Sundance Next Fest returns to the Theatre at Ace Hotel August 7-9
Warpaint’s performance at Sundance Next Fest in 2014 was paired with a screening of “A Girl Walks Home Alone at Night.”
The Sundance Institute announced Tuesday that Sundance Next Fest will return Aug. 7-9 to the Theatre at the Ace Hotel in downtown Los Angeles. This will be the third year that Sundance has put on a summer event in L.A. and the second in a row at the recently renovated, 1,600-seat venue.
The event will be structured the same as last year’s, with film screenings paired with either a specially curated musical act or an onstage conversation between the filmmakers and a like-minded artist who inspired them.
Last year’s Next Fest included films selected from the U.S. Dramatic Competition and Next sections of the Sundance Film Festival. The event made for some memorable pairings. Musician Father John Misty played a solo acoustic set after a screening of the zombie comedy “Life After Beth.” R&B singer-songwriter Tinashe performed after Watts-set drama “Imperial Dreams” in an evening that also featured a short film made for rapper Kendrick Lamar’s tour. Trance-rock group Warpaint played after a screening of the black-and-white vampire Western “A Girl Walks Home Alone At Night.”
Also included in last year’s program was a screening of “Listen Up Philip” followed by a talk between writer-director Alex Ross Perry and star Jason Schwartzman with writer Bret Easton Ellis. “The Guest” was followed by director Adam Wingard and writer Simon Barrett in conversation with filmmaker Nicolas Winding Refn, and “Kumiko, The Treasure Hunter” was followed by filmmakers David Zellner and Nathan Zellner with Werner Herzog.
The event organizers last year showed an uncanny ability for catching artists just as they were moving on to bigger things. Kendrick Lamar’s new album “To Pimp A Butterfly” has topped the charts, while Tinashe performed on the recent MTV Movie Awards. Father John Misty’s recent album “I Love You, Honeybear” has been released to great acclaim. Alex Ross Perry was recently announced as writing a live-action adaptation of “Winnie The Pooh.” “A Girl Walks Home” filmmaker Ana Lily Amirpour recently began shooting her next film for acclaimed producer Megan Ellison. “Kumiko, The Treasure Hunter” was nominated for two Spirit Awards
The upcoming Next Fest program is expected to be announced in early summer. More information can be found at sundance.org/next.
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