NEW STORIES THAT WILL CHANGE YOUR MIND NOW AT SUNDANCE FILM FESTIVAL 2016
A good story changes you. It gives you new things to consider and new things to feel. It may inspire or motivate you. It may give you comfort and joy. It may cause you to appreciate life more. It may give you a new understanding of the world.
Check out the BN team’s picks from the Sundance Film Festival 2016 to see some of the most beautiful, most compelling films happening right now. See them below.
THE LAND OF THE ENLIGHTENED
It’s especially hard to find beauty in a war-torn place -- but it’s there. This is both a heartbreak and an reason for hope.
The Land of the Enlightened, a new film by first-time director Pieter-Jan De Pue, looks at the beauty of Afghanistan, despite its horrors. Using a blend of fictional and documentary storylines, the film examines the legacy left behind for the next generation of Afghanis.
Shot over 5 years, on 16mm film, the film shows us the tracks of young boys who form wild gangs to control trade routes and sell explosives, while at the same time yearn to find a way to just be young boys, and play, albeit among the wreckage.
There is visceral beauty, both in the landscape, the spirit, and the resilience of the people who have endured.
EMBRACE OF THE SERPENT
When illness strikes, sometimes the chance for a cure means embracing the strange and unfamiliar. Sometimes it means developing new faith.
Embrace of the Serpent, directed by Ciro Guerra, tells the story of German scientist Theodor Koch-Grünberg and his quest for healing at the hands of Karamakate, a reclusive shaman in the Amazon jungle, in 1909.
Karamakate agrees to lead him to the rare, sacred yakruna plant that can heal him. The men set off down the river in search of the rare, sacred yakruna plant, while the ravages of colonialism spread around them.
Flash forward, 40 years later -- an American, basing his expedition on Koch-Grünberg’s published diary, encounters Karamakate and history repeats.
With beautiful black-and-white cinematography, this film is a fascinating mix of past and present, as well as of cultures.
THE FUNDAMENTALS OF CARING
Ben and Trevor are a bit like Thelma and Louise -- they head out on a road trip together through the American West. Except, they’re guys, not girls, and one is paralyzed physically by muscular dystrophy, while the other is paralyzed emotionally, having just come through a devastating personal tragedy.
Like T & L, they come to understand the necessity of true friendship.
Starring Paul Rudd, Craig Roberts & Selena Gomez, directed by Rob Burnett, The Fundamentals of Caring lets us ride shotgun with pair of personal journeys that play out with thrill and joy.
PLEASURE. LOVE.
Pleasure. Love. tells the two stories of a young man and a young woman -- each experiencing passionate love for the first time. They are both young and they each meet an older lover at a dance hall.
They all have a common quest. While at first it seems like sex and money are their drivers, what they really yearn for is true love. Directed by Yao Huang, these age old storylines are fresh and beautiful.
WIENER-DOG
Several stories come together around one dog in Wiener-Dog, a new film directed by Todd Solondz. The dog, a dachshund, makes everyone he meets feel good.
He teaches a young boy a few life lessons, he befriends a troubled elderly lady and her high maintenance granddaughter, he pairs up with a vet tech named Dawn Wiener on a road trip and cheers up a pack of depressed mariachis he meets along his way.
Wiener-Dog brings out the humanity in the humans he meets, offering them humor, empathy, and unconditional love.
Read more about Beautiful Storytelling, as it relates to Arts/Design, Nature/Science, Food/Drink, Place/Time, Mind/Body, and Soul/Impact including New Beautiful Stories Unfold at Sundance Festival 2016, New Nature, Science, & Tech Stories Unfold at Sundance 2016, Beautiful Food Stories Are Being Told Now, The Art of Storytelling: Beautiful Films at Sundance Festival 2016 and Beautiful New Stories About Beautiful Places & Times At Sundance Film Festival 2016.
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IMAGE CREDITS:
- Image: Courtesy of Savage Film. The Land of the Enlightened.
- Image: Courtesy of Savage Film. The Land of the Enlightened.
- Image: Courtesy of Grégoire Verbeke. Bagram Kids. The Land of the Enlightened.
- Image: Courtesy of Oscilloscope Laboratories. Embrace of the Serpent.
- Image: Courtesy of Oscilloscope Laboratories. Embrace of the Serpent.
- Image: Courtesy of Levantine Films. The Fundamentals of Caring.
- Image: Courtesy of Beijing HaiRun Pictures Co.,Ltd. Pleasure. Love.
- Image: Courtesy of Annapurna Pictures & Killer Films. Wiener-Dog.
- Image: Courtesy of Annapurna Pictures & Killer Films. Wiener-Dog.
- Image: Courtesy of Sundance Film Festival.
- Image: by BN App - Download now!
- Image: Courtesy of Sundance Film Festival.
