The Sundance Film Festival released its lineup for its 2023 edition coming next month to Park City, Utah, and there are a handful of Latine-themed projects we’re going to keep our eyes on. This is the first time since 2020 that the festival will take place in person since the COVID-19 pandemic.
On Wednesday (December 7), Sundance shared the titles of 101 feature films that will screen at the upcoming festival. According to Deadline, a record 15,855 films were submitted for consideration, including 2,399 international features.
“The festival provides a place for artists globally to connect with audiences around a shared and inclusive experience of discovery,” said Sundance Institute CEO Joana Vicente. “These filmmakers reflect the world around us through bold and thrilling storytelling.”
One of the films included in the 2023 lineup is Cassandro, which stars Gael García Bernal (Werewolf by Night) as Saúl Armendáriz, a gay, amateur wrestler from El Paso, Texas, known as the “Liberace of Lucha Libre.”
Eugenio Derbez is returning to Sundance after being a part of one of last year’s most acclaimed films, CODA. This time, he stars in Radical, the true story of a frustrated teacher who “tries a radical new method” to inspire his students.
In the film Rotting in the Sun, Chilean director Sebastian Silva (The Maid) plays himself, a filmmaker who goes missing in Mexico City. His disappearance could lead back to a cleaning lady working in his apartment building.
The documentary Going Varsity in Mariachi follows a high school mariachi group from South Texas who are competing for a state championship. It’s co-produced by Luis A. Miranda, the father of Lin-Manuel Miranda.
Some of the other Latine-centric films on the list include Heroic about a teenager with Indigenous roots who enrolls in a violent military educational institution in Mexico; La Pecera about a woman who returns to her home in Puerto Rico as she deals with cancer; and Sorcery about an indigenous girl living on a remote island in Chile during the late 19th century who turns to the king of a powerful organization of sorcerers to seek revenge.
Mark your calendars. The 2023 Sundance Film Festival takes place January 19-29. For a full list of films screening, visit festival.sundance.org.