[News] Sundance Film Festival 2021's LGBTQ+ Films and Shorts Program Offers Tons of Diversity!

I will be covering the Sundance Film Festival 2021 for Gayly Dreadful and as I was making my schedule, I discovered a plethora of queer content, from horror films to documentaries to short films and projects.

This lineup has a diverse and eclectic range of LGBTQ+ films, from the documentary Ailey on dancer and choreographer Alvin Aliley by award-winning filmmaker Jamila Wignot to My Name is Pauli Murray about the trailblazer from the directors of the RGB doc, and two horror features Knocking and We’re All Going to the World’s Fair, among many others.

The core of the Sundance Film Festival is online this year and audiences can watch the films, short films and projects from anywhere in the United States (global audiences can participate in the talks, events and New Frontier section). Single tickets and passes are currently on sale at this link.

To celebrate, I’ve composed a list of features, shorts, indie series and VR projects that have LGBTQ+ connections, either through the production, the story and/or the creator.

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FEATURES

Ailey

U.S.A (Director: Jamila Wignot, Producer: Lauren DeFilippo)

Alvin Ailey was a visionary artist who found salvation through dance. Told in his own words and through the creation of a dance inspired by his life, this immersive portrait follows a man who, when confronted by a world that refused to embrace him, determined to build one that would. World Premiere

Flee

Denmark, France, Sweden, Norway (Director: Jonas Poher Rasmussen, Producers: Monica Hellström, Signe Byrge Sørensen)

Amin arrived as an unaccompanied minor in Denmark from Afghanistan. Today, he is a successful academic and is getting married to his long-time boyfriend. A secret he has been hiding for 20 years threatens to ruin the life he has built. World Premiere

Knocking

Sweden (Director: Frida Kempff, Screenwriter: Emma Broström, Producer: Erik Andersson)

When Molly moves into her new apartment after a tragic accident, a strange noise from upstairs begins to unnerve her. As its intensity grows, she confronts her neighbors – but no one seems to hear what she is hearing. Cast: Cecilia Milocco. World Premiere

Ma Belle, My Beauty

U.S.A., France (Director and Screenwriter: Marion Hill, Producers: Ben Matheny, Kelsey Scult, Marion Hill)

A surprise reunion in southern France reignites passions and jealousies between two women who were formerly polyamorous lovers. Cast: Idella Johnson, Hannah Pepper, Lucien Guignard, Sivan Noam Shimon. World Premiere

My Name is Pauli Murray

U.S.A. (Directors: Betsy West, Julie Cohen, Producer: Talleah Bridges McMahon)

Overlooked by history, Pauli Murray was a legal trailblazer whose ideas influenced RBG's fight for gender equality and Thurgood Marshall's landmark civil rights arguments. Featuring never-before-seen footage and audio recordings, a portrait of Murray's impact as a non-binary Black luminary: lawyer, activist, poet, and priest who transformed our world. World Premiere, Documentary

We're All Going to the World's Fair

U.S.A. (Director and Screenwriter: Jane Schoenbrun, Producers: Sarah Winshall, Carlos Zozaya)

A teenage girl becomes immersed in an online role-playing game. Cast: Anna Cobb, Michael J. Rogers. World Premiere

The World to Come

U.S.A. (Director: Mona Fastvold, Screenwriters: Ron Hansen, Jim Shepard, Producers: Casey Affleck, Whitaker Lader, Pamela Koffler, David Hinojosa, Margarethe Baillou)

Somewhere along the mid-nineteenth century American East Coast frontier, two neighboring couples battle hardship and isolation, witnessed by a splendid yet testing landscape, challenging them both physically and psychologically. Cast: Katherine Waterston, Vanessa Kirby, Casey Affleck, Christopher Abbott. North American Premiere

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SHORTS

This is the Way We Rise

U.S.A. (Director: Ciara Lacy)

An exploration into the creative process, following Native Hawaiian slam poet Jamaica Heolimeleikalani Osorio, as her art is reinvigorated by her calling to protect sacred sites atop Maunakea, Hawai`i.

Unliveable

Brazil (Directors and Screenwriters: Matheus Farias, Enock Carvalho)

In Brazil, where a trans person is murdered every three days, Marilene searches for her daughter Roberta, a trans woman who is missing. While running out of time, she discovers one hope for the future. North American Premiere

Trepanation

U.S.A. (Director: Nick Flaherty)

What was once familiar is now unrecognizable. All previous desires are overshadowed by the need to disappear completely.

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NEW FRONTIER

4 Feet High

Argentina, France (Directors: María Belén Poncio, Rosario Perazolo Masjoan, Executive Producers: Ezequiel Lenardón, Marie Blondiaux)

Juana, a 17-year-old wheelchair user, aims to explore her sexuality but is ashamed of her body. Trying to find her place in a new high school, she will go through failure, friendship, fear and politics until she builds her own pride. Cast: Marisol Agostina Irigoyen, Florencia Licera, Marcio Ramses, Natalia Di Cienzo, Francisca Spinotti. World Premiere

Weirdo Night

U.S.A. (Lead Artists: Jibz Cameron, Mariah Garnett)

A filmed edition, hosted by Dynasty Handbag, of the wildly popular, underground, eponymous live performance and comedy event that, until COVID-19, was held monthly in Los Angeles. Cast: Patti Harrison, Smiling Beth, Morgan Bassichis, Sarah Squirm, Hedia Maron, Blasia Discoteca.