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Films about monsters, residential schools among those with Canadian links at Sundance

Last Updated Dec 6, 2023 at 2:43 pm MDT

The marquee of the Egyptian Theatre is shown Thursday, Jan. 28, 2021, in Park City, Utah. The largely virtual Sundance Film Festival opened Thursday. (AP Photo/Rick Bowmer)

A horror film about a rampaging monster and a documentary about missing residential schoolchildren are among the projects with Canadian ties heading to the Sundance Film Festival.

Organizers announced 82 feature-length films, including several involving Canadians, bound for the Park City, Utah festival set for Jan. 18 to 28.

They include Toronto director Chris Nash’s horror film “In A Violent Nature,” about an undead monster that goes on a killing spree in the remote wilderness.

In the competitive documentary category, California-raised Julian Brave NoiseCat directs “Sugarcane,” which investigates the history of an Indigenous residential school in British Columbia.

“Kidnapping Inc.,” billed as a co-production from Canada, Haiti and France, follows two bumbling kidnappers who find themselves wrapped up in a political conspiracy.

And the Winnipeg-shot “Winner,” directed and co-written by U.S. filmmaker Susanna Fogel, is based on the true story of a whistleblower who exposed Russia’s hacking of the 2016 U.S. election.

South Korean-Canadian director Celine Song, whose film “Past Lives” was a breakout hit at Sundance’s last edition, will receive the annual Vanguard Award.

This report by The Canadian Press was first published Dec. 6, 2023.

The Canadian Press