NEW BEAUTIFUL STORIES UNFOLD AT SUNDANCE FESTIVAL 2016

We kick off a week celebrating the art of storytelling with a curated collection of new films, games, and experiences, showcased at the 2016 Sundance Film Festival, which opens on Thursday, January 21.

WALDEN, A GAME

If you’ve ever dreamed of escaping to a cabin at Walden Pond to write a novel or a stream of poetry, you can try it and see what it feels like with Walden, a Game, the new 3D simulation video game, by lead artist Tracy Fullerton and the USC Game Innovation Lab team.

You can walk in Henry David Thoreau’s virtual footsteps, amidst a beautiful tranquil virtual landscape, to experience his story as if it were your own. You can live simply, relying only upon your own wit and skill set to survive here, as you ponder beautiful ideas.

The game is based on Thoreau’s detailed notes about this beautiful rural nirvana, including its flora and fauna. Players can discover the same beauty that he did and connect with nature to develop their own thoughts and concepts as they play.

The game offers a new genre of play -- one which requires reflection and insight vs. trigger-happy reflexes. Check out the trailer here.

SOPHIE AND THE RISING SUN

Set in the small town of Salty Creek, SC, in the autumn of 1941, Sophie and the Rising Sun, directed by Maggie Greenwald, tells the story Grover Ohta, a first-generation Japanese American, who faces exclusion due to his race.

Ohta falls in love with Sophie, a lonely spinster. They both share a love of painting and are each nursing painful memories as bombs fall upon Pearl Harbor.

BELGICA

Belgica is the story of two brothers, each with their own set of flaws, working together to try to get their dive bar, Belgica, to become a hot spot in town where the “beautiful people” come to party. They seem to have discovered the formula for success — until they find out there’s a price to pay.

Writer/director Felix van Groeningen creates a beautifully shot, immersive experience, set to the eclectic sounds of acclaimed Belgian band Soulwax. Check out the trailer here.

CERTAIN WOMEN

Certain Women is the story of 3 women, played by Laura Dern, Michelle Williams, Kristen Stewart, whose lives intersect in Montana. Director Kelly Reichardt contrasts the pathos of their personal challenges and struggles, as they copy with issues of isolation, marital strife, and intimacy, and as they grapple with moral ambiguity, all in the beautiful setting of the American West. Also starring Lily Gladstone, Jared Harris, and James Le Gros.

Based on Maile Meloy’s short stories, as the macho men of “yesteryear” begin to stumble, facing their own issues with aging, industry and a changing society, the women begin to blaze trails, despite their quiet desperation. 

COMPLETE UNKNOWN

Lovers meet for the first time at a dinner party and launch into a new life story in Complete Unknown, a film about self-reinvention.

With Michael Shannon and Rachel Weisz, directed by Joshua Marston, this film takes a fairytale-like dive into a rabbit hole, as the story unfolds during an all-night spree.

LOVE & FRIENDSHIP

Set in the opulent drawing rooms of eighteenth-century English society,

Love & Friendship tells the story of Lady Susan Vernon (Kate Beckinsale), a beautiful widow, who tries to navigate the pressurized labyrinths of 18th century English society, aiming to find two new husbands -- one for herself and one for her daughter Frederica.

Her old friend Alicia (Chloë Sevigny) lends a hand, but two handsome suitors (Xavier Samuel and Tom Bennett) make things tricky.

Based on an unpublished novels, by Jane Austen, this gorgeous film, directed by Whit Stillman, creates a perfect “comedy of manners.”  

MR. PIG

Mr. Pig is a story about an old time pig farmer, from Georgia, who is about to lose his family farm. Eubanks, the farmer, played by Danny Glover, sets off on a road trip to Mexico with Howard, his beloved and over-sized pig, to find a new home. His estranged daughter, Eunice (Maya Rudolph), joins them.

Driven by strong convictions and stubbornness in his old ways, Eubanks attempts to make peace through his devotion to Howie and desire to mend his broken relationships.

Director Diego Luna weaves storylines from old and new narratives, dipping into current concerns with global markets and factory farming, and diving into the practice of disposable relationships, as he winds through lush landscapes in Central America.

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

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IMAGE CREDITS:

1. Image: Courtesy of USC Game Innovation Lab. Walden, a Game.
2. Image: Courtesy of USC Game Innovation Lab. Walden, a Game.
3. Image: Courtesy of USC Game Innovation Lab. Walden, a Game.
4. Image: Courtesy of USC Game Innovation Lab. Walden, a Game.
5. Image: Courtesy of Sophie and the Rising Sun. Sophie and the Rising Sun.
6. Image: Courtesy of Belgica Film. Belgica.
7. Image: Courtesy of FilmScience. Certain Women.
8. Image: Courtesy of WME Entertainment. Complete Unknown.
9. Image: Courtesy of Protagonist Pictures. Love & Friendship.
10. Image: Courtesy of Canana. Mr. Pig.
11. Image: Courtesy of USC Game Innovation Lab. Walden, a Game.
12. Image: Courtesy of USC Game Innovation Lab. Walden, a Game.
13. Image: by BN App - Download now!
14. Image: Courtesy of Sundance Film Festival.