utah film commission

Made in Utah, Amy Redford’s latest film What Comes Around emerges as intelligent, emotionally simmering moral tale of perturbing circumstances of online communications, romantic relationships, grooming

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In the opening moments of What Comes Around, a 2022 film directed by Amy Redford, Beth (Summer Phoenix) and her daughter Anna (Grace Van Dien) appear to have the same sort of relationship that the characters Lorelai and Rory, respectively, enjoyed in the popular television series Gilmore Girls. Beth and Anna appear to be ideal … Read more

Sundance 2023: Appealing family fare in Sundance Kids selections include Blueback, Aliens Abducted My Parents and I Feel Kinda Left Out

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EDITOR’S NOTE: Thomas Dugrosprez wrote the reviews and Les Roka added interview and background notes to the feature. This year’s trio of Sundance Kids selections have something for virtually every young cinematic fan. In addition to the superb animation film The Amazing Maurice, which was reviewed earlier this week, there is the Utah filmed narrative … Read more

Sundance 2023: Making the Utah production stage ready for film: State’s cinematic industry made big strides in 2022

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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 2023 feature-length and short films, which The Utah Review will cover. Like nearly 2,400 of their peers who are listed in a directory of Utah film industry professionals, … Read more

A new twist to annual list of crowning achievements: The Utah Review’s Top 10 Moments of the Utah Enlightenment in 2022

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This year’s selection in The Utah Review of the top ten moments of the Utah Enlightenment in 2022 was easily the quickest to lock in, considering the possibilities. There were no close calls. The ten selections were a slam dunk. This year, however, presented the opportunity for a twist. While nine of the ten selections … Read more

Focus on two independent short films with Utah significance: Arthur Veenema’s The Atomic Spawn and Lauren Caster’s Plan C

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Two independent short films – one by a Utah filmmaker who received a Next Level Grant from the Utah Film Commission and the other by a southern California filmmaker whose project premiered at this year’s Fear No Film program at the Utan Arts Festival – are featured. Arthur Veenema: The Atomic Spawn Utah filmmaker Arthur … Read more

Riveting, excellent adult drama: Utah film The Whole Lot, by Overcranked Pictures, set to premiere at Philadelphia Independent Film Festival

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The hard realities of the family drama circling the inheritance of a loved one’s estate rarely require a boost from a fictional license. It is more common than many families might care to admit just how sharp the drama and confrontation are when the time arrives for the executor of a parent’s last will and … Read more

Sundance 2022: Filmed in Utah, Summering smart coming-of-age story with horror, fantasy mixed for an ideal Sundance Kids offering

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The Sundance Kids offering of Summering, directed by James Ponsoldt which he wrote with Benjamin Percy, is a smart mix of tropes from fantasy, horror and the fully liberated imaginations of smart children, as specifically embodied in a quartet of girls who worry that their tight circle of friendship is about to be broken as … Read more

Sundance 2022: Six documentaries, two narrative films highlight Utah connections to festival; other documentaries highlight impact of urban smog in Delhi, LDS missionaries in Finland

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EDITOR’S NOTE: Part II summarizes the films and programs from Sundance 2022 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 films The Utah Review is covering this year are films about expectant Black mothers who deaths from … Read more

Sundance 2022: Utah’s film industry continues to grow; finds solid representation in slimmer festival slate

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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 2022 feature-length and short films, which The Utah Review will cover. It was so close. Three weeks before Sundance 2022 (Jan. 20–30) was slated to open, organizers had … Read more

Sundance 2021: Utah film industry weathers pandemic with resilience, resourceful risk taking

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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 2021 feature-length and short films, which The Utah Review will cover. In several hopeful signs, given its size, Utah’s film industry has weathered the pandemic with enough resilience … Read more