A documentary on the leading women’s rights lawyer Gloria Allred and Idris Elba’s directorial debut are just two of the major movies that will premiere at 2018’s Sundance film festival.
The announcement of the festival’s full lineup also features a variety of big-name actors, including Keira Knightley and Kristen Stewart, and a string of films that promise to speak to a whirlwind year of political and social upheaval in the US.
Netflix’s Seeing Allred is an expansive look at the work of the attorney, whose clients have gone up against key figures including Harvey Weinstein and Donald Trump. “The film-makers did notify us that they were going to continue shooting to add to the documentary as all of the allegations were breaking,” said Trevor Groth, the festival’s Sundance director of programming. “So there is a real sort of timely quality to that film.”
Elba’s directorial debut is a 70s-set crime drama called Yardie, about a young man whose past catches up with him when he returns to London. “I am interested in making human stories with characters that are either full of grace or flawed,” Elba said of the film. “In Yardie, the audience will see a film that hopefully means something to the people.”
Reed Morano, who won an Emmy for her work directing The Handmaid’s Tale, will also head to the festival with her post-apocalyptic drama I Think We’re Alone Now, starring Peter Dinklage and Elle Fanning. Her film is one of 16 that will compete in the US dramatic section of the festival.
The strand also features the music drama Blaze, directed by Ethan Hawke; Burden, a film about the Ku Klux Klan, starring Tom Wilkinson and Usher; Lizzie, a fact-based 19th-century thriller starring Stewart; and Tyrel, a drama about a man discovering he’s the only black person attending a birthday party in a secluded cabin.
Elsewhere, Keira Knightley will star as the French novelist Colette in a film of the same name; Joaquin Phoenix and Rooney Mara will appear in Gus Van Sant’s dark comedy Don’t Worry, He Won’t Get Far on Foot; Colin Firth will star in The Happy Prince, about Oscar Wilde’s later years, directed by Rupert Everett; and Daisy Ridley will star in Ophelia, an alternative view of Hamlet.
The festival will also see the premiere of a number of major documentaries, including an Alex Gibney-produced look at the life of Robin Williams.
Sundance is often seen as a major platform for independent films to start their road to the Oscars. This year’s festival was the launching pad for the critically acclaimed romance Call Me by Your Name, already one of the season’s major awards contenders.
Next year’s Sundance film festival will run from 18 to 28 January.
