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At Sundance’s opening press conference, Senior Programmer John Nein mentioned that this year’s lineup would include several films which would use genre elements in order to tackle profound topics. Nanny, with Anna Diop and Michelle Monaghan, belongs in this category.

A collaboration between director Jim Archer and multi-hyphenates David Earl and Chris Hayward, who co-wrote the movie and also stars in it, Brian and Charles recently enjoyed its world premiere at the Sundance Film Festival in the World Cinema Dramatic Competition section. A whimsical, amiable cinematic hangout that connects best with fans of Flight of the Conchords and What We Do in the Shadows, the movie unfolds in a mockumentary style chronicling the relationship peaks and valleys between a man and his robot creation, who achieves unlikely sentience but soon begins to chafe at the frustrations of life in their small Welsh town.

Panelists Amy Poehler and Eva Longoria Baston are part of the Sundance Film Festival’s Cinema Cafe series speaking about their documentaries: Lucy and Desi, and La Guerra Civil, respectively.   Via Zoom from Paris, Longoria Baston declares, “This is my first time here as a director with a film!” Poehler is also enjoying her Sundance debut as a director.

Finnish director Alli Haapasalo wanted to show a different picture of teenage girls’ sexuality. She did it with the feature film Girl Picture, which premiered at Sundance.

Nine-time Golden Globe nominee and three-time winner, the late legendary Italian composer Ennio Morricone is the subject of a documentary directed by Giuseppe Tornatore (Cinema Paradiso) simply entitled Ennio. The film tells of the life and art of one of the greatest film composers of all time, bringing his genius and endearing personality to the audience, spotlighting his humanity and his fascination with the mystery of music.

On August 15, 1926, thousands of fans mobbed the Polyclinic hospital in New York City where Rudolph Valentino had just died after a bout of acute appendicitis, perforated ulcers and peritonitis. In the week before his passing, letters, telegrams, calls and gifts flooded into the hospital as he battled for his life.

Am I OK?, which premiered Monday at the Sundance Film Festival, is a dramedy about a thirty-something-year-old woman coming out as gay to her best friend and realizing that not having everything figured out at this point in life is quite OK. Am I OK? is focused on Lucy’s coming out and her journey to self-discovery.

Writer-director James Ponsoldt is no stranger to the Sundance Film Festival. His debut feature, Off the Black, premiered at the festival in 2006.

Many people, Americans in particular, have struggled with the more unsavory aspects of history. It’s one thing to absorb events in distant lands from hundreds or even thousands of years ago, and it’s another entirely to sit with the uncomfortable or shocking truths of more recent happenings, especially if they occurred where you live.

Noah (Daisy Edgar-Jones) doesn’t have much luck on dating sites. She’s 22.