Culture | Film Sundance Film Festival opens in London today, boasting four jam-packed days of films , industry discussions and Q&A sessions with top directors. Now running for over a decade, it brings the best parts of the American festival to the capital, so UK audiences can engage with the independent movies making waves over the pond. This year’s programme includes intriguing new films and shorts that explore themes including identity, desire, technology and growing up.
There are Q&As with top directors and actors including Chiwetel Ejiofor , Carine Adler, Lucy Lawless and Thea Hvistendahl, plus panel discussions on navigating the documentary industry and on directing creative processes. Clare Binns, managing director of the cinema group, said: “This 11th edition brings a selection of the finest independent films to the heart of London for their UK premieres, coming directly from the 2024 Sundance Film Festival in Park City, Utah.” Here’s our pick.
.. Belfast rap band Kneecap are one of the country’s most exciting recent exports.
The hip hop trio have gained a dedicated fanbase for singing in Irish about drugs, violence and Republicanism. Now a semi-fictional film about their lives, which won the NEXT Audience Award at Sundance in January, is opening SLFF. The musicians play themselves (they went through a six-month acting bootcamp) and, a little unbelievably, Michael Fassbender stars.
June 6, 7 New Zealand actor Lucy Lawless, who is best-known for her roles in Xe.
