Nearly Half of Sundance 2019s Features Were Directed by Women

The 2019 Sundance lineup has arrived—which means its time to lovingly, nosily pick it apart. But first, lets look at the stats of next years slate. According to the festivals release, 45 of the 112 films in play next year were directed by one or more women; 40 of that 112 were directed by one or more filmmakers of color; and 15 were directed by one or more filmmakers who identify as members of the L.G.B.T.Q.I.A. community. While its far from parity, this represents continued steps toward a more diverse Sundance, which generated headlines this year when all four of its directing prizes went to women.

“Were always going for parity, but because of the way we program, were looking for the films before we are who made them, so that kind of comes in the fine-tuning of the program, and its always amazing when it comes out that way,” said Kim Yutani, the festivals director of programming, in an interview with Variety. “This year, it was completely organic. Different people are telling stories, and I think that is indicative of the time we are living in right now.”

Next years slate has a slew of buzzy titles helmed by female filmmakers, from Mindy Kaling and Emma Thompsons comedy Late Night, directed by Nisha Ganatra (who has directed episodes of seemingly every auterish dramedy out there, including Better Things, Transparent, and Dear White People) to Shia LaBeoufs biopic, Honey Boy, starring Lucas Hedges as LaBeouf and LaBeouf as his own father. Alma Harel sits in the directors chair for that mind-meld. Plus, Jennifer Kent, the writer-director visionary behind 2014 horror hit The Babadook, finally returns with a new film, The Nightingale.

Inclusive, female-led stories are also driving next years competition. Awkwafina leads The Farewell, written and directed by Lulu Wang, a family tale about a Chinese-American woman going to China to see her ailing grandmother. Geraldine Viswanathan, one of the highlights of Blockers, can be seen in Hala, a coming-of-age story about a Muslim teenager written and directed by Minhal Baig.

Speaking of comedy stars: Jillian Bell and Lil Rel Howery will star in Brittany Runs a Marathon, while Pete Davidson of Saturday Night Live (and “thank u, next”) fame will make his Sundance debut in Big Time Adolescence, Jason Orleys feature about a teen and his best friend, “a charismatic college dropout.”

For those who think its never too early to sniff out potential prestige plays, next years lineup also has promise. Theres a modern retelling of Richard Wrights classic Native Son, directed by Rashid Johnson and starring Moonlight breakout Ashton Sanders and If Beale Street Could Talk breakout KiKi Layne. Nightcrawler director Dan Gilroy re-teams with star Jake Gyllenhaal for Velvet Buzzsaw, a thriller set in Los Angeless art world. Meanwhile, Oscar-nominated actor Chiwetel Ejiofor will premiere his feature debut, The Boy Who Harnessed the Wind, based on the true story of Malawian inventor William Kamkwamba. And coming in with an equally long title is Extremely Wicked, Shockingly Evil and Vile, the Ted Bundy chronicler starring Zac Efron as the serial killer himself. Perhaps these features will have better luck than this years batch.