Holograms, kidnappings and coming-of-age: Discover the 5 american feature films and 5 international movies directed by women competing at the Sundance Film Festival in Park City, Utah on January 22 – February 1, 2015.

Summary: U.S Dramatic Competition | World Dramatic Competition

 

In a near-future city where soaring opulence overshadows economic hardship, Gwen and her daughter Jules do all they can to hold on to their joy together, despite the instability surfacing in their world.

Director: Jennifer Phang
Screenwriter: Jacqueline Kim, Jennifer Phang
Cast: Jacqueline Kim, James Urbaniak, Freya Adams, Ken Jeong, Jennifer Ehle, Samantha Kim
U.S.A. – 97 Min – January 26, 27, 28, 29, 30, 31

A complex portrait of modern day life on the Pine Ridge Indian Reservation that explores the bond between a brother and his younger sister, who find themselves on separate paths to rediscovering the meaning of home.

Director: Chloé Zhao
Screenwriter: Chloé Zhao
Cast: John Reddy, Jashaun St. John, Irene Bedard, Taysha Fuller, Travis Lone Hill, Eléonore Hendricks
U.S.A. – 98 Min – January 27, 28, 29, 30, 31

A young woman is returned home to her biological parents after living with her abductor for 17 years.

Director: Nikole Beckwith
Screenwriter: Nikole Beckwith
Cast: Saoirse Ronan, Cynthia Nixon, Jason Isaacs, David Warshofsky
U.S.A. – 100 Min – January 23, 24, 25, 26, 28, 30

 

Minnie Goetze is a 15-year-old aspiring comic-book artist, coming of age in the haze of the 1970s in San Francisco. Insatiably curious about the world around her, Minnie is a pretty typical teenage girl. Oh, except that she’s sleeping with her mother’s boyfriend.

Director: Marielle Heller
Screenwriter: Marielle Heller
Cast: Bel Powley, Alexander Skarsgård, Christopher Meloni, Kristen Wiig
U.S.A. – 102 Min – January 24, 25, 26, 29, 30, 31

When Samantha Abbott begins her final semester teaching science at a Chicago high school, she faces some unexpected news: she’s pregnant. Soon after, Samantha learns that one of her favorite students, Jasmine, has landed in a similar situation. Unexpected follows the two women as they embark on an unlikely friendship.

Director: Kris Swanberg
Screenwriter: Kris Swanberg, Megan Mercier
Cast: Cobie Smulders, Anders Holm, Gail Bean, Elizabeth McGovern
U.S.A. – 85 Min – January 25, 26, 27, 30, 31

When Charlotte, 27, meets her brother Henrik, 35, for the first time, two people who don’t know what a normal family is begin an encounter without boundaries. How does sibling love manifest itself if you have never experienced it before?

Director: Anne Sewitsky
Screenwriter: Ragnhild Tronvoll, Anne Sewitsky
Cast: Ine Marie Wilmann, Simon J. Berger, Anneke von der Lippe, Silje Storstein, Oddgeir Thune, Kari Onstad
Norway – 102 Min – January 23, 24, 25, 29, 30

While her mother is away from home, 12-year-old Adar’s role-playing games with her stepfather move into dangerous territory. Seeking an escape, Adar finds Alan, an ethereal boy that accompanies her on a dark journey between reality and fantasy.

Director: Tali Shalom Ezer
Screenwriter: Tali Shalom Ezer
Cast: Keren Mor, Shira Haas, Ori Pfeffer, Adar Zohar Hanetz
Israel – 92 Min – January 23, 24, 25, 27, 30, 31

When Catherine and Matthew Parker’s two teenage kids disappear into the remote Australian desert, the couple’s relationship is pushed to the brink as they confront the mystery of their children’s fate.

Director: Kim Farrant
Screenwriter: Fiona Seres, Michael Kinirons
Cast: Nicole Kidman, Joseph Fiennes, Hugo Weaving, Lisa Flanagan, Meyne Wyatt, Maddison Brown
Australia/Ireland – 111 Min – January 23, 24, 25, 26, 28, 31

Having left her daughter, Jessica, to be raised by relatives in the north of Brazil, Val works as a loving nanny in São Paulo. When Jessica arrives for a visit 13 years later, she confronts her mother’s slave-like attitude and everyone in the house is affected by her unexpected behavior.

Director: Anna Muylaert
Screenwriter: Anna Muylaert
Cast: Regina Casé, Michel Joelsas, Camila Márdila, Karine Teles, Lourenço Mutarelli
Brazil – 110 Min –

17 years old Sangaile is fascinated by stunt planes. She meets a girl her age at a summer aeronautical show. Sangaile allows Auste to discover her most intimate secret and in the process finds the only person that truly encourages her to fly.

Director: Alanté Kavaïté
Screenwriter: Alanté Kavaïté
Cast: Julija Steponaitytė, Aistė Diržiūtė
Lithuania/France/The Netherlands – 90 Min – January 22, 23, 24, 28, 30

Comment on Facebook