Last week, the Sundance Institute announced the 91 projects selected for the feature films, episodic, and new frontier programs for the 40th edition of its festival, which runs Jan. 18-28 in Park City, Utah. We spied two CalArtians among the announced titles: director Scott Cummings (Film/Video MFA 07) and actor Ed Harris (Theater BFA 75).
Cummings’ directorial feature debut, Realm of Satan, screens in the NEXT program, which is dedicated to “pure, bold works distinguished by an innovative, forward-thinking approach to storytelling ….” The film is an experiential portrait of Satanists and the Church of Satan, with Cummings tracking the everyday lives of church members as well as the Black Magical rituals in which they engage. He blends fictional and supernatural elements in order to “create a more complicated and mysterious picture of the church.”
While this is Cummings’ debut feature, his work has screened at Sundance before. He has edited acclaimed festival premieres over the past decade, including Never Rarely Sometimes Always, directed by fellow CalArtian Eliza Hittman (Film/Video MFA 10), Monsters and Men, and Wendy.
Cummings’ short film “Buffalo Juggalos” was awarded the Grand Jury Prize for Live Action Short at the 2014 AFI Fest.
The romance-thriller Love Lies Bleeding has its world premiere at Sundance 2024. Written and directed by Rose Glass, the film follows reclusive gym manager Lou (Kristen Strewart) who falls for an ambitious bodybuilder Jackie (Katy O’Brian) who’s headed to Las Vegas in pursuit of her dream. Their love ignites violence, pulling them into the sphere of Lou’s criminal family. Ed Harris also stars alongside Dave Franco, Jena Malone, and Anna Baryshnikov.
Sundance’s short film titles, 40th anniversary special programming, and screening times will be announced tomorrow, Dec. 12.
