{"id":128698,"date":"2019-01-23T17:46:02","date_gmt":"2019-01-23T22:46:02","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.blackfilm.com\/read\/?p=128698"},"modified":"2019-01-24T17:09:34","modified_gmt":"2019-01-24T22:09:34","slug":"sundance-2019-films-featuring-and-directed-by-black-talent","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.blackfilm.com\/read\/sundance-2019-films-featuring-and-directed-by-black-talent\/","title":{"rendered":"Sundance 2019 Films Featuring and Directed By Black Talent"},"content":{"rendered":"

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Once again, as the new year starts, so do the hopes for several filmmakers and talent who want to have their films picked up for distribution at the upcoming 2019 Sundance Film Festival.<\/strong>\u00a0The Festival hosts screenings in Park City, Salt Lake City and at Sundance Mountain Resort, from January 24 \u2013 February 3, 2019.<\/p>\n

In 2018, we had a number of films that featured huge ensembles from Sorry To Bother You, Blindspotting, Monsters and Men<\/strong>, and A Boy. A Girl. A Dream<\/strong>. A majority of these films received distribution and hit theaters last year. We also had a number of films that Black females in leading roles. Coming out of the festival last year were two documentaries that were recently Oscar nominated – Minding The Gap<\/strong> and Hale County This Evening, This Morning, <\/strong>whose director RaMell Ross <\/strong>is back at the festival with a new film, Easter Snap.<\/strong><\/p>\n

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For 2019, there are a selection of films that are directed by Black females, something that has been lacking at the festival for years.\u00a0Chinonye Chukwu<\/strong> has Clemency starring Alfre Woodard,\u00a0Tayarisha Poe<\/strong> with Selah and the Spades, and Crystal Kayiza<\/strong> directed Edgecombe.<\/p>\n

Oscar nominee Chiwetel Ejiofor<\/strong> will be making his directorial debut with The Boy Who Harnessed The Wind<\/strong> while his 12 Year a Slave co-star and Oscar winner will also be at the festival with the horror film Little Monsters<\/strong>. Oscar winner and recent Oscar nominee Jordan Peele will return to the festival as the executive producer to Lorena, the documentary on Lorena Bobbitt. She became a household name in 1993 when she cut off her husband\u2019s penis to stop his abuse.<\/p>\n

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Opening up the festival will be A24\u2019s adaptation of\u00a0Richard Wright<\/strong>\u2018s acclaimed novel,\u00a0‘Native Son<\/strong>,’ with Moonlight\u2019s\u00a0Ashton Sanders<\/strong>\u00a0taking on the iconic role of Bigger Thomas.\u00a0Rashid Johnson<\/strong>\u00a0will direct the film from a screenplay written by Pulitzer Prize-winning playwright\u00a0Suzan-Lori Parks.<\/strong><\/p>\n

The film, which will take place in the present day in Johnson\u2019s hometown of Chicago. and\u00a0Margaret Qualley<\/strong>\u00a0(Novitiate, The Nice Guys),\u00a0Nick Robinson<\/strong>\u00a0(Love, Simon, Jurassic World),\u00a0KiKi Layne<\/strong>\u00a0(Barry Jenkins\u2019 upcoming If Beale Street Could Talk) and\u00a0Bill Camp<\/strong>\u00a0(The Night Of) are also set. Matthew Libatique (Black Swan, Straight Outta Compton) will be the director of photography.<\/p>\n

Also among the films being shown are docs about Toni Morrison and Miles Davis<\/strong>.<\/p>\n

Congrats to those films that will be playing this year and hopefully, the rest of the world, will get a chance to see them, should it be picked up for theatrical release.<\/p>\n

Here\u2019s are some of the films that will be playing at the festival this year that are either directed or features Black talent.<\/strong><\/p>\n

U.S. DOCUMENTARY COMPETITION<\/strong><\/p>\n

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Always in Season<\/strong> \/ U.S.A. (Director: Jacqueline Olive, Producers: Jacqueline Olive, Jessica Devaney) \u2014 When 17-year-old Lennon Lacy is found hanging from a swing set in rural North Carolina in 2014, his mother\u2019s search for justice and reconciliation begins as the trauma of more than a century of lynching African Americans bleeds into the present. World Premiere<\/p>\n