Gems of the Sundance 2023 & more

This week's newsletter features my top picks from this year's Sundance Film Festival and and also a few buzzing feeds on Twitter about media and entertainment industry.

Hi folks! It's Friday again and I'm back with issue #11 of my weekly magazine Leeds1888. Last week, the Grammys were in the spotlight, but I also wanted to touch on the recently concluded Sundance Film Festival before that. As one of my favourite independent film festivals globally, it's something I eagerly anticipate.

The Sundance Film Festival offers a stage for gifted filmmakers from all corners of the world to exhibit their creations without the backing of studios, labels, or established backgrounds. Since 1981, many films premiered at the festival have received critical recognition and reached a worldwide audience eager for fresh perspectives and new voices.

This year, the Sundance Film Festival featured over 100 films across various categories. Although I was unable to attend in person, I conducted extensive research online to learn about the winning films, their themes, styles, and why they took home the top prizes. Here are my top picks:-

The British film 'Scrapper' is directed by Charlotte Regan and tells the story of Georgie, a 12-year-old girl played by the effervescent Lola Campbell, who recently lost her mother. Harris Dickinson stars as Jason, a neglectful father who abandoned his family early on and has been living a carefree life. Based on the theme of a precocious child softening the heart of a flawed father figure, the film weaves a touching story.

The movie revolves around the protagonist's daily struggles to make ends meet after the loss of her parents. She then meets Jason, who returns after a long absence and discovers how hard it is to be a father to a daughter who is still grieving the loss of her mother. Although the story may sound sad, the treatment and screenplay make it a lighthearted comedy-drama. The ups and downs in the father-daughter relationship, Georgie's mature handling of Jason, and their heartwarming moments together bring a positive energy to the film. The film beautifully captures the transformation of a girl who grew up quickly to survive, but becomes a child again as she bonds with her estranged father. "The movie won the World Jury Grand Prize in the Drama Category."

Another movie that caught my eye was "Animalia" by writer-director Sofia Alaoui. The film won the World Cinema Dramatic Special Jury Award for Creative Vision and I was able to watch its trailer on YouTube. "Animalia" tells the story of Itto, a girl from a humble background who marries a wealthy man named Amine. As she becomes acclimated to her new life, supernatural and mysterious events start to occur. Amine is not with Itto as these events unfold, and Itto, who is now pregnant, must set out on a journey to find Amine and discover more about herself. Despite being a work of fiction, the events in the film are not always explained, but it's an immersive masterpiece as I could see from the trailer.

For those who are unfamiliar with Sundance, let me provide a brief overview. Sundance is a yearly film festival organised by the Sundance Institute, which was established in 1981. The festival takes place in Salt Lake City, Utah, USA and has become a hub for independent filmmakers to showcase their work and potentially sell their films to distribution houses and OTT platforms. Due to the COVID-19 pandemic, the past two years of Sundance have been held virtually, but this year in 2023, the festival returned to it's full glory and took place from January 19th to 29th. This year's highlights included Netflix purchasing the film "Fair Play" for $20 million, and Apple TV+ acquiring "Flora and Son" for an undisclosed amount.

Now that we have talked about my favourite picks from this year's Sundance festival, let's shift our focus to what's generating excitement on Twitter.

Music lovers are in for a treat as A.R. Rehman is all set to compose for Imtiaz Ali’s new film ‘Chamkila’. The film revolves around the life of Punjabi Folk Singer Amar Singh Chamkila and Diljit Dosanjh will play the lead role.

Toy Story-5, Frozen-3 and Zootpia -2 are in the works as announce by Disney studios today during the earning call. Our favourite characters are soon going to be in cinemas again and that's something to cheer about.

If you enjoyed the content I've compiled for you, please share it with your network and help spread the word.

See you next week!

Chao,

Vipul