One of the biggest independent filmmaker gatherings is about to get under way…
STARS DEV PATEL and Himesh Patel have films that will enjoy their world premieres at the Sundance Film Festival 2025.
Both are the leads (and in non Asian parts it appears) in ‘Rabbit Trap’ and ‘Bubble and Squeak’. Read more below.
The festival runs from today to February 2.
Hosted mainly in Park City, Utah – Sundance will also screen the world premiere of a film directed by Nadia Fall, who is the Artistic Director of Stratford East Theatre and has mixed race Indian heritage.
Indian film, ‘Sabar Bonda’ (‘Cactus Pears’) produced by London-based Neeraj Churi also has a world premiere in the World Cinema Dramatic Competition section.
Oscar winning US producer Joseph Patel’s ‘SLY LIVES! (aka The Burden of Black Genius)’ returns with the same team that produced the documentary, ‘Summer of Soul’ which won an Oscar in 2022. (See video below).
The festival starts with a number of screenings from 7pm GMT and among the other stars expected to attend are Jennifer Lopez (‘Kiss of the Spider Woman’) , John Malkovich (‘Opus’) Lily Gladstone (‘The Wedding Banquet’) and Benedict Cumberbatch (‘The Thing with Feathers’). Former New Zealand prime minister Jacinda Ardern attends as documentary, ‘Prime Minister’ unveils.
One of the most eagerly anticipated films is ‘Jimpa’ starring Olivia Colman as Hannah, who along with her non binary child visits her gay grandfather, Jim (John Lithgow) and known affectionately as ‘Jimpa’, living in Amsterdam. It’s directed by Sarah Hyde.
There are also two films that touch on the conflict in the Middle East – ‘Coexistence – My Ass!’ by female comedian Noam Shuster-Eliassi; and ‘All That’s Left of You’ by Palestinian American director Cherien Debris.
Just to be clear we haven’t seen any of these films below and we are not in Sundance this year.*
RABBIT TRAP
SCREENING in the midnight slot, Dev Patel plays Darcy, the husband of a musician, Daphne (Rosy McEwen) who move to a remote house in Wales in 1976.
Daphne is avant garde musician who makes reel to reel tapes and her shy husband helps her with recordings and goes into the forest to listen.
Described as an “extraordinary debut feature” by writer-director Bryn Chainey, the film centres around the couple and a young rabbit trapper (Jade Croot). Sundance programmer Matt Cornell writes: “Patel and McEwen are quietly moving as the young couple, grounding this otherworldly fable with a portrait of a marriage sustained through fraught intimacy and restless creative collaboration.”
It screens tomorrow (January 24)
BUBBLE & SQUEAK
IN A COUNTRY where cabbages are banned – newly wed couple Declan (Himesh Patel) and Dolores (Sarah Goldberg) may be hiding something…
Customs officer Shazbor (Matt Berry) has his suspicions and is on the case.
Set in a fictional European place, writer-director Evan Twohy’s “eccentric” debut feature is not just about the future of cabbages (possibly) but a partnership that may be straining at the seams amid the tensions and the desire to eat Bubble & Squeak.
Screens for the first time tomorrow (January 24) and is available for online viewing (credentials and ticketed) from next Thursday (January 30).
BRIDES
ABOUT teenage female friendship and written by Suhayla El-Bushra, this is a story about two girls who are looking and searching for a sense of belonging.
That they end up in Syria and lured by extremist elements, doesn’t obscure the journey their tender minds and spirits have taken.
Cameron Asharian from Sundance writes: ‘Brides’ is a gutsy, loving, and pensive coming of age tale – a depiction of the loyalty of friendship, teenage autonomy, and the illusion of invulnerable youth.”
Screens tomorrow (January 24) and is available online.
Director Nadia Fall, who transitions from theatre to film, herself describes…
SABAR BONDA
SET IN RURAL India among a farming community, this film centres around an unexpected friendship between Anand (Bhushaan Manoj), a city dweller who has to return to formally mourn the loss of his farmer father and a local farmer.
Debutant writer-director Rohan Parashuram Kanawade goes where few, if any, have gone before in depicting queer life among India’s rural working communities and is a semi-autobiographical tale.
With strong acting, beautiful cinematography and a gentle, tender pace – Sudeep Sharma from Sundance described the film as “an achievement of independent Indian filmmaking with characters and a story that will connect with audiences around the world.”
SLY LIVES! (aka The Burden of Black Genius)
REMEMBER the band Sly and The Family Stone? Academy award winning director Ahmir ‘Questlove’ Thompson examines the groundbreaking music outfit led by Sly Stone.
The documentary looks at the band’s rise, reign and fade out and the pressure and expectations that often come with being a successful black artist in the US.
Sundance’s Stephanie Owens writes: “Through an incredible soundtrack, exuberant archival footage and thought-provoking discussions with family, band members, scholars and musicians, Thompson present a powerful tribute to the visionary musical artistry of Sly & The Family Stone, while honouring and celebrating Black Creativity.”
Screens this evening (January 23).
More – https://festival.sundance.org/
Due to technical issues, this page was delayed and was only published at 12.42am GMT (5.42pm MST) on January 24 (GMT)
*We attended the festival in 2019 and were among the last to see iconic actor-director Robert Redford – who created the festival – welcome the media to Park City… He announced he wasn’t going to be be doing it again
