JonBenet Ramsey, Hulk Hogan, and Ferguson are all on next year’s Sundance lineup
We’re just two months out from the 2017 iteration of the Sundance Film Festival, descending on Utah like a horde of movie-loving ski bum locusts from January 19 to January 29. Today, we’ve got the initial lineup for the festival, with 66 films either in competition, or as part of its NEXT non-competition slate.
This year’s documentary lineup touts an overriding, forward-looking theme—“New Climate”—but many of the most notable entries are focused on the recent and not-so-recent past. Kitty Green’s Casting JonBenet, for instance, continues the recent resumption of obsession with one of the world’s most famous child deaths, collecting 15 months of recollections from the residents of JonBenet Ramsey’s hometown. Meanwhile, Brian Knappenberger’s Nobody Speak manages to make a Hulk Hogan documentary relevant in 2016, focusing on the ongoing free speech implications of the wrestling star’s court case against Gawker Media. And in the even more recent and depressing past, multiple films—Sabaah Folayan‘s Whose Streets? and Pete Nicks’ The Force—reflect on the 2014-2015 unrest in Ferguson, Missouri, and its wider effects on policing in America.
Outside of documentaries, the U.S. Dramatic Competition will host films tackling the world of rising rappers, timid vigilantes, and people obsessed with Instagram superstars. It’ll also see the world premiere of Brigsby Bear, a new film from Chris Miller, Phil Lord, and The Lonely Island guys, and starring SNL’s Kyle Mooney as a man-child who learns his entire life is a lie. Also premiering: The Hero, in which The Ranch’s Sam Elliott basically plays himself, an aging Western star with a golden voice and a love of getting high with Nick Offerman.
You can see the full Sundance lineup—including appearances from Aubrey Plaza, Elijah Wood, Alfre Woodard, Adam Pally, Luke Cage’s Mahershala Ali, Keanu Reeves, and dozens of other big-name stars—over at Deadline.