Sundance 2023 documentaries: the compelling and the sublime

Sundance 2023 was back with a vengeance, having been canceled the last two years due to the coronavirus pandemic. So it was with optimal excitement that I approached attending the festival this year, an enthusiasm that was shared with so many. I love Sundance: it’s the perfect way to kickstart a year and there’s nothing like the cold, high elevation of Park City that will wake you up and get you in focus for some of the best entertainment you can view.

One of the highlights of the Sundance Film Festival is the incredible documentaries on display. This year certainly didn’t disappoint, with an incredible lineup that ran the gamut of the most important topics of our time and issues that we are desperately grappling with as humans. I logged in many hours watching some of the most fascinating subjects. And although 20 Days in Mariupol and Pretty Baby: Brooke Shields stood out as my favorites, really each docu-film I saw had its merits and told fascinating stories of human dignity, strength, and heart. I would easily watch them all over again in a heartbeat!

Here’s my lowdown of what I saw at Sundance.

The compelling stories

Little Richard: I Am Everything

I began my documentary binging with Little Richard: I Am Everything, a docu-film directed by Lisa Cortés. I am Everything does justice to Little Richard’s story, presenting a conflicted man torn between a deeply religious upbringing—that the celebrated singer would go on to embrace profoundly—and his exuberant musical persona. The captivating duality made for an utterly engaging documentary, almost as if his life story was born to be presented this way. Cortes painted a picture of an artist who reveled in the two worlds he inhabited fully and in all honesty. The level of detail and matter-of-fact depiction of his rise to fame utterly fascinated me.

But perhaps the greatest feat of Little Richard: I Am Everything is Cortes’s compelling case that Little Richard really is due more credit than he’s received for his influence on rock ‘n roll. It seems like everyone was inspired by the energetic performer—if not outright copied him—and if you listen to Paul McCartney’s yells and Little Richard’s, you see what I mean. It’s no wonder that the former Beatle penned a tribute to Richard in 2020, saying, “I owe a lot of what I do to Little Richard.”

Little Richard took The Beatles on tour with him, and he further influenced Elvis, and Jimi Hendrix, among the countless artists who credit Richard with paving the way for high-spirited performance and talent. The big takeaway from watching I am Everything is that you’re clearly watching the most influential rock and roll artist of the 20th century and no one seems to know that.

My only minor complaint about I am Everything is that I wish there had been even more footage of him playing with the legends who became more famous than him.

Pianoforte

Pianoforte is a splendid backstage documentary that follows some of the 12 finalists (and others competing) in Warsaw, Poland, competing at the International Chopin Piano Competition, a prestigious event that takes place every five years. I was surprised to find out that the director Jakub Piątek had no formal music training. You would never know it watching how he masters the backstage atmosphere by following the piano competitors practicing, conversing with their teachers (via zoom or at the competition), showing them at home, and handling the pressures of some of the most amazing piano playing you’ll ever see. Each personality is distinctly enthralling and an absolute musical force.

From the moment that we see Marcin Wieczorek prevent his cat from stealing his pizza perched on top of the piano by striking the keys, I was hooked. The delightful film trails the musicians and their various training methods, and it’s fun to see how each varies but also works holistically for the individual pianists. Pianoforte builds a crescendo to the unveiling of the eventual winner. The documentary does an excellent job showing why this competition is the pride of Poland, where 120,000 tuned in online to hear the announced winner in the middle of the night.

Do yourself a favor and look for Pianoforte when it’s available. It’s a gem.

Going Varsity in Mariachi

Going Varsity in Mariachi was another charmer with heart. The film sucked me in right away with its engaging, sincere underdog story centering around the mariachi musicians from Roma High School in Roma, TX.

I’ll admit I knew absolutely nothing about high school mariachi bands, much less state competitions, all of which the knowledge of I found exhilarating to watch. Although I’m not new to mariachi music (and I’m particularly fond of it), I appreciated the crash course approach that co-directors Sam Osborn and Alejandra Vasquez took in immersing themselves in the musicianship required to turn out familiar tunes such as “Volver, Volver,” “Mexico Lindo y Querido,” and “El Rey.” Combined with the personal stories of the Mariachi Nuevo Santander band members who persevere in a low-income, underfunded high school environment, I found myself rooting for them all along the way.

Going Varsity in Mariachi also won the Jonathan Oppenheim Editing Award: U.S. Documentary at Sundance.

The Sublime

20 Days in Mariupol

There’s nothing sublime about the atrocities you see on the screen in 20 Days in Mariupol, but the documentary represents the essence of storytelling at its best. Watching the harrowing scenes from the siege of the Ukrainian port city, I was struck by the brutal honesty and understated narrative that lets the plight of the Mariupol citizens tell the story themselves.

The immersive technique of truthful storytelling, effectively narrated by filmmaker Mstyslav Chernov in an undertone that never distracts from the shocking images on display, 20 Days is a documentary that you simply cannot get out of your head after watching it. To be honest, it is difficult to put into context some of the gut-wrenching scenes you witness. I couldn’t stop talking about some of the incidents —like doctors breaking down after failing to save an infant who had been shelled, a maternity ward being struck, I could go on—but it’s a testament to Chernov and his AP colleague, Evgeniy Maloletka, who struck the right balance in showing us the realities of war from so many angles of the siege, and made it one of the most compelling projects I’ve ever watched.

It’s no wonder the docu-film won the Audience Award: World Cinema Documentary. The raw footage is a mirror of war, showing us desperate people looting while a Ukrainian store owner derides them, grief-stricken parents of killed babies, and the lack of medical supplies such as antibiotics and painkillers. Thanks to the AP journalists’ strongly effective and seamless approach, the result is an unforgettable viewing experience that lingers for a long time.

20 Days in Mariupol represents the very best of Sundance.

Pretty Baby: Brooke Shields

I wasn’t sure what to expect with another celebrity documentary (I mean, how many have we seen before?), but there’s a reason why Pretty Baby: Brooke Shields was among the most talked about films at Sundance.

Much of that had to do with the subject of the film itself, Brooke Shields, who came off as forthright and refreshingly honest, which allowed her to tell her story in an engaging, brilliant way. In light of the #metoo movement, Brooke Shields’ experience living through a time of sexualization of young girls unpoliced proves that her story is as relevant today as it’s ever been.

Brooke Shields grew up during a time when there were very few celebrities and those few were all household names, but Pretty Baby shows that a story that you thought you knew well has so many layers and nuances, bolstered by a compelling honesty from Shields on what it was like to live through those times. You have to admire the model/actress who, no matter how controversial or exploitative much of her experience was, always comes across as forthright and mentally healthy. Her intelligence, humor, and empathy shine throughout the documentary and I walked away admiring her so much more.

Pretty Baby: Brooke Shields is a window into celebrity and pop culture that is unique all on its own and is one of the most fascinating celebrity portraits to come out of a film festival in quite some time.

Honorable mention

Sadly, there was one more title that I missed due to time (if only there were 10 more hours in the day or I could clone myself like in the movie that premiered at Sundance, Infinity Pool!), but everyone talked about STILL: A Michael J. Fox Movie, which generated raves all around. Centering around another 1980’s heartthrob, Michael J. Fox, from his early success in television to his struggles with Parkinson’s, I’m excited to watch it when it debuts soon on Apple TV+.

Human stories are what it’s all about and each of these projects demonstrated humanity’s storytelling at its best.