Lena Waithe, Taylor Swift, Angelina Jolie, and More to Debut Films During Sundance Film Festival 2020

Sundance Film Festival 2020 is around the corner and the beloved festival is bringing even more diversity and relevant stories to the forefront than before. The Sundance Institute announced the 2020 festival’s features program recently, and its quite a starry lineup including films that star Angelina Jolie, Benedict Cumberbatch, as well as a documentary about Taylor Swift.

Any film fanatic can attest that Sundance just breathes a different enthusiast. This year, Sundance will present films starring Angelina Jolie, Benedict Cumberbatch, Tessa Thompson, Julia Louis-Dreyfus, Will Ferrell, Anthony Hopkins, Olivia Colman, Glenn Close, Michael Keaton, Lena Waithe, Julianne Moore, Ana de Armas, Jude Law, Ella Balinska, David Oyelowo, and Anne Hathaway, among others; the directors who will be showing in Park City — some on repeat trips to the fest — include Dee Rees, Julie Taymor, Justin Simien, Alan Ball, Benh Zeitlin, and Viggo Mortensen, making his directorial debut.

President and founder of the Sundance Institute Robert Redford, who stepped down as the face of the Festival last year but has stayed deeply involved in the work of the organization, said in a press release, “This year’s Festival is full of films that showcase myriad ways for stories to drive change, across hearts, minds, and societies.”

Photo Credit: Kevin Winter// Getty Images

Each and every year Sundance shines light on film pros as well as the rising stars in the industry. “We believe diverse stories from independent artists around the world open us up to new perspectives and possibilities — at a time when fresh thinking and dialogue is urgently needed,” said Keri Putnam, executive director of the Sundance Institute, in the press release. This year there are 74 short films, which hail from 27 countries and were chosen from 10,397 submissions, will screen during the fest, while select festival shorts will be presented as a traveling program internationally and year-round.

“Our 2020 Festival’s lively and visionary crop of artists has a contagious passion,” said festival director John Cooper, for whom 2020 will mark his last year in the role. “I can’t wait to watch the world meet their work.”

The Sundance Film Festival will take place Jan. 23 to Feb. 2, 2020 and we will be here to give you all of the updates! For a little inspiration, check out our coverage of Sundance last year!