10 BEAUTIFUL STORIES TOLD THROUGH NEW FILMS @ SUNDANCE NOW

This week we are celebrating Beautiful Stories, with most of our posts featuring films and performances making their debut right now at the 2015 Sundance Film Festival. BeautifulNow will be bringing you stories on location, live from the Festival, so stay tuned here for posts and check our Facebook, Twitter, Instagram, Pinterest, Tumblr pages and BeautifulNow Sundance page for live updates.

We begin today with a selection of brand new films with beautiful stories about important and inspiring artists of one kind or another.

1. STATION TO STATION

An inventive film that is composed of 61 one-minute shorts, Station to Station documents visual artist Doug Aitken’s cross-country creative journey.

The film is a kind of artistic experiment, designed to explore the arc of the story of art creation, exhibition, and participation. Aitken’s train moves from station to station across North America, depositing him for brief sojourns with a kaleidoscope of artists, musicians, and curators, who collaborated in the creation of recordings, artworks, films, and 10 unique happenings, across the country.

Watch, as creativity unfurls. With treats like Beck performing with a gospel choir in the Mojave desert, you are in for quite a journey yourself with this beautiful film.

2. WHAT HAPPENED MISS SIMONE

What Happened Miss Simone is an intimate portrait of famed singer Nina Simone.

Though classically trained, then focused on jazz, Simone became known as "High Priestess of Soul." Offstage she became a Black Power icon, devoted to fighting for civil rights.

Told through rare archival footage, never-before-heard tapes, interviews, and music, the film closely charts Simone’s trajectory in life, from her musical career to her activist devotions, and from the U.S. to her life in Liberia and France.

This powerful documentary, by director Liz Garbus, explores the life story of this beautiful and complex woman with sensitivity and grace, all set to a rapturous soundtrack.

3. LISTEN TO ME MARLON

A screen legend, Marlon Brando was a public figure who was shrouded in mystery. Listen to Me Marlon endeavors to shed more light through exclusive access to Brando’s personal archives, including hours of audio diaries that Marlon kept throughout his life.

Beautifully crafted by director Stevan Riley, Listen to Me Marlon is a rare documentary of the actor that allows Marlon Brando to tell his story in his own words. It is essentially, Brando on Brando.

4. ALOFT

At its essence, Aloft is about feelings of abandonment and loss. It tracks the journey of Ivan, a young man who searches for his mother near the Arctic Circle after she has abandoned him.

Ivan has embraced falconry as a means of escape from his familial woes. His falcon plays a pivotal role in the journey of both mother and son.

Aloft explores the estrangements and wounds of this relationship with great finesse and with devastating beauty.

Jennifer Connelly (Nana) and Cillian Murphy (Ivan) get right into your heart. The magical landscapes keep you transfixed. And the story itself takes on otherworldly proportions.

5. 6 DESIRES: DH LAWRENCE AND SARDINIA

6 Desires: DH Lawrence and Sardinia is a cinematic dialogue with the famed author D.H. Lawrence. Directed by Mark Cousins, this beautiful piece retraces Lawrence’s footsteps, trekked over 90 years ago when the author visited the island Sardinia. Lawrence’s book, Sea and Sardinia, written in 1921, described the land and its people with great verbal eloquence. This film offers a visual version of the history of this beautiful place through the author’s eyes.

6. A WALK IN THE WOODS

Set against the breathtaking landscape of Appalachian wildlife, A Walk in the Woods is a film about a travel writer trekking through the 2,100-mile-long trail together with a friend he hasn’t spoken to in years.

Starring Robert Redford and Nick Nolte, and played with humor and emotional nuance, the film explores the dynamics of an estranged friendship. It is an epic adventure as the two friends experience the incredible beauty of Appalachian mountains and the unparalleled vistas they offer.

7. BROOKLYN

Brooklyn is a sumptuous period film. It presents the moving story of Eilis Lacey, a young Irish woman who migrates to Brooklyn in the 1950’s.

Written by Nick Hornby, based on the acclaimed novel by Colm Toibin, and directed by John Crowley, Brooklyn paints a poignant picture of an immigrant’s struggles between her new life and her old. Caught between the love she has found in Brooklyn and the emotional ties she still has for her old home in Ireland, Ellis’ journey is played out by an exceptional cast.

8. SEMBENE!

Sembene! is a documentary about Ousmane Sembene, known as “the father of African cinema.” Sebene is known for making films that probe in issues of social injustice, such as Xala, Black Girl, and Ceddo. They are powerful blend of documentary, French New Wave, and Realism.

Sembene! weaves a compelling portrait of the Senegalese director through rare interviews of the people who were closest to him. The film takes you through Sembene’s 40-year career and unravels the everlasting influences that Sembene’s films have had on the next generation of African filmmakers.

9. SLOW WEST

The romanticism of Scottish aristocracy meets the brusqueness and excitement of the American frontier in this fresh-faced film by Scottish filmmaker John Maclean.

Slow West is a film about a lovesick 17-year-old aristocrat searching for his former lover in the wild West, with the help of an enigmatic traveler (played by Michael Fassbender). Lyrically filmed and visually stunning, Slow West is director Maclean’s unique take on the western film genre.

10. FRESH DRESSED

Fresh Dressed is a documentary that looks into the rise of hip-hop and “Fresh,” the street fashion that was associated with it.

The film is both impassioned and wildly entertaining as it features in-depth interviews with fashion and movie industry figures, such as Pharrell Williams, Damon Dash, Karl Kani, Kanye West, Nas Jones, and Andre Leon Talley.

Think funky, fat-laced Adidas, Kangol hats, Cazal shades, oversized pants and graffiti-emblazoned jackets.

Follow the story in a beautiful trajectory, tasting a piece of culture that went from being marginalized to becoming mainstream. 

Read more about Beautiful Stories, as it relates to Arts/Design, Nature/Science, Food/Drink, Place/Time, Mind/Body, and Soul/Impact.                              

Enter your own images and ideas about Beautiful Stories in this week’s creative Photo Competition. Open for entries now until 11:59 p.m. PT on 02.1.15. If you are reading this after that date, check out the current BN Creative Competition, and enter!

PHOTO CREDITS:

1. Photo: Courtesy of Doug Aitken. Station to Station.
2. Photo: Courtesy of LUMA Foundation. Station to Station.
3. Image: Courtesy of Moxie Firecracker Films. What Happened Miss Simone.
4. Image: Courtesy of Murphy PR. Listen to Me Marlon.
5. Image: Courtesy of Sony Pictures Classics. Aloft.
6. Image: Courtesy of The Festival Agency. 6 Desires: DH Lawrence and Sardinia.
7. Image: Courtesy of Ken Kwapis. A Walk in The Woods.
8. Image: Courtesy of HanWay Films. Brooklyn.
9. Image: Courtesy of Galle Ceddo Projects. Sembene!
10. Image: Courtesy of A24. Slow West.
11. Image: Courtesy of Sacha Jenkins. Fresh Dressed.