Social Impact in Park City

Docs Shine a Light at Sundance and Slamdance

By Jon Fitzgerald

The Park City madness is finally back in full swing this week. Yes, Sundance and Slamdance will be together again, with a full lineup of premieres, parties, and likely acquisitions. And while these fests are known as platforms of discovery for emerging artists and for providing networking opportunities, let’s focus on another important aspect. The continued elevation of the Documentary genre, and for this article, those shining a light on real social issues.

Oscar Nods
Over the few years, social impact movies have continued to steal the spotlight. In two out of the last three years, buzzy Sundance docs went on to win the Oscar for Best Documentary Feature (American Factory; Summer of Soul).

In 2022, four docs acquired out of Sundance made the recent Oscar documentary shortlist, including All That Breathes, Descendant, Fire of Love and The Territory. Of course, filmmakers are not making these movies to win awards; but they do want to find an audience, and the Oscar bump never hurts. All are available for streaming.

What to See in 2023
The jury is still out on the volume of acquisitions to be made in 2023. With theater chains reeling and streamers slashing their budgets, we shall see. The Indiewire podcast, hosted by Eric Kohn and Anne Thompson, had Sundance power broker John Sloss on their show to share his thoughts. He seems more optimistic when it comes to the documentary category.

Sundance will present 12 films in their US Documentary Competition, and another 12 in their World Cinema Documentary Competition. Variety highlights a few social issue-oriented to look out for including 20 Days Mariupol, Rebecca Landsberry-Baker and Joe Peeler’s Bad Press and Matthieu Rytz’s Deep Rising.

“A lot of social-issue films or political films are localized,” Roney says. “Often, it’s a U.S. story that may have some universal tidbits that can cross into other territories. But ‘Deep Rising’ is truly a global film for humanity. It’s bigger than a political film. It’s about planet Earth, and the stakes are high. So the film is going to resonate in any territory in the world.”

Annie Roney, Roco Films

Meanwhile, Slamdance opens the fest with the documentary Punk Rock Vegan Movie, directed by Moby, and closes with another doc entitled Free LSD. Slamdance will present 9 films in their Documentary Competition this year, and a handful more in their Unstoppable Features section. Slamdance Unstoppable is a showcase of films made by filmmakers with visible and non-visible disabilities. Programmed exclusively by disabled artists, Slamdance Unstoppable aims to eliminate the prejudices and gatekeeping that have historically kept disabled filmmakers from being represented in the entertainment industry.

Streaming Now
If you can’t make it to Park City but are interested in seeing one of the stronger docs of 2022, here are a few more doc favorites from last year’s fest available on streaming platforms now:

Navalny
Follows the man who survived an assassination attempt by poisoning with a lethal nerve agent in August 2020. During his months-long recovery, he makes shocking discoveries about the attempt on his life and decides to return home. Watch on HBOMax

Aftershock
An alarmingly disproportionate number of Black women are failed every year by the U.S. maternal health system. Shamony Gibson and Amber Rose Isaac were vibrant, excited mothers-to-be whose deaths due to childbirth complications were preventable. Now, their partners and families are determined to sound a rallying cry around this chilling yet largely ignored crisis. Watch on Hulu

Last Flight Home
An examination of Eli Timoner’s intentional death and his family’s emotional turmoil as they grapple with his decision to end his own life. The family journeys back through Eli’s remarkable, painful life to discover what true love looks like. Watch on Paramount+

Both fests will continue to integrate a virtual component but seem enthusiastic about being back in Park City at full force. As a co-founder of Slamdance, it will be bittersweet for me not to be there; but I will cheer them on from the LA sidelines, continuing my push for Cause Cinema to help create positive change.