Content warning: suicide.
In his directorial debut “On the Count of Three,” which premiered at the 2021 Sundance Film Festival, Jerrod Carmichael shows a rare prowess for balancing strikingly different tones. Though “On the Count of Three” has echoes of older films, such as “Thelma & Louise” or “Harold and Maude,” Carmichael’s film uniquely finds a hilarious comic undercurrent in the sense of all-pervading desolation felt by its characters.
We are first introduced to Carmichael’s Val and his best friend Kevin (Christopher Abbott, in his second appearance of the festival after “The World to Come”) as they stand in an empty lot behind a strip club, aiming pistols at each other in stark daylight. From the get-go, Val and Kevin have an unspoken bond that, despite the bleakness of this opening image, shows through in Carmichael and Abbott’s gazes they’re moments away from firing on one another, but it’s clear that the two aren’t antagonists. Instead, Va
15 Standouts From the 2021 (Virtual) Sundance Film Festival From Tweet
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The Sundance Film Festival is typically the industry s annual coronation of indie sensations and once and future awards darlings. Intrepid filmgoers make the pilgrimage to snowy Park City, Utah, where they wait in long lines to catch a movie that could either be the next big thing or a Redbox exclusive in seven months.
Sundance carried on in 2021 despite the pandemic thanks to a makeshift virtual cinema, which allowed folks to take in the festival’s best from their couch. (And in some cases as with Nashville s own Belcourt via drive-in screenings.) Let’s parse what really made this edition of the festival such a virtual victory.
But it’s what the series does with that premise that stands out. Youssef and his co-creators Ari Katcher and Ryan Welch bring a freshness to it that we haven’t seen before, which sets the series apart from anything else around.
Ramy lives in northern New Jersey with his parents Maysa and Farouk (Hiam Abbass and Amr Waked) and his younger sister Dena (May Calamawy),who couldn’t be less like the cliché of the dutiful Muslim daughter.
It’s less a series about a first generation American Muslim trying to negotiate a society rife with racism and suspicion of Muslims (although that does crop up, particularly in an episode that flashes back to 9/11) than about him trying to fit comfortably into his own skin.
The full list of awards:
U.S. Grand Jury Prize – Dramatic: “CODA,” Sian Heder
U.S. Grand Jury Prize – Documentary: “Summer of Soul,” Ahmir “Questlove” Thompson
Directing Award – U.S. Dramatic: Sian Heder, “CODA”
Waldo Salt Screenwriting Award: Ari Katcher and Ryan Welch,
“On the Count of Three”
Directing Award – U.S. Documentary: “Users,” Natalia Almada
Jonathan Oppenheim Editing Award – U.S. Documentary: Kristina Motwani and Rebecca Adorno, “Homeroom”
U.S. Dramatic Special Jury Award for Best Ensemble: the cast of “CODA”
U.S. Dramatic Special Jury Award, Best Actor: Clifton Collins Jr., “Jockey”
U.S. Documentary Special Jury Award for Nonfiction Experimentation: Theo Anthony, “All Light, Everywhere”