Festival Predictions

2022 Sundance Film Festival Predictions: Andrew Dosunmu’s Beauty

Published on November 22, 2021

Originally slated for a 2021 release, the Netflix folks appear to have switched their strategy on Andrew Dosunmu‘s fifth feature film. A long time member of the the Sundance Film Fest (2011’s Restless City, 2013’s Mother of George and Where Is Kyra? all premiered here) it would make all the sense in the echo-system if Beauty premieres in Park City. Completed in September of 2019, the New York shot item includes Giancarlo Esposito, Sharon Stone and Aleyse Shannon while it was supported by Lena Waithe and lensed by cinematographer Benoît Delhomme (At Eternity’s Gate).

Gist: This is the tale of Beauty, an up-and-coming young singer with a glamorous career ahead of her, and Jasmine, a butch queer woman who falls for her. Their love for each other soon hits a snag when one’s family and strict religious upbringing threaten to end their burgeoning romance.

Production Co./Producers: Michael Ellenberg, Hillman Grad Productions’ Rishi Rajani and Lena Waithe.

Prediction: PREMIERES.

U.S. Distributor: Netflix.

Eric Lavallée

Eric Lavallée is the founder, CEO, editor-in-chief, film journalist and critic at IONCINEMA.com (founded in 2000). Eric is a regular at Sundance, Cannes and TIFF. He has a BFA in Film Studies at the Mel Hoppenheim School of Cinema. In 2013 he served as a Narrative Competition Jury Member at the SXSW Film Festival. He was an associate producer on Mark Jackson's This Teacher (2018 LA Film Festival, 2018 BFI London). In 2022 he served as a New Flesh Comp for Best First Feature at the 2022 Fantasia Intl. Film Festival. Current top films for 2022 include Tár (Todd Field), All That Breathes (Shaunak Sen), Aftersun (Charlotte Wells).