Twelve European films in competition at the 2021 Sundance Film Festival
by Kaleem Aftab
- The Utah-based gathering will showcase movies on its digital platform and at satellite venues across the United States, showing off exciting new European efforts to American audiences
![Twelve European films in competition at the 2021 Sundance Film Festival](imgCache/2021/01/08/1610105956787_0620x0413_97x0x1054x702_1679373766970.jpg)
Six European co-productions are playing in the World Cinema Dramatic Competition at the 2021 Sundance Film Festival, while a further six European co-productions will appear in the World Cinema Documentary Competition, as 2021 begins with the coronavirus mutating and spreading quickly throughout the world.
Consequently, the Sundance Film Festival will take place digitally via a feature-rich, Sundance-built online platform and in person at satellite screens across the United States (public health conditions permitting) from 28 January-3 February 2021. Additionally, festival attendees will be able to gather in virtual waiting rooms, participate in live Q&As and congregate in new, inspired online environments to interact in a range of ways both new and familiar.
The 2020 Sundance Film Festival was one of the last to take place before lockdowns and social distancing became the new normal. This year, the full programme will comprise just 72 features, 50 shorts, four indie series and 14 New Frontier projects.
The European (co-)productions appearing in the World Cinema Dramatic Competition are Amalia Ulman’s El Planeta [+see also:
film review
interview: Amalia Ulman
film profile] (USA/Spain), a comedy about eviction set amidst the devastation of post-crisis Spain; Blerta Basholli’s Hive [+see also:
film review
trailer
interview: Blerta Basholli
interview: Yllka Gashi
film profile] (Kosovo/Switzerland/North Macedonia/Albania), about a mother whose husband has been missing since the war in Kosovo; Ronny Trocker’s Human Factors [+see also:
film review
trailer
interview: Ronny Trocker
film profile] (Germany/Italy/Denmark), which sees a robbery cause the breakdown of a European family; Ninja Thyberg’s Pleasure [+see also:
film review
trailer
interview: Ninja Thyberg
film profile] (Sweden/Netherlands/France), in which a 20-year-old girl moves from Sweden to LA to work in the adult-film industry; Alex Camilleri’s Luzzu [+see also:
film review
trailer
interview: Alex Camilleri
film profile] (Malta), which is about a struggling Maltese fisherman turning to the black market to survive; and Jakub Piątek’s Prime Time [+see also:
film review
trailer
interview: Jakub Piątek
film profile] (Poland), which takes place on the final night of the 20th century, as a young man decides to take two people hostage in a television studio.
There is an equally mouth-watering line-up of European projects in the World Cinema Documentary Competition, including Jonas Poher Rasmussen’s animated doc Flee [+see also:
film review
trailer
interview: Jonas Poher Rasmussen
film profile] (Denmark/France/Sweden/Norway), about a man who arrived in Denmark as an unaccompanied minor from Afghanistan and who is carrying a big secret to his wedding day; Sam Hobkinson’s Misha and the Wolves [+see also:
film review
trailer
interview: Sam Hobkinson
film profile] (UK/Belgium), about Misha Defonseca’s controversial Holocaust memoir; Kristina Lindström’s The Most Beautiful Boy in the World [+see also:
film review
trailer
interview: Kristina Lindström and Kris…
film profile] (Sweden), which shows how Swedish actor-musician Björn Andresen's life was forever changed at the age of 15, when he played Tadzio, the object of Dirk Bogarde's obsession in Death in Venice; Camilla Nielsson’s President [+see also:
film review
trailer
interview: Camilla Nielsson
film profile] (Denmark/USA/Norway), which looks at a pivotal election in Zimbabwe; Hogir Hirori’s Sabaya [+see also:
film review
interview: Hogir Hirori
film profile] (Sweden), which shows the efforts to save Yazidi women and girls being held by ISIS as "Sabaya" (abducted sex slaves); and, rounding off the competition, Salomé Jashi’s Taming the Garden [+see also:
film review
trailer
interview: Salomé Jashi
film profile] (Switzerland/Georgia/Germany), a poetic ode to the rivalry between man and nature.
World premieres of European features appearing in other sections include Ben Wheatley’s In the Earth [+see also:
film review
trailer
film profile] (UK), Edgar Wright’s music doc The Sparks Brothers [+see also:
film review
trailer
interview: Edgar Wright
film profile] (UK), Prano Bailey-Bond’s Censor [+see also:
film review
interview: Prano Bailey-Bond
film profile] (UK), which is opening the festival, Frida Kempff’s Knocking [+see also:
film review
trailer
interview: Frida Kempff
film profile] (Sweden), and Lenny Guit and Harpo Guit’s Mother Schmuckers [+see also:
film review
trailer
interview: Harpo and Lenny Guit
film profile] (Belgium).
Here is the full list of titles in Sundance 2021’s World Cinema Dramatic Competition and World Cinema Documentary Competition:
World Cinema Dramatic Competition
The Dog Who Wouldn't Be Quiet – Ana Katz (Argentina)
El Planeta [+see also:
film review
interview: Amalia Ulman
film profile] – Amalia Ulman (USA/Spain)
Fire in the Mountains – Ajitpal Singh (India)
Hive [+see also:
film review
trailer
interview: Blerta Basholli
interview: Yllka Gashi
film profile] – Blerta Basholli (Kosovo/Switzerland/Macedonia/Albania)
Human Factors [+see also:
film review
trailer
interview: Ronny Trocker
film profile] – Ronny Trocker (Germany/Italy/Denmark)
Luzzu [+see also:
film review
trailer
interview: Alex Camilleri
film profile] – Alex Camilleri (Malta)
One for the Road – Baz Poonpiriya (China/Hong Kong/Thailand)
The Pink Cloud – Iuli Gerbase (Brazil)
Pleasure [+see also:
film review
trailer
interview: Ninja Thyberg
film profile] – Ninja Thyberg (Sweden/Netherlands/France)
Prime Time [+see also:
film review
trailer
interview: Jakub Piątek
film profile] – Jakub Piątek (Poland)
World Cinema Documentary Competition
Faya Dayi – Jessica Beshir (Ethiopia/USA)
Flee [+see also:
film review
trailer
interview: Jonas Poher Rasmussen
film profile] – Jonas Poher Rasmussen (Denmark/France/Sweden/Norway)
Inconvenient Indian – Michelle Latimer (Canada)
Misha and the Wolves [+see also:
film review
trailer
interview: Sam Hobkinson
film profile] – Sam Hobkinson (UK/Belgium)
The Most Beautiful Boy in the World [+see also:
film review
trailer
interview: Kristina Lindström and Kris…
film profile] – Kristina Lindström (Sweden)
Playing With Sharks – Sally Aitken (Australia)
President [+see also:
film review
trailer
interview: Camilla Nielsson
film profile] – Camilla Nielsson (Denmark/USA/Norway)
Sabaya [+see also:
film review
interview: Hogir Hirori
film profile] – Hogir Hirori (Sweden)
Taming the Garden [+see also:
film review
trailer
interview: Salomé Jashi
film profile] – Salomé Jashi (Switzerland/Germany/Georgia)
Writing With Fire – Rintu Thomas and Sushmit Ghosh (India)
Did you enjoy reading this article? Please subscribe to our newsletter to receive more stories like this directly in your inbox.