By Bailey Pennick
One of the most exciting things about the Sundance Film Festival is having a front-row seat for the bright future of independent filmmaking. While we can learn a lot about the filmmakers from the 2025 Sundance Film Festival through the art that these storytellers share with us, there's always more we can learn about them as people. We decided to get to the bottom of those artistic wells with our ongoing series: Give Me the Backstory!
I've wanted to premiere a film at Sundance ever since I saw Little Miss Sunshine, says Carmen Emmi. The writer-director of Plainclothes, premiering in the U.S. Dramatic Competition, immediately felt the power of a great story flashing up on a gigantic screen. The experience of watching that film in a packed theater with my dad, mom, and brother is still the best moviegoing experience I've ever had.
Now Emmi will make his Festival and feature debut with Plainclothes. The film is a complex thriller featuring strong performances by Tom Blyth and Russel Tovey as an undercover cop exposing gay men (Blyth) and the target he falls in love with (Tovey). Through unique shots and tightly wound twists, the film asks its audience to think about times when you were hiding in plain sight or policing your feelings for the world around you.
Thankfully Emmi knows how to let his true feelings out: When I got the call from Ash Hoyle to say that Plainclothes got into Sundance, I may or may not have screamed like Olive when she found out that she got into the Little Miss Sunshine pageant but truthfully I don't remember because I completely blacked out.
Read more about Emmi's inspiration for the film, his favorite moments with his cast, and his current list of creative heroes below.
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