Sundance Announces Additional Programming, Including 'Blair Witch' Anniversary Screening
Next year's festival gets haunted.
The latest round of programming announcements for the upcoming 2019 Sundance Film Festival have been revealed, bolstering the line-up to an impressive 117 feature films, 45 of which were directed by one or more women.
The Boy Who Harnessed the Wind has been named the festival's Alfred P. Sloan prize winner (which officially makes it the Salt Lake City opening night film), while two alumni films, The Hours and Times and The Blair Witch Project from "the collection" will screen as special retrospective screenings. The Bair Witch Project's screening will mark the 20th anniversary of the film's premiere at the festival in 1999, an event that ultimately lead to a national cinematic sensation and debate over whether the events depicted in the film were actually true. To dispell some of those beliefs, the film's cast will be in attendance for the anniversary screening
For a full list of this afternoon's additional programming announcements, please scroll down below.
PREMIERES
Paddleton / U.S.A. (Director and Screenwriter: Alex Lehmann, Producers: Mark Duplass, Jay Duplass, Mel Eslyn, Alana Carithers, Sean Bradley) — An unlikely friendship between two misfit neighbors becomes an unexpectedly emotional journey when the younger man is diagnosed with terminal cancer. Cast: Mark Duplass, Ray Romano, Christine Woods. World Premiere
MIDNIGHT
Corporate Animals / U.S.A. (Director: Patrick Brice, Screenwriter: Sam Bain, Producers: Jess Wu Calder, Keith Calder, Mike Falbo, Ed Helms) — Disaster strikes when the egotistical CEO of an edible cutlery company leads her long-suffering staff on a corporate team-building trip in New Mexico. Trapped underground, this mismatched and disgruntled group must pull together to survive. Cast: Demi Moore, Ed Helms, Jessica Williams, Karan Soni. World Premiere
Wounds / U.S.A., United Kingdom (Director and Screenwriter: Babak Anvari, Producers: Lucan Toh, Christopher Kopp) — Disturbing and mysterious things begin to happen to a bartender in New Orleans after he picks up a phone left behind at his bar. Cast: Armie Hammer, Dakota Johnson, Zazie Beetz, Karl Glusman, Brad William Henke. World Premiere
FROM THE COLLECTION
The Blair Witch Project / U.S.A. (Directors and Screenwriters: Daniel Myrick, Eduardo Sanchez) — On October 21, 1994, Heather Donahue, Joshua Leonard and Michael Williams hiked into Maryland’s Black Hills Forest to shoot a documentary on local legend “The Blair Witch.” They were never heard from again. One year later, their footage was found, capturing the terrifying events that led up to their disappearance. Cast: Heather Donahue, Michael Williams, Joshua Leonard.
The Hours and Times / U.S.A. (Director and Screenwriter: Christopher Munch) — In spring 1963, The Beatles were on their meteoric rise to worldwide superstardom. Following a grueling winter of touring, 22-year-old John Lennon vacations in Spain with his brilliant manager, Brian Epstein, often called the "Fifth Beatle." Their four-day holiday, intimate and charged, became the subject of speculation and mythology. Cast: David Angus, Ian Hart, Stephanie Pack, Robin McDonald, Sergio Moreno, Unity Grimwood.
SPECIAL EVENTS
Pop-Up Magazine / U.S.A. (Producers: Anita Badejo, Haley Howle, Derek Fagerstrom, Tina Antolini) — A touring "live magazine" show, created for a stage, a screen, and a live audience. Contributors, including filmmakers, bestselling authors, popular radio and podcast voices, and artists perform vivid, multimedia stories accompanied by illustration, animation, film, photography, and an original live score.
