Each year, Diplomatic Courier looks to the Sundance Film Festival for stories of global reach and importance. Both online and in-person, the 2024 festival takes place this year from 18-28 January 2024, compiling showings of some of the best independent films to come. This year’s selections range from captivating accounts of individuals around the world to dominating topics such as AI and wellbeing. Here are ten full-length features to look forward to from the 2024 Sundance Film Festival.
FRIDA, CARLA GUTIÉRREZ. U.S. DOCUMENTARY COMPETITION.
FRIDA, directed by Carla Gutiérrez, documents the life and art of renowned Mexican painter, Frida Kahlo. The movie draws from Kahlo’s diary, allowing for accurate documentation told through animation inspired by her artwork. This movie will illuminate one of the most significant artists of the 20th century.
PORCELAIN WAR, BRENDAN BELLOMO & SLAVA LEONTYEV. U.S. DOCUMENTARY COMPETITION.
As Russia’s War in Ukraine nears its two-year anniversary this upcoming February, Porcelain War, directed by Brendan Bellomo and Slava Leontyev, captures art amidst ruin. The film follows three Ukrainian artists, Slava, Anya, and Andrey, and their experiences as soldiers and the art they utilize to help fight the erasure of Ukrainian identity.
IN THE LAND OF BROTHERS, RAHA AMIRFAZLI & ALIREZA GHASEMI. WORLD CINEMA DRAMATIC COMPETITION.
Nearly 5 million Afghan refugees live in Iran. In the Land of Brothers, directed by Raha Amirfazli and Alireza Ghasemi, follows the life of three members of an extended Afghan family as they begin their life as refugees in Iran. Over decades, the stories reflect the life of a refugee in Iran and the fragile legal status that hangs overhead.
AGENT OF HAPPINESS, ARUN BHATTARAI & DOROTTYA ZURBÓ. WORLD CINEMA DOCUMENTARY COMPETITION.
We all want to find happiness. However, the global rise of unhappiness continues. Agent of Happiness, directed by Arun Bhattarai and Dorottya Zurbó, follows Amber, an agent working for the Bhutanese government to measure people’s happiness levels among communities in the Himalayan mountains. The film sheds light on Bhutan’s happiness policy, and how it might speak to the larger wellbeing discourse taking hold around the world.
BLACK BOX DIARIES, SHIORI ITO. WORLD CINEMA DOCUMENTARY COMPETITION.
Black Box Diaries, directed by journalist Shiori Ito, follows Ito’s investigation of her own sexual assault. In an effort to prosecute her offender, her attempt becomes a landmark case in Japan, adding to the themes of the #MeToo movement sparked in the late 2010s. The film demonstrates the power of judicial and societal systems that still make it difficult for women to speak out about sexual assault, while becoming a visual journal documenting the story of Ito’s investigation.
ETERNAL YOU, HANS BLOCK & MORITZ RIESEWIECK. WORLD CINEMA DOCUMENTARY COMPETITION.
As the topic of artificial intelligence (AI) captures the hopes and fears of many, Eternal You, directed by Hans Block & Moritz Riesewieck, examines companies using AI to create avatars that allow users to talk with loved ones who have died. The film delves into this new frontier that will make waves as generative AI advances. Whether exciting or scary, this film is likely to show what’s next for this technology.
IGUALADA, JUAN MEJÍA BOTERO. WORLD CINEMA DOCUMENTARY COMPETITION.
IGUALADA, directed by Juan Mejía Botero, follows Francia Márquez, a Black Colombian activist who began a presidential campaign that reappropriated the derogatory term “Igualada” meaning, “someone who acts as if they deserve rights that supposedly don’t correspond to them.” Botero’s film arises from exclusive access to Márquez’s campaign and her fight against inequality which eventually led her to Colombia’s Vice Presidency.
NEVER LOOK AWAY, LUCY LAWLESS. WORLD CINEMA DOCUMENTARY COMPETITION.
In a documentary following CNN camerawoman Margaret Moth, Never Look Away, directed by Lucy Lawless, chronicles how Moth shows war from the inside. The film captures the danger that Moth and camera operators face in this profession, while also giving a view on some of the most dangerous conflicts in the world..
SOUNDTRACK TO A COUP D’ETAT, JOHAN GRIMONPREZ. WORLD CINEMA DOCUMENTARY COMPETITION.
In 1960, musicians Abbey Lincoln and Max Roach protested racial injustice as the United Nations Security Council convened. In parallel, in 1960, the U.S. sent jazz legend Louis Armstrong to the Congo to distract the public from its first African post-colonial coup. Soundtrack to a Coup d’Etat examines these events and more—stories that speak to the current state of the Democratic Republic of the Congo and ultimately the geopolitics of today.
THE BATTLE OF LAIKIPIA, DAPHNE MATZIARAKI & PETER MURIMI. WORLD CINEMA DOCUMENTARY COMPETITION.
In Laikipia, Kenya, a generations-old conflict between indigenous farmers and white landowners is documented in The Battle for Laikipia directed by Daphne Matziaraki & Peter Murimi. The climate crisis and historical injustices exacerbate the conflict; while the film also demonstrates ongoing themes of environmentalism, colonialism, and conservationism and their impact on the indigenous community of Laikipia.
