Sundance 2025

Sundance 2025: Timely, Incisive and With Unexpected Humor, ‘Coexistence, My Ass!’ Offers a Singular Perspective on Conflict in the Middle East

Coexistence, My Ass!—which received a World Cinema Documentary Special Jury Award for Freedom of Expression at Sundance this year—chronicles five years in the life and work of activist and standup comedian Noam Shuster-Eliassi.

Born to Romanian and Iranian Jewish parents, Shuster-Eliassi grew up in the Oasis of Peace, also known as Neve Shalom (in Hebrew) and Wahat al-Sallam (in Arabic), a social experiment in the form of a small village where Palestinians and Jews live intentionally as neighbors, and their children attend a bilingual school where they take classes on peacebuilding.

But Coexistence, My Ass! is far from a myopic biography of one activist comedian; instead, it becomes something much more expansive. The film encapsulates the deep complexities, horrors and challenges of the crisis in the Middle East and the conundrums of peacebuilding facing its many interlocuters without coming across as either naïve or completely hopeless.

Sundance 2025: ‘Cutting Through Rocks’ Is a Groundbreaking Film on Rural Iran and a Woman Who Dared to Lead

Cutting Through Rocks, winner of the Grand Jury Prize at the 2025 Sundance Film Festival, follows Sara Shahverdi, the first female council member of a remote village in northern Iran, as she battles for women’s rights and community progress. Despite resistance from men who dismiss her as an exception, Shahverdi strives to change the lives of local girls, advocate for property rights, and improve village infrastructure.

This intimate documentary captures her triumphs and setbacks, offering a powerful portrayal of breaking barriers in a deeply traditional society.

Sundance 2025: ‘Prime Minister’ Shows What it Looks Like When a Leader Prioritizes Compassion Over Politics

If you want a glimmer of hope that there are still sane, compassionate and intelligent politicians in the world, Prime Minister—winner of the Audience Award in the World Cinema Documentary Competition—will offer just that and more.

Former New Zealand Prime Minister Jacinda Ardern’s sure-footed and community-minded approach to leadership shines through in this inspiring documentary directed by Michelle Walshe and Lindsay Utz.

Sundance 2025: Are the Kids All Right? In Docs, ‘Speak.’ and ‘Sugar Babies,’ Gen Z Strive to Imagine Their Futures

Two Sundance documentaries, Speak. and Sugar Babies, explore how Gen Z navigates ambition, identity and economic survival in an uncertain world.

Speak. follows high school debate champions using their voices to advocate for change, while Sugar Babies profiles a young woman leveraging online relationships to fund her education.

Though their paths differ, both films highlight the resilience and resourcefulness of a generation determined to carve out their own futures.

(This is one in a series of film reviews from the 2025 Sundance Film Festival, focused on films by women, trans or nonbinary directors that tell compelling stories about the lives of women and girls.)

Documentary Films ‘Seeds’ and ‘How to Build a Library’ Debut at Sundance—Just in Time for Black History Month

This year’s observance of Black History Month falls at a convulsive time for Americans. As the Trump administration works to eliminate all diversity, equity and inclusion programs in government and throughout American society, from companies to nonprofits, it’s more important than ever to celebrate and commemorate the achievements and the contributions of Black Americans.

With that in mind, two films that premiered at Sundance are worthy of your attention.

Seeds, the winner of the U.S. Grand Jury Prize for documentary, explores the lives, traditions and history of Black generational farmers in the American South.

How To Build A Library, a powerful new documentary from Kenya, tells the story of two remarkable women who decided to transform what used to be a whites-only library until 1958 into a vibrant cultural center in Nairobi.