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The LGBTQ Films of Sundance 2019
Much ado has been made about Jake Gyllenhaal and his performance as Morf Vandewalt, a gay art critic, in Netflix's Velvet Buzzsaw. But if you're at the Sundance Film Festival, which runs from January 24 to February 3, 2019, there are plenty of other queer films, short films, and special events to see. Take a look at some of the LGBTQ highlights below, and visit Sundance.org for more information.
Photos and descriptions courtesy of Sundance.
Velvet Buzzsaw / Premieres
A thriller set in the contemporary-art world of Los Angeles, where big money, artists, and mega-collectors pay a high price when art collides with commerce.
Cast: Jake Gyllenhaal, Rene Russo, Toni Collette, Zawe Ashton, Tom Sturridge, Natalia Dyer; Director and Screenwriter: Dan Gilroy; Producer: Jennifer Fox; World Premiere
Halston / Documentary Premieres
From Iowa to Studio 54, this investigation into the rags-to-riches story of America's first superstar designer uncovers the cautionary tale of an artist who sold his name to Wall Street.
Director and Screenwriter: Frederic Tcheng; Producers: Roland Ballester, Stephanie Levy, Paul Dallas; World Premiere
Where's My Roy Cohn? / U.S. Documentary Competition
Roy Cohn personified the dark arts of American politics, turning empty vessels into dangerous demagogues -- from Joseph McCarthy to his final project, Donald J. Trump. This thriller-like expose connects the dots, revealing how a deeply troubled master manipulator shaped our current American nightmare.
Director: Matt Tyrnauer; Producers: Matt Tyrnauer, Corey Reeser, Marie Brenner, Joyce Deep, Andrea Lewis; World Premiere
This Is Not Berlin / World Dramatic Competition
1986, Mexico City. Seventeen-year-old Carlos doesn't fit in anywhere -- not in his family nor with the friends he has chosen in school. But everything changes when he is invited to a mythical nightclub, where he discovers the underground nightlife scene: punk, sexual liberty, and drugs.
Cast: Xabiani Ponce de Leon, Jose Antonio Toledano, Ximena Romo, Mauro Sanchez Navarro, Klaudia Garcia, Marina de Tavira; Director: Hari Sama; Screenwriters: Rodrigo Ordonez, Hari Sama, Max Zunino; Producers: Ale Garcia, Antonio Urdapilleta, Hari Sama, Veronica Valadez P.; World Premiere
Before You Know It / U.S. Dramatic Competition
A long-kept family secret thrusts codependent, thirtysomething sisters Rachel and Jackie Gurner into a literal soap opera. A journey that proves that you really can come of age, at any age.
Cast: Hannah Pearl Utt, Jen Tullock, Judith Light, Mandy Patinkin, Mike Colter, Alec Baldwin; Director: Hannah Pearl Utt; Screenwriters: Hannah Pearl Utt, Jen Tullock; Producers: Mallory Schwartz, Josh Hetzler, James Brown; World Premiere
To The Stars / U.S. Dramatic Competition
Under small-town scrutiny, a withdrawn farmer's daughter forges an intimate friendship with a worldly but reckless new girl in 1960s Oklahoma.
Cast: Kara Hayward, Liana Liberato, Jordana Spiro, Shea Whigham, Malin Akerman, Tony Hale; Director: Martha Stephens; Screenwriter: Shannon Bradley-Colleary; Producers: Kristin Mann, Laura D. Smith, Erik Rommesmo; World Premiere
Adam / Next
Awkward teenager Adam arrives to spend his final high-school summer with his older sister, who has thrown herself into New York City's lesbian and trans activist scene. Over the summer, Adam and those around him experience love, friendship, and attendant hard truths in this coming-of-age comedy.
Cast: Nicholas Alexander, Bobbi Salvor Menuez, Leo Sheng, Chloe Levine, Margaret Qualley; Director: Rhys Ernst; Screenwriter: Ariel Schrag; Producers: Howard Gertler, James Schamus; World Premiere
Delivery Girl / Indie Episodic
Trisha is a woman struggling with her identity, living in a fiercely Catholic household leading a double life: selling drugs to make ends meet and carrying on having an affair. She fights for the courage to embrace her future as the first of many delivery girls.
Cast: Kate Krieger, Adam LeFevre, Liz Larsen, Joe Holt; Director and Screenwriter: Kate Krieger; World Premiere
Work in Progress / Indie Episodic
After her therapist dies mid-session and she begins to date a trans man, Abby is forced to re-evaluate her life choices, her dating options, and whether or not to confront the woman responsible for "ruining her life": SNL's Julia Sweeney.
Cast: Abby McEnany, Theo Germaine, Karin Anglin, Celeste Pechous, Julia Sweeney, Alison Gates; Creators and Screenwriters: Abby McEnany, Tim Mason; World Premiere
Girls Weekend / Indie Episodic
When a queer daughter returns home to Las Vegas for a "girls weekend" with her estranged, homophobic sister and people-pleasing mother, her gun-toting dad lets it slip that her mother's cancer is back with a vengeance, forcing her to decide whether or not she can rejoin her family.
Cast: Ali Liebegott, Linda Lavin, Amy Landecker, Ken Jenkins; Director: Kyra Sedgwick, Creator: Ali Liebegott ; World Premiere
Lockdown / Shorts
Struggling with feelings for her best friend, 14-year-old Marie stages an almost perfect plan.
Directors and Screenwriters: Celine Held, Logan George; World Premiere
Fran This Summer / Shorts
Teenage lovebirds Fran and Angie spend the summer at home while Fran begins their transition. They must face who and what they mean to each other when they visit the beach, their love on display for all to see.
Director and Screenwriter: Mary Evangelista
Kado (A Gift) / Shorts
Isfi can wear her comfortable pants among her male friends, but she has to wear a hijab to be accepted at Nita's house. With two days until Nita's birthday, all Isfi wants is to prepare the best gift in Nita's room.
Director and Screenwriter: Aditya Ahmad; U.S. Premiere
Lavender / Shorts
A young gay man grows increasingly entangled in the marriage of an older couple.
Director and Screenwriter: Matthew Puccini; World Premiere
How Does It Start / Shorts
With her self-absorbed parents distracted by their recent divorce, 12-year-old Rain is left alone to navigate the complexities of love and adulthood -- and learns to do it her own way.
Director and Screenwriter: Amber Sealey; World Premiere
Docking / Shorts
Trevor reflects on his fear of dating.
Director and Screenwriter: Trevor Anderson; World Premiere
Fuck You / Shorts
Alice is together with Johannes, but she doesn't have enough space to be herself. On a night out with friends, she steals a strap-on and challenges her boyfriend's thoughts about girls.
Director and Screenwriter: Anette Sidor; U.S. Premiere
Now Apocalypse / Special Events
Ulysses and his friends are trying to navigate Los Angeles as they pursue love, sex, and fame. Between dating-app adventures, Ulysses grows increasingly troubled as foreboding dreams make him paranoid -- or maybe he's just smoking too much weed.
Cast: Avan Jogia, Kelli Berglund, Beau Mirchoff, Roxane Mesquida; Director: Gregg Araki; Executive Producers: Gregg Araki, Gregory Jacobs, Steven Soderbergh; World Premiere
