Sundance Film Festival announces 2019 episodic showcases

In only its second year of showcasing episodic content, Sundance proves its already ahead in the game.

The Sundance Film Festival is primarily known for its amazing slate of indie features, but just last year Sundance introduced its Indie Episodic showcase as a means to further its commitment to storytelling from different mediums.

In a press release on the official Sundance website, 12 television and webseries were announced as part of the Indie Episodic showcase, and three series were included as part of the Special Events section.

This year’s previews look promising with cult favorite Gregg Araki’s big return, a series of one of the most disturbing viral videos ever made, girls and fashion tech startups, Las Vegas girl’s trips, and the history of one the greatest rap groups of all time — only to scratch the surface.

Most of the shows are still seeking distribution, so any of these could be your next binge obsession. Some of the series from last year’s showcases found homes at Starz, Sundance Now, FX, and more. It will be exciting to see where this year’s lineup lands.

Over the years, Sundance has made itself know for its championing of the unique and exciting. Based on what we’re seeing, there’s a whole lot to look forward to at this year’s festival. Here is a complete list of what’s showing this year:

Sundance Indie Episodic

Bootstrapped / U.S.A. (Creator: Danielle Uhlarik, Director: Stephanie Laing) — Best friends Madeline and Aimee are underdog entrepreneurs who launch a fashion and tech startup out of a garage in their hometown of Kansas City.

The duo’s overly positive attitude convinces two other coders to join them on their broke-ass entrepreneurial journey to make BitchThatWouldLookBetterOnMe.Com a household name.

Cast: Danielle Uhalrik, Maribeth Monroe, Sam Richardson, Kezii Curtis, Nancy Lenehan, Erika Alexander. World Premiere

Delhi Crime Story / India (Director and screenwriter: Richie Mehta) — Follows the Delhi Police during their investigation of a horrific gang rape of a young woman on a bus in 2012. Based on actual events and case files.

Cast: Shefali Shah, Rasika Dugal, Rajesh Tailang, Adil Hussain, Gopal Datt, Vinod Sherawat. World Premiere

Delivery Girl / U.S.A (Director and screenwriter: Kate Krieger) — Tricia is a woman struggling with her identity, living in a fiercely Catholic household leading a double life, selling drugs to make ends meet and carrying on an affair. She fights for the courage to embrace her future as the first of many delivery girls.

Cast: Kate Krieger, Adam LeFevre, Liz Larsen, Joe Holt. World Premiere

Don’t Hug Me I’m Scared / United Kingdom (Creators and screenwriters: Becky Sloan, Joseph Pelling, Baker Terry) — In the small town community of Clayhill, roommates Red Guy, Yellow Guy and Duck live simple, uneventful lives – until Mayor Pigface disappears.

Cast: Baker Terry, Joseph Pelling, Becky Sloan. World Premiere

The Dress Up Gang / United States (Creators: Robb Boardman, Cory Loykasek, Donny Divanian, Executive Producers: Dave Kneebone, Tim Heidecker, Eric Wareheim) — Donny, a responsible adult with the innocence and outlook of a child, relies on guidance and life advice from his friend Cory, the dad-like thirtysomething who has been crashing on his couch for quite some time.

Cast: Donny Divanian, Cory Loykasek, Frankie Quinones, Andie MacDowell, Christian Duguay, Brent Weinbach. World Premiere

Girls Weekend / U.S.A. (Director: Kyra Sedgwick, Creator: Ali Liebegott) — When a queer daughter returns home to Las Vegas for a “girls weekend” with her estranged homophobic sister and people-pleasing mother, her gun-toting dad lets it slip that her mother’s cancer is back with a vengeance, forcing her to decide whether or not she can rejoin her family.

Cast: Ali Liebegott, Linda Lavin, Amy Landecker, Ken Jenkens. World Premiere

It’s Not About Jimmy Keene / U.S.A. (Creator: Caleb Jaffe, Executive Producers: Jim Frohna, Diana Kunce) — The police shooting of an unarmed black teen reveals deep divisions within a mixed-race family.

Ivan, the youngest sibling, stalked by visions of Jimmy Keene’s floating corpse, is torn between opposing worldviews of his two older sisters.

Cast: Caleb Jaffe, Roger Guenveur Smith, Gabrielle Maiden, Okwui Okpokwasili, Ayana Peters, David Warshofsky. World Premiere

Maggie / U.S.A. (Director and screenwriter: Sasha Gordon) — A darkly comedic series about a struggling new mom who ditches her dreary postpartum group for the stand-up comedy class next door. In the pilot episode, Maggie struggles with inappropriate fantasies about her live-in nanny.

Cast: Christine Woods, David Walton, Maddison Ridley, Veronica Mosey, Dina Hashem, Jon Bander. World Premiere

Quarter Life Poetry / U.S.A. (Creator: Samantha Jayne, Arturo Perez Jr., Screenwriter: Samantha Jayne) — Poems for the young, broke and hangry.

Cast: Samantha Jayne, Tori Ward, Meredith Thomas, Hailey Harris, Samantha Dockser, Tyler Haines. World Premiere

State of the Union / United Kingdom (Creator: Nick Hornby, Director: Stephen Frears) — Every week before their weekly marital therapy session, estranged couple Tom and Louise meet at a pub to try and get their story straight for the therapist. With each successive episode, we piece together how their lives were, what drew them together and what has started to pull them apart.

Cast: Rosamund Pike, Chris O’Dowd. World Premiere

Wu-Tang Clan: Of Mics and Men / U.S.A. (Director: Sacha Jenkins, Executive Producers: Peter J Scalettar, Peter Bittenbender, Chris Gary) — The cultural history of Wu-Tang Clan; artists who escape the poverty, violence, and oppression of their neighborhoods through music.

They encounter wild success and heartbreak along the way to becoming the most recognized musical movement in the world — all while walking the tightrope that links business with brotherhood.

Cast: All members of the Wu-Tang Clan. World Premiere

Work In Progress / U.S.A. (Creators and screenwriters: Abby McEnany, Tim Mason) — After her therapist dies mid-session and she begins to date a trans man, Abby is forced to re-evaluate her life choices, her dating options and whether or not to confront the woman responsible for ‘ruining her life’: SNL’s Julia Sweeney.

Cast: Abby McEnany, Theo Germaine, Karin Anglin, Celeste Pechous, Julia Sweeney, Alison Gates. World Premiere

SPECIAL EVENTS

Documentary Now! Season 52 Preview

The documentary series returns. Celebrate the art of nonfiction storytelling as the creators of Documentary Now! present two new films: “Waiting for the Artist”, starring Cate Blanchett and Fred Armisen, and “Original Cast Album: Co-op”, starring John Mulaney, Renee Elise Goldsberry, Alex Brightman, Paula Pell, Richard Kind and Taran Killam.

Post screenings, they will share their insights into these two episodes from the upcoming season and about the game of paying loving homage to documentary filmmaking.

Lorena / U.S.A. (Executive Producers: Joshua Rofé, Steven J Berger, Jordan Peele, Win Rosenfeld, Thomas Lesinski, Jenna Santoianni) — 25 years after the notorious case of John and Lorena Bobbitt, this groundbreaking series re-investigates the story that made international headlines and helped birth a 24-hour news cycle, exploring vital moral issues and the missed opportunity for a national discussion about domestic violence and sexual assault within this American scandal. World Premiere

Now Apocalypse / U.S.A. (Director: Gregg Araki, Executive Producers: Gregg Araki, Gregory Jacobs, Steven Soderbergh) — Ulysses and his friends are trying to navigate Los Angeles, as they pursue love, sex and fame.

Between dating app adventures, Ulysses grows increasingly troubled as foreboding dreams make him paranoid — or maybe he’s just smoking too much weed. Cast: Avan Jogia, Kelli Berglund, Beau Mirchoff, Roxane Mesquida. World Premiere

What descriptions catch your eye the most? What shows are you looking forward to? Comment below!