Swiss Army Man



Like Weekend at Bernie’s crossed with Robinson Crusoe, this is a tale of a man trapped on a desert island (Paul Dano) who befriends a dead man (Daniel Radcliffe). Launched at the Sundance Lab, the offbeat comedy drama was co-written and co-directed by Daniel Scheinert and Daniel Kwan, better known for their music videos; the pair won best director at the 2014 MTV Video Music Awards.

The Birth of a Nation



Nate Parker chose a provocative title for his directorial debut. Recalling DW Griffith’s 1915 silent film – criticised for its racist portrayal of slaves – the drama tells the true story of Nat Turner, the US-born slave who would lead the most successful slave rebellion in American history. Parker wrote, directed and stars alongside Armie Hammer, Aja Naomi King and Jackie Earle Haley in this feature about the 1831 insurrection.

Agnus Dei



Writer, director and actor Anne Fontaine’s 2009 film Coco Before Chanel garnered Academy Award and Bafta nominations. Premiering at Sundance, her latest feature is a French-Polish-Belgian co-production, and again has women crossing forbidden lines. Based on a true story, it stars Lou de Laâge as a French Red Cross doctor based in Warsaw just after World War Two, who is called to a convent to help a nun give birth. Agata Kulesza (Ida), Agata Buzek (The Reverse) and Vincent Macaigne (The Rendez-Vous of Déjà-Vu) co-star.

Wiener-Dog



Todd Solondz (Happiness) brings his darkly funny worldview to a collection of stories featuring people who find their life inspired or changed by one particular dachshund. Touted as a “sort-of” sequel to his 1995 debut feature Welcome to the Dollhouse – which won the Grand Jury Prize at the 1996 Sundance Festival – the ensemble co-stars Greta Gerwig, Julie Delpy, Danny DeVito, Ellen Burstyn and Kieran Culkin.

Lo and Behold, Reveries of the Connected World



German director Werner Herzog (Grizzly Man, Into the Abyss) muses on an AI-dominated future and our relationship with machines in his latest film, premiering at Sundance. “This is an extraordinary moment in the life of human beings,” Herzog says in the film. “The beginning of connectivity we have not dreamed of a few years ago.” Important insights into our online lives from a man who weaves fiction with reality until the two are indistinguishable.

Ali & Nino



Director Asif Kapadia’s documentary feature Amy is nominated for an Oscar this year; he follows up his debut drama The Warrior with a politically charged love story set in Azerbaijan just before the outbreak of World War One. Shifting between documentary and fiction film-making styles, Kapadia tells the story of a pair of teenagers – one Muslim, the other Christian – as they attempt to negotiate the pressures of the wider world.

The Hunt for the Wilderpeople



Indie favourite Taika Waititi – who has been touted as a potential director for Marvel’s upcoming blockbuster Thor: Ragnarok – premieres his latest comedy. Waititi follows his 2014 cult vampire hit What We Do in the Shadows with a tale that is equal parts road comedy and coming-of-age drama: Julian Dennison and Sam Neill star as a rebellious boy and his foster uncle who go missing in the New Zealand bush. Based on the book Wild Pork and Watercress by Barry Crump, it’s the fourth feature the film-maker has premiered at Sundance.

Holy Hell



In 1985, film graduate Will Allen left college and joined a secretive spiritualist community led by a charismatic guru in West Hollywood. He stayed with the Buddhafield group for 20 years, documenting life inside the cult before he left at the age of 44. Allen uses his archive footage in this documentary, turning the camera on himself to ask how former cult members come to terms with their past. As he told Variety, he has had to relearn how to interact with the world. “I am upset and I cry every day now,” he says, “but I also have a great sense of humour. You have to laugh at your mistakes, you have to laugh at your choices, otherwise you’re just going to be in pain your whole life.”

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