Brett Kavanaugh Doc ‘Justice’ From Doug Liman Added To Sundance; World Premiere Of SCOTUS Allegations Film Set For Friday
20.01.2023 - 00:19
/ deadline.com
At today’s opening day Sundance press, Director of Programming, Kim Yutani announced the addition of Doug Liman’s first documentary, Justice, about Brett Kavanaugh.
After surviving two virtual editions due to Covid, the Sundance Film Festival came back to life in-person today.
Commenting on the winds of change with indie films, which are faced with a Sophie’s Choice in this day-and-age between a lucrative streaming deal or risky big screen launch, Joana Vicente said “I feel film festivals are more important than ever.”
“They create a space where we come together to celebrate film and new voices. To have those moments being surprised, to go into a a screening where you know nothing about it.”
“There’s been a lot of consolidation in the industry; theatrical distribution is difficult for specialty films: How do we get people to be curious about these films? They can shake you, they take risks…they challenge the status quo,” said Vicente.
“How do we call attention for these individual films? It’s more important than ever,” the Sundance Institute CEO said, “How do we continue to built a way that we have a vibrant ecosystem.”
In a notable change that the festival is opening up: Films are no longer debuting on the virtual portal day-and-date with their premiere, rather they’re delayed by one day. Publicists on key sales titles aren’t sending out screeners, rather insisting that the media attend premieres in person to relish the in-person resonance. Sales agents took umbarge with the fest’s decision to stick to a virtual component as they look to stoke the fire on their slates.
Sundance founder Robert Redford announced he was stepping back from the festival back in 2019, taking a more back seat role. This was followed by