25 features, 10 interviews, 12 reviews, and two profile pieces. That might not seem like a lot, but with a team of 4, that’s a lot! What I value the most out of our experience covering the 2024 Sundance Film Festival is the community that supported us along the way, starting with the Siskel Film Center, one of the last art house cinemas in Chicago. It was an honor to have their support. I’m also so grateful to those who individually donated. Without our sponsor and donations there is no way we could have done all of this coverage. We are still taking donations because we’re starting a 2025 Sundance fund. Next year we will be covering in-person, and we’re very much looking forward to being at the festival again for the first-time since pre-pandemic.
On a personal level, I’m very grateful for my experience covering this year’s festival. My heart bursts with joy because of the films I was able to see and the filmmakers and people in film I was able to speak to, starting with Oscar-nominated actress June Squibb. I also was very grateful to have time for reflection on my love for the films that come from the Sundance Film Festival by being able to highlight my top ten films that have screened at the festival within its 40-year history, 1984 – 2023. This was a collaboration between myself and film journalists from all over the world. I was so happy to represent Cinema Femme magazine in this endeavor.
Below is a breakdown of my coverage, and links to the coverage from our contributors. I’m grateful for the talent we had this year: thank you Peyton, Emily, and Dawn!
June Squibb and Zoë Worth – “Thelma”
“We don’t see female characters, especially older female characters, have this much authority and kick ass-ness and determination, and it’s never the butt of a joke. It’s just funny and real at the same time. I hope that people feel that way.” – Zoë Worth
“Reality. That’s what I always aim for. I just think it’s so important that we don’t screw that up. We make sure that our work is real, and that people can relate to it, as humans. And gosh, I think the film is funny.” – June Squibb
June Squibb started as a leading lady on the stage. She was mostly a theater actress, but when she transitioned into film, she memorably played supporting characters over a span of a seventy-year career, earning an Oscar nomination for her hilarious performance in Alexander Payne’s 2013 gem, “Nebraska.” Filmmaker Josh Margolin was inspired to make a film about his grandmother, who is 103. She is his hero, which is how I feel about my grandmother. So naturally, he leaned into the action genre to create a film inspired by her, and gave June Squibb her first onscreen leading role at age 94.
One of the film’s producers, Zoë Worth, helped Josh push this film forward, along with her producing partner, Chris Kaye. It began with Josh bringing his first feature script, “Thelma,” to their Thursday night writing group. Zoë knew this story was special from the beginning, and was determined to help him make it happen. It was actress Beanie Feldstein, a friend of Josh’s, who connected Josh to June. From the very beginning, Josh only wanted June Squibb to play Thelma. June loved the script immediately and identified with Thelma.
The premise is based on a real story of Josh and his grandmother, who got scammed by a person who called her and asked her to mail thousands of dollars for her grandson’s bail money. Of course, the scam artist made that all up. And so this inspired the cathartic journey we find ourselves in, watching June Squibb kick ass as Thelma, determined to get her money back from the scammer, no matter what the cost. Every action star needs a sidekick, and in this film, she was perfectly matched with the late Richard Roundtree (“Shaft”). The two are quite a team, and there is a scene in “Thelma” that I’d love to see juxtaposed with the vault scene in the first “Mission: Impossible” film with Ving Rhames and Tom Cruise.
I had the honor of speaking with June and Zoë about their film, and I was so happy that this was my first interview conducted in 2024. So far, this film is my number one of the year. Last year, the first film I saw and did an interview for was “Smoke Sauna Sisterhood,” which remained my favorite film of 2023. Both interviews were so special and serendipitous. I’m so grateful for this experience.
Sundance 40: Kicking off January with “Thelma” star June Squibb and producer Zoë Worth
Klaudia Reynicke “Reinas”
“Film is an art form that brings reflection, broadens the mind, and allows for a direct connection to artistic vision. Working hard and establishing a framework helps me in my role as a filmmaker. But, embracing doubt while respecting my artistic vision is fundamentally crucial in this profession.”
Klaudia Reynicke grew up in Peru during a time in which there was a lot of turmoil. She left in the late 80s, and would return two times for trips that lasted just a few days in her teens and early twenties. Older now, with children of her own, she had not been in Peru since the 90s. She decided for her third feature film that she wanted to reconnect with her roots and write a film that took place around the time right before she left the country.
“Reinas” is a story about a family in the 1990s in Lima, Peru, during a time of great turmoil in the nation’s government. Elena has accepted a job in Minnesota where she will take her two daughters, Lucia and Aurora, away to live there and be away from the corruption. Her daughters can only come with her if her ex-husband, their father, Carlos, signs a document. He decides that he wants to spend time with his daughters before he signs the paper. Aurora, the older daughter, is hesitant to go. As we follow this family drama, it draws us deeper into the lives of its characters.
Klaudia spoke to me about making this film, and what it meant to her to reconnect with her Peruvian roots and make a new family with her cast and crew.
Sundance 40: Klaudia Reynicke reconnects with her roots in her family drama, “Reinas”
Raha Amirfazli and Alireza Ghasemi – “In the Land of Brothers”
““In a world that is struggling with the daily displacement of many refugees that end up in an unfamiliar environment in hopes of building a new life, most media suggest that the immigrants think differently, possess values distinct from others, and consequently, may pose a threat to societies. We intend for this film to show people otherwise, to make them think of refugees as equals, and not as others.” –Raha Amirfazli and Alireza Ghasemi
After watching Ava DuVernay’s “Origin,” based on the book Caste by Isabel Wilkerson, you become very aware of the problems of dehumanization that exist in our world. When I spoke with Raha Amirfazli and Alireza Ghasemi about their feature “In the Land of Brothers,” they used the word “othered,” or “otherness.” I do love how a film from Iran can connect to the universal problems in our social climate we all share. These types of films will lead to discussion, and hopefully solutions so that we may evolve as a species.
In their film, “In the Land of Brothers,” we follow three members of an Afghan refugee family in Iran over a thirty-year period, starting with Mohammad, a young teenager who is a promising student; Leila, a woman who is separated from her family when she is married and works for a wealthy Iranian family; and Qasem, who must shield his family from some traumatic truths.
I was so honored to speak with the Iranian co-directors of the film who started their collaboration in undergrad, and then went on to co-direct a short film together, “Solar Eclipse.” This film will be their feature debut together.
Review: Shiori Ito’s “Black Box Diaries”
“Black Box Diaries” moved me like so many other films that deal with these topics. I always love when the documentarian puts their own voice into a film, and in this case, the voice is the story. Everything works together: Shiori’s video diaries, her shots of Tokyo’s fleeting city, and the truth that underlies what we see. The film is a triumph, and will speak to so many on a deep level, because Shiori’s words hold so much power.
Sundance 40 Review: Shiori Ito’s “Black Box Diaries” is a Triumph
Nora Finscheidt – “The Outrun”
“I hope people take away hope and encouragement, but I also hope that they have more empathy with people in recovery, because recovery is a tough process. It goes day by day for years. It’s sometimes very easy to point your finger and go, ‘yeah, now you’re sober, get a life, move on, you’ve got this.’ But that’s not that easy and I hope this film creates an awareness.”
As women, we are not perfect, just like we are imperfect as people. But the saving grace of our imperfections is the empathy we have for other people and ourselves. This film, “The Outrun,” directed by Nora Fingscheidt, and adapted by Amy Liptrot’s memoir of the same name, conveys that. We follow Rona, played by Saoirse Ronan, at age 30 during a time where she is healing from her troubled past on Scotland’s Orkney Islands. The film is a force and the sound and the visuals team together to show that. I had the opportunity to speak to the director about her latest feature, as well as her collaboration with Saoirse Ronan, who served as both an actor and producer for the first time. Nora also worked closely with the author of the memoir, as this narrative feature is based on her life.
Sundance 40: Nora Fingscheidt directs Saoirse Ronan in her latest feature, “The Outrun”
Kate Jean Hollowell – “Say Hi After You Die”
“I hope people not only see, but also feel hopeful that this isn’t really the end, in the end, and that we are all just friends walking each other home.”
I loved this interview. It was actually very cleansing because I’ve also recently dealt with grief. Kate Jean Hollowell’s short film “Say Hi After You Die” looks at death through a hopeful lens. The premise seems ridiculous on paper: a friend who tragically passes away comes back in the form of a porta-potty. What? I initially thought, ‘Gross, but tell me more.’ What I ended up seeing was a soulful comedy celebrating the people we love. This interview was conducted prior to the Sundance Film Festival, but Kate would go on to win the Short Film Jury Award for U.S. Fiction. I’m so happy they chose an unconventional film like this one as their 2024 winner, and I’m very excited to follow Kate and her career.
Thea Hvinstendahl – “Handling the Undead”
“What is our role in death and how do we handle it? Role changing is extremely hard, but when your closest dies, it happens automatically. The person that is gone leaves a vacuum, and the ones left behind need to enter a new role and seek a new balance within themselves and their relations. And in this unrest, we tend to hurt each other.”
When you watch “Handling the Undead” you have to deconstruct your way of viewing the film. The film involves dead people and it touches on tropes of zombie films, but it’s not necessarily about the “zombies,” it’s about the loved ones and their relationship with these beings. It’s about the left behind, and how we love and let go. There is a lot of uneasiness in the film, but that’s what makes it fascinating.
I so enjoyed my conversation with the director of the film, Thea Hvistendahl, who adapted the film from a book of the same name by John Ajvide Lindqvist. I was so pleased to see the two stars of “The Worst Person in the World,” Renate Reinsve and Anders Danielsen Lie, in this film. The film tells three different stories of people who are at different stages of grief, and what happens to them when their loved ones exist as “undead.”
Sundance 40: Thea Hvistendahl on her bold zombie film “Handling the Undead”
Review: Carla Gutiérrez’ “Frida”
Black and white videos and images are flushed with color, as if Frida has taken her paint brush into the frame. Carla’s editing enables us to see through Frida’s eyes . . . What makes Frida and her work original is its creative and beautiful interpretations of her reality.
Haley Elizabeth Anderson – “Tendaberry”
“I hope people feel the emotion and feel a part of this bigger family. Because that is really what the film is about, it’s about going through life changes, and then sort of saying, noticing and realizing that everyone is going through it at the same exact time. It’s always going to be that way. When you look at it that way, you just realize you’re part of this huge wave of humanity. I hope people feel that, and feel all of the love we put into it.”
Haley Elizabeth Anderson’s feature debut, “Tendaberry,” moves you, not just on a visceral level, but a deeply human level. I felt the same way after I watched “All Dirt Roads Taste of Salt,” directed by Raven Jackson. Noise is a powerful element in both of these films. As Raven’s film is mostly quiet, its sound embodies a place and time. In Haley’s “Tendaberry,” Brooklyn buzzes as its main character Dakota (played by Kota Johan) sings and lives passionately along with it. By the end of the film, my heart burst for this girl, and how her life became this butterfly of beauty.
Kelly O’Sullivan (co-directed with Alex Thompson) – “Ghostlight”
“I hope that they see the value of empathy. So much about the film is saying, ‘walk in this other person’s shoes for a minute.’ The value of expression, the value of talking about really difficult things, and I hope they laugh a lot. Because I think this film is equal parts comedy and drama. There’s a lot that plays on that within it. I hope there is the release of both, like maybe some tears, but also a lot of laughter, and that there is a embrace of silliness, and catharsis in equal measure.”
Covering Sundance virtually was really difficult this year, especially since less films was available to screen virtually. What’s really hard is when your friends made your most anticipated film for Sundance 2024 and you aren’t able to see it (emoji shrug). But since I covered Sundance remotely, I was able to still talk to Kelly O’Sullivan (“Saint Frances”), about her feature directorial debut, which she helmed with her co-director Alex Thompson, “Ghostlight.” I’m so eager to see it as soon as it becomes available.
The film made many top film lists from this year’s festival, including with being named as IndieWire’s 17 Best Films of Sundance 2024. For our interview, we focused on the film’s embrace of community, and how it was shot right next door to our hometown of Chicago in Waukegan, Illinois. Also, we had to talk about Dolly De Leon. She had one of the best performances of last year in “Triangle of Sadness,” and she is a bad ass. I love that she came to Chicago to make this film.
Sundance 40: Kelly O’Sullivan hopes you see empathy in her directorial feature debut, “Ghostlight”
Peyton Robinson – Reviews
Emily Jacobson – Reviews
