By Lucy Spicer
One of the most exciting things about the Sundance Film Festival is having a front-row seat for the bright future of independent filmmaking. While we can learn a lot about the filmmakers from the 2025 Sundance Film Festival through the art that these storytellers share with us, there’s always more we can learn about them as people. We decided to get to the bottom of those artistic wells with our ongoing series: Give Me the Backstory!
As an actor, Grace Glowicki is no stranger to the Sundance Film Festival. Back in 2016, she and frequent collaborator Ben Petrie co-starred in Petrie’s short film Her Friend Adam, for which Glowicki took home a Short Film Special Jury Award for Outstanding Performance for her role as Liv, an artist who confronts her boyfriend’s unfounded, jealous behavior. She then starred in Thea Hollatz’s animated short film Hot Flash (2020 Sundance Film Festival), followed by Kentucker Audley and Albert Birney’s Strawberry Mansion (2021 Sundance Film Festival). And in 2025, she returned to Park City to introduce Midnight audiences to one of her meatiest, strangest roles yet — that of director, co-writer, producer, and protagonist in Dead Lover.
One of just four cast members, Glowicki plays a lonesome gravedigger longing for love in a society where people are repulsed by her odor, an inescapable consequence of spending her days surrounded by corpses. Her dream seems poised to come true when she meets an aristocrat (Petrie) who not only tolerates the way she smells, he loves it. But when her foppish lover dies at sea, the gravedigger goes to extreme lengths to resurrect him using a spell and the only piece of him that returns from his final voyage: his finger.
Full of larger-than-life performances and practical effects that may deter the squeamish (some theaters are even handing out “Stink-O-Vision” scratch cards at screenings), Dead Lover is a zany collaborative effort with the feel of a black box theater production. “My favorite part of making the film was getting to hang out and collaborate with so many uniquely talented people,” says Glowicki. “It was so great because we shot everything in this one studio, so we were able to really settle into our weird little temporary home! One funny memory was when Ben and I did a swimming scene in a kiddie pool on the studio floor. It was without sound, so we listened to music while shooting the scene, and everyone was having a good laugh at how silly Ben and I looked pretending to ‘swim in the ocean’ in like a foot and a half of water. I don’t know how we pulled it off, but we did!”
Read on to learn more about Glowicki and her reeking, rollicking love story, including how she got into filmmaking and how her resourceful cast made do with a single prop during weeks of rehearsal.
What was the biggest inspiration behind this film?
The film was inspired by a desire to push my filmmaking process to be as playful and collaborative as possible! I really wanted to have fun and world-build with talented and funny people!
Films are lasting artistic legacies; what do you want yours to say?
If you love it, let it go.
Describe whom you want this film to reach.
Anyone who needs a laugh!
Tell us an anecdote about casting or working with your actors.
We rehearsed for a long time in a dance studio, and for weeks the only prop we had was a long stick — and boy, I just loved watching everyone use that stick as a stand-in for so many different objects! It was a shovel, a cane, a long finger, a sword, the list goes on! Watching my friends wave that thing around all day with full conviction was pretty funny stuff.
What was a big challenge you faced while making this film?
The biggest challenge was always wanting a little more time! But in some ways I think the time pressure may have inadvertently helped!
Tell us why and how you got into filmmaking.
In my early 20s, my roommate had a Canon 60D camera and we started making these little comedy videos together to make each other laugh. It all started from there!
If you weren’t a filmmaker, what would you be doing?
Probably working with kids or running a small business.
What is something that all filmmakers should keep in mind in order to become better cinematic storytellers?
Read all those screenwriting books!
Who are your creative heroes?
Denis Lavant and Věra Chytilová
What three things do you always have in your refrigerator?
Coffee cream, olives, and orange juice
What was the last thing you saw that you wish you made?
Cemetery Man
One thing people don’t know about me is _____.
I can juggle.
Which of your personal characteristics contributes most to your success as a storyteller?
I am instinctual, collaborative, and a hard worker!
Who was the first person you told when you learned you got into the Sundance Film Festival?
Ben Petrie!
What’s your favorite film that has come from the Sundance Institute or Festival?
Welcome to the Dollhouse — Todd Solondz
