Anton Corbijn‘s A Most Wanted Man is among a particularly strong group of narrative and documentary features premiering at the 2014 Sundance Film Festival. Celebrating its 30th anniversary, the festival on Monday unveiled this year’s lineup of premieres, which also will include theMichael Fassbender starrer Frank, Lynn Shelton‘s coming-of-age comedy Laggies featuring Keira Knightley in the role that Anne Hathaway famously abandoned and David Wain‘s send-up of the romantic comedy genre They Came Together, starring Amy Poehler and Paul Rudd.
A Most Wanted Man has been generating heat thanks to the source material (John le Carre‘s best-selling thriller) and a cast that includes Philip Seymour Hoffman, Rachel McAdams,Robin Wright and Willem Dafoe.
Documentaries include Alex Gibney‘s Finding Fela, about the late Afrobeat pioneer and human rights activist Fela Anikulapo Kuti, and a look at the Penn State college football program’s pedophilia scandal, Happy Valley, as well as films about Mitt Romney andJames “Whitey” Bulger.
“The Premieres and Documentary Premieres sections of the 2014 Sundance Film Festival feature new work from many established independent filmmakers who began their careers at our festival years ago, which allows us to reflect on the impact, legacy and growth of the independent film movement over the past 30 years,” Sundance Film Festival director John Cooper said.
Added director of programming Trevor Groth: “In many of the films selected for our 2014 Sundance Film Festival, we see fascinating characters and subjects throughout. Whether portrayed by recognized actors taking on more challenging and diverse roles or in the stranger-than-fiction reality of our documentaries, we look forward to sharing these incredible stories with audiences at our festival.”
The festival runs from Jan. 16-26 in Park City, Salt Lake City, Ogden and Sundance, Utah.
Sundance already announced films in the U.S. and World Competition, NEXT, Spotlight, Park City at Midnight, New Frontier and Sundance Kids sections. On Tuesday, the festival will unveil its Shorts lineup.
PREMIERES…
Young Ones / U.S.A. (Director and screenwriter: Jake Paltrow)—When a series of events is set into motion, altering his young life forever, Jerome is forced to make choices that no child should ever have to make. Cast: Michael Shannon, Nicholas Hoult, Elle Fanning, Kodi Smit-McPhee.
