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Festival Director and Head of Public Programming Eugene Hernandez discusses this year's docs.
The 2025 Sundance Film Festival kicks off today (Jan. 23) and will bring directors, actors, producers, and cinephiles alike to Park City, Utah for premieres of shorts, features, and more with insight from creators and additional offerings. This year, programmers narrowed down the selections from 15,775 global submissions to 87 feature films and six episodic projects for the lineup. Non-fiction journeys and fictional escapades co-exist with music at their core.
“We do see more and more music stories, music documentaries, this exploration of musical artists. We see that, I think, increasing. And so it certainly doesn’t make our decisions any easier,” explains Eugene Hernandez the Festival Director and Head of Public Programming to VIBE, ahead of the annual event.
“I think when we sit down and think about what films we want to include in the program, it really is a conversation around which films really speak to the moment, which ones really elevate to that stature of you want to be able to bring it forward immediately. I think that’s the case for sure with each of these films that we’ve included.”
Hernandez notes all of the nonfiction works were chosen as opportunities for “greater insight” and “passion projects” from each filmmaker to “go deeper” than common knowledge. Titles that stand out include SLY LIVES! (aka The Burden of Black Genius) on Sly Stone and Selena y Los Dinos on Selena Quintanilla.
“In the Selena film, Selena y Los Dinos, their family has made available all these home movies from Selena’s early days performing. So you’re on the road with them in the bus as they’re traveling,” he explained.
“Sly Lives is really important because I think it signals this continuation of Questlove‘s exploration of the history and influence of music. And then you add on top of that, the subtitle of the movie is The Burden of Black Genius. And I think he explores that so well [and] goes deeper than just this one story to explore how Black artists and black folks who are successful in many fields face that burden.”
The fiction titles are just as unique in their approach to exploring various themes through a musical lens.
“I think the selection of films that represent the range of stories that are even in just this music category or this music thread represent or underscore the range of types of movies that we saw in the first place,” he pointed out. “We don’t just get one type of story,” shared Hernandez.
Opus, starring Ayo Edebiri and John Malkovich, stands out. “It reveals the depths of fandom, the depths of artistry and how these two extremes, super successful artists, super passionate fans, how they almost collide,” Hernandez shares.
Overall, the full lineup includes a slate of films that invite viewers into new worlds, with the festival itself providing the opportunity to go in-depth with panel discussions, and intimate conversations among attendees.
“The Sundance Film Festival remains steadfast in its commitment to elevating unique and urgent voices in independent storytelling. Audiences can expect a 2025 program that showcases varied and vibrant filmmaking globally,” expressed Robert Redford, Sundance Institute Founder and President in a statement.
The festival takes place from January 23–February 2, 2025, with a selection of titles available online for virtual ticket holders. Single film tickets for online screenings are available for purchase on the official website.
Below are more of the films where music is integral to the story. They’re all set to premiere at this year’s Sundance Film Festival.
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‘DJ Ahmet’
Image Credit: Courtesy of Sundance Institute
Category: World Dramatic Competition)
Description: Ahmet, a 15-year-old boy from a remote Yuruk village in North Macedonia, finds refuge in music while navigating his father’s expectations, a conservative community, and his first experience with love — a girl already promised to someone else.
Cast: Arif Jakup, Agush Agushev, Dora Akan Zlatanova, Aksel Mehmet, Selpin Kerim, Atila Klince
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‘It’s Never Over, Jeff Buckley’
Image Credit: Courtesy of Sundance Institute | Photo by Merri Cyr
Category: Premieres
Description: Rising musician Jeff Buckley had only released one album when he died suddenly in 1997. Now, never-before-seen footage, exclusive voice messages, and accounts from those closest to him offer a portrait of the captivating singer. (Documentary)
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‘Kiss of the Spider Woman’
Image Credit: Courtesy of Sundance Institute.
Category: Premieres
Description: Valentín, a political prisoner, shares a cell with Molina, a window dresser convicted of public indecency. The two form an unlikely bond as Molina recounts the plot of a Hollywood musical starring his favorite silver-screen diva, Ingrid Luna.
Cast: Diego Luna, Tonatiuh, Jennifer Lopez, Bruno Bichir, Josefina Scaglione, Aline Mayagoitia
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‘Lurker’
Image Credit: Courtesy of Sundance Institute.
Category: Premieres
Description: A retail employee infiltrates the inner circle of an artist on the verge of stardom. As he gets closer to the budding music star, access and proximity become a matter of life and death.
Cast: Théodore Pellerin, Archie Madekwe, Havana Rose Liu, Sunny Suljic, Zach Fox, Daniel Zolghadri
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‘Move Ya Body: The Birth of House’
Image Credit: Courtesy of Sundance Institute | Photo by Vince Lawrence.
Category: Premieres
Description: Out of the underground dance clubs on the South Side of Chicago, a group of friends turns a new sound into a global movement. (Documentary)
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‘One to One: John & Yoko’
Image Credit: Courtesy of Sundance Institute | Photo by Ben Ross Photography.
Category: Spotlight
Description: An exploration of the seminal and transformative 18 months that one of music’s most famous couples — John Lennon and Yoko Ono — spent living in Greenwich Village, New York City, in the early 1970s. (Documentary)
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‘Opus’
Image Credit: Courtesy of Sundance Institute | Photo by A24
Category: Midnight
Description: A young writer is invited to the remote compound of a legendary pop star who mysteriously disappeared 30 years ago. Surrounded by the star’s cult of sycophants and intoxicated journalists, she finds herself in the middle of his twisted plan.
Cast: Ayo Edebiri, John Malkovich, Juliette Lewis, Murray Bartlett, Amber Midthunder
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‘Rabbit Trap’
Image Credit: Courtesy of Sundance Institute | Photo by Andreas Johannessen
Category: World Premiere. Fiction.
Description: When a musician and her husband move to a remote house in Wales, the music they make disturbs local ancient folk magic, bringing a nameless child to their door who is intent on infiltrating their lives.
Cast: Dev Patel, Rosy McEwen, Jade Croot.
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‘Rains Over Babel’
Image Credit: Courtesy of Sundance Institute
Category: NEXT
Description: A group of misfits converges at Babel, a legendary dive bar that doubles as purgatory, where La Flaca — the city’s Grim Reaper — presides. Here, souls gamble years of their lives with her, daring to outwit Death herself.
Cast: Saray Rebolledo, Felipe Aguilar Rodríguez, John Alex Castillo, William Hurtado, Santiago Pineda, Celina Biurrun
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‘Selena y Los Dinos’
Image Credit: Courtesy of Sundance
Category: US Documentary Competition
Description: Selena Quintanilla — the “Queen of Tejano Music” — and her family band, Selena y Los Dinos, rose from performing at quinceañeras to selling out stadium tours. The celebration of her life and legacy is chronicled through never-before-seen footage from the family’s personal archive.
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‘Serious People’
Image Credit: Courtesy of Sundance Institute | photo by Pasqual Gutierrez and Ben Mullinkosson
Category: NEXT
Description: A successful music video director and expectant father pushes his work-life balance to the extreme as he hires a doppelgänger to work in his stead.
Cast: Pasqual Gutierrez, Christine Yuan, Miguel Huerta, Raul Sanchez
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‘SLY LIVES! (aka The Burden of Black Genius)’
Image Credit: Courtesy of Sundance Institute | Photo by Stephen Paley
Category: Premieres
Description: An examination of the life and legacy of Sly & The Family Stone — the groundbreaking band led by the charismatic and enigmatic Sly Stone — captures the band’s rise, reign, and subsequent fadeout while shedding light on the unseen burden that comes with success for Black artists in America.
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‘The Ballad of Wallis Island’
Image Credit: Courtesy of Sundance Institute | photo by Alistair Heap
Category: Premieres
Description: Eccentric lottery winner Charles dreams of getting his favorite musicians, Mortimer-McGwyer, back together. His fantasy turns into reality when the bandmates and former lovers accept his invitation to play a private show at his home on Wallis Island. Old tensions resurface as Charles tries desperately to salvage his dream gig.
Cast: Tom Basden, Tim Key, Sian Clifford, Akemnji Ndifornyen, Carey Mulligan.
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