Cosby, Sinead O’Connor, Princess Di and sea monkey docos to feature at Sundance

One of the world's most famous film festivals kicks off on Friday afternoon (New Zealand time) in a very different format to usual.

Rather than take place on the snow-flecked streets of Utah's Park City, Omicron has forced the 2022 edition of the Sundance Film Festival to go virtual for the second year in a row. Screenings of the more than 80 features, 59 shorts and a handful of indie series are taking place via an online screening platform.

Founded by Robert Redford and first held as the Utah/US Film Festival in Salt Lake City in 1978, it has helped launch a range of Kiwi films including Rain , Boy , Eagle vs Shark , What We Do in the Shadows , Slow West , Hunt for the Wilderpeople and last year's Coming Home in the Dark .

While New Zealand interest this year is limited to augmented reality installation Atua and Korean-born Stephen Kang's short film Breathe , the line-up also includes three classic Kiwi shorts as part of a special 40 films to celebrate 40 years of the shorter format at the festival: Taika Waititi's Two Cars, One Night , Roseanne Liang's Do No Harm and Allison Maclean's Kitchen Sink .

After looking through the line-up for the festival which runs until our January 31, Stuff to Watch has come up with a list of 12 titles we're picking to follow in the footsteps of 2021's Summer of Soul , Coda , Judas and the Black Messiah and Passing and go on to even greater things.

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Call Jane

Best known for her Oscar-nominated screenplay for 2015's Carol (an adaptation of Patricia Highsmith's The Price of Salt ), Phyllis Nagy directs this late-1960s-set (but highly topical) drama about a married housewife who needs to end a pregnancy to prevent her own demise. However, with the medical establishment unwilling to help, she turns to an underground group of women for an alternative solution.

The impressive cast includes Kate Mara, Elizabeth Banks and Sigourney Weaver.

Dual

New Zealand-born, former Hawaii Five-0 actor Beulah Koale joins Breaking Bad 's Aaron Paul and Doctor Who companion-turned- Jumanji and Marvel star Karen Gillan for this dark, off-kilter comedy whose plot is strikingly similar to Apple TV+'s recent Swan Song . Gillan plays a young woman dying of a rare and incurable disease, who is offered the chance to be cloned.

From Riley Stearns, the writer-director of 2019's cult hit The Art of Self Defence .

Good Luck to You, Leo Grande

Emma Thompson headlines this dramedy about a retired schoolteacher yearning for adventure, human connection – and some good sex. Her solution? Hire a hotel room and confident, dapper sex worker Leo Grande (Daryl McCormack).

Written by English comedian Katy Brand, the movie is directed by Australian helmer Sophie Hyde , whose previous outings include film festival favourite Animals and TV's The Hunting .

Instant Life

Anyone familiar with American comic-books from a certain era (mainly the 1970s and '80s) will remember the ads for bizarre mail-order items like X-Ray Specs, a muscle-building book and sea monkeys.

After the latter's inventor and arguably marketing genius Harold von Braunhut died, his wife, a former bohemian actor, Yolanda Signorelli was the only one who knew the brine shrimp's secret formula, but when she lost control of the business she had a hell of a battle to try and win it back and prevent herself from becoming destitute, as this three-part series details.

Jeen-yuhs: A Kanye Trilogy

A three-part event almost a quarter-of-a-century in the making, this follows the rise of Kanye West from aspiring hip-hop producer to global household name and musical megastar.

Chicago public access TV host Coodie first interviewed his subject in 1998 and since then he has been documentary his life (a la Hoop Dreams ). Only Part I will screen at Sundance, before debuting on Netflix on February 16.

Lucy and Desi

Hot on the heels of Aaron Sorkin's polarising biopic Being the Ricardos , comes this documentary on celebrity sitcom couple Lucielle Ball and Desi Arnaz.

A well-respected comedian herself, director Amy Poehler ( Parks and Recreation ) takes a look at the pair's personal and professional lives (both as individuals and a couple), as well as investigating what made their approach to televisual humour so successful.

Nothing Compares

Belfast-born Kathryn Ferguson's debut documentary's subject couldn't be more compelling – or controversial. Irish singer Sinead O'Connor rose to fame with a cover of the Prince song of the title, before flaming out after a series of very public spats and incidents.

The focus here is on the six years between 1987 and 1993, when she was subject to so much scrutiny and constantly trying to challenge conformity, the patriarchy and prejudices (and misogyny) of the music industry.

My Old School

Jono McLeod's debut is an astonishing docu-drama which brings to life an extraordinary tale from his own childhood.

In 1993, 16-year-old Brandon Lee enrolled at Bearsden Academy, a secondary school in a well-to-do suburb of Glasgow, Scotland. He instantly rose to the top of the class, aced exams and took the lead in the school musical. However, while he gained plenty of admirers amongst his teachers and fellow students, he was nursing a jaw-dropping secret. Alan Cumming features amongst the recreated scenes.

The Princess

With the 25th anniversary of her death looming large, here's another take on the life and times – and demise – of the "People's Princess" born Diana Frances Spencer.

Director Ed Perkins takes a Senna -esque approach to his subject matter, eschewing modern-day commentary and interviews for a complete immersion in archival footage from the time.

Sharp Stick

Wondering what Lena Dunham has been up to for the past few years? This may provide the answer. She directed, wrote and features in this comedy about a sensitive 20-something Californian who longs to be seen and begins an ill-advised affair with her older employer.

The rest of the cast includes Jon Bernthal, Scott Speedman, Jennifer Jason Leigh and Norwegian actor Kristine Frøseth.

TikTok, Boom

With the title that fabulously riffs on last year's Lin Manuel Miranda-directed musical, Shalini Katayya's (whose last feature doco, 2020's Coded Bias , look at the race-based flaws of facial recognitions software) latest effort seeks to answer the question, "why an app best known for people dancing is the target of so much controversy"?

Viewed from the perspective of content creators, it also aims to examine the algorithmic, sociopolitical, economic and cultural influence it has had, as well as its overall impact on life in this tumultuous part of the 21st century.

We Need to Talk About Cosby

This year's Allen v. Farrow , W. Kamau Bell's four-part documentary contrasts Bill Cosby's incredibly successful 50 year showbiz career (which included educational programming, stand-up and one of the world's most beloved sitcoms), with the private hell so many women say he put them through as he abused his power.

Likely to wind up here on Neon and Sky TV's SoHo channel after its January 31 debut (New Zealand time) on America's Showtime, this is likely to be one of the most-talked about series of 2022.

This year's Sundance Film Festival runs from January 21 to 31 (New Zealand times).