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BEAUTIFULLY TRANSPORTIVE: 2017 SUNDANCE FILM FESTIVAL

TAKE EVERY WAVE: The Life of Laird Hamilton, directed by Rory Kennedy. Courtesy of Moxie Firecracker Films.

Courtesy of Moxie Firecracker Films. TAKE EVERY WAVE: The Life of Laird Hamilton, directed by Rory Kennedy.

Every great film is a mind trip. But this batch of 2017 Sundance Film Festival films selected by the BN Team especially focuses upon personal journeys and triumphs. Check them out below.

Courtesy of Moxie Firecracker Films. TAKE EVERY WAVE: The Life of Laird Hamilton, directed by Rory Kennedy.

1. TAKE EVERY WAVE: THE LIFE OF LAIRD HAMILTON

Laird Hamilton faced down an abusive childhood and built an iconic life taking on the biggest waves an ocean could dish out and, in doing so, he changed the sport of big wave surfing forever. Award-winning documentary filmmaker Rory Kennedy delivers a sparkling portrait of this remarkable legend in her new film Take Every Wave: The Life of Laird Hamilton.

Courtesy of Moxie Firecracker Films. TAKE EVERY WAVE: The Life of Laird Hamilton, directed by Rory Kennedy.

Hamilton reinvented surfing throughout his career, pioneering both tow-in surfing and foil boarding.

The film’s spectacular cinematography captures grandiose big wave pipelines as Hamilton traversed with mastery and grace, as the story of his life and accomplishments roll through with a mix of unseen archival footage and intimate interviews.

Image Courtesy of Frenesy Film Call Me By Your Name directed by Luca Guadagnino

2. CALL ME BY YOUR NAME

A coming of age love story, Call Me By Your Name, is a beautifully rendered film, based on Andre Aciman’s award-winning novel.

Set in northern Italy in the summer of 1983, love and lust spark and arc into obsessive passion between Oliver, a 24-year old American scholar, and Elio, a 17-year old boy.

Image Courtesy of Frenesy Film Call Me By Your Name directed by Luca Guadagnino

Oliver has come to intern with Elio’s father, a professor in Greco-Roman culture and he stays with the family at their 17th century villa. The two young men come discover each other, as the summer unfurls, as well as their own inner desires.

With screenplay by Luca Guadagnino and James Ivory, and stellar performances by Armie Hammer, Michael Stuhlbarg, and Timothée Chalamet, the film is both tender and strong. It is highly sexual, yet sensitive as a line reverberates from beginning to end, "look me in the face, hold my gaze, and call me by your name."

Image Courtesy of Frenesy Film Call Me By Your Name directed by Luca Guadagnino

3. IT'S NOT YET DARK

A bittersweet circle comes around poignantly in It’s Not Yet Dark, a new documentary about Simon Fitzmaurice, directed by Frankie Fenton.

Shortly after premiering his own film, “The Sound of People,” at the 2008 Sundance Film Festival, promising young Irish director Simon Fitzmaurice was tragically diagnosed with motor neurone disease (ALS). He was 34 years old at the time, together with his wife expecting a 3rd child, and given just 4 years to live.

Courtesy of Kennedy Films. It's Not Yet Dark, directed by Frankie Fenton.

Rather than go down without a fight, Fitzmaurice made it his mission to direct his first feature film, despite his ever-growing physical limitations. He completed “My Name is Emily,” in 2015, directing it only with the use of his eyes.

This incredibly emotional story of self-realization and personal triumph over overwhelming adversity, is monumentally inspiring, illuminated with intimate home movies and photographs. Colin Farrell narrates.

Courtesy of GKIDS. My Life as a Zucchini, directed by Claude Barras.

4. MY LIFE AS A ZUCCHINI

My Life as a Zucchini, is a brilliant feature-length animated film by filmmaker Claude Barras, that explores highly sensitive topics of suicide, addiction, and abuse in a highly sensitive manner, making them accessible to young audiences.

Courtesy of GKIDS. My Life as a Zucchini, directed by Claude Barras.

Based on the book Autobiographie d’une Courgette by Gilles Paris, the film tells the story of Icare, a 9-year-old only child living with his alcoholic mother, who calls him “Zucchini.” After a tragic accident, Icare is sent to live in a group home, where he faces an even more hostile environment. He manages to rise up with the help of a few new friends and finally forges a brighter path.

y Andrew Droz Palermo. Courtesy of A24. A Ghost Story, directed by David Lowery.

5. A GHOST STORY

With a contemporary spin on a theme best remembered in the 1990 hit film Ghost, filmmaker David Lowery’s new film, A Ghost Story, brings us the story of a man (Casey Affleck) who has died prematurely and has come back to watch over his grief-stricken lover (Rooney Mara).

With sparse dialog and rich visual storytelling, this beautiful film carves its own place in its own time.

by Andrew Droz Palermo. Courtesy of A24. A Ghost Story, directed by David Lowery.

And check out more beautiful things happening now in BN Arts/Design, Nature/Science, Food/Drink, Place/Time, Mind/Body, and Soul/Impact Daily Fix posts.

Courtesy of Moxie Firecracker Films. TAKE EVERY WAVE: The Life of Laird Hamilton, directed by Rory Kennedy.

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by Travis Wise. “Sundance Film Festival.”