Scandals & Resilience: 10 Documentaries To Discover At Sundance 2016

Coming-of-age, tragedies & indigenous leaders: Discover 10 american & international documentaries directed by women competing at the Sundance Film Festival in Park City, Utah on January 22-30, 2016.

Summary: U.S Documentary Competition | World Documentary Competition

 

U.S DOCUMENTARY COMPETITION

Audrie & Daisy co-directed by Bonni Cohen

After two high school girls in different towns are sexually assaulted by boys they consider friends, online bullying leads each girl to attempt suicide. Tragically, one dies. Assault in the social media age is explored from the perspectives of the girls and boys involved, as well as their torn-apart communities.

Directed by Jon Shenk & Bonni Cohen
U.S.A. – World Premiere – January 25, 26, 27, 29, 30

Kiki by Sara Jordeno

Through a strikingly intimate and visually daring lens, Kiki offers a riveting, complex insight into a safe space created and governed by LGBTQ youths of color, who are demanding happiness and political power. The film is an exciting coming-of-age story about agency, resilience, and the transformative art form of voguing.

Director: Sara Jordenö
Screenwriters: Twiggy Pucci Garçon, Sara Jordenö
U.S.A./Sweden — January 26, 27, 28, 29, 30

Newtown directed by Kim A. Snyder

After joining the ranks of a growing club no one wants to belong to, the people of Newtown, Connecticut, weave an intimate story of resilience. This film traces the aftermath of the worst mass shooting of schoolchildren in American history as the traumatized community finds a new sense of purpose.

Directed by Kim A. Snyder
U.S.A. – World Premiere – January 24, 25, 28, 29, 30

NUTS! by Penny Lane

The mostly true story of Dr. John Romulus Brinkley, an eccentric genius who built an empire with his goat-testicle impotence cure and a million-watt radio station. Animated reenactments, interviews, archival footage, and one seriously unreliable narrator trace his rise from poverty to celebrity and influence in 1920s America.

Director: Penny Lane
Screenwriter: Thom Stylinski
Cast: Thom Stylinski, Gene Tognacci, Megan Seaholm, James Reardon, Gene Fowler, Pope Brock
U.S.A. — January 22, 23, 24, 25, 28, 30

Trapped directed by Dawn Porter

American abortion clinics are in a fight for survival. Targeted Regulation of Abortion Providers (TRAP) laws are increasingly being passed by states that maintain they ensure women’s safety and health, but as clinics continue to shut their doors, opponents believe the real purpose of these laws is to outlaw abortion.

Directed by Dawn Porter
Cast: Marva Sadler, Willie Parker MD, Nancy Northup, Dalton Johnson, Gloria Gray, June Ayers
U.S.A. – World Premiere – January 24, 25, 26, 28, 30

Weiner
by Elyse Steinberg, Josh Kriegman


With unrestricted access to Anthony Weiner’s New York City mayoral campaign, this film reveals the human story behind the scenes of a high-profile political scandal as it unfolds, and offers an unfiltered look at how much today’s politics is driven by an appetite for spectacle

Director: Elyse Steinberg, Josh Kriegman
Screenwriters: Eli Despres, Elyse Steinberg, Josh Kriegman
U.S.A. — January 24, 25, 26, 28, 30

WORLD DOCUMENTARY COMPETITION

Hooligan Sparrow by Nanfu Wang

Hooligan-Sparrow-DIRECTOR-Nanfu-Wang-SCREENWRITER-Nanfu-Wang-CAST-Yu-Wang,-Haiyan-Ye

Traversing southern China, a group of activists led by Ye Haiyan, a.k.a. Hooligan Sparrow, protest a scandalous incident in which a school principal and a government official allegedly raped six students. Sparrow becomes an enemy of the state, but detentions, interrogations and evictions can’t stop her protest from going viral.

Director: Nanfu Wang
Cast: Haiyan Ye, Yu Wang
China/U.S.A. – World Premiere on January 22, 23, 24, 27, 28, 29

Plaza de la Soledad by Maya Goded

Plaza-de-la-Soledad-DIRECTOR-Maya-Goded-CAST-Carlos-Perez-Ramirez,-Raquel-Lopez,-angeles-alvarez-Llorente,-Epifania-Ruiz-Lucas,-Leticia-Guzman,-Carmen-Munoz

For over 20 years, photographer Maya Goded has intimately documented the lives of a close community of prostitutes in Mexico City. With dignity and humor, these women now strive for a better life — and the possibility of true love.

Directed by Maya Goded
Cast: Carlos Pérez Ramírez, Raquel López, Ángeles Álvarez Llorente, Epifanía Ruiz Lucas, Leticia Guzmán, Carmen Muñoz
Mexico – World Premiere – January 24, 26, 27, 28, 29

Sonita by Rokhsareh Ghaem Maghami

If 18-year-old Sonita had a say, Michael Jackson and Rihanna would be her parents and she’d be a rapper who tells the story of Afghan women and their fate as child brides. She finds out that her family plans to sell her to an unknown husband for $9,000.

Directed by Rokhsareh Ghaem Maghami
Cast: Sonita Alidazeh
Germany/Iran/Switzerland – North American Premiere on January 22, 25, 27, 28, 29, 30

When Two Worlds Collide by Heidi Brandenburg & Mathew Orzel

When-Two-Worlds-Collide-DIRECTOR-Mathew-Orzel,-Heidi-Brandenburg

An indigenous leader resists the environmental ruin of Amazonian lands by big business. As he is forced into exile and faces 20 years in prison, his quest reveals conflicting visions that shape the fate of the Amazon and the climate future of our world

Directed by Heidi Brandenburg & Mathew Orzel
Peru/Qatar – World Premiere – January 22, 23, 24, 28, 29, 30

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