A still from “Whiplash” by Damien Chazelle, which premiered at the 2014 Sundance Film Festival. (Courtesy of Sundance Institute)
By Lucy Spicer
Do you have a favorite filmmaker? That one director whose new movie you know you’ll rush out to the theater to see — no matter what the story’s about or who’s starring in it? Filmmakers who develop a signature style tend to grow a community of devotees as their œuvre expands, and we’ve seen many such directors premiere exciting, groundbreaking, distinctive projects at the Sundance Film Festival over the past four decades.
As we continue to pore over our Sundance Film Festival 101 list and get reacquainted with titles that many indie film lovers would agree are essential viewing, we’re bringing you yet another watchlist: movies by directors with a signature style. Lifted from our Festival 101 list, the titles below are just some of the films from the Festival’s history that have come from directors who continually make artistic choices that resonate deeply with audiences, from employing unique visual language to subverting genre to embracing the absurd.
With names like Gregg Araki, Christopher Nolan, Kelly Reichardt, Jordan Peele, Richard Linklater, Jane Schoenbrun, and many more, it’s the kind of list we’re eager to see growing.
Blood Simple (1985 Sundance Film Festival; winner of the Grand Jury Prize: Dramatic)
Director: Joel Coen
Co-written by Joel and Ethan Coen, Blood Simple is a shadowy neo-noir in which miscommunication has deadly consequences. Abby (Frances McDormand in her screen debut) is unhappily married to bar owner Julian Marty (Dan Hedaya), so she’s having an affair with bartender Ray (John Getz). When Marty learns of his wife’s infidelity, he hires a private detective (M. Emmet Walsh) to take out both Abby and Ray. This straightforward plan is anything but, to disastrously permanent effect. Check here for viewing options.
Hairspray (1988 Sundance Film Festival)
Director: John Waters
Writer-director John Waters adapted his “Pope of Trash” sensibilities for a broader audience with Hairspray. Set in Baltimore in 1962, the film follows Tracy Turnblad (Ricki Lake), a “pleasantly plump” teenager who’s got big dreams, big dance moves, and even bigger hair. Tracy’s dance skills and engaging personality land her a spot on The Corny Collins Show, and while she enjoys her popularity and a new romance, Tracy knows she can have it all and fight for racial integration, too. Featuring an ensemble cast also starring Divine, Ruth Brown, Jerry Stiller, Debbie Harry, and Sonny Bono, Hairspray has plenty of wackiness — like hypnosis, cockroaches, and a bomb-concealing wig — to make it a classic in the Waters canon. The film would go on to be adapted into a stage musical in 2002. Check here for viewing options.
sex, lies, and videotape (1989 Sundance Film Festival; winner of the Audience Award: Dramatic)
Director: Steven Soderbergh
A study of human behavior and sexuality as it exists within and outside of relationships, Soderbergh’s debut revolves around a group of individuals in Baton Rouge, all of whom are lying to one another in some way. Successful lawyer John (Peter Gallagher) and his wife, Ann (Andie MacDowell), look happy from the outside, but their relationship isn’t what it seems. The arrival of John’s college friend, Graham (James Spader), shakes things up. He and John don’t relate much anymore, but Ann finds Graham intriguing — especially when she learns the contents of his stacks of video interviews. Check here for viewing options.
Poison (1991 Sundance Film Festival; winner of the Grand Jury Prize: Dramatic)
Director: Todd Haynes
Writer-director Todd Haynes’ feature debut, inspired by Jean Genet’s novels, comprises three interwoven stories that together make a film that would become a significant addition to the New Queer Cinema canon. “Hero” plays like a sensational news segment, wherein a mother (Edith Meeks) claims her 7-year-old son disappeared after killing his father. “Horror” emulates a mini 1960s B movie in which Dr. Graves (Larry Maxwell) experiences monstrous side effects from accidentally drinking the essence of human sexuality. Finally, “Homo” follows an incarcerated man (Scott Renderer) who finds himself attracted to a fellow prisoner whom he recalls meeting previously in a juvenile facility. Check here for viewing options.
Reservoir Dogs (1992 Sundance Film Festival)
Director: Quentin Tarantino
Starring Harvey Keitel, Lawrence Tierney, and Chris Penn as well as featuring breakthrough performances by Steve Buscemi, Tim Roth, and Michael Madsen, Reservoir Dogs follows a group of men with color-coded alias tasked with executing a diamond robbery, but it soon becomes clear that the heist went sideways. A couple players have disappeared off-screen, and those who have made it to the rendez-vous point are left with the very tense possibility of a rat in their ranks — and the clock’s ticking for an injured member of the party. Supported by Sundance Institute’s 1991 Directors Lab, Tarantino’s feature debut introduced the world to many of the filmmaker’s signatures, including his razor-sharp dialogue. Check here for viewing options.
Clerks (1994 Sundance Film Festival; winner of the Filmmaker Trophy Dramatic)
Director: Kevin Smith
Writer-director Kevin Smith’s feature debut came together on a shoestring budget with some black-and-white film stock and a cast and crew made up of friends and family. Clerks follows annoyed convenience store clerk Dante Hicks (Brian O’Halloran) as he’s forced to come in on his day off. Between visits from his fellow slacker best friend, Randal (Jeff Anderson), fights with his girlfriend, shoplifting drug dealers, and a hockey game on the roof, it’s not an easy day, but there are some existential discussions to be had along the way. Forever quotable (“I’m not even supposed to be here today!”), Clerks became an indie classic and spawned a series of sequels. Check here for viewing options.
The Doom Generation (1995 Sundance Film Festival)
Director: Gregg Araki
The second film in writer-director Gregg Araki’s Teenage Apocalypse trilogy, The Doom Generation stars Rose McGowan and James Duval as Amy and Jordan, a teenage couple who come across charismatic drifter Xavier (Johnathon Schaech) — whom Jordan nicknames “X” — on their way home from a club. After X accidentally kills a convenience store clerk during a late-night shopping excursion, the trio hits the road. But mayhem seems to follow them wherever they go, as they continue to run into unsavory types who claim to be former acquaintances of Amy’s. Meanwhile, the sexual tension building between the three threatens to erupt. Check here for viewing options.
Bound (1996 Sundance Film Festival)
Directors: Lilly and Lana Wachowski
In their remarkable directorial debut, writer-directors Lilly and Lana Wachowski (of The Matrix franchise fame) offer up a sultry, cheeky neo-noir thriller. When Corky (Gina Gershon), an ex-con hired to renovate an apartment in a high-class building, meets Violet (Jennifer Tilly), the alluring girlfriend of the mobster money launderer next door, the attraction is instant — and mutual. The two women hatch a plan to steal two million dollars from the Mafia, and what follows is an entertaining series of twists and turns. Check here for viewing options.
Citizen Ruth (1996 Sundance Film Festival)
Director: Alexander Payne
Payne made his feature directorial debut with this black comedy starring Laura Dern as Ruth, a young woman with a drug addiction, four children who have been removed from her custody, and a bevy of misdemeanors. When Ruth finds herself pregnant once more and up against felony charges, she becomes the unwitting face of the tug of war between the right and the left on the subject of abortion rights. Check here for viewing options.
Welcome to the Dollhouse (1996 Sundance Film Festival; winner of the Grand Jury Prize: Dramatic)
Director: Todd Solondz
In Todd Solondz’s darkly comic sophomore feature, awkward seventh grader Dawn Weiner (Heather Matarazzo) doesn’t have much going for her. She’s bullied at school, the clear least favorite of her siblings at home, and nothing she does seems to make a difference to her social standing anywhere. When hunky high schooler Steve (Eric Mabius) joins her brother’s garage band, Dawn is instantly smitten. She’s hoping life feels kinder in the coming years, but in the meantime she’ll work on getting Steve to notice her. Check here for viewing options.
Pi (1998 Sundance Film Festival; winner of the Directing Award: Dramatic)
Director: Darren Aronofsky
Shot on black-and-white film, Pi stars Sean Gullette as Max, an eccentric mathematician living in Chinatown in New York City. With the help of his computer named Euclid, Max seeks a sense of order, believing that number theory is the key to everything. But when Euclid spits out a 216-digit number after being programmed to make stock market predictions, Max tumbles down an obsessive path in his search for understanding. Pi is Aronofsky’s feature directorial debut. Check here for viewing options.
Memento (2001 Sundance Film Festival; winner of the Waldo Salt Screenwriting Award)
Director: Christopher Nolan
In writer-director Christopher Nolan’s breakout film, the audience knows as much about recent plot events as the protagonist, Leonard Shelby (Guy Pearce) does — which is to say, very little. Leonard has anterograde amnesia and cannot form new memories, but it seems he’s been working on a project, because he’s surrounded himself with notes and photos, not to mention the reminders he’s had tattooed on his person. What he determines is that the injury that caused his memory loss also resulted in the murder of his wife, and apparently he’s on her killer’s trail. Nolan’s nonlinear neo-noir follows Leonard as he repeatedly tries to add pieces to the puzzle before his memory “resets,” and all the while he can’t be sure if the characters he encounters (in memorable performances by Carrie-Anne Moss and Joe Pantoliano) who claim to have met him beforehand are helping or harming him. Check here for viewing options.
Brick (2005 Sundance Film Festival; winner of a Special Jury Prize for Originality of Vision Dramatic)
Director: Rian Johnson
Joseph Gordon-Levitt plays it cool as high school loner Brendan Frye, who receives a panicked phone call from ex-girlfriend Emily (Emilie de Ravin) mentioning a cryptic “bad brick,” “Tug,” and “Pin.” Determined to uncover whatever trouble Emily has fallen into, Brendan begins investigating and stumbles onto a drug ring and a cast of characters straight out of a classic noir detective story. Johnson’s feature directorial debut was inspired by his love of Dashiell Hammett novels. Check here for viewing options.
Grizzly Man (2005 Sundance Film Festival; winner of the Alfred P. Sloan Feature Film Prize)
Director: Werner Herzog
Grizzly Man examines the life and death of Timothy Treadwell, a bear enthusiast who spent years camping in Alaska’s Katmai National Park and Preserve before he and his girlfriend were killed and eaten by a bear in October of 2003. By combining Treadwell’s own footage from inside the park with interviews with both the man’s loved ones and scientific experts, Herzog pieces together a portrait of a singularly passionate individual whose misguided love for animals ultimately got him killed — and arguably put the animals in danger, as well. Check here for viewing options.
The Squid and the Whale (2005 Sundance Film Festival; winner of the Directing Award: U.S. Dramatic and the Waldo Salt Screenwriting Award)
Director: Noah Baumbach
In writer-director Noah Baumbach’s narrative portrait of divorce, Bernard (Jeff Daniels) is an academic with fading literary dreams while his wife, Joan (Laura Linney), is seeing her writing career take off. When the couple decide to separate, their two sons — 16-year-old Walt (Jesse Eisenberg) and 12-year-old Frank (Owen Kline) — have to navigate the thorny terrain of joint custody. Set in 1986, the film was shot on Super 16 mm film. The Squid and the Whale would go on to be nominated for the Academy Award for Best Original Screenplay. Check here for viewing options.
Old Joy (2006 Sundance Film Festival)
Director: Kelly Reichardt
Based on a short story by Jonathan Raymond, Old Joy follows old friends Mark (Daniel London) and Kurt (Will Oldham) as they reconnect over a short trip to some hot springs in the Oregon woods. The trip was Kurt’s idea — while the two men had more of a hippie lifestyle in common back in their youth, Mark is now married and living in Portland with a baby on the way. Kurt is still a free spirit, though aimlessness looks a little different now than it did a decade or so ago. As the two make their way toward their destination Kurt is still full of stories about transformative retreats and theories about the universe. But it’s clear the friendship can’t be what it once was. Check here for viewing options.
Precious: Based on the Novel “Push” by Sapphire (2009 Sundance Film Festival; winner of the Grand Jury Prize: U.S. Dramatic, Audience Award: U.S. Dramatic, and a Special Jury Prize for Acting for Mo’Nique)
Director: Lee Daniels
Claireece “Precious” Jones (Gabourey Sidibe) has little going for her at 16 years old. Pregnant with her second child — the result of rape at her father’s hands — and stuck in an apartment ruled by a verbally and physically abusive mother (Mo’Nique), Precious can only find love and support in her daydreams. When a teacher at an alternative school (Paula Patton) helps her to learn to read and write, Precious begins to see potential within herself. Daniels’ critically acclaimed Precious would go on to be nominated for six Academy Awards, winning two — Best Supporting Actress for Mo’Nique and Best Adapted Screenplay for Geoffrey Fletcher. Check here for viewing options.
Fruitvale Station (2013 Sundance Film Festival; winner of the Grand Jury Prize: U.S. Dramatic and the Audience Award: U.S. Dramatic)
Director: Ryan Coogler
Starring Michael B. Jordan, Octavia Spencer, Melonie Diaz, and Chad Michael Murray, writer-director Ryan Coogler’s powerful feature debut depicts the final day in the life of Oscar Grant III, who was shot and killed after being detained by a transit police officer at the Fruitvale BART Station in San Francisco. Coogler’s film was supported by Sundance Institute’s Feature Film Program. Check here for viewing options.
Boyhood (2014 Sundance Film Festival)
Director: Richard Linklater
Filmed between 2002 and 2013, Linklater’s epic Boyhood chronicles the childhood of Mason Evans Jr. (Ellar Coltrane, who was cast at 6 years old and had turned 19 by the time production ended), who grows up in Texas with his sister, Samantha (Lorelei Linklater), and divorced parents Mason (Ethan Hawke) and Olivia (Patricia Arquette). Boyhood garnered a long list of accolades, including six Academy Award nominations, with Arquette winning the Oscar for Best Supporting Actress. Check here for viewing options.
Whiplash (2014 Sundance Film Festival; winner of the Grand Jury Prize: U.S. Dramatic and the Audience Award: U.S. Dramatic)
Director: Damien Chazelle
Based on a short film he brought to the Festival in 2013, writer-director Damien Chazelle’s intense tale follows 19-year-old Andrew (Miles Teller), a jazz drummer who is determined to become one of the greats. When Terence Fletcher, the conductor (J.K. Simmons) of the elite jazz ensemble at the prestigious conservatory Andrew attends invites him to join as a backup drummer, Andrew is thrilled at the opportunity. But Fletcher demands perfection, and the single-minded Andrew is pushed to the brink. Whiplash would go on to win Academy Awards for Best Sound Mixing, Best Film Editing, and Best Supporting Actor for J.K. Simmons. Check here for viewing options.
Songs My Brothers Taught Me (2015 Sundance Film Festival)
Director: Chloé Zhao
Showcasing primarily nonprofessional actors, Zhao’s poetic feature debut follows teenage Johnny (John Reddy) as he prepares to leave the Pine Ridge Indian Reservation in South Dakota and move to Los Angeles with his girlfriend. While some support his decision to leave, Johnny begins to feel conflicted in light of a family tragedy and his strong bond with his sister Jashaun (Jashaun St. John). Songs My Brothers Taught Me was supported by Sundance Institute’s Feature Film Program and Producers Program before premiering at the 2015 Sundance Film Festival. Check here for viewing options.
Tangerine (2015 Sundance Film Festival)
Director: Sean Baker
Sin-Dee Rella (Kitana Kiki Rodriguez) is fresh out of her 28-day jail stint in L.A., just in time for Christmas Eve. Her immediate mission? Tracking down the woman with whom her boyfriend and pimp, Chester (James Ransone), has apparently been cheating on her. Sin-Dee enlists her friend Alexandra (Mya Taylor) for help, but Alexandra can only help so much with plans of her own for the night. What follows is a rollicking caper, rich in both laughs and nuance. Directed, co-written, and edited by Baker, Tangerine was a standout upon its release for its depiction of transgender sex workers and because it was filmed using several iPhone 5s smartphones. Check here for viewing options.
The Witch (2015 Sundance Film Festival; winner of the Directing Award: U.S. Dramatic)
Director: Robert Eggers
In his deeply unsettling feature debut, writer-director Robert Eggers combines historical authenticity with ominous superstition to create an increasingly terror-filled folktale set in 17th-century New England. After they’re expelled from their Puritan settlement, an English family builds a farm next to a forest in the hopes of flourishing on their own. But there’s a sinister presence in the woods, and the family — including father William (Ralph Ineson), mother Katherine (Kate Dickie), and eldest daughter, Thomasin (Anya Taylor-Joy in her first film role) — grows desperate as food turns scarce, leaving them vulnerable to malevolent forces. In addition to premiering at the 2015 Festival, The Witch was supported by Sundance Institute’s Catalyst and Feature Film Program. Check here for viewing options.
Swiss Army Man (2016 Sundance Film Festival; winner of the Directing Award: U.S. Dramatic)
Directors: Daniel Kwan and Daniel Scheinert
Alone and stranded on an island, Hank (Paul Dano) is ready to end it all — until an extremely flatulent corpse (Daniel Radcliffe) washes ashore. Hank chooses to collect the body, which proves itself useful in multiple ways, from water storage to serving as a compass. And when it starts speaking — it gives itself a name, Manny — Hank and Manny team up to help each other out. Hank teaches Manny some social basics (he seems to have forgotten them all), and the pair go on a journey to find the woman Hank loves. Supported by Sundance Institute’s Feature Film Program, Swiss Army Man is The Daniels’ feature debut. Check here for viewing options.
A Ghost Story (2017 Sundance Film Festival)
Director: David Lowery
Not long after a married couple (played by Casey Affleck and Rooney Mara) argue about moving house, the husband dies in an accident. While his wife grieves, the man’s ghost, covered in a white sheet, returns to their house, where he must watch her pick up the pieces of her life. Even after she moves away, the man’s spirit is tethered to the house, leading him to witness the stories of those who have come after him. Both written and directed by Lowery, A Ghost Story’s lyrical approach defies genre, resulting in haunting meditation on time and place. Check here for viewing options.
Call Me by Your Name (2017 Sundance Film Festival)
Director: Luca Guadagnino
In 1983, 17-year-old Elio (Timothée Chalamet) is soaking up the summer at his parents’ villa in northern Italy. After the charismatic 24-year-old doctoral student Oliver (Armie Hammer) arrives to aid Elio’s father in his research, Elio and Oliver begin to develop the type of romantic feelings for each other that will change both of their lives forever. Guadagnino’s film is based on the novel of the same name by André Aciman. Check here for viewing options.
Get Out (2017 Sundance Film Festival)
Director: Jordan Peele
In a departure from writer-director Jordan Peele’s comedy background, the filmmaker’s feature debut uses psychological horror to address pervasive racism in the United States. When photographer Chris (Daniel Kaluuya) goes to meet his girlfriend’s (Allison Williams) family in upstate New York for the first time, he’s a bit apprehensive, since she’s revealed he’s the first Black man she’s ever dated. Her parents (played by Bradley Whitford and Catherine Keener) seem perhaps overly welcoming at first, but it soon becomes clear that Chris has walked into a trap. Get Out premiered as a surprise special screening at the 2017 Festival before going to receive numerous accolades, including the Oscar for Best Original Screenplay. Check here for viewing options.
Hereditary (2018 Sundance Film Festival)
Director: Ari Aster
After the passing of her enigmatic mother, miniature artist Annie (Toni Collette) is shocked to find her funeral so well attended. Annie attempts to navigate her grief and hold her family together, but a series of violent and inexplicable events soon befall the household and affect all of its members, including Annie’s children, Peter (Alex Wolff) and Charlie (Milly Shapiro), the latter of whom was favored by her late grandmother. Annie can only take so much before she must come to terms with the fact that her mother had been involved in rituals beyond the pale. Check here for viewing options.
We’re All Going to the World’s Fair (2021 Sundance Film Festival)
Director: Jane Schoenbrun
For their narrative feature debut, Jane Schoenbrun plays with form to deliver psychological horror in an age where lonely teenagers practically live on the internet. Casey (Anna Cobb) is one of those lonely teens, so she decides to engage with the online community by participating in the viral “World’s Fair Challenge” and recording her reactions in the following days. When Casey begins posting videos of herself exhibiting unusual behavior, a stranger reaches out — but their intentions are unclear. Schoenbrun has referred to We’re All Going to the World’s Fair as the first installment in their Screen Trilogy, with I Saw the TV Glow following at the Festival three years later. Check here for viewing options.
