BREAKING:
Gallery: Looking back at the 2020 Sundance Film Festival
By Niveda Tennety
Feb. 7, 2020 6:47 p.m.
The Sundance Film Festival took place in Park City, Salt Lake City and Sundance, Utah, from Jan. 23 to Feb. 2.
(Niveda Tennety/Daily Bruin)
This year, the independent film festival, which was founded in 1985, screened 128 feature-length films and 74 short films over the course of two weeks. Over 15,100 entries were submitted this year.
(Niveda Tennety/Daily Bruin)
Michael McLaughlin, a Los Angeles native, has volunteered at the film festival for 28 years. Over his 28 years of volunteering, he said he has done pretty much every job for the festival, ranging from picking up trash off the street to volunteering at information desks, music performances, panels and other events.
(Niveda Tennety/Daily Bruin)
Sundance has over 2,400 volunteers every year to assist in multiple areas of the festival, from guiding visitors at shuttle stops and theater entrances to helping run special events.
(Niveda Tennety/Daily Bruin)
‘’It’s the people that bring me back. The filmmakers, the people I work with, the other volunteers but also the patrons,’’ McLaughlin said. ‘’You’ll find out on every bus you get on, in every restaurant, people are going to be talking about the movies, talking about the film, talking about the ideas that are represented here.’’
(Niveda Tennety/Daily Bruin)
Panelists Ai Weiwei, Kerry Washington, Lin-Manuel Miranda and Julie Taymor speak at the Power of Story: Just Art panel at the Egyptian Theatre in Park City.
(Niveda Tennety/Daily Bruin)
The panelists spoke on the importance of representation in storytelling and addressed varying perspectives on cultural appropriation in film.
(Niveda Tennety/Daily Bruin)
Elisabeth Moss poses on the ‘’Shirley’’ press line. Moss plays the titular role as horror author Shirley Jackson in the biopic.
(Niveda Tennety/Daily Bruin)
Logan Lerman, one of the cast members of ‘’Shirley,’’ speaks to reporters on the press line.
(Niveda Tennety/Daily Bruin)
Lerman, Moss and UCLA alumnus Michael Stuhlbarg pose with director Josephine Decker at the film’s premiere.
(Niveda Tennety/Daily Bruin)
Washington and Taymor were also panelists on the ‘’Women Breaking Barriers, Year 3: How Far Have We Come?’’ panel hosted by the Hollywood Foreign Press Association, along with director Lisa Jackson and actress, writer and producer Frankie Shaw. About 44% of the feature-length films screened at the festival were directed by women, with 34% being directed by people of color and 15% by people who are LGBTQ+. The panelists spoke about women breaking through the film industry’s glass ceiling.
(Niveda Tennety/Daily Bruin)
Annie Clark, also known by her stage name St. Vincent, and Carrie Brownstein attend the premiere of ‘’Nowhere Inn,’’ a mockumentary directed by Bill Benz about Clark and Brownstein’s friendship and fame. Brownstein described the movie as an intentionally fictionalized version of their lives.
(Niveda Tennety/Daily Bruin)
Brownstein poses for a photo on the film’s press line.
(Niveda Tennety/Daily Bruin)
Clark is credited as one of the film’s screenwriters along with Brownstein.
(Niveda Tennety/Daily Bruin)
When asked by a reporter if it was strange to make a film about themselves, Clark said, ‘’Not even a little bit. It turns out our entire lives are about ourselves.’’
(Niveda Tennety/Daily Bruin)
Park City, which hosts Sundance, is also home to one of the country’s largest ski resorts. Tourism is Park City’s largest industry, with skiing and related industries making up a large portion of the local economy.
(Niveda Tennety/Daily Bruin)
Sundance brings approximately 120,000 people to Park City every year.
