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The 16 films unveiled in the independent film festival's
documentary competition on Wednesday will debut during the
annual 10-day gathering in Park City, Utah, in January.
Four of the documentaries delve into the impact of the Black
Lives Matter movement that rose out of high-profile killings of
black men by police in various U.S. cities in the past two
years, renewing a national debate about racial discrimination in
the American criminal justice system.
"Whose Streets," premiering on the first day of the festival,
goes directly to the heart of the issue in the aftermath of the
August 2014 police shooting of Michael Brown, 18, in Ferguson.
The documentary focuses on the people in Ferguson who are
"frustrated by lack of attention on the real story of what's
happening there," and includes their own video footage, Sundance
festival director John Cooper told Reuters.
"The Force" goes inside the Oakland, California, police
department as it deals with the black community's uprising
following the events in Ferguson.
Two other documentaries, "Quest" and "STEP," show the indirect
impact of civil unrest and class and race struggles for
African-American families.
"You really see a lot of different African-American lives on
screen that you don't often see in cinema," said Trevor Groth,
Sundance's director of programming.
Documentaries have had a resurgence in mainstream popularity in
recent years as on-demand streaming services have brought
documentary films and series to a wider audience.
"It's the golden age for documentaries in terms of access to
reach their audiences. Netflix, HBO, Amazon are huge players in
that role," Cooper said.
"We're the only major festival that puts documentaries in equal
standing with fiction films."
"NOBODY SPEAK: Hulk Hogan, Gawker and Trials of a Free Press,"
directed by Brian Knappenberger, will be the first film on the
landmark $140 million lawsuit this year that shuttered online
news website Gawker Media LLC earlier this year.
"It's a very comprehensive look at the case. It's the players
behind it and ... interference of outside forces," Cooper said.
The Sundance Film Festival will be announcing its full line-up
of premieres and events during the coming week.
(Reporting by Piya Sinha-Roy; Editing by Bill Trott)
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