Deaf drama ‘CODA’ and Questlove documentary win at Sundance
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LOS ANGELES, Feb 3, 2021 (BSS/AFP) – “CODA,” the heartwarming indie drama about a teenage girl struggling to support her deaf family, scooped the Sundance film festival’s top prize Tuesday, while musician Questlove won documentary honors with his debut.
Taking its title from an acronym for child of deaf adult, “CODA” follows a high-school student (Emilia Jones) who is torn between pursuing her passion for music, and staying home to help her deaf parents and brother.
Apple purchased the film early in the US festival after a rapturous online response and an intense bidding war between distributors reportedly shelling out a Sundance record of $25 million.
Sundance opening film CODA won the festival top prize.
Questlove s directorial debut won jury and audience
prizes for best documentary.
The festival which is usually held at Park City was online this year due
to the Covid-19 pandemic, 72 films premiered via online streaming.
CODA, the heartwarming indie drama about a teenage girl struggling
to support her deaf family, scooped the Sundance film festival s top prize
Tuesday, while musician Questlove won documentary honours with his debut.
Taking its title from an acronym for child of deaf adult,
CODA follows a high-school student (Emilia Jones) who is torn
between pursuing her passion for music, and staying home to help her deaf
The WNET Group s American Masters Pictures Brings Documentaries on Rita Moreno, Amy Tan, Alvin Ailey and Jamaica Heolimeleikalani Osorio to 2021 Sundance Film Festival
Features world premieres of Rita Moreno: Just a Girl Who Decided to Go For It, Ailey and Amy Tan: Unintended Memoir
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American Masters Pictures documentaries will world premiere at the 2021 Sundance Film Festival, which runs January 28 – February 3:
Rita Moreno: Just a Girl Who Decided to Go For It,
Ailey and
American Masters on PBS at a later date. Additionally,
Jamaica Heolimeleikalani Osorio: This is the Way We Rise, now streaming as part of
Passing
The indie film showcase s pandemic-era program also has directorial debuts by Jerrod Carmichael, Pascual Sisto and Questlove with his Black Woodstock documentary.
As Sundance director Tabitha Jackson s reign at the indie film festival gets well underway, the marquee indie U.S. film showcase has gone mostly online with a pandemic-era discovery lineup filled with work by women and BIPOC directors and more than half the 2021 program shot by first-time helmers.
For Jackson, the focus on debut feature directors underlines how, despite the COVID-19 crisis pausing film production in Hollywood and upending planning for Sundance s upcoming Jan. 28 to Feb. 3, 2021, edition, the marquee festival isn t playing it safe as it doubles down on revealing new independent voices to the world.
Save this story for later.
When the Sundance Film Festival kicks off on January 28, 2021, in Park City, Utah, there won’t be a long line of people standing outside the Eccles Theater, watching their breath catch in the cold winter air and Main Street surely won’t be packed with revelers and sponsor activations, either.
Instead, on account of the coronavirus pandemic, next year’s Sundance will actually expand amid the contraction of live events. Rather than relying solely on in-person experiences, the festival has plans that extend far beyond the theater: a digital platform where patrons around the world can watch this year’s lineup; drive-in screenings at venues around the country; in-person showings at independent art houses nationwide where indoor events can happen safely and in accordance with public health guidelines; and even a virtual reality space that includes live performances and a lobby where people can digitally congregate.