The 2025 edition of the Sundance Film Festival is all set to open in Park City, Utah, on January 23. One of the most prestigious festivals in the world, the film festival has premiered several iconic films, from Little Miss Sunshine to Memento, Whiplash to Get Out. The festival also served as a launchpad for some of the best documentary films in the last few years- with a recent example being 20 Days in Mariupol- which had its world premiere at Sundance 2023 and ultimately won the 2024 Academy Award for Best Documentary Feature. (Also read: Sabar Bonda director Rohan Parashuram Kanawade says queer characters from rural areas are not shown on screen)
Ahead of this year’s edition, Hindustan Times caught up with film festival programmer Sudeep Sharma, who works behind the scenes, focusing on documentary feature films. In this exclusive chat, Sudeep opened up about this year’s programming process, the long history of Indian films at the festival and more.
Do you think that there were some topical trends in the films that were submitted to the festival? If yes, what were they?
Due to the large number of submissions, we receive and review from the US and around the world, it’s difficult to put them into unifying categories or trends. The thing that struck me this year was the continued diversity of voices and perspectives in the films and their creation by artists. Despite challenges and adversity, the resilience of filmmakers in making cinema is something we saw in our programming process again and again and is I think reflected in the films in the lineup.
The Beyond Film series is one of the buzziest sections of the festival. What were some of the parameters that went on to build these selections?
The Beyond Film series is curated by my programming colleague Ania Trzebiatowska and I’ll be moderating the Cinema Cafe conversation with Marlee Matlin and The Rt Hon Dame Jacinda Arden on Saturday, January 25. The films are a starting point but the idea for the series is to have our festival guests in conversation with each other in a casual environment about issues and ideas that animate and excite them.
Sundance has evolved as a space for showcasing documentaries. What do you think contributes to the continued success in terms of selection of the doc titles?
I think it’s a combination of the high level of the work of documentary filmmakers from around the world, the audience we have helped foster that is ready and excited to watch documentary film, and our programming process that is dedicated to showcasing emerging filmmakers and driven by an emotional and intellectually open engagement with the stories they tell. Having a history of playing some of the most important and moving documentaries of recent times has definitely helped us build on our ability of being a place to launch a documentary film, but every year is a fresh slate and we try to approach our selection process with curiosity and wonder about the real life stories that exist all around us and the different way filmmakers tell them.
India’s Sabar Bonda is also selected, making history as the first Marathi feature to be at Sundance. Last year India’s Girls Will Be Girls won big. Independent films from India (including documentaries) have a strong connection to this festival… what are your thoughts on this?
For as long as I’ve been involved in film festival programming and as just a film lover, independent Indian film has had a rich past, present and future! Indian film culture is vibrant, creative and unique with so many different kinds of films, language, cultures, but I think 10-15 years ago changes in technology and how people could more easily watch films along with festivals helping to promote it, there has been an explosion of awareness in global cineaste audiences.
As you say, Sundance has a long history of playing documentary and narrative Indian independent feature films like Machines, All That Breathes, Against the Tide, Nocturnes, Taking The Horse To Eat Jalebis, Brahmin Naman, Liar’s Dice, Fire In The Mountains just to name a few. We have also played a number of Indian shorts over the years too! I think this reflects the strength of Indian artists to make work despite the many challenges they face.
Tell us about some of the joys in your role as part of the Sundance Programming team in the current year.
During the year, us programmers are traveling to other festivals and film events to hear about upcoming documentary projects, but the most intense time of programming is watching submissions and discussing them with each other. That process is difficult and challenging but it is also a joyful one in seeing so many exciting and new films you know will change people’s lives when they see it. The only greater joy is the festival itself and helping filmmakers share their work with an audience and playing a small role in their development as an artist. It feels like a true gift!
Santanu Das is covering Sundance Film Festival 2025 as part of the accredited press.