Sebastián Silva is planning to bring the nasty to next year’s Sundance Film Festival…
The 35-year-old Chilean director’s latest project Nasty Baby will have its world premiere at the annual Utah-based film festival.
Silva’s film will form part of the Sundance Film Festival’s NEXT lineup, which celebrates “pure, bold works distinguished by an innovative, forward-thinking approach to storytelling.”
Nasty Baby centers on a gay couple trying to have a baby with the help of their best friend, Polly. The trio navigates the idea of creating life while confronted by unexpected harassment from a neighborhood man called The Bishop. As their clashes grow increasingly aggressive, odds are someone will get hurt.
Silva directs and stars in the film, alongside Tunde Adebimpe, Kristin Wiig, Reg E. Cathey, Mark Margolis and Denis O’Hare.
Starting a week later than usual next year due to the Martin Luther King Jr. holiday weekend, the 2015 festival will run from January 22 to February 1.
Playing in Utah’s Park City, Salt Lake City, Ogden and Sundance, 118 features were selected from 12,166 submissions, including 4,105 feature-length films and 8,061 short films. Officials then culled them down to the 2015 line-up with almost 30 countries represented and 45 first-time filmmakers, including 19 in competition.
Here’s a look at the first of the movies selected to be featured at the 2015 Sundance Film Festival with Latino talent:
U.S. DRAMATIC COMPETITION
Me and Earl and the Dying Girl / U.S.A. (Director: Alfonso Gomez-Rejon, Screenwriter: Jesse Andrews) — Greg is coasting through senior year of high school as anonymously as possible, avoiding social interactions like the plague while secretly making spirited, bizarre films with Earl, his only friend. But both his anonymity and friendship threaten to unravel when his mother forces him to befriend a classmate with leukemia. Cast: Thomas Mann, RJ Cyler, Olivia Cooke, Nick Offerman, Connie Britton, Molly Shannon.
The Stanford Prison Experiment / U.S.A. (Director: Kyle Patrick Alvarez, Screenwriter: Tim Talbott) — This film is based on the actual events that took place in 1971 when Stanford professor Dr. Philip Zimbardo created what became one of the most shocking and famous social experiments of all time. Cast: Billy Crudup, Ezra Miller, Michael Angarano, Tye Sheridan, Johnny Simmons, Olivia Thirlby.
WORLD CINEMA DRAMATIC COMPETITION
The Second Mother / Brazil (Director and screenwriter: Anna Muylaert) — Having left her daughter, Jessica, to be raised by relatives in the north of Brazil, Val works as a loving nanny in São Paulo. When Jessica arrives for a visit 13 years later, she confronts her mother’s slave-like attitude and everyone in the house is affected by her unexpected behavior. Cast: Regina Casé, Michel Joelsas, Camila Márdila, Karine Teles, Lourenço Mutarelli. World Premiere
NEXT <=>
H. / U.S.A., Argentina (Directors and screenwriters: Rania Attieh, Daniel Garcia) — Two women, each named Helen, find their lives spinning out of control after a meteor allegedly explodes over their city of Troy, New York. Cast: Robin Bartlett, Rebecca Dayan, Will Janowitz, Julian Gamble, Roger Robinson. World Premiere
Nasty Baby / U.S.A. (Director and screenwriter: Sebastian Silva) — A gay couple try to have a baby with the help of their best friend, Polly. The trio navigates the idea of creating life while confronted by unexpected harassment from a neighborhood man called The Bishop. As their clashes grow increasingly aggressive, odds are someone is getting hurt. Cast: Sebastian Silva, Tunde Adebimpe, Kristin Wiig, Reg E. Cathey, Mark Margolis, Denis O’Hare. World Premiere
Tangerine / U.S.A. (Director: Sean Baker, Screenwriters: Sean Baker, Chris Bergoch) — A working girl tears through Tinseltown on Christmas Eve searching for the pimp who broke her heart. Cast: Kitana Kiki Rodriguez, Mya Taylor, Karren Karagulian, Mickey O’Hagan, Alla Tumanyan, James Ransone. World Premiere
