The Sundance Film Festival is one of the most respected and celebrated film festivals in the United States. It’s a ten-day-long showcase of the best independent filmmakers in the business, and has helped to launch the careers of many notable directors, such as Quentin Tarantino, The Coen Brothers, and even Steven Soderbergh. Many popular films have also premiered there, such as Little Miss Sunshine and Get Out. Any director looking to make a name for themselves starts here, and this year will be no different. This year, Sundance 2023 will begin on January 19 and run through the 29th.

There are 15 different categories of films on display. The New Frontier, Kids, and Indie Episodic Programs hold a special and underrated significance at the annual event. It’s usually the larger feature projects that get the recognition in most film ceremonies, but at Sundance, projects that fall into these categories are celebrated. Here are all the films that will be displayed in these three film programs.

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New Frontier is the film festival’s pioneering program of virtual, augmented, and immersive works. This category features entries made to reorient the relationships between storytelling and technology through means of innovative forms of entertainment. In particular, these projects can be experienced through VR headsets. These are the three entries for 2023.

A Common Sequence

     Sundance Film Festival

From filmmakers Mary Helena Clark and Mike Gibisser, A Common Sequence is an examination of those who get to work with the essential practices of life in a modern world controlled by data. These practices include saving animals from extinction, researching new medicines, harvesting food, and coding the human genome. This project takes viewers to see the places where these practices are performed and allow them to meet the people involved. The film puts viewers right in the middle of these locations and experiences each unique atmosphere. This film is an eloquent examination of what is “common” to humans in nature, as well as the pursuit to own the materials of the planet and the human body. This film hopes that it will result in life-changing discussions.

Gush

Fox Maxy’s Gush is an expert blending of personal footage and fixations that collide to form a unique cinematic language. The film pieces together decades worth of personal footage in a diary of horror and survival. It is a mixture of found footage, documentary sequences, and digital animation in a stream-of-consciousness meditation on the impact of sexual violence and healing from it afterward. Gush is the kind of movie that speaks to viewers on its own terms, but it’s also a beautiful demonstration of the possibilities of personal filmmaking.

Last Things

Now, this is a film that ROCKS. Last Things examines evolution and extinction from the POV of the oldest thing on the planet: rocks. Director Deborah Stratman combines science and speculative fiction in this film to provide sound, imagery, and plenty of ideas to contemplate. She uses microscopic and landscape photography to better give a view of the human hand print on existence. This overall experience also implements text from writers in science fiction and stream-of-consciousness to enhance the film for viewers and further emphasize the weight of existence over billions of years. Stratman is deftly in touch with her vision and expertly blurs the borders of poetry and narrative in this epic ethereal adventure.

The Kids program is geared towards films for the youngest independent film lovers. They can typically range anywhere from live-action to animation. This year’s top three films are a combination of animated adventure, wacky sci-fi, and a story a little more intimate. Here are the three movies to watch.

Aliens Abducted My Parents and Now I Kinda Feel Left Out

     Visit Films

Directed by Jake Van Wagoner and featuring Will Forte, Aliens Abducted My Parents and Now I Kinda Feel Left Out follows Itsy Levan (Emma Tremblay). Itsy is devastated after her parents unexpectedly leave for a fixer-upper in the middle of nowhere. Moving is every teen’s worst nightmare. However, things start to pick up in interest when she meets the space-obsessed Calvin Kipler (Jacob Buster), who is under the impression that his parents were stolen by aliens a decade prior. The last time they were seen was on the night that Jesper’s comet passed. For Itsy, Calvin is the opportunity she’s been waiting for to write an exposé to get into a New York City journalism program, but in doing so, she may just discover there’s more to this misguided teen than she thought.

Blueback

     Arenamedia

Starring Mia Wasikowska, Eric Bana, and Radha Mitchell, Blueback is based on the 1997 novella of the same name by Tim Winton and revolves around the strained relationship between a mother and daughter. When she learns of her mother Dora’s deteriorating health, marine biologist Abby leaves Australia’s coral reefs and rushes back to her seaside hometown to be at her side. On the way, Abby recalls their relationship when she was a child as Dora spent much of her life trying to protect the bay from developers and invasive fishermen, often to the detriment of her relationship with Abby. Alongside this story, the film also sees Abby make a friend in the coral gardens in the form of a blue groper that she affectionately names Blueback. It’s this rare fish that will remind Abby of her love for her mother. Blueback is directed by Robert Connolly and is a beautiful story about the tethers between family and nature.

The Amazing Maurice

     Sky Cinema

The Amazing Maurice is an animated adventure that features the voices of Emilia Clarke, Hugh Laurie, and David Tenant and follows the exploits of a street-smart cat with a sneaky disposition. With the help of a band of rats and his pied-piper friend, Maurice the cat travels the country tricking villagers with a false rat plague. Their ruse works wonders, but things go wrong when they stumble upon a market village already plagued with food-stealing rats led by a mysterious boss. With the help of the mayor’s daughter, Maurice investigates the town’s unfortunate events in this funny, clever, and unexpected love letter to classic fables. The Amazing Maurice is pure fun for all audiences, and kids especially will enjoy this delightful ride from beginning to end.

The Indie Episodic Program is the section of the Sundance Film Festival that features episodic miniseries. These shows comprise both fictional stories and documentary series. This year, there are four programs ranging from comedy, thriller, and docu-series. Here are the four selections.

Chanshi

     Kastina Communications

From creator Aleeza Chanowitz comes Chanshi, an audacious series that delivers bold new assertions on female identity. Chanshi, played by Aleeza Chanowitz herself, comes from an observant Jewish community in Brooklyn. She’s engaged to a man she barely knows and locked in a future already decided for her as a mother to six kids. Chanshi doesn’t want this for herself. She wants freedom. What she wants is to have lots of sex. For this goal, she travels to Israel, where the Israeli soldiers are, to reunite with her friend Noki, who is to be married herself. Once arriving, Chanshi soon abandons her desires and inhibitions to find a new sense of freedom that will be far more fulfilling and adventurous than she could have imagined. She is finally able to take control of her own life, even if her parents do not approve.

Poacher

Director Richie Mehta finds inspiration in real-life events to bring viewers Poacher, a procedural drama set in India that explores the complexities of the human role in the animal kingdom. A guilt-stricken man finds himself at a Forest Department outpost and confesses to the murder of elephants. In the process, he sets off a gripping investigation story like no other. Under constant threat of danger, a group of officers, NGO workers, and volunteers follow leads that will take them through the complex world of poaching. They will face corruption from organized crime and traitors within their own ranks as they work to take down the biggest ivory poachers in Indian history.

The Night Logan Woke Up

     Productions Nanoby

Directed by Xavier Dolan and scored by Hans Zimmer, The Night Logan Woke Up is an evocative and intimate story of the exploration of complicated relationships within a devastated family. When the matriarch of the Larouche family dies, it begins a dark downward spiral into dark truths because when her will is read, it reveals shocking revelations that go back decades. This series intricately weaves together three decades’ worth of secrets that have haunted and shaped the family. In this series, bonds will be tested, and lives will be changed as the reverberations of trauma are laid bare for all those involved. This series is adapted from a stage play by Michel Marc Bouchard and expertly captures the gritty realism and humane vulnerabilities in a dark mystery where the clues to the past have dire ramifications for the lives they affect.

Willie Nelson & Family

     Sight Unseen Pictures

Award-Winning filmmakers Thom Zimny and Oren Moverman bring to Sundance Willie Nelson & Family, a stunning documentary series telling the story of one of the greatest American singer-songwriters, Willie Nelson. The American Outlaw from Abbott, Texas is a beloved icon in every state and has made a career that spans more than seven decades. With his music, philanthropy, marijuana advocacy, and activism for farmers, Nelson has always spoken for those from every walk of life. Now his story is told in his own words and the tales from his close friends and family that have been with him through it all.