Co-founded by actor Robert Redford, Sundance is one of the largest independent film festivals in the United States.
Renowned for its ability to spot future talents ("Reservoir Dogs" by Quentin Tarantino, Damien Chazelle with "Whiplash"), it has been held since 1978 at the start of the year in Utah but the Covid-19 pandemic had it forced to a 100% virtual formula last January.
With the threat of the new Omicron variant on the horizon, the festival is implementing a hybrid approach to question-and-answer sessions.
This formula offers "the greatest flexibility" while "winning on both counts: twice as much energy and publicity" around the films presented, explained to AFP the director of Sundance, Tabitha Jackson.
In this year's selection is "Jeen-yuhs", a documentary series devoted to rapper Kanye West produced by a long-time friend of the artist, Clarence "Coodie" Simmons, from sequences shot over more than twenty years.
Other documentaries are on the program for the 2022 edition such as "We Need to Talk About Cosby", on the downfall of American television superstar Bill Cosby, or "The Princess", on the life and disappearance of the princess Diana.
It is "Lucy and Desi", portrait of the late comic legend Lucille Ball by comedian Amy Poehler which will open the ball on January 20 in Salt Lake City.
The festival is due to end on January 30.
Director Rory Kennedy, daughter of Robert F. Kennedy, examines in "Downfall: The Case Against Boeing", the series of errors that resulted, in quick succession, in two air disasters killing a total of 346 passengers. found on board aircraft Boeing 737 Max.
Due to the constraints linked to the pandemic, many directors this year used "archival images as a support for their creativity," notes Tabitha Jackson.
On the fictional side, the Japanese Nobel Prize for Literature Kazuo Ishiguro signs the screenplay for "Living", a remake of Akira Kurosawa's masterpiece "Living", released in 1952, this time transplanted to London in the 1950s.
The late Michael K. Williams, figure of the series "The Wire" ("On listening" in French), appears alongside John Boyega in "892", the story of an ex-American soldier forced to make violent decisions and radical during his return to civilian life to avoid being thrown into the streets.
In "Good Luck to You, Leo Grande", actress Emma Thompson plays a widow in her 50s who enlists the services of a young sex worker while "Girls" creator Lena Dunham will introduce the provocateur " Sharp Stick ", his first feature film in over ten years.
© 2021 AFP