The 28 titles in the 2015 Sundance Film Festival Documentary Competitions were announced last week — 16 in the U.S. program and 12 in the World section. I think this crop sounds even better than last year’s. Of course, that doesn’t necessarily mean anything. Even my most anticipated in synopsis form can wind up my least favorite in film form. Some of those intriguing synopses, though, involve a fight over a leg, aliens, Chernobyl, counterterrorism, white supremacists, kids isolated from society in NYC and at least two nonfiction Westerns.
Next month, those of you attending the event can see new works by the directors of The Cove, Tchoupitoulas, Escape Fire, Into Eternity, Pink Saris, Sexy Baby, Print the Legend, Who Is Dayani Cristal?, 20 Feet from Stardom and Oscar-winning short Saving Face. Plus a doc directed by Bobcat Goldthwait and films produced by such big names as Johnny Knoxville, Rashida Jones, David Cross
I’ve found as much as I can about each of these documentaries and offer below brief introductions in the form of simple filmmaker and plot information plus images or trailers where available. This page will be updated as more comes to my attention.
U.S. Documentary Competition
3½ Minutes
Written and directed by Marc Silver (Who is Dayani Cristal?, Sundance ’13 Cinematography Award winner)
Produced by Carolyn Hepburn (Art and Craft) and Minette Nelson
Executive produced by Orlando Bagwell (The Eyes on the Prize), Bonni Cohen (Art and Craft) and Julie Goldman (Buck, Sundance ’11 Audience Award winner)
About: the very timely story of the 2012 killing of unarmed African-American teen Jordan Davis in a Florida gas station parking lot, although he was shot by a citizen, not a cop
Recently received a MacArthur grant
More details at Silver’s website
Watch Bagwell and Silver’s Op-Doc short on Davis’s killing below
Being Evel
Directed by Daniel Junge (Saving Face, Oscar-winning short)
Co-written and edited by Davis Coombe (Saving Face, Oscar-winning short)
Produced by Junge, Jackass’s Johnny Knoxville, BMX star Mat Hoffman, Brendan Kiernan (Beyond the Brick: A LEGO Brickumentary), Justin Moore-Levy (Beyond the Brick: A LEGO Brickumentary) and Jeff Tremaine (Jackass: The Movie)
Executive produced by Kelly Knievel, actor George Hamilton, Dirk Hoogstra (Pawn Stars), Bob Lewis, Molly Thompson (Happy Valley, Sundance ’14; Jesus Camp, Oscar nominee) and Susan Werbe (No Place on Earth)
About: Robert “Evel” Knievel and his legacy
Watch Junge talk about the film below
Best of Enemies
Directed by Morgan Neville (20 Feet from Stardom, Sundance ’13, Oscar winner) and Robert Gordon
Edited by Aaron Wickenden (The Interrupters, Sundance ’11) and Eileen Meyer
Executive produced by Julie Goldman (Buck, Sundance ’11 Audience Award winner) and Clif Phillips
About: the heated debates between Gore Vidal and William F. Buckley Jr. that aired on TV in 1968
Official Website
Call Me Lucky
Directed by Bobcat Goldthwait (non-docs World’s Greatest Dad and God Bless America)
About: comedian-turned-activist and political satirist Barry Crimmins
Cartel Land
Directed by Matthew Heineman (Escape Fire: The Fight to Rescue American Healthcare, Sundance ‘12)
Produced by Heineman and Tom Yellin (Operation Homecoming: Writing the Wartime Experience, Oscar nominee)
Executive produced by Molly Thompson (Happy Valley, Sundance ’14; Jesus Camp, Oscar nominee)
Edited by Heineman, Matthew Hamachek (If a Tree Falls: A Story of the Earth Liberation Front, Sundance ’11 Best Editing Award, Oscar nominee), Bradley J. Ross (Escape Fire: The Fight to Rescue American Healthcare, Sundance ’12) and Pax Wassermann (Pussy Riot: A Punk Prayer, Sundance ’13 World Documentary Special Jury Winner; Which Way Home, Oscar nominee)
About: citizen vigilantes against Mexican drug cartels in a story being categorized as a nonfiction Western
Official Website
City of Gold
Directed by Laura Gabbert
About: Pulitzer Prize-winning food critic Jonathan Gold
Finders Keepers
Directed by Bryan Carberry and J. Clay Cheel (Print the Legend)
Produced by Carberry, Adam Gibbs, Ed Cunningham (Undefeated, Oscar winner; The King of Kong: A Fistful of Quarters) and Seth Gordon (Undefeated, Oscar winner; The King of Kong: A Fistful of Quarters)
Executive produced by Bo Clancey, Gunnar Clancey, Ty Clancey, Chad Troutwine (Print the Legend), Steven Klein (Print the Legend), Walker Deibel (Print the Legend) and Joe Piscatella
Edited by Tchavdar Georgiev (Valentine Road, Sundance ‘13)
About: a legal battle between a man who lost his amputated leg and a man who found it and claims ownership
Kickstarter: successfully funded June 2013
Official Facebook
Finders Keepers – a stranger than fiction documentary
Hot Girls Wanted
Directed by Jill Bauer (Sexy Baby) and Ronna Gradus (Sexy Baby)
Produced by actress Rashida Jones
Executive produced by Abigail Disney (Sergio, Sundance ’09 Editing Award winner; Secrets of the Tribe, Sundance ’10; Hell and Back Again, Sundance ’11 World Documentary Jury Award winner, Oscar nominee; The Invisible War, Sundance ’12 Audience Award winner, Oscar nominee; The Queen of Versailles, Sundance ’13 Directing Award winner; Citizen Koch, Sundance ’13; Open Heart, Oscar nominee) and Gini Reticker (Asylum, Sundance ’03 Short Filmmaker Honorable Mention; The Betrayal, Sundance ’08, Oscar nominee; Citizen Koch, Sundance ‘13)
Edited by Brittany Huckabee (Sexy Baby)
About: amateur pornography and the teenage girls who are going into that industry
Official Website
How to Dance in Ohio
Directed by Alexandra Shiva
Executive produced by Jason Blum (non-doc Whiplash, Sundance ’14 Grand Jury Prize and Audience Award winner)
Shot by Laela Kilbourn (Word Wars, Sundance ’04; American Teen, Sundance ’08 Directing Award winner)
Edited by Toby Shimin (Buck, Sundance ’11 Audience Award winner)
About: autistic teens and young adults preparing for the Spring Formal dance
Official Website
Larry Kramer in Love and Anger
Directed by Jean Carlomusto
About: playwright and LGBT rights activist Larry Kramer
Meru
Directed by Jimmy Chin and Elizabeth Chai Vasarhelyi (Touba)
Edited by Bob Eisenhardt (director of Spaces: The Architecture of Paul Rudolph, Oscar nominee)
Music by J. Ralph (Man on Wire, Sundance ’08 World Documentary Grand Jury Prize and Audience Award winner, Oscar winner; The Cove, Sundance ’09 Audience Award winner, Oscar winner; Hell and Back Again, Sundance ’11 World Documentary Grand Jury Prize winner, Oscar nominee; Chasing Ice, Sundance ’12 Cinematography Award winner, Oscar nominee for Best Song)
About: mountain climbers attempting a never-achieved climb on a part of Mount Meru in the Himalayas
Official Website
Racing Extinction
Directed by Louie Psihoyos (The Cove, Sundance ’09 Audience Award winner, Oscar winner)
Written by Mark Monroe (The Cove, Sundance ’09 Audience Award winner, Oscar winner; The Tillman Story, Sundance ’10; Chasing Ice, Sundance ’12 Cinematography winner, Oscar nominee for Best Song; The Summit, Sundance ’13 World Documentary Editing Award winner; Who is Dayani Cristal?, Sundance ’13 World Documentary Cinematography Award winner; Sound City, Sundance ’13; Fed Up, Sundance ‘14)
Produced by Olivia Ahnemann (The Cove, Sundance ’09 Audience Award winner, Oscar winner) and Fisher Stevens (The Cove, Sundance ’09 Audience Award winner, Oscar winner)
Edited by Geoffrey Richman (Murderball, Sundance ’05 Special Jury Prize and Audience Award winner; God Grew Tired of Us: The Story of Lost Boys of Sudan, Sundance ’06 Grand Jury Prize and Audience Award winner; Sicko, Oscar nominee; (The Cove, Sundance ’09 Audience Award winner, Oscar winner), Lyman Smith and Jason Zeldes (20 Feet from Stardom, Sundance ’13, Oscar winner)
Shot by John Behrens (Miss Representation, Sundance ‘11), Shawn Heinrichs, Sean Kirby (The Tillman Story, Sundance ’10; Happy Valley, Sundance ’14) and Petr Stepanek
Music by J. Ralph (Man on Wire, Sundance ’08 World Documentary Grand Jury Prize and Audience Award winner, Oscar winner; The Cove, Sundance ’09 Audience Award winner, Oscar winner; Hell and Back Again, Sundance ’11 World Documentary Grand Jury Prize winner, Oscar nominee; Chasing Ice, Sundance ’12 Cinematography Award winner, Oscar nominee for Best Song)
About: a mission to expose the people responsible for endangering many of the world’s species
Official Website
Find more videos on the Oceanic Presevation Society’s Vimeo page
(T)error
Directed by Lyric R. Cabral and David Felix Sutcliffe
Produced by Cabral, Sutcliffe and Christopher St. John (Reagan)
About: a covert counterterrorism sting
Official Facebook
Welcome to Leith
Directed by Michael Beach Nichols (Flex is Kings) and Christopher K. Walker
Produced by Nichols, Walker, Joey Cary (Jiro Dreams of Sushi), Jennifer Furst and Joshua Woltermann (Flex is Kings)
Executive produced by Julia Willoughby Nason and Stefan Nowicki (Jiro Dreams of Sushi)
About: a town in North Dakota taken over by a white supremacist
Kickstarter: successfully funded on July 2, 2014
Official Facebook
WELCOME TO LEITH – Feature Documentary
Western
Directed by Bill Ross IV (Tchoupitoulas) and Turner Ross (Tchoupitoulas)
Produced by the Ross brothers and Michael Gottwald (Tchoupitoulas; Oscar nominee for Beasts of the Southern Wild)
Executive produced by Dan Janvey (Tchoupitoulas; Oscar nominee for Beasts of the Southern Wild), Josh Penn (Tchoupitoulas; Oscar nominee for Beasts of the Southern Wild), Bill King and Libby Thompson
About: a nonfiction Western set on the border of Texas and Mexico
The Wolfpack
Directed by Crystal Moselle
Executive produced by Cameron Brodie, Tyler Brodie (99% — The Occupation Wall Street Collaborative Film, Sundance ’13) and actor/comedian David Cross
Edited by Enat Sidi (Jesus Camp; 12th & Delaware, Sundance ’10; Detropia, Sundance ’12 Editing Award winner; Web Junkie, Sundance ‘14)
About: teen brothers who’ve been locked away in their NYC housing project apartment their entire lives
World Documentary Competition
The Amina Profile
Directed by Sophie Deraspe
About: a love story between two women, a Canadian and a Syrian, during the Arab revolution
Official Twitter
Censored Voices
Directed by Mor Loushy
Produced by Hilla Medalia (Web Junkie, Sundance ‘14), Neta Zwebner-Zaibert (Web Junkie, Sundance ’14) and Daniel Sivan
About: long-censored interviews with Israeli soldiers after the Six-Day War as they’re heard for the first time
Official Facebook
The Chinese Mayor
Directed by Hao Zhou
Executive produced by Zhao Qi (Last Train Home, Sundance ‘10)
About: the mayor of Datong, China, and his attempt to turn his city into a major tourism attraction
Chuck Norris vs. Communism
Directed by Ilinca Calugareanu
Executive produced by Brett Ratner, John Battsek (My Kid Could Paint That, Sundance ’07; In the Shadow of the Moon, Sundance ’07, Audience Award winner; In Prison My Whole Life, Sundance ’08; Sergio, Sundance ’09, Editing Award winner; We Live in Public, Sundance ’09, Grand Jury Prize winner; Restrepo, Sundance ’10, Grand Jury Prize winner, Oscar nominee; The Tillman Story, Sundance ’10; Project Nim, Sundance ’10, Directing Award winner; Searching for Sugar Man, Sundance ’12, Special Jury Prize and Audience Award winner, Oscar winner; The Imposter, Sundance ’12; The Summit, Sundance ’13, Editing Award winner; Manhunt, Sundance ’13; The Green Prince, Sundance ’14 World Documentary Audience Award winner; Captivated: The Trials of Pamela Smart, Sundance ’14; Happy Valley, Sundance ‘14), Dan Cogan (Secrets of the Tribe, Sundance ’10; Hell and Back Again, Sundance ’11 World Documentary Jury Award winner, Oscar nominee; The Queen of Versailles, Sundance ’13 Directing Award winner; Detropia, Sundance ’12 Editing Award winner; How to Survive a Plague, Sundance ’12, Oscar nominee; Who is Dayani Cristal?, Sundance ’13 Cinematography Award winner; The Crash Reel, Sundance ’13; American Promise, Sundance ’13 Special Jury Prize winner; Watchers of the Sky, Sundance ’14 Special Jury Prize and Editing Award winner), Nicole Stott (Searching for Sugar Man, Sundance ’12, Special Jury Prize and Audience Award winner, Oscar winner; Manhunt, Sundance ’13; The Green Prince, Sundance ’14 World Documentary Audience Award winner; Captivated: The Trials of Pamela Smart, Sundance ‘14), Jenny Raskin (Web Junkie, Sundance ’14) and James Packer
About: the black market trade of ’80s Hollywood movies on VHS in communist Romania
Indiegogo: partially funded in May 2013
Official Website
Watch Calugareanu’s related New York Times Op-Doc VHS vs. Communism: In Romania, a Voice of Freedom:
Dark Horse
Directed by Louise Osmond (Deep Water)
Produced by Film4, Channel 4 and the BFI Film Fund in association with The Film Agency for Wales and Picturehouse Entertainment
About: a group of friends from a workingman’s club decide to breed a racehorse
Dreamcatcher
Directed by Kim Longinotto (Pink Saris)
Produced by Teddy Leifer (The Invisible War, Sundance ’12 Audience Award winner, Oscar nominee; Who is Dayani Cristal?, Sundance ’13 Cinematography Award winner) and Lisa Stevens
Edited by Oliver Huddleston (Knuckle, Sundance ‘10)
About: a former teen prostitute works to change her community
How to Change the World
Director Jerry Rothwell (Donor Unknown)
Produced by Al Morrow (Donor Unknown) and Bous de Jong
Executive produced by Ian Darling (Hell and Back Again, Sundance ’11 World Documentary Jury Award winner, Oscar nominee), Dan Cogan (Secrets of the Tribe, Sundance ’10; Hell and Back Again, Sundance ’11 World Documentary Jury Award winner, Oscar nominee; The Queen of Versailles, Sundance ’13 Directing Award winner; Detropia, Sundance ’12 Editing Award winner; How to Survive a Plague, Sundance ’12, Oscar nominee; Who is Dayani Cristal?, Sundance ’13 Cinematography Award winner; The Crash Reel, Sundance ’13; American Promise, Sundance ’13 Special Jury Prize winner; Watchers of the Sky, Sundance ’14 Special Jury Prize and Editing Award winner), Stewart Le Marechal (Donor Unknown), Johnny Persey (Donor Unknown), David Wilkinson, Barbara Bowlby and John Brunton
Edited by Jim Scott (The Great Hip Hop Hoax)
About: the pioneers of Greenpeace and modern environmentalism
Listen to Me Marlon
Directed by Stevan Riley (Fire in Babylon)
Produced by John Battsek (My Kid Could Paint That, Sundance ’07; In the Shadow of the Moon, Sundance ’07, Audience Award winner; In Prison My Whole Life, Sundance ’08; Sergio, Sundance ’09, Editing Award winner; We Live in Public, Sundance ’09, Grand Jury Prize winner; Restrepo, Sundance ’10, Grand Jury Prize winner, Oscar nominee; The Tillman Story, Sundance ’10; Project Nim, Sundance ’10, Directing Award winner; Searching for Sugar Man, Sundance ’12, Special Jury Prize and Audience Award winner, Oscar winner; The Imposter, Sundance ’12; The Summit, Sundance ’13, Editing Award winner; Manhunt, Sundance ’13; The Green Prince, Sundance ’14 World Documentary Audience Award winner; Captivated: The Trials of Pamela Smart, Sundance ’14; Happy Valley, Sundance ‘14), George Chignell (Fire in Babylon; Project Nim, Sundance ’10, Directing Award winner; Searching for Sugar Man, Sundance ’12, Special Jury Prize and Audience Award winner, Oscar winner; The Great Invisible) and R.J. Cutler (The War Room, Oscar nominee; Thin, Sundance ’06; The September Issue, Sundance ’09 Cinematography Award winner; The World According to Dick Cheney, Sundance ‘13)
Executive produced by Andrew Ruhemann (One Day in September; My Kid Could Paint That, Sundance ’07; Sergio, Sundance ’09 Editing Award winner; The Tillman Story, Sundance ’10; Fire in Babylon; Project Nim, Sundance ’10, Directing Award winner; Searching for Sugar Man, Sundance ’12, Special Jury Prize and Audience Award winner, Oscar winner; Captivated: The Trials of Pamela Smart, Sundance ’14; The Great Invisible)
About: the life and career of Marlon Brando, in his own words
Pervert Park
Directed by Frida Barkfors and Lasse Barkfors
Produced by Frida Barkfors and Anne Köhncke (The Act of Killing; The Look of Silence)
About: sex offenders living in a Florida trailer park trying to rejoin society
Official Facebook
The Russian Woodpecker
Directed by Chad Gracia
Produced by Ram Devineni and Mike Lerner (Afghan Star, Sundance ’09 World Documentary Directing Award and Audience Award winner; Hell and Back Again, Sundance ’11 World Documentary Jury Award winner, Oscar nominee; Pussy Riot: A Punk Prayer, Sundance ’13 World Documentary Special Jury Winner; The Square, Sundance ’13 World Documentary Audience Award winner, Oscar nominee)
About: a Chernobyl survivor who discovers a dark secret and has to decide if he should reveal it
Official Website
Sembene!
Directed by Samba Gadjigo and Jason Silverman (Olympia)
About: novelist and filmmaker Ousmane Sembene
Kickstarter: crowdfunding campaign currently going on
Official Website
The Visit
Directed by Michael Madsen (Into Eternity: A Film for the Future)
About: our first encounter with aliens, which hasn’t happened yet but is nevertheless explored via the U.N.’s Office for Outer Space Affairs, space agencies and scientists
