The Sundance Film Festival returns to Park City and Salt Lake City, Utah for its 41st edition this week, with screenings running in-person from January 23rd to February 2nd. Over half the lineup will be available to audiences across the United States on-demand via the festival’s online platform from January 30th to February 2nd, 2025.
With Eugene Hernandez now in his second year as Festival Director and Head of Public Programming, Sundance continues its long tradition of showcasing work by LGBTQ+ filmmakers with its 2025 edition. Among the 53 veteran and first-time filmmakers who identify as LGBTQ+ with projects in this year’s lineup are Elegance Bratton, Sam Feder, Nyle DiMarco, Charlie Shackleton, Katarina Zhu, Amber Fares, Ryan White, Zackary Drucker, Gianluca Matarrese, Isabel Castro, Carmen Emmi, Bill Condon, Flora Lau, Sophie Hyde, Andrew Ahn, Ira Sachs, Addison Heimann, Chloé Robichaud, Eva Victor, David France, Cherien Dabis, Rohan Parashuram Kanawade, Mathias Broe, Ben Mullinkosson, and Matt Wolf.
LGBTQ+ actors who will appear on screen in work at Sundance 2025 include Tonatiuh (The Kiss of the Spider Woman), Ben Whishaw (Peter Hujar’s Day), Russell Tovey (Plainclothes), James Sweeney (Twinless), Bowen Yang, Lily Gladstone, and Kelly Marie Tran (The Wedding Banquet), Ayo Edebiri (Opus), and Lío Mehiel (Are You Scared To Be Yourself Because You Think That You Might Fail?) While Chase Strangio (Heightened Scrutiny), April Ashley (Enigma), Sally Ride (SALLY), Isaac Mizrahi (Unzipped), and Paul Reubens (Pee-wee as Himself) are among the documentary subjects.
Wicked star, Emmy and Tony Award–winner and two-time Academy Award-nominee Cynthia Erivo, will be honoured with the Visionary Award at the festival’s 2025 Gala fundraiser celebrating the Sundance Institute.
For the second year running, GLAAD, Frameline and NewFest will come together for “Cheers, Queers,” an afternoon of conversation and celebration to be held in Park City on Friday, January 24th at the Acura House of Energy at 550 Swede Alley. The event will be introduced by Frameline Executive Director Allegra Madsen, GLAAD Special Media Consultant Ryan Mitchell, and NewFest Executive Director David Hatkoff. Programming will include a “Trans Stories and Storytellers” panel featuring Zackary Drucker (Enigma) and Aud Mason-Hyde (Jimpa) moderated by Alex Schmider (Senior Director, Entertainment and Inclusion at GLAAD), and a “Raising Our Voices” segment featuring to-be-announced participants. A mixer will follow to toast the LGBTQ+ filmmakers and community members in attendance at this year’s festival.
Here we take a look at some of the features, episodic works, and short films with LGBTQ+ themes or LGBTQ+ creators that we are most excited about at Sundance 2025, with descriptions by Sundance programmers courtesy of the Sundance Institute.
PREMIERES
Heightened Scrutiny – directed by Sam Feder
After his 2020 premiere of Disclosure, Sam Feder returns to Sundance with another cornerstone contribution to contemporary trans cinema. Feder’s deep research and keen sociopolitical eye map a disturbing correlative relationship between media coverage of trans issues and material legislation impacting the lives of trans Americans with crystalline and alarming clarity. These macro forces are illuminated with intimacy and charisma in the story of Chase Strangio and his consequential career as an ACLU lawyer participating in historic trans litigation. His preparation for Supreme Court argumentation is as urgent as it is high stakes. In Heightened Scrutiny, both Feder and Strangio display signature intellectual rigor, critically contributive insight, and unshakable commitment to justice that solidifies them both as preeminent trans masculine voices of our time.—Ash Hoyle
Enigma – directed by Zackary Drucker
Two legends contested their identities as women in the court of public opinion: April Ashley, who was immortalized as a trailblazer by embracing her transgender history; and Amanda Lear, who has consciously denied and obfuscated her history for decades. Their divergent paths reveal disparate but intertwined legacies.
Zackary Drucker’s beautifully balanced approach illuminates the juxtaposition of the dovetailing stories of two inversely complex titans of trans feminine history. Returning Drucker to Sundance after she co-directed The Stroll, which premiered in the U.S. Documentary Competition in 2022, Enigma navigates fine lines with such grace it feels like watching narrative ballet performed on high wires. Drucker continues to flex her strong archival sensibility in this piece while also deploying contemporaneous interviews that capture her remarkable generosity, her sparkling intellect, and her extraordinary literacy in nuance. Examining who we leave behind to become who we want to be, this document of proximate lives antithetically led unfurls a multiplicity of experience that is relatable to anyone with a human heart and an active imagination.—Ash Hoyle
The Wedding Banquet – directed by Andrew Ahn
Frustrated with his commitment-phobic boyfriend, Chris, and out of time, Min makes a proposal: a green card marriage with his friend Angela in exchange for expensive in vitro fertilization treatments for her partner, Lee. Plans change when Min’s grandmother surprises them with an elaborate Korean wedding banquet.
Andrew Ahn returns to Sundance (Spa Night, 2016 Sundance Film Festival) with an exuberant romantic comedy that pays tribute to the unexpected ways friendship and community form modern family. Ahn collaborates with James Schamus, co-writer of Ang Lee’s beloved 1993 classic The Wedding Banquet, to create a contemporary reimagining that playfully complicates the original film’s conflict and comedy, updating a romantic triangle into a codependent queer quad of young lovers.
Led by a cast of some of the most acclaimed and funny actors working today, the core four’s charming performances are complemented by the beautifully articulated work of Joan Chen and Academy Award-winner Youn Yuh-jung (Minari) as the complex, formidable matriarchs of the bride and groom’s families.—Heidi Zwicker
Come See Me in the Good Light – directed by Ryan White
“In the good light and in the lightning strike. My love come become beside me,” invites Gibson in their poem “The Good Light.” The Colorado poet laureate and beloved spoken word performer extends this welcome and challenge to audiences in this intimate and heartbreaking yet buoyant documentary. The perspective of such a radically tender, magnanimously thoughtful, and thoroughly in love individual on themes of mortality, grief, legacy, and letting go is a vital instruction on how to both live and die gracefully. Rallied around by powerhouse executive producers Tig Notaro, Brandi Carlile, and Sara Bareilles, director Ryan White (Assassins, 2020 Sundance Film Festival; Ask Dr. Ruth, 2019 Sundance Film Festival) returns with this moving portrait that will dare any eye to stay dry.—Ash Hoyle
Peter Hujar’s Day – directed by Ira Sachs
In Peter Hujar’s Bloomsday-esque narration of one day in his life, quotidian details like the price of a sandwich mingle with cameos by the likes of Allen Ginsberg. As trivialities and incidents accumulate, softly spoken is the voice of an artist wishing to be truly seen amid his existential fear it won’t happen. In recreating the recounting of Peter’s day to author Linda Rosenkrantz in her 94th Street apartment in New York City in 1974, director Ira Sachs playfully creates a wholly new work of contemporary cinema. With a consciously self-aware style and actors Ben Whishaw and Rebecca Hall reenacting the encounter with fidelity and elegance, Peter Hujar’s Day is an evocative experience rooted in a particular time and place, but it is also eternal in its recognition of the unstoppable flow of time.—Sudeep Sharma
Kiss of the Spider Woman – directed by Bill Condon
Valentín, a political prisoner, shares a cell with Molina, a window dresser convicted of public indecency. The two form an unlikely bond as Molina recounts the plot of a Hollywood musical starring his favorite silver screen diva, Ingrid Luna.
No stranger to the Festival (Gods and Monsters, 1998 Sundance Film Festival) or the megaplex (Dreamgirls, The Twilight Saga, Beauty and the Beast), director Bill Condon returns with a stellar, reimagined interpretation of Kiss of the Spider Woman (previously a 1985 film and 1993 Chita Rivera–helmed, Tony-sweeping musical). Set amid Argentina’s Dirty War of the 1980s, Condon marries a textually rich historical and political drama with the flashy technicolor extravagance of an old Hollywood musical.
Jennifer Lopez is an astonishing scene-stealer in a career-highlight performance as Luna/Aurora, with showstopping musical numbers that underscore the exuberant prowess of her dancing and voice. Diego Luna delivers unrelenting revolutionary conviction as Valentín, and Tonatiuh gives his Molina a tenderhearted power and theatrical flair.
Kiss of the Spider Woman is a grounded yet sumptuous spectacle, a masterfully vivacious cinematic experience for our modern times.—Cameron Asharian
Jimpa – directed by Sophie Hyde
Hannah takes her nonbinary teenager, Frances, to Amsterdam to visit their gay grandfather, Jim — lovingly known as Jimpa. But Frances’ desire to stay abroad with Jimpa for a year means Hannah is forced to reconsider her beliefs about parenting and finally confront old stories about the past.
Sophie Hyde, winner of the World Cinema Directing Award Dramatic for 52 Tuesdays (2014 Sundance Film Festival), returns with an expansive family portrait centered on Jimpa (John Lithgow), an aging, hedonistic patriarch living loud and proud in Amsterdam’s vibrant gay community. Reconnecting with Jimpa during a long working holiday, Hannah (Olivia Colman) navigates ambivalence toward her estranged father while Frances (Aud Mason-Hyde) discovers the pleasures and perils of queer life in the big city. Co-written by Hyde and Matthew Cormack (52 Tuesdays), Jimpa is a loving and insightful examination of intergenerational tensions within the LGBTQ+ community and the complex and contradictory attachments that form between family, friends, lovers, and comrades. Lithgow breathes messy life into the mercurial but bighearted Jimpa, complementing Colman’s moving turn as his weary yet loving daughter.—Matt Cornell
Magic Farm – directed by Amalia Ulman
A film crew working for an edgy media company travels to Argentina to profile a local musician, but their ineptitude leads them into the wrong country. As the crew collaborates with locals to fabricate a trend, unexpected connections blossom while a pervasive health crisis looms unacknowledged in the background.
Acclaimed multidisciplinary artist and director Amalia Ulman returns to the festival with her highly anticipated follow-up to El Planeta (2021 Sundance Film Festival), blessing us with her signature idiosyncratic humor and surreal characters in a fresh setting that honors her Argentine roots.
Equipped with a fantastic cast, including Chloë Sevigny, Simon Rex, Alex Wolff, and Joe Apollonio, Ulman drops us into a satire that is at once an excavation of media exploitation and a charming look at the unexpectedly profound exchanges that can emerge when cultures blend. Not one to shy away from subverting stereotypes or uncovering uncomfortable truths, Ulman reaffirms the singularity of her voice, ensuring her visual playfulness and absurdity fuse seamlessly with the warmth she has for the vibrant world of Magic Farm.—Ana Souza
SALLY – directed by Cristina Costantini
Sally Ride became the first American woman to blast off into space, but beneath her unflappable composure was a secret. Sally’s life partner, Tam O’Shaughnessy, reveals their hidden romance and the sacrifices that accompanied their 27 years together.
Cristina Costantini’s rich portrait of astronaut Sally Ride brings a fullness to her life that goes beyond the headlines of her trailblazing voyage past Earth’s atmosphere. SALLY skillfully weaves together the dual threads of Ride’s story: the private romance she shared with her partner and the professional trajectory of her time in the space program that saw her contend with overt sexism and homophobia, prompting her secrecy. Rare archival footage brings the viewer behind the scenes to witness NASA training and missions, while press appearances reflect the media frenzy Ride was subjected to both before and after her historic first flight. O’Shaughnessy takes a fitting central role in recounting her beloved Ride’s story and the legacy she left behind that inspires countless women and girls to dream for the stars.—Basil Tsiokos
The Librarians – directed by Kim A. Snyder
As an unprecedented wave of book banning is sparked in Texas, Florida, and beyond, librarians under siege join forces as unlikely defenders fighting for intellectual freedom on the front lines of democracy.
Kim A. Snyder (Us Kids, 2020 Sundance Film Festival) takes us to an unexpected front line where librarians emerge as first responders in the fight for democracy and free access to information. As they well know, controlling libraries and the flow of ideas means control over communities.
Across the U.S., sweeping book bans target stories addressing race and LGBTQ+ issues. Snyder immerses us in this escalating conflict, capturing heated community meetings that lay bare the arguments for censorship. At the center of it all are the steadfast librarians, determined to protect children’s right to access books that educate, empower, and provide solace — despite facing harassment, threats, and even laws aimed at criminalizing their work. A cautionary tale and rallying cry, Snyder captures how these librarians transform their seemingly quiet profession into a bold stand for freedom.—Stephanie Owens
Deaf President Now! – directed by Nyle DiMarco & Davis Guggenheim
During eight tumultuous days in 1988 at the world’s only Deaf university, four students must find a way to lead an angry mob — and change the course of history.
With two Deaf candidates up for the role of president, Gallaudet University students saw the possibility of finally being led by someone like them. But when the board of trustees — composed overwhelmingly of hearing individuals — selected the lone hearing candidate, the groundswell of student activism that followed forced a reckoning of more than a century of paternalism. Told primarily through American Sign Language, Deaf President Now! creates an immediacy through immersive archival footage and experiential use of silence and sound. Gallaudet alumnus, model, actor, and Deaf activist Nyle DiMarco (America’s Next Top Model) makes his directorial debut alongside veteran filmmaker Davis Guggenheim (Still: A Michael J. Fox Movie, 2023 Sundance Film Festival) with this rousing documentary that demonstrates the power of collective action to demand meaningful change, foster self-determination, and realize dreams long deferred.—Basil Tsiokos
Free Leonard Peltier – directed by Jesse Short Bull & David France
Leonard Peltier remains a beacon of resilience against oppression for so many. In this in-depth, archive-rich exploration, Jesse Short Bull and David France delve into Peltier’s imprisonment, the FBI actions that led to his controversial conviction, and the ongoing efforts to secure his release. Key figures from the American Indian Movement offer illuminating context alongside an archival interview with Peltier himself. Together they trace the events surrounding the 1975 Pine Ridge shoot-out, where he was convicted of killing two FBI agents — a charge he has denied for 50 years. Positioning Peltier’s struggle within a 500-year continuum of Indigenous resistance connects it to the U.S. government’s historical and ongoing abuses against Indigenous people, emphasizing that the fight for Peltier’s freedom is part of an enduring fight for overdue justice.—Stephanie Owens
WORLD CINEMA DOCUMENTARY COMPETITION
GEN_ – directed by Gianluca Matarrese
At Milan’s Niguarda public hospital, the unconventional Dr. Bini leads a bold mission overseeing aspiring parents undergoing in vitro fertilization and the journeys of individuals reconciling their bodies with their gender identities. He navigates the constraints set by a conservative government and an aggressive market eager to commodify bodies.
In a politically charged environment where an individual’s reproductive rights and gender expression are often discussed in the abstract, it is easy to be distracted from the reality that in vitro fertilization and gender-affirming surgeries are medical procedures conducted by professionals working with deep scientific knowledge. In one of the few public hospitals in Italy allowed to provide this kind of care, Dr. Maurizio Bini and his team meet with a diverse group of patients who need medical intervention in order to lead healthy, purposeful, and meaningful lives. With rare access and an intimate cinematic style, we see the profound emotional and physical care that Dr. Bini and his colleagues bring to their work in corporally realizing the dreams of people to bear children or transition to their true identity.—Sudeep Sharma
EPISODIC
Pee-wee as Himself – directed by Matt Wolf
A chronicle of the life of artist and performer Paul Reubens and his alter ego Pee-wee Herman. Prior to his recent death, Reubens spoke in-depth about his creative influences, and the personal struggles he faced to persevere as an artist.
Beloved for nostalgic, avant garde programs like Pee-wee’s Playhouse, Pee-wee Herman became a lynchpin of American culture and a household name. Behind the scenes, artist Paul Reubens wanted control of Pee-wee’s fictional world as much as he wanted to dictate the public’s awareness of himself (or lack thereof). That divide backfired when scandal hit. Attempting to unearth the real Paul is the heart of this documentary, where revelations are equally vulnerable, candid, and sarcastically guarded. His earliest influences, performance art background, and complicated relationship with sexuality are aided by a trove of archival footage and never- before-seen personal photographs. Often sparring with off-screen director Matt Wolf, Reubens is a captivating and complex subject seeking to control his own story until the very end. Sundance will present this two-part documentary in its entirety.—Drea Clark
Hal & Harper – created & directed by Cooper Raiff
Director Cooper Raiff (Cha Cha Real Smooth, 2022 Sundance Film Festival), also appearing as the eponymous Hal, presents two siblings who consider their codependence a feature, not a bug. As Harper, Lili Reinhart superbly mirrors Raiff’s sardonic yet wounded nature, while demonstrating an engaging solemnity all her own. Their intimacy is built on a lifetime of inside jokes and shared pains, portrayed via flashbacks where Raiff and Reinhart play the elementary school-aged versions of themselves. Raiff’s familial tone weaves the balance between children on the precipice of damage and adults mired in self-made messes. As their father, Mark Ruffalo brings a wry charm that belies a chasm of guilt, firmly at the root of all that Hal & Harper is trying to uncover. Sundance will share the first four episodes to in-person audiences, as well as all eight episodes via the festival’s online platform.— Drea Clark
US DRAMATIC COMPETITION
Plainclothes – directed by Carmen Emmi
A promising undercover officer assigned to lure and arrest gay men defies orders when he falls in love with a target.
Plainclothes is brimming with an atmosphere of paranoia and anxiety. As Lucas, a young police officer contending with a secret attraction to men, Tom Blyth palpably embodies this tension in a breakout performance. Straining to fill a prescribed role in the implicitly straight culture of the police force, he carries the crushing weight of both the consequences of his increasingly fraught undercover work as well as the threat of exposure of his exhilarating, clandestine encounters with Andrew (Russell Tovey). Writer-director Carmen Emmi, making his feature directorial debut, cleverly deploys lo-fi VHS footage at key moments to ramp up the sense of unease, alternately signifying the police surveillance that haunts his conscience as well as flashes of memory. A shrewd play with chronology similarly keeps the audience on its toes, wondering if Lucas will be able to handle the stress of his secret or if he’ll finally reach a breaking point.—Basil Tsiokos
Twinless – directed by James Sweeney
Writer-director-actor James Sweeney’s bittersweet tale of trauma-bonding friendship is a smart comedy willing to confront themes like loss, loneliness, and codependency head-on. Sweeney scripts a slippery narrative to mirror his emotionally damaged characters as they struggle for connection, revealing painful personal truths along the way. With his Sundance debut, Sweeney shows major promise both in front of and behind the camera. Dylan O’Brien returns to the Festival after starring in the 2024 U.S. Dramatic Competition entry Ponyboi. O’Brien has quickly established himself as one of the great new actors of his generation. With Twinless he continues to impress, showing an acting range not only in characters but also between the film’s comedic voice and tender heart.—Charlie Sextro
NEXT
Rains Over Babel – directed by Gala del Sol
A group of misfits converges at Babel, a legendary dive bar that doubles as purgatory, where La Flaca — the city’s Grim Reaper — presides. Here, souls gamble years of their lives with her, daring to outwit Death herself.
Steeping us in the intoxicating brew of a tropical Colombian steampunk fever-dream, first-time feature director Gala del Sol creates a mesmerizing, fantastical world where life and death collide and fates turn on the roll of dice. A patchwork of vibrant characters inhabited by an alluring ensemble cast take us on a playful ride of subversions running wild where rebellion is king. Everyone’s personal demons are exorcised on this colorful, retro-futuristic stage as passion and performance promise an escape from heartbreak.
Filled to the brim with lively music and queer joy, Rains Over Babel sings an ode to the resilience and reimagination needed to heal in a world driven by societal pressure. Daring, ambitious, and stylish, it ensures a dreamy cinematic experience.—Ana Souza
WORLD CINEMA DRAMATIC COMPETITION
Sabar Bonda (Cactus Pears) – directed by Rohan Parashuram Kanawade
Anand, a 30-something city dweller compelled to spend a 10-day mourning period for his father in the rugged countryside of western India, tenderly bonds with a local farmer struggling to stay unmarried. As the mourning ends, forcing his return, Anand must decide the fate of his relationship born under duress.
Anand’s (Bhushaan Manoj) grief over losing his father is compounded by having to return to his ancestral home with his mother, and the inevitable questions from extended family about his marital status. Wholly original in depicting queer life among the rural and lower castes of India, writer and director Rohan Parashuram Kanawade in his debut feature shares this semi-autobiographical story of two men who find each other amid their shared origins in the farming life of their elders. Featuring impressive turns from the cast, beautiful cinematography in open landscapes and small villages, and gentle, open-hearted storytelling that skews predictable tropes, Sabar Bonda (Cactus Pears) is an achievement of independent Indian filmmaking with characters and a story that will connect with audiences around the world.—Sudeep Sharma
Sauna – directed by Mathias Broe
Johan thrives as a gay man in Copenhagen, enjoying endless bars, parties, and casual flings. Everything changes when he meets William, a transgender man, and falls into a deep love that defies societal norms around gender, identity, and relationships.
The steamy mystique of the gay bathhouse is the perfect location for this exploration of queer affinity and slippery understanding. The storied setting is paired perfectly with the breaking of brand new narrative ground in this film that marries sweet romance with spiny complexity. Johan and William echo, invert, flip, and reconfigure the stories that they have been told about themselves, their world, and their community. Vacillating between attraction and revulsion, affection and grotesque jealousy, these two young people negotiate the tricky terrain of the contemporary queer romantic landscape. Writer-director Mathias Broe flexes his storytelling musculature and dexterity in this intricately engineered and beautifully fashioned film with stellar performances from leads Magnus Juhl Andersen and Nina Rask. This talented trio brings fresh dimension and unforgettable specificity to a culture ravenously hungry for it.—Ash Hoyle
Where the Wind Comes From – directed by Amel Guellaty
Alyssa, a rebellious 19-year-old girl, and her friend Mehdi, an introverted 23-year-old man, use their imagination to escape their unpromising reality. When they discover a contest in the south of Tunisia that may allow them to flee, they undertake a road trip regardless of the obstacles in their way.
Director Amel Guellaty offers us a window into a side of Tunisia we have rarely seen, imbuing the world of her charming debut feature with surreal visual flourishes that transform and brighten everyday moments. Eya Bellagha and Slim Baccar have undeniable chemistry as Alyssa and Mehdi, organically capturing the crossfire banter of their friendship as well as their shared struggle to break free from the responsibilities and restrictions that hold them back from pursuing their dreams. Their unexpectedly chaotic journey to Djerba is underscored by a thoughtful comedic touch and a hypnotic indie soundtrack from the region.
With creativity, warmth, and spirit, Where the Wind Comes From honors Tunisian youth while recognizing the uncertain road that lies ahead of them.—Ana Souza
LUZ – directed by Flora Lau
In the neon-lit streets of Chongqing, Wei desperately searches for his estranged daughter Fa, while Hong Kong gallerist Ren grapples with her ailing stepmother Sabine in Paris. Their lives collide in a virtual reality world, where a mystical deer reveals hidden truths, sparking a journey of discovery and connection.
Through a uniquely structured narrative, the vibrant VR world of LUZ plays host to parallel quests to rekindle familial love. Writer-director Flora Lau skillfully world-builds through dualities: subversive parent-child relationships, the blurred line between cyberspace and the physical, the seamless switch between the neon-flooded Chongqing and the neutral-brushed Paris. Sandrine Pinna and Isabelle Huppert hold a captivating chemistry as daughter and mother, while Xiao Dong Guo excels at depicting a layered, touching paternal longing.
Though there’s an immersive quality to LUZ, Lau deftly refuses a singular, escapist reading of VR’s employment, opting instead to guide us towards technology’s expansive complexity in its relation to art, family, and healing. LUZ is an intellectually substantial, emotionally spectral work, boldly treading new ground.—Cameron Asharian
Move Ya Body: The Birth of House – directed by Elegance Bratton
Out of the underground dance clubs on the South Side of Chicago, a group of friends turn a new sound into a global movement.
Vince Lawrence was an eccentric, nerdy Black child growing up in Mayor Daley’s segregated Chicago. One summer when his dad couldn’t afford to send him to summer camp, Lawrence embarked on a personal journey that would lead him to become the first person to record a house song. He catalyzed a force of radical togetherness that would break down his city’s invisible walls of segregation, and fundamentally transform the music world.
Director Elegance Bratton (The Inspection, Pier Kids, Buck, co-written and directed with Jovan James, Sundance 2020) concocts a loving mix of interviews with the lively characters of house music blended together with an archive treasure, creating a definitive history of a cultural revolution rarely told. Move Ya Body: The Birth of House is a road map of how a rebellion against bodily repression can clutch joy and creative expression to sidestep empire.—Shari Frilot
US DOCUMENTARY COMPETITION
Speak. – directed by Jennifer Tiexiera & Guy Mossman
Five top-ranked high school oratory students spend a year crafting spellbinding spoken word performances with the dream of winning one of the world’s largest and most intense public speaking competitions.
Directors Jennifer Tiexiera and Guy Mossman take us behind the scenes of the prestigious competition that’s seen Oprah, Justice Ketanji Brown Jackson, Josh Gad, and Brad Pitt compete. The film provides a heartfelt glimpse into the lives of five competitors — raising prized pigs, managing TikTok fame, dating dreamy boyfriends, and navigating complicated family dynamics — all while handling the immense pressure of striving for a championship title.
Tiexiera and Mossman skillfully blend moments of youthful levity with the weight of urgent social issues tackled in their speeches, from anti-LGBTQ+ legislation to the epidemic of school shootings. These students aren’t just driven competitors. They’re grappling with real-life problems, but their passion and ambition offer hope that the next generation of leaders is ready to rise to the challenge of an increasingly fraught world.—Stephanie Owens
MIDNIGHT
Touch Me – directed by Addison Heimann
Two codependent best friends become addicted to the heroin-like touch of an alien narcissist who may or may not be trying to take over the world.
Writer and director Addison Heimann’s second feature film is provocatively comedic, inventive, and unhinged in the best possible way. An ode to the deliriously stylistic lens of Japanese cinema in the ’60s and ’70s, Touch Me dares to “go there” with its themes of mental health, desire, and Hentai-infused sexual abandon. Olivia Taylor Dudley sinks into character to portray a fractured and wandering human being in desperate need of a life-affirming touch, while Lou Taylor-Pucci’s tracksuit-clad alien persona is played to delightful perfection. Jordan Gavaris and Marlene Forte (You Cant’s Stay Here) round out an impeccable cast of far-out characters who manage to be at once acrimonious yet relatable. The end result is a weird, wild, and frenzied fever dream with so much to unpack. While we may not be able to relieve ourselves of self-doubt, deep-seated childhood trauma, and debilitating anxiety with the simple touch of an extraterrestrial being, maybe life isn’t so bad after all?—Adam Montgomery
Dead Lover – directed by Grace Glowicki
A lonely gravedigger who stinks of corpses finally meets her dream man, but their whirlwind affair is cut short when he tragically drowns at sea. Grief-stricken, she goes to morbid lengths to resurrect him through madcap scientific experiments, resulting in grave consequences and unlikely love.
After first winning a 2016 Sundance Short Film Special Jury Award For Outstanding Performance (Her Friend Adam), Grace Glowicki returns to Park City as director, co-writer, and the grave-digging star of this glorious Midnight comedy. She supercharges the film with a feverish lead performance fueled by an absurd energy that is somehow magically matched by performers Leah Doz, Lowen Morrow, and Ben Petrie, who each handle supporting characters more bizarre than the next. From disco to German Expressionism to sketch comedy to Bugs Bunny, Dead Lover draws on countless inspirations spanning a century of creative influences to manifest an exciting, new cinematic fever dream. Director of photography Rhayne Vermette and production designer Becca Brooks Morrin take a dynamic eye toward sparse theatrical set design that achieves a vibrant handcrafted effect.—Charlie Sextro
FROM THE COLLECTION
Unzipped (30th Anniversary) – directed by Douglas Keeve
Director Douglas Keeve goes behind the scenes of designer Isaac Mizrahi’s relentless drive and bold vision to bring his 1994 collection to life. From sketches to runway, this insider’s journey is packed with backstage drama, creative triumphs, and iconic supermodels, including Cindy Crawford, Naomi Campbell, and Linda Evangelista.
Sundance celebrates the 30 year anniversary of the first great American fashion documentary, Unzipped, a film that launched an entire subgenre. Director Douglas Keeve established a formula when he chose to follow a breakout designer rushing to create a new collection to launch at Fashion Week. Keeve weaves together a dizzying collection of go-sees, fittings, photoshoots, and fashion shows, riding the whirlwind of Isaac Mizrahi’s work life. Editor Paula Heredia’s rapid-fire style darts between passing moments of glamour, only occasionally slowing down to relish time backstage with icons like Naomi Campbell and Cindy Crawford. Cinematographer Ellen Kuras’ camera oozes cool as it swaps black-and-white to color film, giving the viewer an insider’s peek into ’90s chic.— Charlie Sextro
Unzipped has been digitally restored by Sundance Institute and UCLA Film & Television Archive, funded by Isaac Mizrahi Entertainment.
SHORT FILMS
Sweetheart (Short Film Program 1) – directed by Luke Wintour
In 1723 London, Thomas Neville is discovered cruising in the public toilets and forced to take refuge in a Molly House. There, he encounters a secret community as they prepare for a night of festivities.
Azi (Short Film Program 2) – directed by Montana Mann
During a weekend vacation with her best friend’s family, 17-year-old Azi gets caught up in an unexpected game with another guest.
The Eating of an Orange (Short Film Program 2) – directed by May Kindred-Boothby
Convention and sexuality are explored through slugs, rituals, and the eating of an orange.
Grandma Nai Who Played Favorites (Short Film Program 2) – directed by Chheangkea
During her chaotic family’s Qingming visit, dead Grandma Nai sneaks away from her peaceful afterlife after overhearing that her queer grandson is about to get engaged to a woman.
Ragamuffin (Short Film Program 3) – directed by Kaitlyn Mikayla
A 12-year-old motocross racer spends what seems like an average race weekend at the track with her father. But as things unfold, she’s faced with her identity, her deafness, and what it means to be a girl.
Stranger, Brother. (Short Film Program 4) – directed by Annelise Hickey
When Adam, a self-absorbed and lonely millennial, wakes one morning to find his estranged half brother on his doorstep, he must face the family he’s been running away from.
Are You Scared To Be Yourself Because You Think That You Might Fail? (Short Film Program 5) – directed by Bec Pecaut
While recovering from top surgery, Mad struggles with wanting their partner’s attention and accepting help from their mother.
Hold Me Close (Documentary Short Film Program) – directed by Aurora Brachman & LaTajh Simmons-Weaver
A chronicle of the power and complexity of the relationship between Corinne and Tiana, two queer Black womxn who experience cycles of life’s joys and pains together in the home they share.
Luz Diabla (Animated Short Film Program) – directed by Gervasio Canda, Paula Boffo & Patricio Plaza
Martin, a flamboyant urban raver, is involved in a strange car accident on his way to a party in the middle of the Argentine Pampas.
Compiled by James Kleinmann
For screening details and the full Sundance 2025 lineup check out the Festival Program Guide and to purchase tickets head to festival.sundance.org/tickets.