent agency. Wary of sending out digital links, an independent filmmaker presents her latest film to a talent agency in their private screening room. When it inevitably leaks, a frantic cover-up begins, until the district attorney decides to prosecute the agency as a white-collar crime syndicate. As the office builds its case, everyone involved becomes a witness&hellip; or a potential defendant. Longtime collaborators Jim Cummings and PJ McCabe return to the Sundance Film Festival with a biting satire of legacy corporate entertainment, made all the more intriguing by the fact that this is an entirely independently produced series. Their unique blend of dark humor and emotional vulnerability yields a tone that is both fresh and unapologetically human. Set within an industry built entirely on reputation and avarice, each episode squarely targets societal hierarchies and outdated power dynamics. Buoyed by a stellar cast, The Screener tells the story of an indie filmmaker who sets out to reclaim her power from a corporate entity that supposedly has her best interests in mind.</p>

<p>When two unqualified bozos are hired to transfer a rich teen to rehab, their straightforward gig quickly spirals into dangerous mayhem. Macon Blair makes a welcome return to the Sundance Film Festival following his acclaimed U.S. Dramatic Grand Jury Prize winner &mdash; I don&rsquo;t feel at home in this world anymore. (2017) &mdash; with this raucous and wildly entertaining descent into madness. Dave Franco and O&rsquo;Shea Jackson Jr. are perfectly (mis)matched as Mark and Davis, the fumbling circumstantial chaperones in charge of transporting the increasingly psychotic Sheridan (a brilliant Mason Thames). Phenomenal supporting turns from Nicholas Braun, Peter Dinklage, and Kiernan Shipka round out the ensemble cast, each more unexpected and bizarre than the last. Blair treats us to his signature absurdist sense of humor and douses it with gasoline and psychedelics, crafting an uncanny world where the worst intentions net the highest yields and the open road is full of Shitheads.</p>

<p>Tracing the evolution of documentary film across time, examining landmark works and hidden treasures, while revealing how the form has helped us see and make sense of our world. Following his groundbreaking series The Story of Film: An Odyssey, filmmaker Mark Cousins turns his analytic eye and storytelling voice to the history of documentary. Ambitious, detailed, and eclectic, Cousins surveys the filmed representation of reality from the invention of cinema to our contemporary, digital age with curiosity and an infectious enthusiasm. Over 16 hours, with surprising insights and an incredible collection of clips from the most well-known to obscure works from around the world, The Story of Documentary Film is an inspiring journey, destined to enrich every viewer who sees it &mdash; from the most seasoned cineaste to those taking their first steps into the world of documentary film.</p>

<p>In Oregon in 1933, Samuel Murphy is torn from his daughter and sent to a brutal work camp. Warden Clancy tempts him with early release if he smuggles gold through deadly wilderness, but betrayal festers within the crew, and Murphy questions how far he&rsquo;ll go to see his child again. Padraic McKinley&rsquo;s tense, atmospheric Depression-era crime drama follows a group of desperate convicts on a perilous journey through a physically and morally treacherous backcountry. Set against the stark beauty of the Oregon landscape, The Weight draws on the introspective action cinema of the 1970s, combining gritty survivalist set pieces with uncommonly intelligent dialogue and finely drawn characters. Although rich with period detail, The Weight is charged with elemental energy, fueled by brothers Latham and Shelby Gaines&rsquo; harrowing score and Matteo Cocco&rsquo;s vivid cinematography. Ethan Hawke gives a muscular performance as the film&rsquo;s reluctant but resourceful hero, while Russell Crowe is quietly menacing as his foil. Julia Jones brings dignity and defiance to her role as Anna, the gang&rsquo;s Indigenous guide.</p>

<p>After 20 years of chronicling his Puerto Rican family, a director and his mother face devastating losses. Through tears and laughter, they craft animations that bring their loved ones back to life, discovering that every act of creation is also an act of letting go. In TheyDream, director William David Caballero brings together decades&rsquo; worth of his family&rsquo;s stories in a profoundly moving and creative work of intergenerational healing through art. At its center is Milly, Caballero&rsquo;s mother, who dutifully bore the responsibility of caregiving for her father, mother, and husband as they dealt with aging and various health concerns. Working in close collaboration with Milly, Caballero uses miniatures and motion capture technology to transform old home movies and recorded conversations with departed family members into sometimes whimsical, often bittersweet animated sequences. Demonstrating deep vulnerability and candor, TheyDream and its stories of familial love and loss are both uniquely personal and universally resonant. Caballero was once told by a documentary professor that no one would ever want to see a film about his family. How wrong she was.</p>

<p>Facing the death of his country&rsquo;s glaciers and the loss of his beloved grandparents, Icelandic writer Andri Sn&aelig;r Magnason turns his archives into a time capsule to hold what is slipping away &mdash; family, memory, time, and water. How do you say goodbye to what you never thought you could lose? That&rsquo;s the question Magnason grapples with in Sara Dosa&rsquo;s ambitious new project following her 2022 Sundance Film Festival breakout Fire of Love. Tasked to write the eulogy for Okj&ouml;kull, the first glacier to be declared dead due to climate change, Magnason reflects on how glaciers create an archive of deep time within their ice over millions of years. Likening this idea of the depth of time to intergenerational memory, he sets out to pass along the stories of his grandparents for future generations, before they too vanish. Drawing from an evocative mix of photographs, home movies, myths, songs, and folk tales, Time and Water is at once an elegy for what we&#39;ve lost and an attempt at cinematic time travel to retain it.</p>

<p>In the remote highlands of Montenegro, a shepherd mother and daughter proudly defend their ancestral mountain from the threat of becoming a NATO military training ground, stirring memories of the violence that shattered their family. Gara, To Hold a Mountain&rsquo;s guiding light, is living proof that not all heroes wear capes. She spends long days herding sheep, making cheese, and fighting to protect her favorite place in the world &mdash; all while ensuring that young Nada grows up kind, capable, and empowered. In To Hold a Mountain, co-directors Biljana Tutorov and Petar Glomazić craft a tender, visually stunning portrait of a remote mountain community of women driven by strenuous work and grassroots resistance. Despite their daily hardships and the lasting effects of generational trauma, they remain loving and dignified, nurturing not only one another, but also the animals they rely on for sustenance. The film powerfully captures the significance of love and persistence at a time when the past haunts and the future feels under attack.</p>

<p>The struggle against apartheid is recounted through Nelson Mandela&rsquo;s own voice, drawn from recordings he made while writing his autobiography Long Walk to Freedom. Director Antoine Fuqua and anti-apartheid activist Mac Maharaj bring to cinematic life recently recovered interviews with Rolihlahla &mdash; a name that translates from Xhosa as &ldquo;troublemaker,&rdquo; and is the birth name of Nelson Mandela. Fuqua crafts together Maharaj&rsquo;s testimony, powerful archival footage, the evocative animation of Thabang Lehobye, and Mandela&rsquo;s spoken words to offer this remarkably personal and anatomical recount of the anti-apartheid movement &mdash; from Mandela&rsquo;s childhood grooming in the royal court, his rebellious elopement and politicization in Johannesburg, his historic presidency, and today&rsquo;s enduring issues of liberation in South Africa. As fascist white supremist movements proliferate violently around the world today, Troublemaker shines light on a movement that found its way to the winning side, and what value a troublemaker offers when there is strength in numbers and collective movement.</p>

<p>Documentarian Daniel Roher dazzles with his narrative debut, a whip-smart thriller about an unusual safecracker.</p>

<p>The host of a popular paranormal podcast becomes haunted by terrifying recordings mysteriously sent her way. Strained by the responsibility of providing end-of-life care to her dying mother, Evy (Nina Kiri) seeks respite from the loneliness of her fragmented reality. Now living in a house full of sentimental keepsakes and memories, her sanity and structure lies within her work on a supernatural podcast, The Undertone. While she usually plays skeptic to the creepy (and often disturbing) audio files sent to her by co-host Justin (Adam DiMarco) for podcast fodder, the latest submission hits differently. A series of 10 unheard recordings from a young pregnant couple are unfurled one by one, each more ominous than the last. As Evy draws parallels to her current plight, hidden messages manifest, pushing her further toward madness. Writer-director Ian Tuason&rsquo;s debut feature is unsettling to say the least. Deceptively terrifying in its conceit, Evy&rsquo;s solitude manifests itself as a visceral audio-visual landscape, where the ring of a cell phone creates just as much of a jump scare as any monster ever could.</p>

<p>Assigned to a county-mandated drug court program, Cody Parsons embarks on the tenuous journey toward recovery amid the opioid epidemic in rural Ohio. Director Adam Meeks stays close to home in his debut feature, setting this recovery story in his hometown. His roots plunge this film to a subterranean depth, operating with an authenticity that gives great dignity to this portrait of a community engaged in profound struggle. Lending gravitas to the cyclical patterns of recovery brings the audience into the quietude and frankness of the battleground with addiction, illuminating the triumphs and failures that unfold daily in the fight to stay alive and the even more audacious struggle to live fully. This groundedness is supported by incredibly deft performances by Will Poulter (Glassland, 2015 Sundance Film Festival) and Noah Centineo. The leads embedded themselves in the community they portray for months and are joined on screen by local nonactors &mdash; a uniquely honest approach that lays bare consummately intimate truths.</p>

<p>In 1983, author Ta-Nehisi Coates learned that a 14-year-old boy was murdered in his Baltimore middle school. Upon revisiting the case, he uncovers the truth: Three innocent teenagers were wrongfully convicted and spent 36 years in prison &mdash; creating a lasting impact on the accused, the witnesses, and their community. Documentarian Dawn Porter collaborates with author Ta-Nehisi Coates to examine the case surrounding the first student murdered inside a Baltimore public school. Three innocent men from Coates&rsquo; community were incarcerated for 36 years on the false testimony of children coerced to take the stand. How could something like this happen? Porter illuminates the complete journey: how carefree Black boys playing in the streets of 1980s Baltimore were framed by the media and the justice system; how they grew up behind bars as the world whizzed by; how they were eventually exonerated; and how the community they re-entered grapples with the lingering damage of false narratives. When A Witness Recants is ultimately about the deep power of narrative: how it can extinguish lives &mdash; and how it can potentially resurrect them.</p>

<p>The assassination of a beloved Palestinian American activist in Southern California ignites a 40-year quest for justice, revealing the roots of a dangerous political movement that thrives today. Activist, teacher, and poet Alex Odeh was a leading voice in his community, advocating in the media for peace and justice through dialogue and respect for all people. In October 1985, he was assassinated by a tripwire bomb placed in his office. Despite evidence and suspects identified at the time, no one has ever been held accountable for this horrible act of political violence. Using archival footage and contemporary investigation, directors Jason Osder and William Lafi Youmans take us back to the time of Odeh&rsquo;s murder and trace the extremist forces that may have been behind his death and the disturbing ramifications that remain today. With a gripping style and surprising revelations, Who Killed Alex Odeh? asks a question that has never been more relevant and in need of answering.</p>

<p>A fisherwoman asks a basketmaker to weave her a husband. In their audacious and delightful follow-up to 2020&rsquo;s Save Yourselves!, Sundance Film Festival alums Eleanor Wilson and Alex Huston Fischer adapt and expand Ursula Wills&rsquo; beguiling short story about envy, commitment, and the trappings of societal norms. Wilson and Fischer bring this medieval oddball village to life with an all-star cast and generous helpings of wry wit. Olivia Colman&rsquo;s sardonic fisherwoman flies in the face of expectations and assuredly unravels tradition as she fights for the relationship she wants and the treatment she deserves from Alexander Skarsg&aring;rd&rsquo;s enigmatic and composed wicker man. Part fable, part historical comedy, and fully eccentric, Wicker invites us to reconsider and even set alight the stories we&rsquo;ve told ourselves about marriage, creating space for true romance to unfold.</p>

<p>No one is more worried about Jules and Poppy than Jules and Poppy.</p>

<p>In Hong Kong, a young woman haunted by visions of her future self meets a stranger who changes the course of her night &mdash; and possibly her life. Kogonada plays with &mdash; and returns to &mdash; form in this sensitive cinematic poem. Held within a stylish jaunt through the streets of Hong Kong, zi is a film with soul and a wavelike confidence that commits to recursivity as a mode and central theme. Kogonada regulars Michelle Mao, Haley Lu Richardson, and Jin Ha carefully portray transitory misfits, grappling with a clever fusion of existential anxiety, romantic misgiving, and personal memory. Somewhere between sci-fi and supernatural, a deep, easy warmth takes root. Following Columbus (2017 Sundance Film Festival), After Yang (2020 Sundance Film Festival), and A Big Bold Beautiful Journey, Kogonada crafts a decidedly contained film, exploring a pervasive sense of unmooring, yet cultivating an unrelenting sense of peace. Through the igniting/smoldering embers of relationships lost/forming, zi is an invitation to surrender to Kogonada&rsquo;s truly indie world of temporal fragmentation.</p>

<p>It&#39;s 1981 in suburban Long Island, New York. The mullets are long, the metal is heavy and 14-year-old Douglas gets a birthday surprise that will change life forever. 1981 is a psychedelic coming-of-age story that captures the beauty and terror of teenage desire.</p>

<p>A man wakes up with an unbearable itch. Anxious to find a cure, he embarks on a nightmarish odyssey in search of relief.</p>

<p>Under pressure from her adult daughter to move and become a live-in babysitter, 74-year-old Agnes finds agency in an unexpected place.</p>

<p>Maria, burdened with caregiving for her sick husband, gets invited to a party.</p>

<p>Two grocery store employees have an unexpected, helium-fueled encounter with a late-night customer.</p>

<p>In 1970, a 16-year-old Nigerian refugee in Virginia tries to keep her family together when a newcomer draws her sister away.</p>

<p>Marianne and P&eacute;tion, living in Haiti, await a call from their son who has left in pursuit of the American dream.</p>

<p>Tiny workers run a domesticated factory under the supervision of giant hands. This fantastically convenient at-home solution for disposable creation is absurdly inefficient and potentially an answer to the question of how we get rubber gloves. The timer is ticking.</p>

<p>When the mind of a bilingual child mirrors absurd translations, their poetic misinterpretations can accidentally produce multiple meanings &mdash; and create puns.</p>

<p>Max arrives home to find that his boyfriend has booked a callback. All hell breaks loose.</p>

<p>A young girl thinks a man in the candy bar line looks like her dad.</p>

<p>Fired from her day job, an impulsive actress crashes a support group and spirals into a chaotic night that forces her to face her addiction to drama.</p>

<p>Guillermo del Toro made an auspicious and audacious feature debut with Cronos, a highly unorthodox tale about the seductiveness of the idea of immortality. Kindly antiques dealer Jes&uacute;s Gris (Federico Luppi) happens upon an ancient golden device in the shape of a scarab, and soon finds himself the possessor and victim of its sinister, addictive powers, as well as the target of a mysterious American named Angel (a delightfully crude and deranged Ron Perlman). Featuring marvelous makeup effects and the haunting imagery for which del Toro has become world-renowned, Cronos is a dark, visually rich, and emotionally captivating fantasy.</p>

<p>Don&rsquo;t Tell Mama opens with Chloe, a 16-year-old interracial teenager sitting with a quiet anticipation in her apartment building lobby, ripping holes in her tights. The blare of a car horn makes her glance up. She&#39;s greeted by her father, Vasco, a Montenegrin immigrant with a larger-than-life persona. He&#39;s late, disheveled, and critical of her appearance. Tension builds when he inquires about Chloe&rsquo;s mother, revealing that the parents are in the midst of a divorce. The pair have a heated conversation that ultimately ends in disjointed spirits. As Chloe&rsquo;s world blurs, the question remains of how their relationship will be moving forward.</p>

<p>Mireille promises Johnny the big screen, dragging him to an audition whose rules only she truly knows.</p>

<p>In a time and place where abortion is illegal, a pregnant woman&rsquo;s repeated attempts to end her pregnancy fail until she crosses paths with a strange bus driver.</p>

<p>When a trans college student learns the girl she idolizes is sleeping with their teaching assistant, she takes drastic steps to emulate her.</p>

<p>A 1970s Los Angeles therapy collective rises with utopian promise before devolving into a business-minded cult built on control and abuse.</p>

<p>A New York City middle school teacher with a drug habit forms an unlikely friendship with one of his students after she discovers his secret.</p>

<p>A woman embarks on a road trip to deliver her creamy homemade sports drink to a mysterious online buyer.</p>

<p>A disappearing act occurs over the course of one night in 1962 when a restless woman returns to her childhood home for the last time. Inspired by the music of singer-songwriter Connie Converse.</p>

<p>A ride on a bike&rsquo;s luggage rack is a sensory roller coaster through a land full of cuddles.</p>

<p>This year&rsquo;s Short Film Palme d&rsquo;Or winner, Tawfeek Barhom&rsquo;s heartbreaking drama about two brothers coming to terms with the ghosts of their past is as emotionally charged as it is cathartic in its probing of deeply buried wounds.</p>

<p>A change in her husband&rsquo;s scent sends Anne spiraling into a late-night existential crisis.</p>

<p>In Will Niava&rsquo;s masterfully orchestrated jazz ride, Koffi, son of a legendary trumpet player, must confront the weight of his father&rsquo;s legacy and leave the ghosts of Ivory Coast behind.</p>

<p>During a summer of grief and fear brought on by immigration raids in Los Angeles, one small act of bravery gives a community hope.</p>

<p>After 50 years of marriage, John must care for his wife while learning to live alongside her vivid hallucinations.</p>

<p>When Luigi Mangione is charged with murder, he becomes the subject of fevered obsession. Through letters, fantasies, and conspiracies, strangers turn Luigi into a cultural sensation and a canvas for their rage, desire, and misplaced hope.</p>

<p>Two young women are trapped in the lair of the Mangittatuarjuk, the Gnawer of Rocks. The young women and their village use the teachings of the elders to try to defeat the monster.</p>

<p>In the wake of Selena Quintanilla&rsquo;s murder, Marga&rsquo;s life takes an unexpected turn at 21 weeks pregnant during a surprise visit to Mexico City.</p>

<p>At 18, Yaimita fulfills her mother&rsquo;s long-held dream by starting an online romance with Sven, a man twice her age, in hopes of a better life. But her dreams crumble when she discovers that her mother has always known Sven isn&rsquo;t as idyllic as he seems.</p>

<p>During the Sankranti festival celebrations, a matriarch and her housekeeper confront solitude through the intimacy of each other&rsquo;s company.</p>

<p>Using a visceral and evocative animated style, Mar&iacute;a Cristina P&eacute;rez Gonz&aacute;lez offers an unflinching reflection on emotional distress through the eyes of a woman whose sisterly guilt over a childhood incident manifests as lifelong body dysmorphia.</p>

<p>Pankaja, along with her daughter, Lalli, searches for her missing husband through the city slums of Bangalore to bring him back home.</p>

<p>A life, seen through paper.</p>

<p>A trauma victim joins a utopian farming community only to find she&rsquo;s bitten off more than she can chew.</p>

<p>A drifter&rsquo;s life takes a dramatic turn when he discovers a runaway member of a survivalist cult in the back of his truck.</p>

<p>Locked out on a freezing New Year&rsquo;s Eve, Cleo discovers the real threat isn&rsquo;t the cold &mdash; it&rsquo;s the man beside her.</p>

<p>A high school senior goes on his first college campus tour the day his parents&rsquo; marriage begins to fracture.</p>

<p>On the shifting edge of the Mississippi River in New Orleans, the spirit of a fading outsider community endures through its two oldest residents.</p>

<p>A man secludes himself in a house in the forest. The ghosts of his past begin to torment him, forcing him to face his fears and guilts to not be consumed by madness.</p>

<p>A woman&rsquo;s life unravels after she becomes addicted to throwing herself down flights of stairs.</p>

<p>On January 7, 2025, the Eaton fire destroyed over 9,000 structures in Altadena, California. Thousands more were left standing but contaminated with toxic ash. Residents face the impossible decision of whether they should risk their health to return home.</p>

<p>Vivi, a third-culture Filipina American, travels to the Philippines to reconnect with her roots but falls in with a group of Western eco-volunteers. When they scorn the customs of a remote mountain village, an ancient evil comes knocking.</p>

<p>Thrown into adulthood, Mat&iacute;as and Jaime try to make sense of the world. One day, Jaime is arrested by a security guard at a mall and Mat&iacute;as must ask a stranger to pretend to be their father to free him.</p>

<p>Now 93, Martin Luther King Jr.&rsquo;s lawyer and speechwriter reflects on the personal cost and surprising truths of making history, offering an intimate insider&rsquo;s view of the Civil Rights Movement.</p>

<p>In a marginalized Tunisian neighborhood, a young man in a wheelchair dreams of crossing the Mediterranean Sea until a surreal encounter shifts his path.</p>

<p>On an idyllic farm in rural Georgia, beekeeping parents tenderly share their knowledge of life, love, and nature with their young sons while restoring their homestead.</p>

<p>A whimsical, personal look-back at the life choices of an eighth-generation nutcracker workshop owner, a descendant of the original inventor.</p>

<p>Darkness settles over Little Egypt. Brielle, Karri, and Nunu wander among the limestone outcrops and sandstone spires. In a cave that hid freedom seekers along the Underground Railroad, their uncle shares a story of a creature that stirs at night.</p>

<p>When an atheist psychiatrist hypnotizes his con artist patient, a message from his long-dead twin emerges. It could be the perfect con, or it could be proof that reality is far stranger than he would like to admit.</p>

<p>A young man&rsquo;s strange belief sparks an intervention from his family.</p>

<p>A Mormon couple ties the knot.</p>

<p>An exploration of the close and enduring connections between Inuit, caribou, lichens, and land use. A handmade caribou gelatin emulsion reveals the land where caribou struggle to survive burn events and habitat disruption.</p>

<p>Nieto&rsquo;s bold and deliciously twisted psychedelic animation is set in a mythical world in which bird deities return to Earth to restore balance after their degenerate human descendants have wreaked havoc through their self-destructive tendencies.</p>

<p>Forced to leave her baby daughter with the child&rsquo;s father, young mother Esther is caught in desperation and longing. Through the night she chases touch and comfort, seeking ways to hold on to who she loves the most.</p>