2019 Sundance Film Festival Predictions: #32. Steven Soderbergh – High Flying Bird

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Taking a page not from Sean Baker, but from his own proclivity to shoot on the format which best suits the narrative’s needs, Steven Soderbergh pulled out an iPhone 7 (much like Unsane) and had a production budget of under 2M for High Flying Bird — a sports drama (recently acquired by Netflix). We’d love to see as a secret screening experience in Park City. With a cast comprised of Andre Holland, Zazie Beetz, and Melvin Gregg, this was in the can pretty much once production was completed back in April.

Rooftop Films 2019

Gist: Written by Tarell Alvin McCraney, the story is set during a pro basketball lockout and centers on a sports agent (Holland) who presents a rookie basketball client (Melvin Gregg) with an intriguing and controversial proposition. Beetz plays the associate of Holland’s character.

Production Co./Producers: Ken Meyer (Unsane), Joseph Malloch.

Prediction: Premieres section or a secret screening and official comp in Berlin type of set up.

U.S. Distributor: Netflix

Eric Lavallée
Eric Lavalléehttps://www.ericlavallee.com
Eric Lavallée is the founder, CEO, editor-in-chief, film journalist, and critic at IONCINEMA.com, established in 2000. A regular at Sundance, Cannes, and Venice, Eric holds a BFA in film studies from the Mel Hoppenheim School of Cinema. In 2013, he served on the narrative competition jury 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 was a New Flesh Juror for Best First Feature at the Fantasia International Film Festival. His top films for 2023 include The Zone of Interest (Glazer), Inside the Yellow Cocoon Shell (Pham Thien An), Totem (Lila Avilés), La Chimera (Alice Rohrwacher), All Dirt Roads Taste of Salt (Raven Jackson). He is a Golden Globes Voter.

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