
-- By Laura Kern
It's common practice for filmmakers to start out their careers, exploring and fine-tuning their craft, by making short films. The selection of titles highlighted here are new features by directors who previously premiered their early short works at the Sundance Film Festival. They are returning this year with an original film or, in the case of Emergency, a feature adaptation of an existing short.
The short film format serves to showcase future talent, and it remains an important component at the Festival, with 10 designated programs this year, including a special 40th Anniversary showcase, with works by directors like Taika Waititi, Garrett Bradley, and Tamara Jenkins.
The features screening in the 2022 Sundance Film Festival by shorts alumni all exhibit the expanding talents of filmmakers who will surely continue to be a part of Festival lineups in the years and decades to come.
blood (U.S. Dramatic) - Bradley Rust Gray's work as a producer and editor for partner So Yong Kim has been represented at the Festival in the years since his short hITCH debuted in 2010, but blood is his first time appearing as a feature director. The sensitive, meditative film addressing the painful but necessary process of moving on stars Carla Juri as a recently widowed woman visiting Japan who finds increasing comfort in the company of her friend Toshi and his young daughter.
The Cow Who Sang A Song Into The Future (World Dramatic) - A Short Film Jury Award winner in 2017, And the Whole Sky Fit in the Dead Cow's Eye was recognized for the striking voice and visual style of Chilean filmmaker Francisca Alegr a. Her debut feature, The Cow Who Sang A Song Into The Future, also a provocatively titled tale of magical realism, focuses on an environmental crisis that precipitates the return of a long-dead mother to her family, bringing along a deeply buried secret. Director Francisca Alegria talks about the film in this Meet the Artist video.
Dual (U.S. Dramatic) - With just three features, Riley Stearns has distinguished himself as a filmmaker with a truly original voice: hilariously deadpan, darkly disturbing, and always whip-smart. In 2013, he premiered his short The Cub at the Festival, and will now present the first of his features to play here. In Dual, Karen Gillan plays a dying woman named Sarah who decides to commission a clone that can carry on her life after she departs. But when she unexpectedly recovers, it becomes a bloody battle between the two Sarahs. Writer-director Riley Stearns talks about the film in this Meet the Artist video.
Emergency (U.S. Dramatic) - Carey Williams's 12-minute short film of the same name won a Special Jury Award at the Festival in 2018. Four years later, the feature version is set to have its world premiere. In the dark comedy, a trio of college roommates, all Black and Latino, find a passed-out white girl in their apartment and must decide how to best handle the potentially disastrous situation. Director Carey Williams talks about the film in this Meet the Artist video.
Emily the Criminal (Premieres) - Writer-director John Patton Ford, who debuted his AFI thesis film Patrol at the 2010 Festival, returns with this intense thriller, the first film of any length he's directed since then. Sundance Film Festival fixture Aubrey Plaza owns the lead role of the feisty Emily, a young woman who, unable to secure a job that will get her out of debt, finds herself falling deeper and deeper into a world of crime to make cash.
Most recent headlines
05/01/2027
Worlds first 802.15.4ab-UWB chip verified by Calterah and Rohde & Schwarz to be ...
09/10/2026
September 10 2026, 06:00 (PDT) Dolby Expands Dolby OptiView Platform with New Capabilities at IBC 2026
New Sports Intelligence helps providers better unders...
08/10/2026
Modern venues have come a long way since the tinny, echoing audio of the mid 20t...
08/10/2026
ESPN's first Super Bowl production will stream in English and Spanish on Disney+, while the ESPN App carries the full slate of game, ManningCast, studio, an...
08/10/2026
From high-school videoboards to War Eagle Productions, the Opelika native is learning how to lead shows and capture big moments
The future of live sports produ...
08/10/2026
The Television Academy and Prime Video have announced a six-year agreement making Prime Video the exclusive global home of the Emmy Awards beginning with the 20...
08/10/2026
Techex will exhibit at NAB Show New York 2026 (Booth 623, Javits Center, October...
08/10/2026
X Games has announced the appointment of Steve Rogers as Chief Operating Officer. Rogers previously served as COO of World Supercross and spent nearly a decade ...
08/10/2026
Fonn Group has appointed Trevor Spielmann as Sales Director for Germany, Austria, and Switzerland. Spielmann joins from EVS, where he held sales and business de...
08/10/2026
The flagship program will originate from major PG events with a four-camera production, live distribution across PGTV, social platforms
Perfect Game is bringin...
08/10/2026
Innovation rarely happens in a vacuum. More often, it happens at the point of collision: when worlds that have run on separate tracks begin to converge. That is...
08/10/2026
For decades, the production and broadcast services business has run on a familia...
08/10/2026
Uplynk, Zixi, BroadView Software, and Grass Valley have published The IP Converg...
08/10/2026
The NFL has announced the return of the Big Data Bowl, the league's analytics competition, now in its ninth year and again powered by AWS. Registration is o...
08/10/2026
Eutelsat has renewed its partnership with T l diffusion d'Alg rie (TDA), Algeria's national broadcasting network operator, for continued distribution of...
08/10/2026
Disney will livestream Super Bowl LXI on February 14, 2027, alongside the game's broadcast on ESPN and ABC. All Disney subscribers in the United States wi...
08/10/2026
RHStv and Red House Streaming have announced an expansion of their partnership w...
08/10/2026
Gray Media has announced a distribution agreement with TEGNA and DAZN to simulca...
08/10/2026
SVG readers can save 10% on registration and receive a complimentary Solutions H...
08/10/2026
PROTON Camera Innovations GmbH has been named a recipient of a 2026 Technology a...
08/10/2026
Industry leaders discuss real-world cloud workflows for live game production, pl...
08/10/2026
The next-gen audio technology joins Dolby Vision as part of Apple TV's immersive F1 experience...
08/10/2026
David France, Jesse Short Bull, Mato Wayuhi, N. Bird Runningwater, Jodi Archambau, Jhane Myers, Paul McGuire, Amber Morning Star Byars, Holly Macarro, Nick Tils...
08/10/2026
Dynamic panning plug-ins get an upgrade
Sound Particles have just announced major updates for two of their popular dynamic panning plug-ins. Energy Panner 2...
08/10/2026
New expandable instrument boasts full DMNO engine
UDO Audio have just announced the upcoming release of a new, expandable synth that packs the power of the ...
08/10/2026
Two new subwoofers added to monitoring line-up
ADAM Audio's monitoring range has just been expanded with two new DSP-equipped subwoofers, the Sub8 PRO a...
08/10/2026
eds3_5_jq(document).ready(function($) { $(#eds_sliderM519).chameleonSlider_2_1({ content_source:......
08/10/2026
Calrec gives broadcasters freedom of choice at NAB Show New York We're looking forward to meeting up with you all at NAB New York on 21st-22nd October.
Cal...
08/10/2026
Share
Copy link
Facebook
X
Linkedin
Bluesky
Email...
08/10/2026
Share
Copy link
Facebook
X
Linkedin
Bluesky
Email...
08/10/2026
Share
Copy link
Facebook
X
Linkedin
Bluesky
Email...
08/10/2026
Share
Copy link
Facebook
X
Linkedin
Bluesky
Email...
08/10/2026
Share
Copy link
Facebook
X
Linkedin
Bluesky
Email...
08/10/2026
Share
Copy link
Facebook
X
Linkedin
Bluesky
Email...
08/10/2026
Globecast, a leading provider of broadcast, media and entertainment managed services, will showcase its next generation of media orchestration services at NAB S...
08/10/2026
Clear-Com played a critical role in the production communications infrastructure for Rock in Rio 2026, one of the world's largest and most recognized music...
08/10/2026
Sohonet Launches ClearView Rush: A Leap Forward in Studio Review, Built for Crea...
08/10/2026
Share
Copy link
Facebook
X
Linkedin
Bluesky
Email...
08/10/2026
Share
Copy link
Facebook
X
Linkedin
Bluesky
Email...
08/10/2026
Share
Copy link
Facebook
X
Linkedin
Bluesky
Email...
08/10/2026
Share
Copy link
Facebook
X
Linkedin
Bluesky
Email...
08/10/2026
Ikegami announces a major expansion to its range of broadcast-quality live production cameras. Scheduled for introduction on Ikegami booth 708 at NAB New York, ...
08/10/2026
Calrec will be located at Booth 444.
Freedom to choose
The media landscape is evolving quickly, and the broadcasters best placed for what comes next will be...
08/10/2026
LiveU has announced that CRD Audiovisuel relied on LiveUs LU900Q intelligent production unit, with built-in native LiveU IQ (LIQ ) connectivity, to deliver live...
08/10/2026
Share
Copy link
Facebook
X
Linkedin
Bluesky
Email...
08/10/2026
Share
Copy link
Facebook
X
Linkedin
Bluesky
Email...
08/10/2026
Share
Copy link
Facebook
X
Linkedin
Bluesky
Email...
08/10/2026
Marshall Electronics, a globally recognized provider of high-performance video solutions for broadcast, streaming, AV and professional production, will exhibit ...
08/10/2026
14-hour package also includes A Remarkable Place to Die season 2 as well as libr...