The Sundance Film Festival has unveiled the first titles for its 2016 edition, which includes films from Argentina, Chile, Colombia, Mexico, and Peru, in its World Cinema Dramatic and Documentary competitions.
Argentinean director Ana Katz will have the international premiere of her most recent film Mi Amiga del Parque (pictured left) in the World Cinema Dramatic Competition. Running away from a bar without paying the bill is just the first adventure for Liz (mother to newborn Nicanor) and Rosa (supposed mother to newborn Clarisa). This budding friendship between nursing mothers starts with the promise of liberation but soon ends up being a dangerous business.
Chilean director Alejandro Fernández Almendras returns to Sundance -after his 2013 film To Kill a Man, won the Grand Jury Prize in the World Cinema Dramatic Competition- with Much Ado About Nothing / Aquí no ha pasado nada (pictured right). Starring Agustín Silva, Alejandro Goic, Luis Gnecco, Paulina García, Daniel Alcaino, Augusto Schuster the film tells the story of an upper-class kid who gets in trouble with the one percent.
Colombian cinema is also represented at Sundance with Between Sea and Land / La ciénaga, entre el mar y la tierra, the debut feature by Manolo Cruz and Carlos del Castillo. The fill follows Alberto, who suffers from an illness that binds him into a body that doesn’t obey him, lives with his loving mom, who dedicates her life to him. His sickness impedes him from achieving his greatest dream of knowing the sea, despite one being located just across the street.
In the documentary competition, Mexican photographer Maya Goded will have the world premiere of her debut feature Plaza de la Soledad (pictured left). For over 20 years, Goded has intimately documented the lives of a close community of prostitutes in Mexico City. With dignity and humor, these women now strive for a better life — and the possibility of true love.
Peruvian documentary production When Two Worlds Collide by Heidi Brandenburg and Mathew Orzel, also having its world premiere, follows an indigenous leader resists the environmental ruin of Amazonian lands by big business. As he is forced into exile and faces 20 years in prison, his quest reveals conflicting visions that shape the fate of the Amazon and the climate future of our world.
Additionally the film Jacqueline (Argentine) by Brazilian-born director Bernardo Britto will have its world premiere in the Next section. The film tells the story of a young French woman hires a man to document her self-imposed political asylum in Argentina after supposedly leaking highly confidential government secrets.
The 2016 edition of the Sundance Film Festival will take place January 21-31 in Park City, Utah.
