After casting producers interviewed hundreds of Girl Scouts for the making of the Cookie Queens documentary and whittled down the list, director Alysa Nahmias interviewed dozens as potential subjects for what has turned out to be an enchanting upbeat story for Sundance audiences. “I asked the kids if they could sell cookies anywhere in the … Read more
EDITOR’S NOTE: Part II summarizes the films and programs from Sundance 2026 that are part of The Utah Review coverage. For Part I which is an overview of the state of the film industry in Utah, see here. About this year’s Sundance festival, Geralyn Dreyfous, the principal cofounder of the Utah Film Center as well … Read more
EDITOR’S NOTE: Part I is an overview of the Utah film industry in the current moment. Part II offers a summary preview of the Sundance 2026 films, which The Utah Review will cover. See here. It is a bittersweet opening to the Sundance Film Festival which will continue through Feb. 1, with in-person premieres in … Read more
EDITOR’S NOTE: For a detailed rundown of the 2025 slate for the Utah Queer Film Festival, see this link. At a hostile, polarizing time like now, many people understandably demur from being unapologetic about expressing their authentic selves. And, with that in mind, the 22nd edition of the Utah Film Center’s Utah Queer Film Festival … Read more
EDITOR’S NOTE: For the curtain raiser of the 2025 Utah Queer Film Festival, see this link. The theme of fearless queerness permeates the slate of six feature-length documentaries and 40 short films in this year’s Utah Queer Film Festival slate. In some instances, the theme is fully manifested, while in others, it starts from a … Read more
A splendid portrait of the first American woman and the youngest American astronaut to travel into space, SALLY, which premiered at Sundance, excels at weaving the public and private dimensions of Sally Ride’s life together into an engrossing narrative. Directed by Cristina Costantini and representing her third documentary to receive its premiere at Sundance in … Read more
Scandinavian Arctic culture receives some of the most memorable poetic and musical cinematic treatment to be found in this year’s Sundance slate, with the premiere of FOLKTALES, directed by Heidi Ewing and Rachel Grady. It is not surprising that this documentary has become quite the darling at Sundance. The film knits together stunning imagery of … Read more
Among its fabulous strengths, Move Ya Body: The Birth of House, directed by Elegance Bratton and produced by Chester Algernal Gordon, presents a compelling portrait of the wistful utopian history tracking the transition in Chicago from a disco culture to the thriving house music scene that queer musicians, DJs, and producers of color propelled into … Read more
EDITOR’S NOTE: Part II summarizes the films and programs from Sundance 2025 that are part of The Utah Review coverage. For Part I which is an overview of the state of the film industry in Utah, see here. Among the Sundance feature-length films with a significant Utah connection is Omaha, a drama filmed in Utah … Read more
EDITOR’S NOTE: Part I is an overview of the Utah film industry in the current moment. Part II (tomorrow) will offer a summary preview of the Sundance 2025 films, which The Utah Review will cover. For Part II, see here. This year, as Utah has fully begun its second century in the film industry, Sundance … Read more