CODA, Zola Set For 2021 Sundance London Program

Publish date: 2024-09-07

Sundance Film Festival: London has revealed that “Zola” and “CODA” will be among the 2021 lineup, when the festival returns to Picturehouse Central next month.

“CODA” — an acronym meaning “Child of Deaf Adults” — features Marlee Matlin (“The West Wing”) and 19-year-old Emilia Jones (“Locke & Key”) navigating their relationship, while “Zola” is based on a 148-tweet viral Twitter thread from 2015 by Aziah “Zola” Wells. It stars Taylor Paige (“Ma Rainey’s Black Bottom”) and Riley Keough (“Max Max: Fury Road”) and will close the 4-day festival.

Edgar Wright’s rockumentary “The Sparks Brothers,” described as a “musical odyssey,” opens the festival on July 29.

Other feature film offerings, which have been selected from the longer line-up shown at the Sundance Film Festival, include “The Nest,” starring Jude Law (“Sherlock Holmes”), animation “Cryptozoo,” which features Lake Bell (“BoJack Horseman”) and Michael Cera (“Arrested Development”), and documentary “Writing With Fire,” about a female-run Indian newspaper, which won the Audience Award for World Cinema Documentary.

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In addition to the 15 features, the festival will also include a variety of short films from the U.K. and internationally, including “Black Bodies,” by Canadian director and screenwriter Kelly Fyffe-Marshall, and “Motherland” by Ellen Evans, which grapples with Britain’s Windrush scandal.

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Sundance Film Festival director Tabitha Jackson said: “These films exemplify the spirit of a unique 2021 Sundance Film Festival — bold visions, unique perspectives, and singular creative talents. We (and I as a proud Brit) can’t wait to bring them to the big screens and in-person audiences of Sundance Film Festival: London.”

Sundance London runs from July 29-Aug. 1 at Picturehouse Central, with some screenings taking place simultaneously in cinemas across the U.K.

See the complete feature film lineup below:

Censor, directed by Prano Bailey-Bond. Written by Prano Bailey-Bond, Anthony Fletcher. Produced by Helen Jones. With Niamh Algar, Nicholas Burns, Vincent Franklin, Sophia La Porta, Adrian Schiller, Michael Smiley.

CODA, directed and written by Siân Heder. Produced by Philippe Rousselet, Fabrice Gianfermi, Patrick Wachsberger. With Emilia Jones, Eugenio Derbez, Troy Kotsur, Ferdia Walsh-Peelo, Daniel Durant, and Marlee Matlin. U.K. premiere.

Cryptozoo, directed and written by Dash Shaw. Produced by Kyle Martin, Jane Samborski, Bill Way, Tyler Davidson. With Lake Bell, Michael Cera, Angeliki Papoulia, Zoe Kazan, Peter Stormare, Grace Zabriskie. U.K. premiere.

First Date, directed and written by Manuel Crosby, Darren Knapp. Produced by Brandon Kraus, Manuel Crosby, Darren Knapp, Lucky McKee, Charles Horak. With Tyson Brown, Shelby Duclos, Jesse Janzen, Nicole Berry, Ryan Quinn Adams, Brandon Kraus. U.K. premiere.

The Blazing World, directed by Carlson Young. Written by Carlson Young, Pierce Brown, Produced by Brinton Bryan, Elizabeth Avellán. With Udo Kier, Carlson Young, Dermot Mulroney, Vinessa Shaw, John Karna, Soko. U.K. premiere.

Human Factors, directed and written by Ronny Trocker. Produced by Susanne Mann, Paul Zischler, Martin Rehbock. With: Sabine Timoteo, Mark Waschke, Jule Hermann, Wanja Valentin Kube, Hannes Perkmann, Daniel Séjourné.

In The Same Breath, directed by Nanfu Wang. Produced by Nanfu Wang, Jialing Zhang, Julie Goldman, Christopher Clements, Carolyn Hepburn. U.K. premiere.

Mass, directed and written by Fran Kranz. Produced by Fran Kranz, Casey Wilder Mott, JP Ouellette, Dylan Matlock. With Jason Isaacs, Ann Dowd, Martha Plimpton, Reed Birney. U.K. premiere.

Misha and The Wolves, directed and written by Sam Hobkinson. Produced by Poppy Dixon, Al Morrow, Matthew Wells, Gregory Zalcman, Jürgen Buedts. U.K. premiere.

The Most Beautiful Boy in The World, directed by Kristina Lindström, Kristian Petri. Produced by Stina Gardell. U.K. premiere.

The Nest, directed and written by Sean Durkin. Produced by Ed Guiney, Derrin Schlesinger, Rose Garnett, Sean Durkin, Amy Jackson, Christina Piovesan. With Jude Law, Carrie Coon, Charlie Shotwell, Oona Roche. U.K. premiere.

The Sparks Brothers, directed by Edgar Wright. Produced by Nira Park, Edgar Wright, George Hencken, Laura Richardson. U.K. premiere.

Together Together, directed and written by Nikole Beckwith. Produced by Anthony Brandonisio, Daniela Taplin Lundberg, Tim Headington. With Ed Helms, Patti Harrison, Tig Notaro, Julio Torres, Anna Konkle. U.K. premiere.

Writing With Fire, directed and produced by Rintu Thomas, Sushmit Ghosh. U.K. premiere.

Zola, directed by Janicza Bravo. Written by Janicza Bravo, Jeremy O. Harris, Produced by Christine Vachon, David Hinojosa, Vince Jolivette, Elizabeth Haggard, Dave Franco, Gia Walsh. With Taylor Paige, Riley Keough, Nicholas Braun, Colman Domingo. U.K. premiere.

SURPRISE FILM – Will only be announced when the credits roll.

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