Sundance Film Festival London announces repertory shorts programme

Picturehouse and the nonprofit Sundance Institute announced additions to the line-up for the 11th edition of Sundance Film Festival: London (6-9 June). Alongside the 11 feature films, UK short film programme and the industry programme previously announced, the Festival will also showcase Sundance Film Festival features and shorts presented over the years in its repertory strand to celebrate the 40th edition of the Sundance Film Festival in the United States.

The festival will also host three thought-provoking public talks featuring top filmmakers and industry experts.

UK Repertory Screenings

In a year that celebrated the 40th edition of the Sundance Film Festival in the United States, Sundance Film Festival: London 2024 will also showcase highlights of features and shorts presented over the years at the festival.

The festival will screen two acclaimed UK features for audiences to re-discover from Sundance Film Festival history. Those two features are Under the Skin and Kinky Boots.

Feature Films

Under the Skin (1997)

(Director and Screenwriter: Carine Adler, Producer: Kate Ogborn)

Under The Skin launched the careers of two major British talents: Carine Adler and Academy Award nominee Samantha Morton. An acute psychological portrait of a young woman, Iris Kelly (Samantha Morton), experiencing a breakdown followed by a partial reintegration after the death of her mother from cancer… Iris believes her elder sister, Rose, was her mother’s favourite, and this has exacerbated her distress and her revolt against Rose’s values.

Cast: Samantha Morton, Stuart Townsend, Claire Rushbrook, Rita Tushingham

Director Carine Adler and other key members of the Under the Skin film team will be present for the screening’s introduction and Q&A, and the film will be screened on a 35mm print.

Kinky Boots (2005)

(Director: Julian Jarrold, Screenwriters: Geoff Deane, Tim Firth, Producers: Peter Ettedgui, Suzanne Mackie)

Inspired by a true story, Kinky Boots sees Charlie Price set about rescuing his dad’s ailing Northampton shoe factory, which has been the pride and joy of his family for generations. Facing the imminent closure of the factory, Charlie begins to feel all is lost. A chance encounter with sassy, flamboyant Soho cabaret star Lola provides a glimmer of hope and a surprising last chance for the factory and its employees. Lola’s quest for stylish, kinky women’s boots (for men) might just provide the answer to Charlie’s prayers but is Northampton open-minded enough for the likes of Lola? This cherished British comedy premiered at Sundance before its global release and later transformation into a Tony-winning Broadway musical.

Cast: Chiwetel Ejiofor, Joel Edgerton, Sarah-Jane Potts, Nick Frost

Short Films

Careful How You Go (2018)

(Director and Screenwriter: Emerald Fennell, Producers: Claire Oxley, Chris Vernon)
A darkly comic three-part short film about malevolent women.

Cast: Phoebe Waller-Bridge, Linda Bassett, Daniel Rigby, Charlotte Ritchie

Daytimer (2014)

(Director and Screenwriter: Riz Ahmed, Producers: Amy Jackson, Sophie Neave)
London, 1999, a young boy gives school and home the slip to attend his first daytime rave.

Cast: Jordan O’Donegan, Sean Sagar, Ali Barouti

Don’t Hug Me I’m Scared (2019)

(Director: Joseph Pelling, Becky Sloan, Baker Terry, Screenwriters: Sam Campbell, Megan Ganz, Natasha Hodgson, Joseph Pelling, Charlie Perkins, Becky Sloan, Baker Terry, Producers: Hugo Donkin, Charlie Perkins)

Based on the hugely popular web series, following roommates Red Guy, Yellow Guy, and Duck, who live simple and repetitive lives in the complacent technicolour community of Clayhill…until the town’s mayor disappears, and everything descends into utter chaos.

Cast: Joseph Pelling, Becky Sloan, TomSka, Kellen Goff, Baker Terry

Robots of Brixton (2012)

(Director, Screenwriter and Producer: Kibwe Tavares)

The film follows the trials and tribulations of young robots surviving at the sharp end of inner city life, living the predictable existence of a populous hemmed in by poverty, disillusionment and mass unemployment. When the police invade the one spot which the robots can call their own, the fierce and strained relationship between the two sides explodes into an outbreak of violence echoing that of 1981.

Cast: Kibwe Tavares, Yung Swizz’Agg

Scrubber (2012)

(Director, Screenwriter and Producer: Romola Garai, Producer: Shona Kerr)
A young mother who is both obsessed and attracted to the notions of perfection and dirt, and explores these seemingly conflicting opposites through the desperate pursuit of anonymous sex.

Cast: Amanda Hale, Honor Kneafsey, Michelle Duncan, Steven Robertson, Martin Savage

Streets of Crocodiles (1986)

(Director: Stephen Quay, Timothy Quay, Screenwriter: Stephen Quay, Timothy Quay, Bruno Schulz, Producer: Keith M Griffiths)
A museum keeper spits into the eyepiece of an ancient peep-show and sets the musty machine going. Inside, the puppets partake of a series of bizarre rituals amongst the dirt and the grime.

Cast: Feliks Stawinski

Special Screening of (500) Days of Summer

The festival is delighted to present a special screening of (500) Days of Summer. The screening marks 15 years since Marc Webb’s classic romcom premiered. As if seeing the film back on the big screen wasn’t exciting enough, audiences at Sundance Film Festival: London will be celebrating in style with drinks and exclusive merchandise giveaways courtesy of Searchlight Pictures, with the studio commemorating their 30th anniversary.

(500) Days of Summer (2009)

(Director: Marc Webb, Screenwriters: Scott Neustadter, Michael H. Weber, Producers: Mason Novick, Jessica Tuchinsky, Mark Waters, Steven J. Wolfe)

After being dumped by the girl he believes to be his soulmate, hopeless romantic Tom Hansen reflects on their relationship to try and figure out where things went wrong and how he can win her back.

Cast: Joseph Gordon-Levitt, Zooey Deschanel, Geoffrey Arend, Chloë Grace Moretz, Matthew Gray Gubler 

Three Exciting Public Talks

The Festival has curated three exclusive panel discussions, which are open to the public, to offer thoughtful and engaging conversations with filmmakers and industry experts to spark curiosity amongst the audience.

Finding Your Creative Family
This session looks at building networks and community in the film and media industries – filmmaking can be a lonely pursuit, so how do you find the right collaborators, boosters and friends to act as sounding boards? How should you think about connecting with other creatives both formally (through guilds and organisations) or through informal meet-ups. Find out more about why building your own community can help your career and your well-being. Speakers will include Director/Producer Carlos López Estrada; Writer/Director Tina Gharavi; Producer, Development Coordinator and Founder of Insight Network Sherie Myers; and moderator Krishnendu Majumdar, co-founder of Me + You Productions.

Filmmakers in Conversation

We invite some of this year’s top filmmakers at Sundance Film Festival: London to talk about their creative process in making their films, their career journeys and inspirations. Speakers will include Thea Hvistendahl, Writer/Director of Handling the Undead; Sean Wang, Writer/Director of Dìdi (弟弟); and Director, Writer and Producer David Zellner and Director and Producer Nathan Zellner of Sasquatch Sunset.

The Challenges and Opportunities of the Documentary World

Filmmakers and industry experts working in non-fiction look at how the market and creative ambitions are evolving for documentary projects in 2024 and beyond. How are release strategies evolving on streaming platforms and in cinemas, how are audiences for documentaries growing and evolving, and what are some of the storytelling innovations non-fiction filmmakers are pursuing? Speakers will include Never Look Away director Lucy Lawless; Dorothy St Pictures producer Julia Nottingham (The Greatest Night In Pop); Reva Sharma, Manager, Original Documentaries, Netflix; and Skywalkers: A Love Story Director Jeff Zimbalist.