This yearâs Sundance Film Festival going virtual has no doubt been a godsend for accessibility. Countless world class films, previously confined to snowy Park City, are temporarily made available to anyone in the country, anywhere, including my cramped apartment in Ridgewood, Queens. Despite the lack of a centralized on-site venue for New Frontier, the festivalâs annual virtual reality and new media showcase, the Sundance Institute overhauled their interface in order to support a platform perfectly suited for innovative works at the intersection of moving image and burgeoning technology. One of the perks of being awarded this yearâs Press Inclusion Initiative fellowshipâaside from a standard press pass and bragging rights (of which I am eternally grateful!)âis receiving a complimentary Oculus Quest 2 VR headset. A week before the festival started, I received a brand-new Oculus in the mail like it was a tipsy late-night online shopping purchase. When the initi
Amel Alzakout and her partner Khaled Abdulwahed made the powerful film Purple Sea, which shows Alzakout s struggle after her migrant vessel capsized in the Mediterranean ARTIST Amel Alzakout was escaping from war-torn Syria on a flimsy migrant boat when it capsized, throwing her into the Mediterranean with more than 300 other passengers. Crucial rescue operations were delayed by bureaucracy and 43 people died in what was the deadliest migration related tragedy in 2015. Alzakout survived – along with incredible footage from her GoPro camera, which was strapped to her wrist so she could film the journey, never expecting it would record her near death.
Sundance Film Festival will let you hang out in space next to the ISS (apparently)
The fest s New Frontier program always packed with virtual reality and other tech-driven storytelling is pulling out all the stops next month during Sundance s mostly virtual festival. Listen - 08:13
Sundance typically takes place in Park City, Utah. Getty Images
The Sundance Film Festival is going more virtual than ever, which is saying something for the fest that helped put virtual reality on Hollywood s radar.
Running for eight days starting Jan. 28, Sundance will take place both on custom online platforms and through in-person events, including satellite screenings across the US as permitted by COVID-19 public-health protocols. But no part is going more virtual than New Frontier, the fest s branch focused on cutting-edge storytelling. In recent years, New Frontier s emphasis on tech-driven
Together
Together starring Ed Helms
are among 72 features selected for 2021 Sundance Film Festival, which runs online and in select US arthouse venues from January 28-February 3.
The line-up, announced on Tuesday (December 15), includes
One For The Road, Thai filmmaker Baz Poonpiriya’s follow-up to
Bad Genius; Edgar Wright’s music documentary
The Sparks Brothers
Land; Ben Wheatley’s virus horror
In The Earth; The Roots drummer Questlove’s documentary
Summer Of Soul; and Kevin Macdonald’s Special Screenings selection
Life In A Day 2020.
A features roster representing 29 countries and 38 first-time feature filmmakers includes three films from Cannes Label 2020:
Pascual Sisto’s
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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.