Day Zero | Sundance 2021

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2021 might turn out to be an even more challenging year than its predecessor, but January had a massive surprise in store for me. I was lucky enough to get press approval to cover this year’s (online) edition of Sundance, arguably one of the most important, influential film festivals of today. I don’t have enough words to describe how delighted I am for having the opportunity to (finally) attend an international festival, even if it’s only virtually. This article is the first of many I’ll be publishing throughout the next few days, not only here on my website but also the respective Portuguese translations on Echo Boomer. I’ll explain my upload system and share a list of my most anticipated movies without elaborating too much.

As soon as the official schedule came out, the following weeks were dedicated to planning the type of coverage I would do. My current plan consists of watching twenty feature-films at premieres and on-demand (one day later). This will (hopefully) give me enough time to write reviews for each movie, but these will be shorter than usual. I will complete these reviews either in the morning after (if I believe my opinion needs more words) or right before the first public release date (independently of which country).  

Therefore, if everything goes right, I’ll be able to publish my thoughts on every film I see each day, approximately one hour after a viewing session ends and before the next one begins. I’ll also post a “Day X” type of article in the morning after, where I’ll share the movies I watched the day before with a link to the respective review. In addition to this, even though documentaries and short films are not part of my coverage, I will try my best to catch a few of them. If I’m able to do this, I will definitely write a summary of the ones that positively impacted me.

Basically, you can count on 20 movie reviews + 5/6 daily recap-type articles. I will also write a final post on the overall experience as well as my favorite films from the festival. That’s it! I hope you enjoy this coverage, and if you’re also attending the festival, I wish you a great time!

Most Anticipated Films

  • Judas and the Black Messiah

  • CODA

  • Passing

  • Land

  • Prisoners of the Ghostland

  • The Dog Who Wouldn’t Be Quiet

  • John and the Hole

  • Mass

  • Prime Time

  • Human Factors