The Sundance Film Festival announced its first wave of programming late Wednesday afternoon, a smorgasboard of the independent films you’ll likely hear a whole lot about next year.
The announcement included feature films in ten categories: U.S. Dramatic Competition, U.S. Documentary Competition, World Cinema Dramatic Competition, World Cinema Documentary Competition, Next, Premieres, Documentary Premieres, Midnight, Spotlight, and Kids.
Among the highlights:
- BLAZE, “a reimagining of the life and times of Blaze Foley, the unsung songwriting legend of the Texas Outlaw Music movement,” from director and co-wirter Ethan Hawke.
- Lizzie, a dramatization of the notorious Lizzie Borden murders, starring Chloë Sevigny and Kristen Stewart.
- An adaptation of the coming-of-age novel The Miseducation of Cameron Post, from Appropriate Behavior writer/director/star Desiree Akhavan.
- An adaptation of the Nick Hornby novel Juliet, Naked, starring Rose Byrne, Ethan Hawke, and Chris O’Dowd, from director Jesse Peretz and producer Judd Apatow.
- Ophelia, “a mythic spin on Hamlet through a lens of female empowerment” starring Daisy Ridley, Naomi Watts, and Clive Owen.
- Sorry to Bother You, a “dystopian not-too-distant future” effort from The Coup’s Boots Riley, starring Lakeith Stanfield, Tessa Thompson, and Armie Hammer.
- The 2009 housing crisis dark comedy Arizona, starring Danny McBride, Rosemarie DeWitt, and Kaitlin Olson.
- The family comedy Clara’s Ghost, written and directed by Bridey Elliott and starring her own family (including father Chris and sister Abby).
- Futile and Stupid Gesture, a biopic of National Lampoon, Animal House, and Caddyshack writer Doug Kenney, starring Will Forte, Joel McHale, and Emmy Rossum.
- Damsel, the latest from Kukimo the Treasure Hunter directors David and Nathan Zellner, starring Robert Pattinson.
- A new Gus Van Sant film, Don’t Worry, He Won’t Get Far on Foot, starring Joaquin Phoenix, Jonah Hill, Rooney Mara, and Jack Black.
- Night Comes On, starring The Deuce breakout Dominique Fishback.
- Jon Hamm in Beiruit, from screenwriter Tony Gilroy and director Brad Anderson.
- And bio-documentaries on Joan Jett, Jane Fonda, Ruth Bader Ginsburg, Hal Ashby, Fred Rogers, and Robin Williams.
Believe it or not, that’s just the tip of the iceberg – check out the full Sundance slate at their website. The festival runs January 18-28, 2018.