Two World-Premiere Documentaries Added to Festival Lineup;

The nonprofit Sundance Institute announced today the addition of two world premiere feature films for the 2022 Sundance Film Festival. The Festival will  take place online at Festival.Sundance.org; on The Spaceship, a bespoke immersive platform; and in person at seven Satellite Screens venues around the country during the Festival’s second weekend. The Festival takes place January 20–30, 2022; ticket packages are currently on sale; Single Film Ticket sale begins on January 13 at 10 a.m. MT (January 12 at 10 a.m. MT for membership pre-sale).

The Sundance Film Festival is the flagship public program of Sundance Institute. Throughout the year, the majority of the Institute's resources support independent artists around the world as they make and develop new work through access to Labs, direct grants, fellowships, residencies, and other strategic and tactical support.

Added to the program in the Special Screenings section are The American Dream and Other Fairy Tales directed by Abigail E. Disney and  Kathleen Hughes and Phoenix Rising directed by Amy Berg.

"We’re so pleased to welcome these two dynamic films into our program,” said Kim Yutani, the Festival’s Director of Programming. “These bold, compelling, provocative documentaries tell indelible stories each from a searing first person perspective that we know will spark critical dialogue.”

Today’s additions add to the 2022 Festival slate, where 83 feature-length films will screen representing 28 countries, and 39 of 94 (41%) feature film directors are first-time feature filmmakers. Fifteen of the feature films and projects were supported by Sundance Institute in development through direct granting or residency labs.

Seventy-eight, or 91%, of the Festival’s feature films will be world premieres. Director demographics are available below.
 

The latest additions to the 2022 Sundance Film Festival are:

SPECIAL SCREENINGS

The American Dream and Other Fairy Tales / U.S.A. (Directors: Abigail E. Disney, Kathleen Hughes, Producers: Abigail E. Disney, Kathleen Hughes, Aideen Kane) — Abigail Disney looks at America's dysfunctional and unequal economy and asks why the American Dream has worked for the wealthy, yet is a nightmare for people born with less. As a way to imagine a more equitable future, Disney uses her family's story to explore how this systemic injustice took hold. World Premiere.

Phoenix Rising / U.S.A. (Director: Amy Berg, Producers: Kirsten Sheridan, Nancy Abraham, Lisa Heller) — Actress and activist Evan Rachel Wood takes her experience as a survivor of domestic violence to pursue justice, heal generational trauma, and reclaim her story in a culture that instinctively blames women. The film intimately charts her journey as she moves toward naming her infamous abuser for the first time. World Premiere. Phoenix Rising is a two part documentary, part one will be premiering.

The Sundance Film Festival
The Sundance Film Festival has introduced global audiences to some of the most groundbreaking films of the past three decades, including Flee, CODA, Passing, Summer Of Soul (...or, When the Revolution Could Not Be Televised), Clemency, Never Rarely Sometimes Always, Zola, On The Record, Boys State, The Farewell, Honeyland, One Child Nation, The Souvenir, The Infiltrators, Sorry to Bother You, Won't You Be My Neighbor?, Hereditary, Call Me By Your Name, Get Out, The Big Sick, Mudbound, Fruitvale Station, Whiplash, Brooklyn, Precious, The Cove, Little Miss Sunshine, An Inconvenient Truth, Napoleon Dynamite, Hedwig and the Angry Inch, Reservoir Dogs and sex, lies, and videotape.
 
The Festival is a program of the non-profit Sundance Institute. 2022 Festival sponsors include: Presenting Sponsors – Acura, AMC+, Chase Sapphire, Adobe; Leadership Sponsors – Amazon Studios, DIRECTV, DoorDash, Dropbox, Netflix, Omnicom Group, WarnerMedia, XRM Media; Sustaining Sponsors – Aflac, Audible, Canada Goose, Canon U.S.A., Inc., Dell Technologies, IMDbPro, Michelob ULTRA Pure Gold, Rabbit Hole Bourbon & Rye, Unity Technologies, University of Utah Health, White Claw Hard Seltzer; Media Sponsors – The Atlantic, IndieWire, Los Angeles Times, NPR, Shadow And Act, Variety, Vulture. Sundance Institute recognizes critical support from the State of Utah as Festival Host State. The support of these organizations helps offset the Festival’s costs and sustain the Institute's year-round programs for independent artists. sundance.org/festival

Sundance Institute
As a champion and curator of independent stories for the stage and screen, Sundance Institute provides and preserves the space for artists in film, theatre, film composing, and digital media to create and thrive.
Founded in 1981 by Robert Redford, the Institute's signature Labs, granting, and mentorship programs, dedicated to developing new work, take place throughout the year in the U.S. and internationally. Sundance Collab, a digital community platform, brings artists together to learn from each other and Sundance advisors and connect in a creative space, developing and sharing works in progress. The Sundance Film Festival and other public programs connect audiences and artists to ignite new ideas, discover original voices, and build a community dedicated to independent storytelling. Sundance Institute has supported such projects as Clemency, Never Rarely Sometimes Always, Zola, On The Record, Boys State, The Farewell, Honeyland, One Child Nation, The Souvenir, The Infiltrators, Sorry to Bother You, Won't You Be My Neighbor?, Hereditary, Call Me By Your Name, Get Out, The Big Sick, Mudbound, Fruitvale Station, City So Real, Top of the Lake, Between the World & Me, Wild Goose Dreams and Fun Home. Join the Sundance Institute on Facebook, Instagram, Twitter and YouTube.

U.S. COMPETITION:
Dramatic: 60% or 6 of the 10 directors in this year’s U.S. Dramatic Competition identify as women; 50% or 5 of the 10 identify as people of color.
Documentary: 77% or 10 of the 13 directors in this year’s U.S. Documentary Competition identify as women; 30% or 4 of the 13 identify as people of color; 7% or 1 of the 13 identify as LGBTQ+; 23% or 3 of the 13 identify as people with disabilities.

WORLD COMPETITION:
Dramatic: 45% or 5 of the 11 directors in the World Dramatic Competition identify as women; 45% or 5 of the 11 identify as people of color; 9% or 1 out of 11 directors identify as LGBTQ+
Documentary: 45% or 5 of the 11 directors in the World Documentary Competition identify as women; 36% or 4 of the 11 as people of color.

FEATURE FILM SUBMISSIONS: Of the 3,762 feature film submissions, 1,665 were from the U.S. and 2,121 were international; 1,070 (28%) were directed by one or more filmmakers who identify as women; 52 (1%) were directed by one or more filmmakers who identify as non-binary individuals; 1,611 (43%) were directed by one or more filmmakers who identify as people of color; 413 (11%) were directed by one or more filmmakers who identify as LGBTQ+; 158 (4%) were directed by one or more filmmakers who identify as people with disabilities

ALL FEATURES: Of the 83 feature films, 46 (55%) were directed by one or more filmmakers identify as women; 1 (1%) was directed by one or more filmmakers who identify as non-binary individuals; 29 (35%) were directed by one or more filmmakers who identify as people of color; 8 (10%) by one or more filmmakers who identify as LGBTQ+; 3 (4%) by one or more filmmakers who identify as people with disabilities.

NEW FRONTIER: Of the 29 lead artists across the 15-project section, 7, or 24%, identify as women; 3, or 10%, identify as non-binary; 14, or 48%, identify as people of color; 6, or 21%, identify as LGBTQ+; 1, or 3% identify as people with disabilities.

INDIE EPISODIC: Of the 8 directors across the 6-project section, 1, or 12%, identifies as women; 3, or 37%, of 8 directors identify as people of color; 1, or 12%, identifies as LGBTQ+.

ALL SHORTS: Of the 59 short films announced who opted to provide identity information, 26 (44%) were directed by one or more filmmakers who identify as women; 4 (7%) were directed by one or more filmmakers who identify as non-binary individuals; 41 (69%) were directed by one or more filmmakers who identify as people of color; 12 (20%) by one or more filmmakers who identify as LGBTQ+; 2 (3%) were directed by one or more filmmakers who identify as people with disabilities.