Film / News
Sundance film festival heads west for a trio of previews in Bristol and Bath
The London edition of the Sundance Institute‘s renowned film festival takes place this year from June 9-12. But it won’t be necessary to haul ass to the capital to see some of the best films, as three of them are heading west with recorded filmmaker Q&As. Locally, you can catch them at the Watershed in Bristol and Little Theatre in Bath.
On June 10, you can enjoy a full-frontal Emma Thompson in the festival’s headline-grabbing opening film, Good Luck to You, Leo Grande. Billed as a “hilarious, heartwarming, sex-positive tale of empowerment and self-discovery”, Sophie Hyde’s comedy stars Nanny McPhee herself as a widowed retired schoolteacher who’s never had an orgasm. In a bid to rectify this unfortunate situation, she hires hunky young sex worker Daryl McCormack. This one is followed by a recorded Q&A with Sophie Hyde. The film goes on general release, if you’ll pardon the phrase, on June 17.
Next up on June 11 is something completely different in the form of the disturbing documentary Free Chol Soo Lee. Back in 1970s San Francisco, penniless Korean immigrant Chol Soo Lee was racially profiled and wrongfully convicted of a Chinatown gang murder. The innocent drifter spent years in jail before his case was taken up by investigative journalist K.W. Lee, sparking an Asian-American social justice movement that united young activists and older, more conservative Korean immigrants. The screening is followed by a recorded Q&A with co-directors Julie Ha and Eugene Yi.
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The season concludes on June 12 with first-time writer/director Max Walker-Silverman’s tender A Love Song, in which sixtysomething widow Faye (Dale Dickey) reunites with her childhood sweetheart Lito (Wes Studi) at a campsite in the Colorado mountains. Those inevitable comparisons with Nomadland are unlikely to hurt its commercial prospects. This one is followed by a recorded Q&A with Max Walker-Silverman.
Go here for tickets for the Watershed screenings and here for the Little Theatre screenings.
Main pic: Daryl McCormack and Emma Thompson in ‘Good Luck to You, Leo Grande’. Image credit: Lionsgate
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