This morning both the Sundance Institute and Picturehouse announced this year’s programme for Sundance Film Festival: London. Female stories and filmmakers shine brightly in this years line-up as seven out of the twelve films showcased at this year’s Sundance Film Festival: London were directed by women. Along with a thrilling array of female leads on screen, the selection champions female voices and highlights some of the broad and excellent women-led work direct from Sundance Utah.

The Festival, which will take place between the 31st May – 3 June at Picturehouse Central, will open with the UK premiere of Jennifer Fox’s The Tale, starring Laura Dern and Elizabeth Debicki. The festival also honours British talent once again, this time by premiering Idris Elba’s directorial debut, Yardie. Women in Film takes centre stage at this year’s event, as movements such as Time’s Up and #MeToo continue to highlight inequality in the film industry. The festival will also celebrate the work of diverse industry pioneers with a series of panel discussions, Q&As, and special guest appearances. In keeping with the What Next theme, the year’s special events programme will coalesce around the idea of creating a culture of inclusion for our film industry, whilst providing audiences an invaluable insight into the filmmaking process.

Also in the news – Look Who’s Talking at the 2018 Tribeca Film Festival

The full line up is below;

FEATURE FILM PROGRAMME — American independent narrative and documentary films that premiered at the Sundance Film Festival in Park City, Utah, U.S.A.

  • An Evening With Beverly Luff Linn (Director: Jim Hosking, Screenwriters: Jim Hosking, David Wike). Principal cast: Aubrey Plaza, Emile Hirsch, Jemaine Clement, Matt Berry, Craig Robinson
  • Eighth Grade (Director/Screenwriter: Bo Burnham), Principal cast: Elsie Fisher, Josh Hamilton.
  • Generation Wealth (Director: Lauren Greenfield), Principal cast: Florian Homm, Tiffany Masters, Jaqueline Siegel.
  • Half the Picture (Director: Amy Adrion) Principal cast: Rosanna Arquette, Jamie Babbit, Emily Best.
  • Hereditary  (Director/Screenwriter: Ari Aster) Principal cast: Toni Collette, Gabriel Byrne, Alex Wolff, Ann Dowd, Milly Shapiro
  • Leave No Trace (Director: Debra Granik, Screenwriters: Debra Granik, Anne Rosellini),Principal cast: Ben Foster, Thomasin Harcourt McKenzie, Jeff Kober, Dale Dickey.
  • The Miseducation of Cameron Post (Director: Desiree Akhavan, Screenwriters: Desiree Akhavan, Cecilia Frugiuele), Principal cast: Chloë Grace Moretz, Sasha Lane, Forrest Goodluck, John Gallagher Jr., Jennifer Ehle.
  • Never Goin’ Back (Director/Screenwriter: Augustine Frizzell),Principal cast: Maia Mitchell, Cami Morrone, Kyle Mooney, Joel Allen, Kendal Smith, Matthew Holcomb.
  • Skate Kitchen (Director: Crystal Moselle, Screenwriters: Crystal Moselle, Ashlihan Unaldi), Principal cast: Rachelle Vinberg, Dede Lovelace, Jaden Smith, Nina Moran, Ajani Russell, Kabrina Adams.
  • The Tale (Director/Screenwriter: Jennifer Fox), Principal cast: Laura Dern, Isabelle Nélisse, Jason Ritter, Elizabeth Debicki, Ellen Burstyn, Common.
  • Yardie (Director: Idris Elba, Screenwriters: Brock Norman Brock, Martin Stellman),Principal cast: Aml Ameen, Shantol Jackson, Stephen Graham, Fraser James, Sheldon Shepherd, Everaldo Cleary.
  • SURPRISE FILM!

2018 Sundance Film Festival Short Film Tour – A 91-minute theatrical program of seven short films selected from this year’s Festival, widely considered the premier showcase for short films and the launchpad for many now-prominent independent filmmakers for more than 30 years. Including fiction, documentary and animation from around the world, the 2018 program offers new audiences a taste of what the Festival offers, from laugh-out-loud comedy to contemplative reflections of the world we live in.

Baby Brother (Director/Screenwriter: Kamau Bilal)

The Burden (Director/Screenwriter: Niki Lindroth von Bahr)

Fauve (Director/Screenwriter: Jérémy Comte)

Hair Wolf (Director/Screenwriter: Mariama Diallo)

JEOM (Director/Screenwriter: Kangmin Kim)

Matria (Director/Screenwriter: Álvaro Gago)

Maude (Director/Screenwriter: Anna Margaret Hollyman)

UK Short Film Programme – A showcase of visionary new shorts from the UK. A wild ride through fiction and animation, discovering some of the exciting new filmmaking talent in the country.

Blue Christmas (Director/Screenwriter: Charlotte Wells)

Fry-Up (Director/Screenwriter: Charlotte Regan)

Garfield (Director: Georgi Banks-Davies, Screenwriter: Myra Appannah)

Marfa (Co-Directors/Screenwriters: Greg McLeod, Myles McLeod)

[O] (Directors/Screenwriters: Mario Radev, Chiara Sgatti)

The Right Choice (Director: Tomisin Adepeju, Screenwriter: Vijay Varman)

Wren Boys (Director: Harry Lighton, Screenwriters: Harry Lighton, John Fitzpatrick)

SPECIAL EVENTS – Discussions with renowned guest speakers providing incredible insights into the filmmaking process.

The Big Culture Shift 

Presented in association with Film London

Coinciding with the festival’s #WhatNext theme, this vital event sees key industry players take the stage to examine what must be done to create a new cultural landscape that is more inclusive and representative. Figures from the UK’s major film funders, Film London, BBC Films and Sundance, will speak alongside Amy Adrion, whose film Half The Picture explores the hiring of film and television directors in Hollywood and features Ava DuVernay (A Wrinkle in Time), Lena Dunham (Girls), Jill Soloway (Transparent) and Rosanna Arquette.

Panellists: Amy Adrion, director of Half the Picture; Jordan McGarry Head of Production for Film London; Eva Yates, Commissioning Executive at BBC Films.

Art of the Real – the intersection between Documentary and Fiction

Hosted by The Doc Society

Three leading documentary and narrative filmmakers discuss the relationship between documentary and fiction filmmaking and how these boundaries can be blurred when the limits of traditional filmmaking are transcended. Following a successful career in documentary filmmaking, Jennifer Fox makes her narrative feature debut with The Tale, bringing her unique approach to documentary filmmaking to the autobiographically inspired story of sexual abuse. Lauren Greenfield joins the discussion as a distinguished documentary filmmaker boasting wins at both Sundance Film Festival and River Run Festival in 2012 for her riches-to-rags documentary, Queen of Versailles. This year sees Greenfield’s return to filmmaking with her examination of consumer capitalism: Generation Wealth. Completing the line-up is Crystal Moselle, best known for her U.S. Documentary Grand Jury Prize-winning feature The Wolfpack at the 2015 Sundance Film Festival, who brings true authenticity to her narrative debut, Skate Kitchen.

Panellists: Jennifer Fox, director/screenwriter of The Tale; Lauren Greenfield, director of Generation Wealth; Crystal Moselle, director/co-screenwriter of Skate Kitchen. Hosted by Lisa-Marie Russo of The Doc Society.

Triple Threat – Three major filmmakers in conversation

Join three of the festival’s leading filmmakers for an insightful discussion of their careers and filmmaking processes. Jennifer Fox (The Tale) is joined by Debra Granik (Leave No Trace), Oscar-nominated for Best Adapted Screenplay for the critically lauded Winter’s Bone (winner of the Grand Jury Prize at the 2010 Sundance Film Festival), and 2018 Grand Jury prize-winning Desiree Akhavan (The Miseducation Of Cameron Post), writer, director and star of Appropriate Behaviour.

A must-see masterclass.

Panellists: Jennifer Fox, director/screenwriter of The Tale; Debra Granik, director/co-screenwriter of Leave No Trace; Desiree Akhavan, director/co-screenwriter of The Miseducation of Cameron Post.

General ticket sales open at 9.30am on Monday 30 April, with priority booking for Picturehouse Members opening on 9.30am on Monday 23 April. Become a Picturehouse Member now at picturehouses.com/membership.