Female Directors Rule Sundance 2021 – Is Equality Finally Here?

Normally at this point in the annual Sundance Film Festival I’d be moderating a panel of female film directors and talking about why there’s so much more work to do to achieve parity in independent filmmaking. This year we don’t have a panel — and I’m not sure we need one. For the first time since I can recall, a rich trove of films directed by women at the Sundance Film Festival is dominating the conversation at the festival — even virtually — and resonating with audiences, critics and buyers alike. This includes “CODA” by writer-director Sian Heder, the film that broke all Sundance sales records with a $25 million buy by Apple this weekend, about a deaf family and their hearing daughter who chases her dream as a singer. Also Read: 'CODA' Sells to Apple for Record-Breaking $25 Million After Sundance Bidding War Emilia Jones in “Coda” (Courtesy of Sundance Institute) It includes “Passing,” embraced widely by critics after its premiere on Saturday (TheWrap critic Carlos Aguilar called it an “impressively refined and superbly acted directorial debut”), by actress-turned-filmmaker Rebecca Hall. That film stars Tessa Thompson and Ruth Negga as well-to-do women who can “pass” on either side of...

Read original story Female Directors Rule Sundance 2021 – Is Equality Finally Here? At TheWrap