The Sundance Institute and Picturehouse Cinemas are combining forces this August. How so? Well, they're streaming a bold and vibrant online edition of Sundance Film Festival 2020. Amidst the chaos caused by the COVID-19 pandemic, many of the world's film festivals have turned to online exhibition to bring exciting new films to fans. And now Sundance is following suit.
Cineworld Unlimited members can claim a discounted festival pass for just £14, allowing them access to Celebration of Sundance Film Festival: London. (Standard cost: £20.) Unlimited members will need to use discount code UNLIMITED20.
Presented by Adobe, the event will present three feature films from the 2020 Sundance Film Festival in Utah, selected for London by the Sundance Institute programming team in collaboration with Picturehouse. Passes to individual UK premieres and Q&As are priced at £5.99 each.
The festival also includes the UK premiere of eight short films, as well as conversations with a host of eclectic, dynamic filmmaking voices. This includes Emerald Fennell, director of eagerly anticipated new Carey Mulligan movie Promising Young Woman.
The three feature films showing as part of the 2020 Sundance London event are:
- Uncle Frank – written and directed by Oscar-winning American Beauty screenwriter Alan Ball, this seventies-set road-trip drama focuses on a man named Frank (Paul Bettany) and his niece, who travel across America for a funeral. Along the way, they are unexpectedly joined by Frank's lover, Walid.
- Luxor – Andrea Riseborough stars as an aid worker whose return to Luxor in Eygpt brings her into contact with an old flame, and some painful memories of the past.
- Boys State – this documentary feature is billed as a raucous journey into the heart of American democracy through an annual rite of passage in which a thousand teenage boys from across Texas come together to build a representative government from the ground up.
Tabitha Jackson, Director of the Sundance Film Festival, said, "As a proud Brit in my first year as Festival Director, and despite all the challenges of this moment, I am especially pleased that we are able to celebrate Sundance Film Festival: London with a tight selection of films, conversations and special guests on our new digital platform. Although we will not be gathering in person, the power of the work remains undimmed and we're eager for it to reach audiences in the comfort and safety of their homes."
Clare Binns, Joint Managing Director Picturehouse Cinemas, adds, “We are thrilled to still be able to bring the best independent cinema direct from Utah’s Sundance Film Festival to our UK audiences in these unprecedented times. We look forward to hosting the festival again in the future at Picturehouse Central, but in the meantime join us for some Sundance fun, (which we could all do with) and the exciting offering of the best of thought-provoking and cinematic films, Q&As and talks as we all navigate through this current situation.”
Celebration of Sundance Film Festival: London takes place from the 7th to the 9th of August. More information on programming and passes can be found online at the Picturehouse Cinemas website and the Sundance Institute website.