2021 Sundance Film Festival and Houston Cinema Arts Society Reveal Program Selections Debuting in Houston
Houston, TX — The nonprofit Sundance Institute announced last month the new independent work selected for the 2021 Sundance Film Festival, January 28-February 3, 2021. The Festival will take place digitally via a feature-rich, Sundance-built online platform and in-person screenings across the country on Satellite Screens including in Houston (public health permitting). Online, Festival attendees can gather in virtual waiting rooms, participate in live Q&A’s, and congregate in new environments to interact in a range of ways, both new and familiar. The Institute shared details of how the Festival will meet audiences on the online platform and Satellite Screens in December.
Houston Cinema Arts Society (HCAS) is proud to partner with the Festival to bring selections of the program to Houston at Moonstruck Drive-In and The DeLuxe Theater. Each film will be preceded by an HCAS curated pre-show reel. More announcements will follow next week.
The film selections playing in Houston are:
CODA / U.S.A. (Director and Screenwriter: Siân Heder, Producers: Philippe Rousselet, Fabrice Gianfermi, Patrick Wachsberger) — As a CODA – Child of Deaf Adults – Ruby is the only hearing person in her deaf family. When the family’s fishing business is threatened, Ruby finds herself torn between pursuing her love of music and her fear of abandoning her parents. Cast: Emilia Jones, Eugenio Derbez, Troy Kotsur, Ferdia Walsh-Peelo, Daniel Durant, and Marlee Matlin. World Premiere. Playing Thursday, January 28 at 7:30PM at Moonstruck Drive-In.
I Was a Simple Man / U.S.A. (Director and Screenwriter: Christopher Makoto Yogi, Producers: Sarah S. Kim, Christopher Makoto Yogi, Matthew Petock, Yamato Cibulka) — As a family in Hawai’i faces the imminent death of their eldest, the ghosts of the past haunt the countryside. Cast: Steve Iwamoto, Constance Wu, Kanoa Goo, Chanel Akiko Hirai, Tim Chiou, Boonyanudh Jiyarom. World Premiere. Playing Friday, January 29 at 7:30PM at Moonstruck Drive-In.
Passing / U.S.A. (Director and Screenwriter: Rebecca Hall, Producers: Forest Whitaker, Nina Yang Bongiovi, Margot Hand, Rebecca Hall) — Two African-American women who can “pass” as white choose to live on opposite sides of the color line in 1929 New York in an exploration of racial and gender identity, performance, obsession and repression. Based on the novella by Nella Larsen. Cast: Tessa Thompson, Ruth Negga, André Holland, Alexander Skarsgård, Bill Camp. World Premiere. Playing Saturday, January 30 at 7:30PM at Moonstruck Drive-In.
“We are so excited about our Sundance Satellite line-up at the fabulous Moonstruck Drive-In and eager to share some of the most intriguing, gorgeous, and groundbreaking filmmaking on the planet with Houston’s discerning film going audience,” says HCAS Artistic Director Jessica Green. “Siân Heder’s Coda, Christopher Makoto Yogi’s I Was a Simple Man, and Rebecca Hall’s Passing represent the new voices, excellence, and diversity of world-class independent filmmaking in 2021. All three set a fresh gaze on underrepresented, unique, yet universally felt experiences and scopes. We are really proud, at Houston Cinema Arts Society, to be tasked with shepherding this experience on behalf of Sundance for Houston.“
Tickets for in-person screenings, along with the local screening schedule, will be available beginning January 7, 2021. You can learn more about the films selected for the 2021 Sundance Film Festival and see the online schedule on the Festival’s film program guide at festival.sundance.org.
Houston Cinema Arts Society will be revealing additional local programming including talks and events in mid-January for the Beyond Film section. For more information, please see at Festival.Sundance.org and cinemahtx.org.
ABOUT HOUSTON CINEMA ARTS SOCIETY (HCAS)
Houston Cinema Arts Society (HCAS) is a 501(c)(3) nonprofit organization dedicated to presenting unique and innovative film programs, multimedia installations and performances, and educational opportunities to engage, enrich, and empower Houston’s diverse communities and cultures. HCAS flagship programs include the Houston Cinema Arts Festival held annually in November, the Cinespace short film competition (a collaboration with NASA challenging filmmakers to create films from the NASA archives), Borders | No Borders (a short film competition for filmmakers with meaningful ties to Texas, the states it borders, and Mexico), and the Black Media Story Summit (a collaboration with Black Public Media, the Austin Film Society, and the Fifth Ward Community Redevelopment Corporation). HCAS is dedicated to serving Houston filmmakers and film lovers and engaging in meaningful partnerships with creative individuals and organizations at the intersection of cinema with the visual arts, music, theatre, literature, dance, culture, science, and the humanities. HCAS is generously supported by HEB, National Endowment for the Arts, Brown Foundation, Kinder Foundation, Houston First Corporation, Franci Neely Foundation, Petrello Family Foundation, Cabrina & Steven Owsley, Carrin Patman & Jim Derrick, Catherine Asher Morgan, Sara and Bill Morgan, Louisa Stude Sarofim, Nina & Michael Zilkha, Mark Wawro, Amegy Bank, Texas Film Commission, Houston Film Commission, Texas Commission for the Arts, Alice Kleberg Reynolds Foundation, Six Foot, and Houston Arts Alliance. The 2020 Houston Cinema Arts Festival took place November 12-22 at Drive-Ins around Houston and on the virtual Eventive platform.