The short films and 40th Edition Celebration Screenings and Events have been revealed for the 2024 Sundance Film Festival taking place January 18–28, 2024, in person in Park City and Salt Lake City, with a selection of titles available online nationwide from January 25–28, 2024.
Included in the eight curated short film programs is the Alex Hedison-directed short docu ALOK, a portrait of author author, poet, comedian, and public speaker Alok Vaid-Menon executive-produced by Jodie Foster.
In the short Bust directed by Angalis Field who wrote it with Eliza Barry Callahan, Lux Pascal and Nicky DeMarie tell a story of a trans cop in the New York City Police Department goes undercover to make a drug bust.
Merman comes from Sterling Hampton IV and Monica Lawless and follows a 58-year-old Black queer man as he speaks the truth about his life as an emergency nurse, a leather enthusiast, husband, and civil rights advocate.
Filmmaker Natalie Jasmine Harris brings us Grace produced by Samiyah Wardlaw, Julia Kennelly, Latavia Young, and Morgan B. Powell. The short spotlights the titular 16-year-old character as she prepares for her baptism in the rural south in the 1950s. When she learns she must repent before the ritual, she begins to question the budding romantic feelings she has toward her best friend, Louise. Grace stars Jordan Rayanna Wells, Alexis Cofield, Mikayla LaShae Bartholomew, C L Simpson, and JeVon Blackwell
The 40th Edition Celebration Screenings and Events will run from January 23-26. This includes the debut brand-new 4K restorations of Go Fish (30th anniversary) as well as Napoleon Dynamite (20th anniversary), Three Seasons (25th anniversary), and an extended version of DIG! (20th anniversary), featuring over 30 minutes of additional footage, titled DIG! XX.
Also showing will be restorations of The Times of Harvey Milk and Mississippi Masala as well as Pariah and The Babadook. Most screenings will include Q&As with the filmmakers.
The fest will include panels from alumni including Power of Story: Four Decades of Taking Chances about the legacy of independent storytelling featuring Miguel Arteta, Richard Linklater, Dawn Porter, and Christine Vachon; a screening of seminal short films from Sundance’s history hosted by Jay Duplass and Mark Duplass; and a workshop for emerging creators with Carlos López Estrada and others. Other special events include alumni social gatherings and a 40th Edition trivia night.
Please visit festival.sundance.org for the full list and details about the programming.