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Exclusive: Frameline49 — the San Francisco International LGBTQ+ Film Festival – has announced jury and audience awards winners after wrapping an 11-day event that tallied a remarkable 50 sold out screenings.

Kimberly Reed’s I’m Your Venus, about New York ballroom scene legend Venus Xtravaganza, whose 1988 murder remains unsolved, won Outstanding Documentary Feature.

“On behalf of our team, we are deeply honored,” said I’m Your Venus executive producer Jonovia Chase. “This film is a call to action and a testament to the brilliance, resilience, and love within Black and Latinx queer and trans communities. It sets a precedent for honoring our lives and legacies—showing that when someone claims their truth, it deserves celebration, not violence. That is exactly what Venus embodied, and what this film so powerfully affirms.”

The Librarians, Kim A. Snyder’s documentary about librarians at public schools and libraries who are coming under increasing attack from right-wing conspiracy theorists,...

Exclusive: Debra Liang has joined New Europe Film Sales as co-head of sales.

Former LevelK executive Liang is responsible for Australia & New Zealand, Canada, UK/Ireland, German speaking Europe, Scandinavia, Poland and inflight.

She joins the New Europe executive team and will identify strategies, evaluate and negotiate deals on titles alongside head of sales, Katarzyna Siniarska, CEO Jan Naszewski and head of festivals and sales executive Natalia Dąbrowska.

Copenhagen-based Liang previously worked at LevelK for eight years, starting as sales manager before becoming head of sales in 2020. She handled titles including Sami Blood, Finnish Oscar submissions Tove and Girl Picture,...

The iconic San Francisco-based LGBTQ+ festival Frameline is ready to celebrate a half-century… almost. IndieWire can unveil the highly-anticipated lineup for the 49th annual Frameline festival, which is the largest and longest-running queer film festival in the world.

The 2025 festival will open with Sophie Hyde’s “Jimpa” starring Olivia Colman, and close with James Sweeney’s “Twinless.” The festival will take place June 18 to 28, and feature nearly 150 films from 40 countries. Highlights include a special screening at Kqed of Daniel Junge and Sam Pollard’s “I Was Born This Way” documentary about activist Archbishop Carl Bean, who sang the titular gay anthem and founded both the Minority AIDS Project and the world’s first LGBTQ+ church for people of color. Lady Gaga, Questlove, Dionne Warwick, and Billy Porter appear in the film. “Heightened Scrutiny,” which was part of the Frameline Completion Fund, will also screen; the documentary feature centers on ACLU...

The beloved annual Provincetown International Film Festival (Piff) is having a big moment with its buzzy 2025 lineup. IndieWire can announce that leading horror auteur Ari Aster will be honored with the Filmmaker on the Edge title at the festival, which will take place from June 11 to 15 in Provincetown, Ma.

Aster will be in Provincetown to receive the award and participate in conversation with resident artist John Waters on Saturday, June 14, ahead of the nationwide release of his new film “Eddington” on July 18. The secretive 2020-set dark comedy “Eddington” will debut at Cannes; the feature reunites Aster with his “Beau Is Afraid” star Joaquin Phoenix, as well as Pedro Pascal, Emma Stone, Austin Butler, Luke Grimes, Clifton Collins Jr., and more.

“Ari Aster’s films weave grief, beauty and dread into unforgettable cinematic experiences,” Anne Hubbell, Piff’s Executive Director, said in a press statement. “We’re excited to welcome Ari...

The fifth annual NewFest Pride summer film series has a sizzling lineup. IndieWire can announce that NewFest Pride 2025 will feature the New York premiere of Sundance winner “Plainclothes” starring Tom Blyth and Russell Tovey, as well as the highly-anticipated opening night film “Jimpa,” which was previously announced.

Highlights also include an early screening of “And Just Like That…” and a free outdoor screening of Cristina Costantini’s “Sally” in partnership with the Meatpacking District Business Improvement District and Rooftop Films. NewFest Pride will take place May 29 to June 2 to kick-off LGBTQ+ Pride Month.

“In a moment when LGBTQ+ rights are under renewed attack, telling our stories boldly and unapologetically is an act of both defiance and hope,” NewFest Executive Director David Hatkoff said. “The films in this year’s NewFest Pride lineup reflect the depth, diversity, and power of queer experiences — from urgent political documentaries to joyful celebrations of identity.

Incoming Harry Potter actor John Lithgow says he wasn't prepared for the backlash he received after joining the cast of HBO's new series, and that he's "curious" to have a conversation with J.K. Rowling about it all. Lithgow has been tapped to play Albus Dumbledore in the fresh adaptation of Rowling's novels, which is set to hit the small screen next year. The series is drawing the ire of many in a way the films never did, thanks to Rowling's outspoken views on the transgender community, which date as far back as 2020.

Speaking with The Times of London about his portrayal of antisemitic children's author Roald Dahl in the stage play, Giant, the subject of Harry Potter inevitably came up. How could it not? Lithgow's appearance in the project has been garnering a ton of attention because, as he put it, it's probably "the last major role" he'll ever play.

Following the film’s Sundance Film Festival premiere, Jimpa will kick off the two largest LGBTQ film festivals in the country.

New York City’s fifth annual NewFest Pride and Frameline49, the 49th San Francisco International LGBTQ+ Film Festival, have teamed this Pride season to set the Sophie Hyde-helmed film as their respective opening-night screenings.

“It’s an honour to screen Jimpa as the opening-night film of both NewFest Pride and Frameline after our premiere at Sundance at the start of the year,” said Hyde in a statement. “Jimpa was made with a community of creative collaborators, an incredible cast and crew of queer people and allies, from The Netherlands, US, UK, Finland and Australia. The stories we tell help us work out who we want to be, and this one is filled with joy, a celebration of queerness told with warmth, humour and love. Now more than ever...

Sophie Hyde’s “Jimpa,” starring Olivia Colman and John Lithgow, will serve as the opening night screening for NewFest Pride 2025 and Frameline49. The feature will open NewFest on May 29 and Frameline49 on June 18. “Jimpa” made its world premiere at the Sundance Film Festival in January.

The film follows filmmaker Hannah (Colman) who takes her trans nonbinary teenager Frances (Aud Mason-Hyde) to Amsterdam to visit their gay grandfather “Jimpa” (John Lithgow). When Frances decides they want to stay with Jimpa for a year abroad, Hannah is forced to “consider her beliefs about parenting and finally confront old stories about the past.”

“It’s an honour to screen ‘Jimpa’ as the opening night film of both NewFest Pride and Frameline after our premiere at Sundance at the start of the year,” said Hyde. “’Jimpa’ was made with a community of creative collaborators, an incredible cast and crew of queer people and allies,...

Exclusive: Paris-based The Party Film Sales has acquired international sales rights for Dutch director Sven Bresser’s first feature Reedland ahead of its premiere in competition in Cannes Critics’ Week in May.

The film tells the story of reed cutter Johan who discovers the lifeless body of a girl on his land and is overcome by an ambiguous sense of guilt. While he takes care of his granddaughter, he sets out on a quest to track down evil. But darkness can thrive in unexpected places.

Non-professional actor Gerrit Knobbe makes his big screen debut as Johan, alongside young newcomer Loïs Reinders.

The drama is among 11 first and second feature films, seven in competition, selected out of 1,000 submitted films for the upcoming edition of Cannes Critics’ Week, running from May 14 to 22.

Reedland is the first feature by a Dutch director to premiere in Critics’ Week since Karim Traïdia’s The Polish...

With a career spanning six decades, two centuries, and more accolades than could fit in a single review, John Lithgow could have retired long ago to bask in much deserved critical acclaim and popular consideration. Even as he approaches 80, however, Lithgow shows little, if any, sign of slowing down, just missing out on a much-deserved supporting Academy Award nomination as the duplicitous, scheming Cardinal Joseph Tremblay in Edward Berger’s (All Quiet on the Western Front) papal drama, Conclave. An incredibly versatile actor with few peers, Lithgow’s latest role as the title character in writer-director Sophie Hyde’s queer-centered generational drama, Jimpa, shows him, once again, in an entirely differently light, delivering what should be considered...

[Read the whole post on screenanarchy.com...]...

Exclusive: Aud Mason-Hyde, one of the breakouts of this year’s Sundance Film Festival, has signed with Artists First for management.

A queer trans nonbinary actor from Australia, Mason-Hyde stars opposite Olivia Colman and John Lithgow in Jimpa, a semi-autobiographical family drama from returning Sundance filmmaker Sophie Hyde. The film follows filmmaker and mother Hannah (Colman) as she takes her nonbinary teenager Frances (Mason-Hyde) on a trip to Amsterdam to visit their beloved gay grandpa Jim, aka “Jim-pa” (Lithgow).

In his review of the film out of Sundance, Deadline’s Pete Hammond called Mason-Hyde “perfectly cast.”

Mason-Hyde’s additional credits include the award-winning indie 52 Tuesdays, which premiered at the Sundance Film Festival in 2014, the Aussie ABC six-part series F*&#ing Adelaide, and the 2022 short film Right Here that played the festival circuit in Australia and was nominated for a number of awards. Also a poet,...

While the Sundance Film Festival mulls a big move for 2027, the 2025 program, its 41st edition, kicked off January 23 in Utah, and you can look below for all of Deadline’s reviews from the fest.

Sundance founder Robert Redford promised that audiences “can expect a 2025 program that showcases varied and vibrant filmmaking globally.” Running through February 2, the lineup includes more than 85 features and six episodic projects set to screen in Park City, Salt Lake City and online.

Below is a compilation of our reviews from the fest. Click on the movie’s title to read our full take.

Atropia ‘Atropia’

Section: U.S. Dramatic Competition

Director-screenwriter: Hailey Gates

Cast: Alia Shawkat, Callum Turner, Chloë Sevigny, Tim Heidecker, Jane Levy

Deadline’s takeaway: Ripe with aughts nostalgia around the Og iPod, frosted lip gloss and Guy Fieri’s favorite flame-printed shirts, Atropia is ultimately a clever meditation on the atmosphere of war...

“Probably the best co-producers in the world?” is the provocative title of one of the International Film Festival Rotterdam panels during “Pulling Focus,” IFFR Pro’s day dedicated to the global influence of Dutch cinema held on February 4.

The Dutch don’t normally boast; their lack of egotism is what can make them such excellent collaborators. Nonetheless, leading producers in the Netherlands agree they are indeed now adept at co-production - and that is partly because it has become a market necessity.

“Over the last 10 or 15 years, the Dutch have really oriented themselves toward the international market. In the past,...

At its heart, Sundance is about discovery. Some of our brightest, biggest filmmaking stars — we’re talking Steven Soderbergh, Richard Linklater, Ava DuVernay, Paul Thomas Anderson, Lulu Wang, Ryan Coogler, Aubrey Plaza, Catherine Hardwicke, Todd Haynes, Tessa Thompson, Jennifer Lawrence, Robert Eggers, the Duplass brothers, Michael B. Jordan, Amy Adams, Elizabeth Olsen, Brie Larson, Lakeith Stanfield, Miles Teller, Anya Taylor-Joy, and many, many more — first rose to acclaim by bringing their work to Sundance.

In 2025, a year that was long-heralded as one all about new discoveries, that tradition only continued. While this year’s lineup included a number of returning names, like Ira Sachs, Amy Berg, Andrew Ahn, Justin Lin, Ahmir “Questlove” Thompson, Cooper Raiff, Kahlil Joseph, Heidi Ewing & Rachel Grady, David France, Jesse Short Bull, Ryan White, Sophie Hyde, Jesse Moss & Amanda McBaine, Meera Menon, and Clint Bentley, there were also a hefty number of newbies joining those filmmaking ranks.

Neon has closed what is understood to be a $17m worldwide deal on Together, the body horror starring Alison Brie and Dave Franco that has been the standout commercial prospect of Sundance.

The first deal of the festival means that, for the second year in a row, Kristen Figeroid and the team at Neon International will head to Berlin with a buzzy genre hit from Park City after picking up Lucy Liu ghost story Presence last year.

Figeroid’steam will represent all international rights excluding Australia and New Zealand. Neon has scheduled an August 1 theatrical release in North America.

Michael Shanks...

Neon has closed what is understood to be a $15m worldwide deal on Together, the body horror starring Alison Brie and Dave Franco that has been the standout commercial prospect of Sundance.

The first deal of the festival means that, for the second year in a row, Kristen Figeroid and the team at Neon International will head to Berlin with a buzzy genre hit from Park City after picking up Lucy Liu ghost story Presence last year.

Figeroid’steam will represent all international rights excluding Australia and New Zealand. Neon has scheduled an August 1 theatrical release in North America.

Michael Shanks...

Neon is understood to be nearing a $15m worldwide deal on Together, the body horror starring Alison Brie and Dave Franco that has been the standout commercial prospect of Sundance.

The first deal of the festival means that, for the second year in a row, Kristen Figeroid and the team at Neon International will head to Berlin with a buzzy genre hit from Park City after picking up Lucy Liu ghost story Presence last year.

Michael Shanks made his feature writing and directing debut on Together, the Midnight selection about a couple who relocate to the country where their touch-and-go...

ByMonday evening in Park Citystudios and streamers were understood to be in hot pursuit of the Alison Brie-Dave Franco body horror Together, by far the most broadly appealing acquisitions target in what Sundance buyers agree has otherwise been a desert of commercial prospects.

‘Together’: Sundance Review

Michael Shanks’ feature directorial debut and Midnight entry turned heads (and stomachs) as soon as it debuted on Sunday at Eccles Theatre. Buyers including Apple, A24, Focus Features, Amazon, and Searchlight Pictures are among those who were either in attendance at the premiere or who have since seen it.

Real-life item Alison Brie...

ByMonday evening in Park Citystudios and streamers were understood to be in hot pursuit of the Alison Brie-Dave Franco body horror Together, by far the most broadly appealing acquisitions target in what Sundance buyers agree has otherwise been a desert of commercial prospects.

‘Together’: Sundance Review

Michael Shanks’ feature directorial debut and Midnight entry turned heads (and stomachs) as soon as it debuted on Sunday at Eccles Theatre. Buyers including Apple, A24, Focus Features, Amazon, and Searchlight Pictures are among those who were either in attendance at the premiere or who have since seen it.

Real-life item Alison Brie...

ByMonday evening in Park Citystudios and streamers were understood to be in hot pursuit of the Alison Brie-Dave Franco body horror Together, by far the most broadly appealing acquisitions target in what Sundance buyers agree has otherwise been a desert of commercial prospects.

Other fiction features without distribution have impressed over the first five days, despite the preponderance for bleak stories that some observers say has set a rather sullen table for the US acquisitions space in the next few months ahead.

However many agree the quality of filmmaking has been high, and nowhere has this been more evident that with the documentary selection,...

Sophie Hyde’s last film, Good Luck to You, Leo Grande, made a big splash when it premiered at Sundance in 2022. The Australian filmmaker returns to the festival with Jimpa, a semi-autobiographical dramedy that could not be coming at a better time. Despite its flaws, there’s an undeniably lovable quality to Jimpa that is only accentuated by its timeliness.

Jimpa Review

Jimpa follows a filmmaker who is forced to confront her past after her nonbinary teenager expresses a desire to live with their gay grandfather in Amsterdam. It’s part family drama, part coming-of-age film, and part gay rights historical drama, and the result is a film that feels like an amalgamation of the tropes of a few different genres.

Related Hal & Harper Sundance Review — Cooper Raiff’s Miniseries Is His Most Ambitious Work Yet

Considering that it is based on its writer-director’s own experiences with her father,...

Amsterdam’s canals mirror the complex story of Jimpa’s family: Jimpa (John Lithgow), a veteran of early gay rights; his daughter Hannah (Olivia Colman), a filmmaker transforming archival memories into art; and Frances (Aud Mason-Hyde), their nonbinary grandchild seeking connection amid generational divides. Director Sophie Hyde explores a familial landscape where personal histories intersect and clash.

Lithgow portrays Jimpa as a nuanced character – his body telling stories of past struggles and unspoken emotions. Colman’s Hannah moves around her father with a quiet intensity, while Mason-Hyde’s Frances explores identity through a lens of generational disconnect.

The film weaves through time, using flashbacks of young Jim (Bryn Chapman Parish) to reveal deeper emotional currents. Scenes are bathed in amber light, creating a melancholic atmosphere that speaks to unresolved family dynamics and queer experiences.

Spatial and emotional distances create tension – Amsterdam becomes more than a backdrop, serving as a silent...

Align, the Los Angeles-based financier and production company launched by Adrian Politowski and Nadia Khamlichi in 2019, has closed its second fund, Take Two, to pump $120m worth of financing into international feature film and TV drama over the next four years.

The company, which provides bridge loans, and cash flows presales and tax credits as well as offering gap financing, is involved in three features premiering in Sundance this week: Sophie Hyde’s Jimpa, starring Olivia Colman and John Lithgow; Bryn Chainey’s Rabbit Trap starring Dev Patel; and Dylan Southern’s The Thing With Feathers starring Benedict Cumberbatch, which...

“I had recently done a job and not enjoyed the process that much,” Olivia Colman said at the IndieWire Studio at Sundance, presented by Dropbox, in talking about the circumstances that led to her new film “Jimpa,” directed by Sophie Hyde.

“And then my agents said ‘I think you’re gonna love this one. I think you’re gonna love working with Sophie.’ And I thought, ‘I really want to work with Sophie,’” Colman added. “You do a piece like this with a filmmaker like this which sustains you over the next few, which won’t be quite as enjoyable potentially. Although I do often like the work I do. Oh God, I’m now offending everyone. Ask someone else a question!”

That bit of fun right there shows the relaxed, family-like atmosphere among Colman, Hyde, and Colman’s costar Aud Mason-Hyde (who’s also the child of Sophie Hyde) when visiting the IndieWire Studio.

Some of Hollywood’s biggest stars are stopping by IMDb’s portrait studio at Acura House of Energy during the 2025 Sundance Film Festival, and we’ve got all the photos!

On Friday and Saturday (January 24 and 25), the likes of Benedict Cumberbatch, Dave Franco, Olivia Colman, Lili Reinhart, Jesse Williams and Callum Turner stopped by to post for celebrity photographer Mat Hayward with their castmates.

Keep reading to find out more…

Benedict was joined by Grief is a Thing With Feathers director Dylan Southern. Callum attended with Atropia costar Alia Shawkat and director Hailey Gates.

Dave was there with Bubble & Squeak costars Himesh Patel and Sarah Goldberg and director Evan Twohy.

Olivia was with Jimpa costars Eamon Farren, John Lithgow, Daniel Henshall and Aud Mason-Hyde and director Sophie Hyde.

Lili was joined by with Hal & Harper creator Cooper Raiff and costars Alyah Chanelle Scott, Addison Timlin, Havana Rose Liu and Christopher Meyer.

Sophie Hyde’s new film “Jimpa,” which premiered at the 2025 Sundance Film Festival to rave reviews, began as a deeply personal story about her experience as the child of a gay father and parent of a transgender teen. But as anti-trans sentiment grew during production, the family drama took on new urgency.

“I had no idea that it would become so antagonistic towards trans people in particular,” Hyde told executive editor Adam Chitwood at TheWrap’s Sundance Studio presented by World of Hyatt. “Now we’re in a place where suddenly parents are at risk for loving and supporting their children. And that is just crazy to me, because if you’re a parent, you look at your child and they tell you who they are, you should believe them and feel very grateful that they express that to you.”

Hyde, winner of the World Cinema Directing Award Dramatic for...

John Lithgow joined the Variety Studio presented by Audible at Sundance and reacted to one of the biggest Oscar snubs of the year: “Conclave” filmmaker Edward Berger failing to land a nomination for best director. Lithgow has a key supporting role in the papal drama. “Conclave” received eight nominations, including best picture, and many prognosticators had Berger as a lock for a best director nod after earning nominations from the Golden Globes, BAFTAs and Directors Guild of America.

“Of course I was disappointed, but that is just the element of awards season,” Lithgow says. “The field is strong and Edward is a rare and wonderful director. We loved him so much. He was nominated for every single other award, and ‘Conclave’ got eight Oscar noms. That only happens when you have a great director. He can take it. He can take it in stride. We are all very proud of the film.

Sundance film festival: Australian director Sophie Hyde’s earnest, semi-autobiographical film moves before it starts to meander

More so than other film festivals, Sundance can be a kingmaking force, shining light on an unknown film-maker and then entering into a mutually beneficial relationship with them. Directors return, shifted from smaller to larger venues, off-peak to primetime slots, and watching this steady climb can be a gratifying reward.

The Australian director Sophie Hyde has earned this more than most. Her first film, 52 Tuesdays, a thoughtful drama about a transitioning parent’s relationship with their daughter, won her the festival’s best director prize before she returned five years later with Animals, a sharp and spiky adaptation of Emma Jane Unsworth’s painfully perceptive novel of a fracturing friendship. She returned three years later with Good Luck to You, Leo Grande, an unusually frank and explicit comedy drama with a standout Emma Thompson.

“Don’t hang onto him,” John Lithgow’s Jim tells his daughter, Hannah, played by Olivia Colman, about her dying pet dog. “It’s the kindest thing you can do.” It’s the kind of line in Jimpa, from writer-director Sophie Hyde that we know will have larger implications later on, as Hyde explores her own relationship with her father through her latest film. Without a doubt, Jimpa is Hyde’s earnest, honest tribute to her complicated relationship with her father, but while the emotions throughout are sincere, Jimpa feels like it can’t quite make these emotions as impactful as they need to be.

There’s no doubt that the latest film from Sophie Hyde comes directly from the heart. A semi-autobiographical work that draws on her own relationship with her gay father and stars her own nonbinary child Aud Mason-Hyde, it is underpinned by a warm and inclusive sincerity that packs plenty of appeal. That being said, the film’s initial loose and enjoyable construction gradually drifts towards a drawn-out and repetitive melodramatic conclusion. It’s perhaps unfortunate that I have only recently watched Dag Johan Haugerud’s similarly themed but superior Love, which handles its queer themes with a much lighter touch.

Olivia Colman is playing Hannah, a version of Hyde. An Aussie filmmaker, who is struggling to get financing for her latest film about the relationship of her mother and father - who stayed together for years after he came out in order to co-parent their two children - because of its lack of “conflict”. Her.

Kicking off the 2025 Sundance Film Festival with a winner already. I adore this film. I really connected with it, even if I'm not like anyone in it. Jimpa is the latest film written and directed by Australian filmmaker Sophie Hyde, best known for her previous films Good Luck To You, Leo Grande (at Sundance 2022) and Animals (at Sundance 2019). She's excellent at telling intimate queer cinema stories and she remains one of the best filmmakers in this realm. Her latest wholesome cinema creation is Jimpa – her most personal film yet, a semi-autobiographical and self-referential meta tale of a family. It just premiered at Sundance and the experience was emotional for me, especially because I am watching it without any idea of what I'm about to see, or how it will feel, or who the characters are. And I nearly fell in love with every last person in this film. In a...

How do you capture a life? After all, there is nothing more breathtakingly vast than an existence full of joy, pain, pleasure and agony. Doing so is an immense undertaking that requires honesty and care in equal measure as we must look deeply at someone to expose all of what made them who they are without also hiding all of what can be many rough edges.

“Jimpa,” the latest film from “Good Luck to You, Leo Grande” director Sophie Hyde, does this about as fully as one could ever hope to do. In a script Hyde wrote with her “52 Tuesdays” co-writer Matthew Cormack, we are taken fully into the world of Jim (aka Jimpa), played by John Lithgow, and his daughter Hannah, played by Olivia Colman, as they try to navigate their respective lives. Jim is a gay man who left Hannah and her mother when she was a child...

Exclusive: John Lithgow, who played Winston Churchill in The Crown and scores of major roles on stage and screen, is having the time of his life. He has a hit play on the London stage transferring into the West End in April — and to Broadway in 2026 — and now he’s starring alongside Olivia Colman in the Sundance opening-day premiere of Sophie Hyde’s terrific screen drama Jimpa, in which the multi-award-winning star plays a fictionalized version of his director’s own father.

Colman plays Hannah, his filmmaker daughter who’s visiting him at his home in Amsterdam to talk about a film she’s developing about her parents marriage, and how it broke up when Jim, her father, comes out as gay.

Growing up with a queer dad has allowed Hannah to accept sexuality as a normal part of life. Her own kid, Frances, is a transgender, nonbinary teen, just...

The Sundance Film Festival 2025, beloved by independent film enthusiasts, opens the film festival circuit with thought-provoking panels, and red-carpet premieres. Despite the cancellation of other awards season events, the film festival has decided to proceed as planned in the wake of the devastating fires that have ravaged Los Angeles, causing the destruction of 15,798 structures and resulting in 28 fatalities. The extent to which the recent fires will impact the festival, renowned for its vibrant social scene and bustling calendar of events, remains to be seen.

This year’s lineup boasts diversity across various categories, featuring 57 short films and 87 feature films representing 33 countries and territories. The 2025 program is composed of 36 of 87 (41%) feature film directors who are first-time feature filmmakers. Sundance Institute supported ten of the feature films and projects selected in development through direct granting or residency labs.

Related: Sundance Film Festival 2025: All Of Deadline’s Movie Reviews

Among the buzzworthy titles premiering are Atropia,...

Premiering at the Sundance Film Festival just days after Trump clarified his Make America Great Again agenda, Sophie Hyde’s “Jimpa” is a film about progress, not going back. Inspired by lessons of living with an activist gay father (John Lithgow’s richest role since “The World According to Garp”) and a nonbinary child (Aud Mason-Hyde), the semi-autobiographical drama captures — and celebrates — the ripple effects of the Sexual Revolution across three generations.

With its inclusion-minded ensemble, frank and occasionally frustrating ”woke”-abulary and tradition-bending “gender ideology,” “Jimpa” feels as “Sundance” as any film in this year’s festival. Hyde, who hails from Australia, taps Olivia Colman to play her on-screen counterpart, Hannah, an indie filmmaker whose “mostly” monogamous marriage to a straight, cisgender man (Daniel Henshall) is the closest the film gets to showing a heteronormative couple. Gay men like Hannah’s dad (Lithgow) may teasingly refer to such people as “breeders,...

After Good Luck to You, Leo Grande, a virtuoso showcase for Emma Thompson that was also a rare candid conversation about an older woman’s sexuality, Australian filmmaker Sophie Hyde returns in Jimpa to territory closer to 52 Tuesdays. That 2014 debut feature, a prize-winner for direction at Sundance, felt highly personal. This new film takes that quality several steps further, drawing inspiration from the death of Hyde’s father and casting her nonbinary teenager as a 16-year-old presumably not unlike themself. Made with love and acted with great empathy by a cast led by always dependable pros Olivia Colman and John Lithgow, Jimpa is nothing if not sincere.

But to be brutally honest, it’s also kind of a cringey bore, like being stuck in a room with a bunch of oversharers from queer studies class. Even the novel sight of Lithgow cavorting in an Amsterdam sex dungeon, naked aside from...

Director and co-writer (with Matthew Cormack) Sophie Hyde takes inspiration from her own life as daughter of a gay man and mother of a trans nonbinary teenager to tell the moving story of an Australian family on a visit to Amsterdam to spend time with the father and grandfather known affectionately as Jimpa.

Hyde most recently directed the Emma Thompson sex comedy Good Luck to You, Leo Grande, which also premiered at the Sundance Film Festival. This one features an exceptional lead performance from Olivia Colman as Hannah, a filmmaker (think Hyde) navigating her experience growing up in a family where the father left after 13 years to find a new life as a gay man in Amsterdam. Now with a trans teenager, Frances (played by the filmmaker’s trans nonbinary child Aud Mason-Hyde), who is exploring their own identity and budding sexuality, they take a trip to visit Jimpa (John Lithgow...

Exclusive: Sundance prize-winning filmmaker Sophie Hyde says casting “a version of yourself” is not an easy task.

“It’s very tricky to do,” says Hyde, director of Jimpa, which is premiering today at Park City’s Eccles. It’s a film that sublimely explores what constitutes the makeup of family in our era.

From the get-go, though, Hyde knew that Oscar-winning Olivia Colman would be perfect to play her, or rather a fictionalized version of herself called Hannah.

Like Hyde, Hannah’s a married film artist from Adelaide, the mother of a transgender, nonbinary teenager and the daughter of a father who came out gay when she was a child.

Along with Colman as Hannah, Jimpa also stars Hyde and partner, editor and producer Bryan Mason’s 19-year-old offspring Aud Mason-Hyde playing Hannah’s teenage child Frances and John Lithgow as their grandfather Jim,...

Frances (Aud Mason-Hyde), a non-binary teenager, falls in love with Amsterdam on a visit to her beloved grandpa (John Lithgow), who she affectionately calls Jimpa, in Sophie Hyde’s film of the same name. Deciding that she wants to stay with Jimpa for an entire year, her mother (Olivia Colman) wrestles with her parenting instincts and the idea of what’s best for her child. Editor Bryan Mason discusses cutting Jimpa, shedding insight on his recurrent collaboration with Hyde, the question he always asks himself before embarking on a project and his background as a skate video editor. See all responses to our […]

The post “It Was an Ambitious Project From the Get-go”: Editor Bryan Mason on Jimpa first appeared on Filmmaker Magazine.

Frances (Aud Mason-Hyde), a non-binary teenager, falls in love with Amsterdam on a visit to her beloved grandpa (John Lithgow), who she affectionately calls Jimpa, in Sophie Hyde’s film of the same name. Deciding that she wants to stay with Jimpa for an entire year, her mother (Olivia Colman) wrestles with her parenting instincts and the idea of what’s best for her child. Editor Bryan Mason discusses cutting Jimpa, shedding insight on his recurrent collaboration with Hyde, the question he always asks himself before embarking on a project and his background as a skate video editor. See all responses to our […]

The post “It Was an Ambitious Project From the Get-go”: Editor Bryan Mason on Jimpa first appeared on Filmmaker Magazine.

Films are made over many days, but some days are more memorable, and important, than others. Imagine yourself in ten years looking back on this production. What day from your film’s development, production or post do you think you’ll view as the most significant and why? I always love rehearsals, the urgency to shut everything away and tune into the characters and get to know the cast. On Jimpa I remember a striking rehearsal session where John Lithgow was meeting with the actors who make up his closest friends in the film, three wonderful Dutch actors (Hans Kesting, Frank Sanders […]

The post “I Always Love Rehearsals” | Sophie Hyde, Jimpa first appeared on Filmmaker Magazine.

Films are made over many days, but some days are more memorable, and important, than others. Imagine yourself in ten years looking back on this production. What day from your film’s development, production or post do you think you’ll view as the most significant and why? I always love rehearsals, the urgency to shut everything away and tune into the characters and get to know the cast. On Jimpa I remember a striking rehearsal session where John Lithgow was meeting with the actors who make up his closest friends in the film, three wonderful Dutch actors (Hans Kesting, Frank Sanders […]

The post “I Always Love Rehearsals” | Sophie Hyde, Jimpa first appeared on Filmmaker Magazine.

In director Sophie Hyde’s Jimpa, non-binary teen Frances (Aud Mason-Hyde) travels to Amsterdam with her mother Hannah (Olivia Colman) to visit her grandfather (John Lithgow); Frances’ longtime nickname for him lends the film its title. Won over by her grandfather’s unabashed queerness and the community he calls home, Frances communicates her desire to stay in Holland for a year to live with Jimpa, which, naturally, complicates things for Hannah. Cinematographer Matthew Chuang delves into the difficulties of shooting between Adelaide and Amsterdam, the influence of Nan Goldin on the film and the “memorable experience” of riding a bike to set […]

The post “With Each Location We Embraced Its Essence:” Dp Matthew Chuang on Jimpa first appeared on Filmmaker Magazine.

In director Sophie Hyde’s Jimpa, non-binary teen Frances (Aud Mason-Hyde) travels to Amsterdam with her mother Hannah (Olivia Colman) to visit her grandfather (John Lithgow); Frances’ longtime nickname for him lends the film its title. Won over by her grandfather’s unabashed queerness and the community he calls home, Frances communicates her desire to stay in Holland for a year to live with Jimpa, which, naturally, complicates things for Hannah. Cinematographer Matthew Chuang delves into the difficulties of shooting between Adelaide and Amsterdam, the influence of Nan Goldin on the film and the “memorable experience” of riding a bike to set […]

The post “With Each Location We Embraced Its Essence:” Dp Matthew Chuang on Jimpa first appeared on Filmmaker Magazine.

While we were eager to tell you last year about Sundance premieres starring Kristen Stewart and Pedro Pascal, the unlikely “Thelma” became the true indie success story of 2024. Unexpected buyer Magnolia Pictures turned the June Squibb film into a hit, opening the doors for other buyers to take their own risks this year.

Heading into 2025, uniqueness is the name of the game, as is picking out the discovery that you won’t see coming, and not necessarily the movie with the big cast, commercial pedigree, or crowdpleaser premise. Last year, we were pretty spot on with “A Real Pain” and “My Old Ass” surviving the long haul, and we were among the few to tell you about “It’s What’s Inside” before Netflix plunked down $17 million to buy it; we were way off on a few others.

The below list is not a collection of movies certain to sell or do so for eight figures,...

The 2025 Sundance Film Festival kicks off this week in Park City, Utah, launching the first major festival of the year and one of the biggest markets for film. Sundance is, of course, home to a slew of independent films seeking distribution. It’s where movies like “Beasts of the Southern Wild,” “Call Me by Your Name,” “Fruitvale Station” and “Palm Springs” got their start, and this year’s lineup is chock-full of true indies looking for a home.

Below, TheWrap rounded up some of the buzziest titles for sale at this year’s festival.

Tonatiuh and Diego Luna appear in Kiss of the Spider Woman by Bill Condon (Sundance) “Kiss of the Spider-Woman”

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,...

The 2025 edition of the Sundance Film Festival is a little over a week away and it’s time for us to talk about movies that will be the talk of Sundance, movies that push the envelope of imagination and reality, movies that should not be missed and lastly underrated movies that are a must watch as well. The list below is not comprehensive and the goal is not to rank order any of the movies in this list. From films by critically acclaimed directors like Ira Sachs and Richard Linklater to actors like Benedict Cumberbatch, Diego Luna, Olivia Coleman, Dev Patel, Jennifer Lopez and Rose Bryne, the list also focuses on independent films by new exciting directors and filmmakers to look out for in the future. In no particular order, we are listing 25 feature films that are a must watch if you are planning to check out the festival.

Jimpa...

Tennessee Williams sets Cat on a Hot Tin Roof, his 1955 play about sexual repression, at a cotton plantation on the Mississippi Delta. You can feel the heat in director Rebecca Frecknall’s production at the Almeida Theatre starring a scorching Daisy Edgar-Jones as Maggie, the cat in question, who does all in her power to jolt her inattentive husband, Brick — played superbly by Kingsley Ben-Adir — out of his self-inflicted stupor.

The play opened just a few days ago and there’s already chatter about it transferring into the West End, most appropriately, next summer, and Edgar-Jones must be persuaded to move with it, along with Ben-Adir, Lennie James’ powerful Big Daddy and Clare Burt’s cotton-headed Big Mama.

Edgar-Jones’ Maggie the cat is a study in the art of allure, and calculation; she prowls the Almeida stage like a hungry feline wanting to play with her prey before gobbling it up,...

UK filmmakers and talent have a strong showing at Sundance 2025, taking place from January 23 to February 2, 2025 in Park City.

Brides, the feature debut of theatre director and incoming Young Vic artistic director Nadia Fall,premieres in the World Cinema Dramatic competition.The film, which is written by Suhayla El-Bushra,follows two troubled teenage girls who decide to run away to Syria, is produced by Neon’s Nicky Bentham and Marica Stocchi from Italian outfit Rosamont.

It was supported by the BFI and Ffilm Cymru Wales, Welsh Government via Creative Wales, Great Point Media, the Italian Ministry of Culture Minority Co-production Fund,...

Rebuilding, stars Josh O'Connor Photo: Courtesy of Sundance Institute Sundance has announced it's feature film line-up for next month's festival with Jennifer Lopez, Benedict Cumberbatch, Olivia Colman and Josh O’Connor some of the famous names in the line-up.

The festival - which is hosting its penultimate edition in Utah's Park City as it contemplates a move to new pastures - will screen 87 features from 33 different countries and territories. Forty-one per cent of the films are by first-time filmmakers. The festival will run from January 30 to February 2, with the competition films also available to watch online across the US.

JLo will star alongside Diego Luna in Bill Condon's big screen version of stage musical Kiss Of The Spider Woman. Colman, meanwhile, stars in Jimpa alongside John Lithgow, directed by Sophie Hyde, who was last at the festival with Good Luck To You Leo Grande. The film charts a trip...