Photo By Jovelle Tamayo

The Sundance Film Festival is known as a festival of discovery. When you want to get a glimpse of the newest talent who will be making and starring in your favorite shows in the coming years, you need not look any further (it appears that Marvel has set up a direct pipeline from festival darling to tentpole filmmaker). This is not only true of narrative features, though. Just as inextricably linked to the identity of this particular festival is the importance placed on their documentary programming. Any veteran of the festival can tell you how easy it would be to make a schedule consisting only of documentaries and have the time of your life. You do not have to take our word for it; four out of the five nominees for Best Documentary Feature at this year’s Academy Awards debuted at Sundance a year ago.

The festival kicks off today in Utah and runs through February 2nd for 11 days of bold storytelling in Park City, Salt Lake City, and online. Geek Vibes Nation is both on the ground and on the web covering the festival, so you can expect reviews, interviews, and more from our team of trusted nerds. As festivities are kicking off, here are the team’s personal recommendations for the documentaries you should have on your schedule based on what they have seen. Be sure to keep a close eye on these, you never know what might be popping up during awards season later this year! 

SALLY

NASA first began recruiting women for its space shuttle program in the 1960s, but it wasn’t until 1978 that any were chosen for potential interstellar travel. Given how Cristina Costantini’s SALLY paints her, it’s no wonder that Sally Ride was the first to actually take flight. She delivered a handwritten letter directly to the agency touting her scientific training and the expectation that she would contribute as much to the program as she expected to get out of it; while at Stanford, she simultaneously earned degrees in English and physics, later earning a Masters in astrophysics; it was clear to everyone that she wanted to be the first woman in space, despite the fact that she never admitted such in any interviews, all because of her competitive spirit. In 1983, she achieved that dream, making history and shattering the glass ceiling. (Not just the literal barrier existing in the exosphere.)

Yet beyond doing its due diligence in providing audiences with the story of how Ride made it to space, and the challenges that came with societal pressures related to her being the first woman to make it to launch, Costantini’s film focuses on the lesser known aspects of Ride’s personal life, particularly those kept private until after Ride’s death in 2012. Foremost among them: Her relationship with Tam O’Shaughnessy, her life partner of 27 years who serves as SALLY’s principal interviewee and provides insight into their love story, as well as how Ride handled its secrecy while navigating a field dominated by men and, frankly, an expectation of heterosexuality. Sure, the rare archival footage that Costantini deploys while painting the full picture of Ride’s public legacy is engaging, but that much more fascinating is O’Shaughnessy’s testimony regarding their time together, visually portrayed through intimately-constructed dramatizations. – Will Bjarnar

Prime Minister

In a time when the global political climate has so many people scared for the future, it can come as something of a respite to be reminded of those people attempting to make a difference. In August 2017, in the lead-up to national elections, Jacinda Ardern unexpectedly became New Zealand’s opposition party leader on the way to becoming Prime Minister just a couple of months later. Ardern soon became a sensation beyond her borders for the inspirational nature of her leadership in the face of unimaginable crises such as mass shootings and a global pandemic. Beyond this, she also gave birth while in office and juggled being a new mom with the unimaginable responsibilities her position required of her. This new feature from Michelle Walshe and Lindsay Utz explores the essential component of humanity in the act of leadership via intimate home footage and interviews. When you see what leadership can be, it will make you want to strive for better. – Dillon Gonzales 

Middletown

Middletown is an incredible achievement in documentary storytelling. The film follows a group of Middletown High School alumni returning to their small Upstate New York town to revisit the journalistic work they did thirty years ago as part of an elective class. The weaving of archival footage with interviews of the present day subjects is powerful, and their investigation into toxic waste dumping in their area is sadly prescient. Middletown perfectly captures the rebellion and activism of youth as well as the corruption of government, even at the local level. Full of 90’s nostalgia and evergreen themes, the film will inspire you to get involved and fight for what’s right in your own community. – Cameron K. Ritter

Heightened Scrutiny

Were it not already taken, On the Basis of Sex wouldn’t have been a half-bad title for Sam Feder’s documentary about the crusading efforts of civil rights attorney Chase Strangio as federal measures to restrict the availability/legality of gender-affirming care swept the United States. Of course, that name belongs to the so-so 2018 biopic of Ruth Bader Ginsburg, but in many ways, it refers precisely to what Heightened Scrutiny is about: Strangio’s efforts to salvage access to life-saving gender affirmation related care, despite Washington’s spineless aim to take such crucial services away. Strangio’s journey to becoming the first openly transgender lawyer to argue a case before the Supreme Court is documented here in great detail, but similar to his 2020 Sundance-premiering documentary, Disclosure, Feder lends a broader focus to the issues at hand, helping not just to send a message, but to detail more terrifying truths that are perhaps less known than the fearful facts lying in plain sight. Here, he illustrates how anti-trans legislation and the mainstream’s media broad-brush coverage of trans issues have moved along a parallel track, an emerging pattern that is both disturbing and endangering. Come for the urgent insight at its core; stay for Strangio, whose fervor is as electric as his work is critical. – Will Bjarnar

Endless Cookie

One of the most unique documentaries you will find at the festival is one that you could almost mistake for a fictional narrative at first blush. Director Seth Scriver is not sure of many things, but he does know he wants to make a documentary with his half-brother (and, ultimately, co-director), Peter. And he wants it to be animated. And he has somehow convinced a financier to give him money to make his opaque vision. These two brothers — one Indigenous, one white – share a complex bond that is explored through the meta framing of creating this documentary. The film blends the hilarious pains of creating a work of art with fascinating and profound tales of Indigenous life, colonialism, and community. Through the utilization of the perfectly imperfect handcrafted animation, audiences are more likely to be drawn in by the spectacle and rewarded by what they find underneath. – Dillon Gonzales 

Cutting Through Rocks

When someone risks their own well-being to bring positive change into the world, we must lift them up and celebrate them. Co-directors Sara Khaki and Mohammadreza Eyni bring us to a deeply conservative Iranian village to learn about Sara Shahverdi, the first elected councilwoman her community has ever known. Sara scares the community because she has no husband to control her – and she wouldn’t have it any other way. This divorced, motorcycle riding, former midwife is beloved within her community by the progressive constituents. Whenever she makes a promise to bring change to her village, she follows through, much to the ire of the ineffectual and corrupt local councilmen who serve alongside her. As an advocate for the girls and women in her village, she tries to protect young girls from child marriages and gives them freedom in the form of learning to ride motorcycles. Is the target she paints on herself worth the dream of a better world? This documentary explores the joy and heartache of this question. – Dillon Gonzales