Red carpets for the stars might not be rolled out in Park City, Utah, this year, but the 2021 Sundance Film Festival is opening its doors to audiences globally with online premieres and virtual panels.
Like many other festivals, the main US showcase for independent film, founded by actor and director Robert Redford, has cancelled its in-person edition at the ski resort town owing to the Covid-19 pandemic, presenting a digital version instead.
Smaller in size and length, it began on Thursday and runs until next Wednesday. Films presented at the festival will include 72 features and 50 shorts.
People can buy tickets to watch premieres and take part in question-and-answer sessions online. Sundance is also putting on drive-in and other outdoor screenings in some US cities.
"The festival is coming from a place of needing to completely reimagine and take the pieces we know are part of our essence, and build them into something different," festival director Tabitha Jackson told an online news conference.
She said submissions were only slightly down from previous years, mainly from US production.
Signs of the times
"We also got films that were made in Covid, reflected in the subject matter or in the form. ... It's been interesting for us to be able to be one of the first showcases for creativity that came through a pandemic or is being made in the midst of it."
Film screenings include Coda, about a music-loving girl afraid to leave her deaf parents, and Together Together, starring The Hangover actor Ed Helms as a single man who hires a surrogate mother.
Tessa Thompson and Ruth Negga star in the racial drama Passing set in 1929 New York, while How It Ends, featuring Olivia Wilde, takes place on the last day on Earth. Documentary The Sparks Brothers, about the pop and rock music duo, is also on the list.
"There's very few films from studios. ... There's not as many celebrities," film industry and review website IndieWire Editor-in-Chief Dana Harris-Bridson told Reuters.
"It feels almost like a throwback to Sundance of the early '90s when ... Sundance was still fairly new and still proving itself and hadn't been understood as a launching pad for larger titles. In a way ... it's going back to its roots." Panels at the festival will include one about women in film featuring Halle Berry and Robin Wright.
Rethinking film festivals
Film festivals have had to postpone or rethink their editions, with September's Toronto International Film Festival also streamed digitally. The Cannes Film Festival in 2020 was replaced with a pared-back edition of short films; the 2021 event has been delayed to July.
But Harris-Bridson said there are positive aspects to going virtual.
"It gives a much larger opportunity to the public to see the films," she said.
The biog
Place of birth: Kalba
Family: Mother of eight children and has 10 grandchildren
Favourite traditional dish: Al Harees, a slow cooked porridge-like dish made from boiled cracked or coarsely ground wheat mixed with meat or chicken
Favourite book: My early life by Sheikh Dr Sultan bin Muhammad Al Qasimi, the Ruler of Sharjah
Favourite quote: By Sheikh Zayed, the UAE's Founding Father, “Those who have no past will have no present or future.”
Sole survivors
- Cecelia Crocker was on board Northwest Airlines Flight 255 in 1987 when it crashed in Detroit, killing 154 people, including her parents and brother. The plane had hit a light pole on take off
- George Lamson Jr, from Minnesota, was on a Galaxy Airlines flight that crashed in Reno in 1985, killing 68 people. His entire seat was launched out of the plane
- Bahia Bakari, then 12, survived when a Yemenia Airways flight crashed near the Comoros in 2009, killing 152. She was found clinging to wreckage after floating in the ocean for 13 hours.
- Jim Polehinke was the co-pilot and sole survivor of a 2006 Comair flight that crashed in Lexington, Kentucky, killing 49.
What vitamins do we know are beneficial for living in the UAE
Vitamin D: Highly relevant in the UAE due to limited sun exposure; supports bone health, immunity and mood.
Vitamin B12: Important for nerve health and energy production, especially for vegetarians, vegans and individuals with absorption issues.
Iron: Useful only when deficiency or anaemia is confirmed; helps reduce fatigue and support immunity.
Omega-3 (EPA/DHA): Supports heart health and reduces inflammation, especially for those who consume little fish.
Tips to keep your car cool
- Place a sun reflector in your windshield when not driving
- Park in shaded or covered areas
- Add tint to windows
- Wrap your car to change the exterior colour
- Pick light interiors - choose colours such as beige and cream for seats and dashboard furniture
- Avoid leather interiors as these absorb more heat
Dhadak 2
Director: Shazia Iqbal
Starring: Siddhant Chaturvedi, Triptii Dimri
Rating: 1/5
ULTRA PROCESSED FOODS
- Carbonated drinks, sweet or savoury packaged snacks, confectionery, mass-produced packaged breads and buns
- margarines and spreads; cookies, biscuits, pastries, cakes, and cake mixes, breakfast cereals, cereal and energy bars;
- energy drinks, milk drinks, fruit yoghurts and fruit drinks, cocoa drinks, meat and chicken extracts and instant sauces
- infant formulas and follow-on milks, health and slimming products such as powdered or fortified meal and dish substitutes,
- many ready-to-heat products including pre-prepared pies and pasta and pizza dishes, poultry and fish nuggets and sticks, sausages, burgers, hot dogs, and other reconstituted meat products, powdered and packaged instant soups, noodles and desserts.
More on animal trafficking
IPL 2018 FINAL
Sunrisers Hyderabad 178-6 (20 ovs)
Chennai Super Kings 181-2 (18.3 ovs)
Chennai win by eight wickets
