The 2019 Sundance Film Festival took place from Jan. 24 through Feb. 3 and showcased 112 films from across the globe.
One standout movie was Lulu Wang’s The Farewell. The movie follows a Chinese-American family who, upon hearing about their matriarch’s cancer diagnosis, choose to keep it a secret from her and instead choose to hold a wedding to bring the family back together one last time.
The Farewell features rapper and actress Awkwafina in her first dramatic role, which is a far cry from her past roles as comedy relief in Crazy Rich Asians and Ocean’s 8.
Although The Farewell did not receive any awards, writers such as The Guardian’s Benjamin Lee and NPR’s Jennifer Lee have praised both Awkwafina’s performance as well as the Lulu Wang’s storytelling.
The Farewell has been picked up by A24, so we can expect a mainstream release later this year.
Another movie that caught attention was Honey Boy, directed by Alma Har’el and written by Shia Labeouf.
Honey Boy was inspired by Shia Labeouf’s own childhood as it follows a child star trying to make amends with his abusive father. The story switches between flashbacks to Otis’, the protagonist, youth and flashes to his present to show the events of his childhood and how they affected him up through adulthood.
Alma Har’el won the Special Jury Award for Vision and Craft for her work in the movie. Amazon acquired the rights to Honey Boy for a release later in 2019.
This year’s Sundance was not immune to controversy, however, as the documentary Leaving Neverland ruffled feathers.
Leaving Neverland is a four-hour documentary detailing the allegations of two men who claim to have been sexually abused by Michael Jackson.
Jackson’s family published a statement in his defense, denying the allegations and referring to the documentary as a “public lynching”. Fans also rushed to the internet to send emails that filmmaker Dan Reed described as “as disgusting as you could invent”.
In an interview with The Rolling Stone, Dan Reed begs the questions, “Why when two men have come forward saying they were sexually abused as a child, why do we want to shame them? Why do we want to silence them? Why do we want to threaten them?” in response to the vitriolic comments.
Leaving Neverland has since been picked up by HBO and will premiere in March.
Other movies that won top prizes at the 2019 Sundance include Clemency, One Child Nation, The Souvenir, and Honeyland.
