We spotlight stories from female and/or Latino perspectives debuting at the film festival this year.

by Rosa Parra

The Sundance Film Festival will take place in Park City and Salt Lake City, Utah, from Thursday, January 23, 2025, to Sunday, February 2, 2025. This festival marks the beginning of the new year and sets the stage for films being released throughout the year. Most of these films are seeking distribution, making Sundance an ideal platform for presenting them to an audience and gauging initial reactions. As a hub for independent cinema, the festival offers indie filmmakers the opportunity to showcase their work to a wider audience. 

One of the standout features of this festival is its continued support and amplification of underrepresented voices in Hollywood. I always approach Sundance looking for films that tell stories from female and/or Latino perspectives. This year, several films have caught my attention, and I am eager to watch and discuss them. Below is a list of movies I am looking forward to seeing and covering throughout the festival (the information is sourced directly from the Sundance website).

U.S. DOCUMENTARY COMPETITION

Marlee Matlin: Not Alone Anymore / U.S.A. (Director and Producer: Shoshannah Stern, Producers: Robyn Kopp, Justine Nagan, Bonni Cohen) — In 1987, Marlee Matlin became the first Deaf actor to win an Academy Award and was thrust into the spotlight at 21 years old. Reflecting on her life in her primary language of American Sign Language, Marlee explores the complexities of what it means to be a trailblazer. World Premiere. Available online for Public.

Selena y Los Dinos / U.S.A. (Director: Isabel Castro, Producers: Julie Goldman, Christopher Clements, J. Daniel Torres, David Blackman, Simran Singh) — Selena Quintanilla — the “Queen of Tejano Music” — and her family band, Selena y Los Dinos, rose from performing at quinceañeras to selling out stadium tours. The celebration of her life and legacy is chronicled through never-before-seen footage from the family’s personal archive. World Premiere. Available online for Public.

Speak. / U.S.A. (Directors and Producers: Jennifer Tiexiera, Guy Mossman, Producer: Pamela Griner) — Five top-ranked high school oratory students spend a year crafting spellbinding spoken word performances with the dream of winning one of the world’s largest and most intense public speaking competitions. World Premiere. Available online for Public. 

WORLD CINEMA DRAMATIC COMPETITION

The Virgin of Quarry Lake / Argentina, Spain, Mexico (Director: Laura Casabé, Screenwriter: Benjamin Naishtat, Producers: Tomas Eloy Muñoz, Valeria Bistagnino, Alejandro Israel, David Matamoros, Angeles Hernandez, Diego Martinez Ulanosky) — In 2001, three teenagers from the outskirts of Buenos Aires all fall in love with Diego. Natalia has always had the most chemistry with him, but when it seems inevitable that their friendship will turn into something more, the older and more experienced Silvia appears and soon captures Diego’s attention. Cast: Dolores Oliverio, Luisa Merelas, Fernanda Echevarría, Dady Brieva, Agustín Sosa. World Premiere. Available online for Public.

NEXT

Mad Bills to Pay (or Destiny, dile que no soy malo) / U.S.A. (Director and Screenwriter: Joel Alfonso Vargas, Producer: Paolo Maria Pedullà) — Rico’s summer is a mix of chasing girls and hustling homemade cocktails out of a cooler on Orchard Beach, the Bronx. But when Destiny, his teenage girlfriend, crashes at his place with his family, it’s only a matter of time before his carefree days come spiraling down. Cast: Juan Collado, Destiny Checo, Yohanna Florentino, Nathaly Navarro. World Premiere. Fiction. Available online for Public.

Rains Over Babel / Colombia, U.S.A., Spain (Director, Screenwriter, and Producer: Gala del Sol, Producers: H.A Hermida, Ana Cristina Gutiérrez, Andrés Hermida, Natalia Rendón Rodríguez) — A group of misfits converges at Babel, a legendary dive bar that doubles as purgatory, where La Flaca — the city’s Grim Reaper — presides. Here, souls gamble years of their lives with her, daring to outwit Death herself. Cast: Saray Rebolledo, Felipe Aguilar Rodríguez, John Alex Castillo, William Hurtado, Santiago Pineda, Celina Biurrun. World Premiere. Fiction. Available online for Public.

Serious People / U.S.A. (Directors and Screenwriters: Pasqual Gutierrez, Ben Mullinkosson, Producers: Ryan Hahn, Teddy Lee, Laurel Thomson) — A successful music video director and expectant father pushes his work-life balance to the extreme as he hires a doppelgänger to work in his stead. Cast: Pasqual Gutierrez, Christine Yuan, Miguel Huerta, Raul Sanchez. World Premiere. Fiction. Available online for Public.

Zodiac Killer Project / U.S.A., U.K. (Director and Producer: Charlie Shackleton, Producers: Catherine Bray, Anthony Ing) — Against the backdrop of sunbaked parking lots, deserted courthouses, and empty suburban homes — the familiar spaces of true crime, stripped of all action and spectacle — a filmmaker describes his abandoned Zodiac Killer documentary and probes the inner workings of a genre at saturation point. World Premiere. Documentary. Available online for Public.

PREMIERES

Kiss of the Spider Woman / U.S.A. (Director and Screenwriter: Bill Condon, Producers: Barry Josephson, Tom Kirdahy, Greg Yolen) — Valentín, a political prisoner, shares a cell with Molina, a window dresser convicted of public indecency. The two form an unlikely bond as Molina recounts the plot of a Hollywood musical starring his favorite silver screen diva, Ingrid Luna. Cast: Diego Luna, Tonatiuh, Jennifer Lopez, Bruno Bichir, Josefina Scaglione, Aline Mayagoitia. World Premiere. Fiction.

The Librarians / U.S.A. (Director and Producer: Kim A. Snyder, Producers: Janique L. Robillard, Maria Cuomo Cole, Jana Edelbaum) — As an unprecedented wave of book banning is sparked in Texas, Florida, and beyond, librarians under siege join forces as unlikely defenders fighting for intellectual freedom on the front lines of democracy. World Premiere. Documentary.

Magic Farm / Argentina, U.S.A. (Director and Screenwriter: Amalia Ulman, Producers: Alex Hughes, Eugene Kotlyarenko, Riccardo Maddalosso) — A film crew working for an edgy media company travels to Argentina to profile a local musician, but their ineptitude leads them into the wrong country. As the crew collaborates with locals to fabricate a trend, unexpected connections blossom while a pervasive health crisis looms unacknowledged in the background. Cast: Chloë Sevigny, Alex Wolff, Joe Apollonio, Camila del Campo, Simon Rex. World Premiere. Fiction.

SALLY / U.S.A. (Director, Screenwriter, and Producer: Cristina Costantini, Screenwriter: Tom Maroney, Producers: Lauren Cioffi, Dan Cogan, Jon Bardin) — Sally Ride became the first American woman to blast off into space, but beneath her unflappable composure was a secret. Sally’s life partner, Tam O’Shaughnessy, reveals their hidden romance and the sacrifices that accompanied their 27 years together. World Premiere. Documentary. Available online for Public. 2025 Alfred P. Sloan Feature Film Prize Winner.

FROM THE COLLECTION

El Norte / U.S.A. (Director and Screenwriter: Gregory Nava, Screenwriter and Producer: Anna Thomas) — After their family is murdered by the government in a massacre during the Guatemalan Civil War, Indigenous siblings Rosa and Enrique flee up “Norte” to the United States for a chance at survival. When they arrive, they find life in the U.S. is not what they had hoped for. Cast: Zaide Silvia Gutiérrez, David Villalpando, Ernesto Gómez Cruz, Lupe Ontiveros, Trinidad Silva, Alicia del Lago. Fiction

This is a 4K digital restoration from the original negative, restored in 2017 by the Academy Film Archive, supported in part by the Getty Foundation. This screening is courtesy of Lionsgate.