While “Oscar” is sometimes treated like a dirty word that could draw attention away from the hundreds of films premiering at the 2024 Sundance Film Festival, the last few days on the ground in Park City, Utah have been a stark reminder of the growing interconnectivity between the two. Festival and Academy Awards.
For example, on the first night of this year’s fest, current Best Supporting Actor frontman Robert Downey Jr. presented his “Oppenheimer” director Christopher Nolan with the Sundance Institute Trailblazer Award at the opening night gala. At the same event, Christine Vachon, creator of “May December” and “Past Lives,” presented the Vanguard Award for Fiction to multiple Oscar contender Celine Song, the filmmaker behind the latter film, which premiered at the festival last year.
Actors like Coleman Domingo and Injaneu Ellis-Taylor, who have made waves this awards season with their performances in “Rustin” and “Origin,” will also be at Sundance with other projects, but it certainly won’t hurt to show up. Face at a festival that has launched dozens of Best Picture contenders.
With that in mind, and with the focus shifting back to new films at this year’s festival, here are some of the projects that premiered during the first weekend of the 2024 Sundance Film Festival, which already have a fresh whiff of Oscar buzz.
“A Real Pain”
The festival’s first major acquisition was sold to Searchlight Pictures for $10 million following its Saturday, January 20 premiere. This comedy about two Jewish cousins who go on a tour of Poland in memory of their grandmother shows exactly why star Kieran Culkin won that Emmy for “Inheritance.” Writer, director and co-star Jesse Eisenberg certainly holds his own, but joins his scene partner in reestablishing himself as a magnetic presence on the big screen as well. Comedies have an uphill battle at the Oscars, but this film goes out of its way to tackle more difficult subject matter, which voters seem likely to respect. As Searchlight backs it up, “A Real Pain” could prove to be a real contender in the coming months.
“Exhibition of Forgiveness”
Director Titus Kaffer, a world-renowned painter, is actually on the Academy’s radar, with his film “Shut Up and Paint” appearing on the Best Documentary shortlist last year. But in this feature directorial debut, he dives deeper into his own story through lead Andre Holland as Terrell, a successful artist who begins to spiral after his addict father returns to his life. Playing these parents is theater veteran John Earl Jelks, who so expertly captures how even when people are trying their best to change, their past actions are not released overnight. There’s magic in the dynamic between the pair of actors, as much difficulty in their struggles before true catharsis, but Aunjanue Ellis-Taylor and Andra Day (both no strangers to awards season) are the necessary finishing touches that round out the stirring picture.
“The Outrun”
Saoirse Ronan, the star and producer of this addiction drama based on Amy Liptrot’s 2016 memoir of the same name, has already been nominated for an acting Oscar four times at just 29 years old. Working with German director Nora Fingscheidt (“The Unforgivable”), the Irish actress has already won high praise for her commitment to embodying a woman returning to Scotland’s Orkney Islands, determined to overcome the personal demons that plague her.
“Porcelain War”
If there’s one Oscar category that Sundance has had the most influence on, it’s best documentary feature. Last year, four of the nominees had their world premiere at Sundance, with “Navalny,” the 2022 Audience Award recipient, the eventual winner. There are certainly more titles to come, but this film from directors Slava Leontev and Brendan Bellomo, about a trio of Ukrainian actors who stay and fight for their country after Russia’s invasion of Crimea, is said to be one of the weekend’s hottest tickets. . Academy voters have gravitated toward both films that feature actors and document current global issues, so the editing title looks set to grab their attention this year.
