Sundance Film Festival

Returning to its snowy Utah milieu after spending two years online, the 2023 Sundance Film Festival amplified an array of stories from underrepresented voices.

Before flying to snowy Park City, Forbis and Tilby chatted with The Daily Californian over Zoom about festival preparations and “The Flying Sailor”— their animated short film about a middle-aged sailor’s near-death experience, inspired by the Halifax explosion of 1917.

“I just remember it was very meaningful for me at that age to be able to see myself reflected on-screen,” Laurel Parmet said in an interview with The Daily Californian after “The Starling Girl,” her feature directorial debut, premiered at the 2023 Sundance Film Festival. “And it made me feel like I want to do that for people.”

The director-producer duo spin specificity into a standout narrative in “Honk For Jesus,” choosing to show, not tell, a story bursting with complexity and color.

“Maintaining a sense of play, even when it's serious. I think it is one of the most important aspects of the job,” Brown said in an interview with The Daily Californian.

While Raiff’s penchant for earnestness remains a grounding force behind “Cha Cha Real Smooth,” the novelty of his sincerity and emotional subjectivity has mostly worn off, his portrayal of liminality more vaguely delineated and less insightful and critically self-reflexive than it purports to be.

“Dos Estaciones'' is as somber and candid as one might expect from a film fresh out of Sundance, but this Spanish-language feature has much more to offer than the beauty and buzz that surrounds it.

“Master” wins because of its simplicity, effectiveness and wit, serving as a great addition to modern-day horror.

The Sundance program showcases a unique array of stories spanning genre and perspective. At The Daily Californian, arts reporters Vincent Tran and Megha Ganapathy and arts editor Maya Thompson have stepped up to explore this vast selection.