By Katie Small
From 1985's Before Stonewall to 2017's Call Me By Your Name, provocative queer film has been a staple of the Sundance Film Festival throughout our 40-year history. This year's slate continues the tradition with a strong selection of highly anticipated premieres featuring an array of fresh LGBTQ+ stories. Read on for a watchlist of queer-inclusive films ranging from comedy to drama to fascinating nonfiction, with themes of trans history, lesbian love, gender fluidity and more.
Part of the boundary-pushing indie episodic program, the short My Trip to Spain's comedic punches swing from subtle to satirical in a refreshing and unique take on transgender transition and queer hookup culture.
Transgender identity is touched upon in the Spanish-language drama The Cow Who Sang a Song Into the Future, while the documentary Framing Agnes provides a well-researched investigation into the lived experiences of transgender pioneers from the 1960s.
Meanwhile, Sirens, AM I OK?, Girl Picture, and Marte Um (Mars One) prominently feature the stories of young lesbians as they struggle to gain acceptance on both personal and political levels.
Finally, the documentary We Met in Virtual Reality has something for everyone - queer, straight, or somewhere in between - as humans continue to explore the ever-expanding metaverse and all that it offers our species in terms of personal discovery and communal understanding.
My Trip to Spain (Indie Episodic) - Self-described autodidact Alexis prepares to leave her LA bungalow in the care of her friend Charlie as she heads to Spain to undergo transitional cosmetic surgery. Once he arrives, Charlie wastes no time in trying to persuade Alexis to call it off. As he rails against unrealistic beauty standards perpetuated by social media, his sardonic straight-talking New Yorker energy contrasts with the sunny, laidback Southern California vibe. After Alexis leaves, Charlie turns his attention to the awkward neighbor-turned-handyman Bruno.
Meet the Artist: Theda Hammel on My Trip to Spain
The Cow Who Sang a Song Into the Future (World Drama) - Magical realism propels the melodrama in The Cow Who Sang a Song Into the Future; the mysterious resurrection of her long-dead mother forces Cecilia to return home to her family's dairy farm in southern Chile. Once there, she struggles to find common ground with her estranged brother and father while grappling with the budding transgender identity of her eldest child, who seeks acceptance and connection.
Meet the Artist: Francisca Alegr a on The Cow Who Sang a Song Into the Future
Framing Agnes (NEXT) - Playing on traditional documentary form in unique and innovative ways, Framing Agnes traces the lives of the transgender men and women who took part in Harold Garfinkel's gender health research at UCLA in the 1960s. With inimitable style and remarkable thoroughness, a group of trans actors, led by director Chase Joynt, piece together the individual histories of the transgender men and women who contributed to medical research at great personal risk.
Meet the Artist: Chase Joynt on Framing Agnes
Sirens (World Documentary) - Set against the backdrop of civil unrest in Beirut, Sirens follows the trajectory of an all-woman thrash metal band - an anomaly in most places, and most certainly in Lebanon. All in their early- to mid-twenties, the five bandmates navigate protective parents, the ups and downs of creative collaboration, and friendship entangled with romantic love. Lebanese law prohibits sexual relations that contradict the laws of nature - and this fact weights heavily on Lilas Mayassi and Sherry Bechara, the band's guitarists, co-founders, and the main subjects of the documentary.
AM I OK? (Premieres) - Best friends since high school, Lucy and Jane do everything together. But right when bold, confident Jane gets a job promotion that will send her back to her native London, introspective, artistic Lucy realizes her sexuality is not as hetero as she once assumed. Their friendship is tested as the two women navigate the ensuing upheaval. Via an early-thirties identity crisis, AM I OK? is a millennial coming-of-age story of personal awakening.
Meet the Artist: Tig Notaro and Stephanie Allynne on AM I OK?
Girl Picture (World Dramatic) - Set in Finland and taking place over three consecutive Fridays, Girl Picture follows three college-age women as they navigate the liminal age between childhood and adulthood. Best friends Mimmi and R nkk are the closest of confidants, divulging their sexual frustrations and romantic aspirations while working at a smoothie kiosk in a Helsinki shopping mall. The volatile and edgy Mimmi begins a sudden romance with Emma, a driven but repressed figure skater with a disciplined training regime. Meanwhile, the whimsical R nkk awkwardly navigates an ever-expanding dating pool of young men, determined to experience sexual pleasure. Girl Picture paints an intimate and insightful portrait of young love and female friendship, delivered via the amplified, complex emotions of teenage life.
Meet the Artist: Alli Haapasalo on Girl Picture
Marte Um (Mars One) (World Dramatic) - Providing a peek into the daily life and dynamics of a working-class Brazilian family, Marte Um (Mars One) follows eldest daughter Eunice, college student and activist whose unfolding lesbian romance with the free-spirited Joana emboldens her to branch out; Wellington, hardworking, overbearing father and recovering alcoholic; T rcia, compassionate and nurturing mother plagued by bad luck; and youngest son Deivinho, whose dreams of becoming an astronaut and traveling to Mars clash with his father's expectations.
We Met in Virtual Reality (World Documentary Competition) - In virtual reality (VR) you can be whatever you want. Kermit the frog? Sure. A furby? Why not? Your avatar can h
North America Stories
14/05/2022
Critics of the $8 billion-plus purchase of Tegnas TV station group by investment fund Standard General have told the FCC it needs to collect more data on the pr...
14/05/2022
Comedies Kenan and Mr. Mayor, and drama The Endgame will not return on NBC. Kenan lasted two seasons, as did Mr. Mayor. The Endgame lasted one....
14/05/2022
Gray Television said it named Ron Bartholomew as general manager of WNDU-TV, South Bend, Indiana....
14/05/2022
Nielsen, which has agreed to be acquired by a private-equity group led by Elliott Investment Management, said that its go-shop period has expired without an alt...
14/05/2022
The FCC, Department of Agriculture, National Telecommunications & Information Administration (all of which oversee broadband subsidy programs) and the Treasure ...
14/05/2022
Lisa White has been named vice president and news director at KPIX-KBCW San Francisco Bay Area, which are part of the CBS News and Stations group. She has been ...
14/05/2022
CBS has ordered three dramas for the 2022-2023 season, cop drama East New York, firefighter drama Fire Country and private investigator drama So Help Me Todd....
14/05/2022
Warner Bros. Discovery's U.S. Networks Group will be reorganized under Kathleen Finch, chairman and chief content officer, with long-time Discovery executiv...
14/05/2022
Natasha Lyonne will host the season finale of Saturday Night Live on NBC May 21. It is her first time hosting....
14/05/2022
ABC has renewed unscripted series America's Funniest Home Videos, American I...
14/05/2022
BRISTOL, Conn. ESPN has unveiled a record-setting 23-game NFL slate for the 2022 Season that includes 21 regular season games, plus the Monday night Super Wild ...
14/05/2022
SAN FRANCISCO Veteran local news executive Lisa White has been named vice presid...
14/05/2022
MIAMI TelevisaUnivision's audio network Uforia has announced that it is expanding its podcast offerings....
14/05/2022
ATLANTA Gray Television has named Ron Bartholomew the new general manager of WNDU, the NBC affiliate in South Bend, Indiana (DMA 99)....
14/05/2022
FREMONT, Calif. Blackmagic Design has announced that a Blackmagic URSA Mini Pro 12K digital film camera was used to capture visual effects (VFX) plates for the ...
14/05/2022
MUNICH Rohde & Schwarz has announced that its high-performance intelligent storage network, as well as its media servers for content preparation have been deplo...
14/05/2022
NEW YORK The NFL and Amazon Prime Video have unveiled the schedule for the Thursday Night Football (TNF) games that will be streamed exclusively on Prime Video....
14/05/2022
Kendrick Lamars New Album Is Full of Berklee Collaborators Berklee alumni played significant roles in every step of the creation of Kendricks double album, Mr...
13/05/2022
-- John Nein is a senior programmer for the Sundance Institute....
13/05/2022
Ryan Coogler and Ludwig G ransson have worked together on several films, including Fruitvale Station.
By Vanessa Zimmer
Why do people say they watched a movie...
13/05/2022
Nations around the world - from the Pacific Ocean to the Baltic Sea - are facing increasingly aggressive actions from adversarial superpowers and terrorist orga...
13/05/2022
Imagine the scene: it's midday, and, somewhere in eastern Europe, a special operations team patrols through thick woodland to find and fix enemy positions c...
13/05/2022
SAN JOSE, Calif. Roku has announced that its most powerful streaming player, the Roku Ultra, will include Roku's top-of-the-line remote, the Roku Voice Remo...
13/05/2022
LOS ANGELES Scener, a destination for finding and sharing streaming entertainment, has announced the launch of a new mobile application designed to enhance and ...
13/05/2022
TEL AVIV, Israel Radcom has announced that it was selected by Dish Wireless to provide its Radcom Ace solution to monitor customers experience across Dishs 5G S...
13/05/2022
WASHINGTON, D.C. The NAB Leadership Foundation (NABLF) has announced that it is now accepting applications for the 2023 Technology Apprenticeship Program (TAP)....
13/05/2022
LAGUNA BEACH, Calif. Gaian Solutions unveiled its Mobius Marketplace NextGen TV monetization platform, an AI-based ATSC 3.0 spectrum planning tool intended to e...
13/05/2022
Blackbird plc announced the appointment of Sumit Rai as chief product officer. He will join the company in June, to lead the strategic development and direction...
13/05/2022
STAMFORD, Conn. & PHILADELPHIA, Penn. Charter Communications and Comcast Corporation have selected Marcien Jenckes as president of their recently announced stre...
13/05/2022
Julius P. Williams Composes Song for 54th Massachusetts Regiment Memorial Rededi...
13/05/2022
At BroadcastAsia 2022, Broadpeak will highlight how pay-TV operators, content providers, and OTT players can provide a compelling video streaming experience to ...
13/05/2022
Rohde & Schwarz, a global leader in broadcast media technologies, has today anno...
13/05/2022
Zero Density is proud to announce that its AI-powered, talent-tracking system, TRAXIS talentS, has won a Product of the Year award at this year's NAB! The a...
13/05/2022
The way I found out about Studio One and PreSonus: I had lunch with Bob Moses (president of the Audio Engineering Society at one time) and I asked him some que...
13/05/2022
NAB 2022 Perspectives: Cobalt Digitals Suzana Brady on Foreseeing the Challenges...
13/05/2022
BT Group forms a new premium sports joint venture with Warner Bros. Discovery an...
13/05/2022
SVG Returns to Sydney for SVG Australia Summit on June 1 Register now to attend event at Telstra Customer Insight Centre in Sydney By SVG Staff
Friday, May 1...
13/05/2022
NAB 2022 Perspectives: Vizrt CTO Gerhard Lang on the Future of Adaptive Graphics...
13/05/2022
Families in Recovery: Susan Ford on Her Mother's Legacy and the Founding of ...
13/05/2022
BURLINGTON, Mass., May 13, 2022 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) -- Progress (Nasdaq: PRGS), the trusted provider of infrastructure software, today announced that Anthony Folge...
13/05/2022
Recently, I did some mix consulting on a 60-track project centered around Ukrainian relief-and as someone who usually works with far fewer tracks, it reminded m...
13/05/2022
When it comes to safety, efficiency and sustainability, autonomous vehicles are delivering a clean sweep.
Autonomous vehicle company and NVIDIA Inception membe...
13/05/2022
Tune in to watch the final show of Brain Game s 26th season on Saturday, May 14, 2022, at noon on WRAL-TV.
WRAL-TV Local Production Producer Scott Reid wrote t...
12/05/2022
-- Pilot Program Directs Individual Support to Pandemic-Affected Nonfiction St...
12/05/2022
As the global leader in tactical radio, broadband networking and integrated vision solutions, L3Harris Technologies is well positioned to provide advanced capab...
12/05/2022
2:40 - 3:00 PM PT in room 520c
The Nancy Grace Roman Space Telescope (RST) is a Hubble-size telescope with a large field of view for large surveys of the sky, ...
12/05/2022
L3Harris Technologies has led the way in offering solutions for converging traditional Land Mobile Radio (LMR) communications and LTE carriers with the latest i...
12/05/2022
GoPro Family member Shon Bollock recently set out to document he and his father ...
By Katie Small
