(Photos via Travis Wise/Flickr/CC BY 2.0 DEED, Sundance Institute)
The 2024 Sundance Film Festival is currently underway in Park City, Utah. The festival has become a staple of independent film exhibition, screening films like Damien Chazelle’s “Whiplash,” Quentin Tarantino’s “Reservoir Dogs,” Jordan Peele’s “Get Out” and Christopher Nolan’s “Memento,” all of which are featured on Sundance’s all-time top ten as the festival enters its 40th year.
While the festival is located in Utah, many Texas films and filmmakers are making an appearance on this year’s slate of projects. Richard Linklater, the legendary Texas director, has multiple projects this year, while also having two films in the aforementioned all-time top ten.
Linklater’s three-part anthology docu-series “God Save Texas” is premiering at the festival. Each episode is helmed by a Texas director exploring their hometown.
Linklater dives into his hometown of Huntsville and the state penitentiary located there.
Emmy Award-winning filmmaker Alex Stapleton explores the prominence of oil in her hometown of Houston and its effect on families, particularly those in the Black community.
Iliana Sosa examines the concept of “nepantla,” an embrace of in-betweenness, and how that affects both herself and the unique nature of her hometown of El Paso in an exploration of the city after a mass shooting in 2019.
This docu-series is inspired by the book “God Save Texas: A Journey Into the Soul of the Lone Star State” by journalist, playwright and screenwriter Lawrence Wright. Wright has written multiple projects focused on Texas, including the book “Mr. Texas” about wanna-be Texas politician Sonny Lamb, inspired by his 2005 play “Sonny’s Last Shot.” Wright also serves as executive producer for the series.
Linklater’s other project, a feature film called “Hit Man,” stars Austin native Glen Powell as a professor turned fake hit-man who falls in love with a client. Powell also serves as a producer and screenwriter along with Linklater, marking the first feature script he has helped pen.
Another notable project is “Sasquatch Sunset,” a film following a year in the life of a family of sasquatches by Austin-based directing brothers David and Nathan Zellner. Their film has gone on to receive some interesting critical reactions for its uniquely bizarre subject matter.
Sundance 2024 started on Jan. 18 and runs to Jan. 28. Select films and awards screenings are available online from Jan. 25-28, while awards are announced on Jan. 26.
Stay tuned to SZNS for any news on Texas winners at Sundance 2024. For more information on the Sundance Film Festival, visit https://festival.sundance.org/.
SZNS MAG 