Sundance Film Festival 2020: Five highlights to look out for this year

With the Oscars just weeks away, much of the film world is looking back at some of the most acclaimed works of the year – Sundance Film Festival, though, has its sights set firmly on the future.

It’s known for new movies and fresh talent, with more than 20 films making their debut there over the next few weeks.

Taking place from January 23 until February 2, Sundance celebrates everything from feature films and arthouse cinema to documentaries and short films.

There are dozens of projects to choose from, but we’ve picked five movies and documentaries sure to be winning over audiences in the months to come.

This drama from director Janicza Bravo is premiering at this year’s festival, but film fans may already be familiar with the story. The movie, starring White Boy Rick’s Taylour Paige and Mad Max’s Riley Keough, is based on a viral tweet thread posted by Aziah ‘Zola’ Wells in 2015. The true story follows Zola as she meets sex worker Stefani and follows her across the country to make money pole dancing, before inadvertently entering into a world of prostitution and murder.

Tessa Thompson stars in this romance, which follows a young woman working in a record store waiting for her fiance to return from the war, whose life changes after meeting a young saxophonist and falling in love. The movie transports viewers to 50s New York, and also features performances from Lance Reddick and Eva Longoria.

New drama The Last Thing He Wanted has been in development for a long time – Dee Rees joined the project in 2017 and Anne Hathaway has been on board since 2018. She plays a DC journalist who is inadvertently thrust into the very centre of a story she’s trying to break. Willem Dafoe also stars alongside Ben Affleck in the political thriller from Mudbound director Dee Rees.

The likes of Orange Is the New Black star Laverne Cox and Matrix co-director Lilly Wachowski contribute to this insightful new documentary, which takes a frank look at the depictions of transgender people in film and television. The film evaluates trans portrayals in movies like Dog Day Afternoon, The Crying Game and Boys Don’t Cry. Sam Feder directs.

This satirical thriller set in 1989 follows a young woman who sets out to get a new weave, only for it to develop a mind of its own. Dear White People director Justin Simien helms the film, which stars the likes of Lena Waithe (Ready Player One), Vanessa Williams (Ugly Betty), Jay Pharoah (Unsane) and Laverne Cox (Orange Is the New Black). The film takes an unconventional look at the pressures and tribulations faced by black women in society – and adds a new meaning to ‘killer hair’.