While Sundance founder Robert Redford insisted that his festival doesn’t “play advocacy,” the lineup of 2017 films is certainly political.
“The idea of us being involved in politics is just not so,” Redford told The Hollywood Reporter, noting that the festival focuses on the stories told by artists. “We stay away from that.”
It didn’t take Sundance Director John Cooper long to admit that environmental themes were a 2017 focus. And that wasn’t accidental. Last April, the Sundance Institute published a press release describing a new initiative to explore stories “related to the urgent need for action with regard to the environment, conservation and climate change.” Even Vox jabbed the hypocrisy with a Jan. 20 piece titled “Sundance 2017: Robert Redford says the festival isn’t political. Its opening night gala starred Al Gore.”
Gore’s “An Inconvenient Sequel: Truth to Power,” which follows his global travels as an environmental advocate, debuted to “rapturous response” on Thursday, according to The Hollywood Reporter’s Tatiana Siegel. Other environmentally themed films include Machines, Chasing Coral, Trophy, Water & Power: A California Heist and Plastic China.
Here are three other films that will have the liberal media cheering.
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TRUMPED: Inside the Greatest Political Upset of All Time
Set to premiere on Friday, January 27, TRUMPED will likely offer a left-leaning examination of the rise of President Trump. As a late addition to the slate, the film promises a “behind-the-scenes look at the biggest political upset in recent history,” offering “never-before-seen footage.”
Whose Streets?
Set in the aftermath of the 2014 killing of Michael Brown Jr., Whose Streets explores the unrest and mobilization of the black community in Ferguson, Missouri and beyond. The film is broken into five parts, each following new developments of the protests. “As the Black Lives Matter movement gets bumped from the news cycle and white supremacy groups become emboldened in an increasingly divided country,” The Hollywood Reporter’s review read, “attention must be paid to rousing, indignant films like this one, bristling with hurt and humanity.”
Call Me By Your Name
The Sundance crowd always enjoys a good gay romance. In fact, as Out.com editors pointed out, the 2016 festival offered 12 queer films. This year, Call Me By Your Name—the story of young love between a 24-year old American student and a 17-year-old Jewish-American boy—has already been claimed by Sony Pictures Classics. SPC called the film “visually rich, stunning, deeply emotional and sensual,” according to The Hollywood Reporter. Gone are the days when such a film would be considered controversial in the entertainment community.
