Sundance Film Festival 2014

Twelve documentaries by some of the most courageous and extraordinary international filmmakers working today.

View other Sundance Film Festival Films by strand: Documentary Premieres, New Frontier, NEXT <=>, Park City At Midnight, Premieres, Spotlight, Sundance Kids, Sundance London - Feature Film Programme, Sundance London - From The Collection, Sundance London - Short Film Programme, Sundance London - Special Events, Sundance London - UK Spotlight, US Documentary Competition, US Dramatic Competition, World Cinema Dramatic Competition

The Green Prince The Green Prince
The Green Prince and Concerning Violence
20,000 Days On Earth (Country: UK; Year: 2014; Director: Iain Forsyth, Jane Pollard; Stars: Nick Cave, Warren Ellis, Blixa Bargeld, Kylie Minogue, Susie Cave, Ray Winstone, Darian Leader, Arthur Cave, Earl Cave)
An intimate portrait of Nick Cave.
World premiere
Concerning Violence (Country: Sweden, US, Denmark, Finland; Year: 2013; Director: Göran Olsson; Writer: Göran Olsson)
An examination of colonialism.
World premiere
The Green Prince (Country: Germany, UK, Israel; Year: 2013; Director: Nadav Schirman; Writer: Nadav Schirman, Mosab Hassan Yousef; Stars: Mosab Hassan Yousef, Gonen Ben Yitzhak)
How the son of a senior leader of Hamas spied for the Israeli secret services over the course of a decade.
World premiere. Day One film
Happiness (Country: France, Finland; Year: 2013; Director: Thomas Balmès)
Peyangki is a dreamy and solitary eight-year-old monk living in Laya, a Bhutanese village perched high in the Himalayas. Soon the world will come to him: the village is about to be connected to electricity, and the first television will flicker on before Peyangki's eyes.
North American premiere
Love Child (Country: South Korea; Year: 2014; Director: Valerie Veatch)
In Seoul in the Republic of Korea, a young couple stands accused of neglect when "Internet addiction" in an online fantasy game costs the life of their infant daughter. Love Child documents the 2010 trial and subsequent ruling that set a global precedent in a world where virtual is the new reality.
World premiere
20,000 Days On Earth 20,000 Days On Earth
20,000 Days On Earth and Return To Homs
Mr leos caraX (Year: 2014; Director: Tessa Louise-Salomé)
Mr leos caraX plunges us into the poetic and visionary world of a mysterious, solitary filmmaker who was already a cult figure from his very first film. Punctuated by interviews and previously unseen footage, this documentary is most of all a fine-tuned exploration of the poetic and visionary world of Leos Carax, alias Mr. X.
World premiere
My Prairie Home (Country: Canada; Year: 2013; Director: Chelsea McMullan; Writer: Chelsea McMullan; Stars: Rae Spoon)
A poetic journey through landscapes both real and emotional, Chelsea McMullan’s documentary/musical offers an intimate portrait of transgender singer Rae Spoon, framed by stunning images of the Canadian prairies. McMullan’s imaginative visual interpretations of Spoon’s songs make this an unforgettable look at a unique Canadian artist.
International premiere
The Notorious Mr. Bout (Country: US, Russia; Year: 2014; Director: Tony Gerber, Maxim Pozdorovkin)
Viktor Bout was a war profiteer, an entrepreneur, an aviation tycoon, an arms dealer, and - strangest of all - a documentary filmmaker. The Notorious Mr. Bout is the ultimate rags-to-riches-to-prison memoir, documented by the last man you'd expect to be holding the camera.
World premiere
Return To Homs (Country: Syria, Germany; Year: 2013; Director: Talal Derki; Writer: Talal Derki)
Documentary about rebel fighters in the besieged Syrian city.
North American premiere
Sepideh - Reaching For The Stars (Country: Denmark; Year: 2013; Director: Berit Madsen; Stars: Anousheh Ansari, Hadi Hooshyar, Mohammad Hooshyar, Sedigheh Hooshyar, Sepideh Hooshyar, Asghar Kabiri, Javad Nasseri)
Sepideh wants to become an astronaut. As a young Iranian woman, she knows it’s dangerous to challenge traditions and expectations. Still, Sepideh holds on to her dream. She knows a tough battle is ahead, a battle that only seems possible to win once she seeks help from an unexpected someone.
North American premiere
Web Junkie Web Junkie
Web Junkie and Sepideh - Reaching For The Stars
Web Junkie (Country: China, US; Year: 2013; Director: Hilla Medalia, Shosh Shlam; Writer: Hilla Medalia, Shosh Shlam)
China is the first country to label “Internet addiction” a clinical disorder. Web Junkie investigates a Beijing rehab center where Chinese teenagers are deprogrammed.
World premiere
We Come As Friends (Country: France; Year: 2014; Director: Hubert Sauper)
We Come as Friends views colonisation as a human phenomenon through both explicit and metaphoric lenses without oversimplified accusations or political theorising. Alarmingly, It is not a historical film since colonisation and the slave trade still exist.
World premiere
News

59th New York Film Festival early bird highlights Futura, Jane By Charlotte, James Baldwin: From Another Place and The Velvet Underground

More news and features

Playing Now

Eye For Film continues to support festivals both locally and across the world. At the moment, we're covering:

Grimmfest

New York Film Festival
62nd edition of the festival

Beyond Fest

San Sebastian Film Festival
Spain's largest film festival and market

Fantastic Fest

In the Archive


Archive of festival coverage.

Daily diary and reviews from 2005-2018.

Coverage of the lynchpin German festival.