Music superstar Lionel Richie is joining the lineup of celebrities scheduled to come to Park City for the 2024 Sundance Film Festival.
The occasion for Richie’s appearance is a new documentary that’s been added to the festival’s slate of films: “The Greatest Night in Pop,” in which director Bao Nguyen (“Be Water,” SFF ‘20) looks at the 1985 recording session for “We Are the World” — which gathered an array of performers that included Richie and Michael Jackson (who co-wrote the song), as well as Bruce Springsteen, Cyndi Lauper, Diana Ross, Stevie Wonder and more.
The movie will have its premiere screening on Friday, Jan. 19, at 9:15 p.m. at the Eccles Theatre in Park City. That screening will be followed by an extended onstage conversation with Richie, Nguyen and producer Julia Nottingham, the festival announced Friday.
The movie will also screen twice in Salt Lake City: Saturday, Jan. 20, 5:30 p.m., at the Rose Wagner Performing Arts Center; and Sunday, Jan. 21, at 1 p.m., at the Broadway Centre Cinemas. A final screening is set for Saturday, Jan. 27, at 4:15 p.m., at the Egyptian Theatre in Park City.
“The Greatest Night in Pop” is scheduled to begin streaming on Netflix on Jan. 29, a day after the festival ends.
Individual tickets for all Sundance festival screenings go on sale Thursday, Jan. 11. The festival runs Jan. 18-28 in Park City and Salt Lake City.
Another musical moment tied to the festival also was announced this week: Marquis Park City, the new concert venue on Park City’s Old Main, has booked the ’80s New Wave band DEVO for a concert on Monday, Jan. 22, at 8 p.m.
(Barry Schultz | Sundance Institute) The New Wave band DEVO, seen here in Holland in 1978, is the subject of director Chris Smith's documentary, "DEVO," an official selection in the Premieres section of the 2024 Sundance Film Festival.
The band is the subject of Chris Smith’s documentary “DEVO,” which will have its premiere on Sunday, Jan. 21, at 10 p.m., at the Library Center Theatre in Park City.
Tickets for the DEVO concert (which is not part of the official Sundance program) are $100 each, and available at tixr.com.
Beyond Film
The nonprofit Sundance Institute, which stages the festival every year, also announced Friday the lineup for its Beyond Film program — panel discussions and conversations with the filmmakers whose works are being shown at the festival.
The showcase event, “Power of Story,” carries the theme “Four Decades of Taking Chances,” and marks the 40th year that the Sundance Institute has presented the festival. The panel is scheduled to include directors Miguel Arteta (“Beatriz at Dinner”), Richard Linklater (whose movie “Hitman” and episodic work “God Save Texas: Hometown Prison” are in this year’s lineup) and Dawn Porter (“Luther: Never Too Much”), and producer Christine Vachon. Festival director Eugene Hernandez will moderate. The discussion is a ticketed event.
The rest of the Beyond Film lineup is set for the Filmmakers Lodge, 550 Main St., Park City. Those conversations are open to any festival passholder.
The showcase for the lodge is Cinema Café, with one-on-one and group conversations on different topics.
Friday, Jan. 19, 11 a.m. • WNBA legend Sue Bird (subject of the film “Sue Bird: In the Clutch”) and actor Jay Ellis (“Freaky Tales”).
Saturday, Jan. 20, 11:30 a.m. • Actor André Holland (“Exhibiting Forgiveness”) and director Steven Soderbergh (“Presence”), moderated by Aisha Harris (host of NPR’s “Pop Culture Happy Hour”).
Sunday, Jan. 21, noon • Actors-turned-directors Jesse Eisenberg (“A Real Pain”) and Chiwetel Ejiofor (“Rob Peace”).
Tuesday, Jan. 23, 11 a.m. • Documentary filmmakers Carla Gutiérrez (“Frida”), Lucy Lawless (“Never Look Away”) and Lana Wilson (“Look Into My Eyes”).
Wednesday, Jan. 24, 11 a.m. • Episodic storytellers Mark Duplass and Mel Eslyn (“Penelope”), Steve James (“City So Real”) and Nzingha Stewart (“Me/We”).
Thursday, Jan. 25, 11 a.m. • Veteran Sundance directors Debra Granik (“Conbody vs. Everybody”) and Dee Rees (“Pariah”).
Other events at the lodge:
Sunday, Jan. 21, 2 p.m. • “New Frontier: Let’s Rebrand Artificial Intelligence!,” a conversation about AI and how technology reflects the humans who design it. The panel features Navid Khonsari (“Block Party,” “Hero,” “Revolution 1979″), computational anthropologist Ari Melenciano, Rashaad Newsome (”Being (the Digital Griot)”) and Sandra Rodriguez (“Chom5ky vs. Chomsky”), moderated by Amelia Winger-Bearskin (Banks Chair of AI and the Arts at the University of Florida).
Monday, Jan. 22, 11 a.m. • “The Big Conversation: Screen of Consciousness,” discussing the science and technology of machine learning, particularly AI. Filmmakers Andy and Sam Zuchero (“Love Me”) will take part in the discussion, moderated by Dr. Heather Berlin, associate clinical professor at the Icahn School of Medicine at Mount Sinai.
Wednesday, Jan. 24, 2 p.m. • “The Big Conversation: First Steps, First Films,” a session about how first-time filmmakers get their projects and careers off the ground. Carlos López Estrada, director of “Raya and the Last Dragon” and a producer on the festival title “Dìdi (弟弟),” is among the speakers.
Thursday, Jan. 25, 2 p.m. • “Sundance Trivia: The 40th Edition,” pitting comedians, filmmakers and festival veterans on their movie trivia skills.
Friday, Jan. 26, 2 p.m. • “Film Church,” the return of the festival’s wrap-up, hosted by festival director Eugene Hernandez and programming director Kim Yutani. Guests will include festival director emeritus John Cooper, actor-filmmaker Zoe Lister-Jones (Sundance’s inaugural critic-at-large), and filmmakers who won awards earlier that day.
