Sara Stewart

Sara Stewart

Movies

Women directors rule at Sundance

It’s another disappointing year for women at the Oscars: No female directors were nominated, nor were any of the Best Picture nominees helmed by women.

Director Amanda LipitzTaylor Jewell/Invision/AP

But things could look very different next year. Sundance was packed with amazing entries from women, many of them first-timers. You’ll be seeing their work later in the year as they get snapped up and released by studios: In a demonstration of how our media landscape is changing, streaming services Amazon and Netflix are scooping up titles with abandon, with Amazon’s Oscar-nominated “Manchester by the Sea” proving it has an eye for a winner.

Among the documentaries, first-time feature director Amanda Lipitz’s “Step” is earning raves for its feel-good portrait of the step team at Baltimore Leadership School for Young Women, some of whom performed at the Women’s March in Park City, Utah, on Saturday. Another debut director, Sabaah Folayan, chronicled the protests in Ferguson, Mo., with “Whose Streets?,” filmed in the days immediately after 2014’s fatal shooting of Michael Brown and through the release of the police officer who killed him.

Drama-wise, “Mudbound” is the big one to watch. Director Dee Rees directs a rural saga set in the 1940s Mississippi Delta, starring Carey Mulligan, Mary J. Blige and Garrett Hedlund. Margaret Betts’ “Novitiate” has already stirred up controversy with its portrait of young women in a 1960s convent: Look for Melissa Leo to snag another nomination for her role as the supremely nasty Reverend Mother. “Beach Rats,” from Eliza Hittman, could be this year’s “Moonlight,” with its sensitive portrayal of a gay Brooklyn teen (Harris Dickinson).

Garrett Hedlund and Jason Mitchell in a scene from the buzzy film “Mudbound”Steve Dietl

Although they’re almost never remembered come awards time, a few comedies could buck the trend. Zoe Lister-Jones’ “Band Aid” is a clever spin on marital discord, as she and Adam Pally play a couple who resolve their chronic fighting by turning their arguments into rock songs, accompanied by their weird neighbor (Fred Armisen) on drums. Gillian Robespierre’s “Landline,” a follow-up to her 2014 comedy “Obvious Child,” again stars Jenny Slate, this time as one of two sisters dealing with the discovery of their dad’s affair in early-’90s New York. Michelle Morgan emerges as a triple threat as writer, director and star of “LA Times,” an edgy, verbose comedy about the dating lives of savvy, shallow Californians. And “The Polka King,” co-directed by Maya Forbes and Wallace Wolodarsky, sees Jack Black — alongside Slate, Jason Schwartzman, Jacki Weaver and Vanessa Bayer — playing a flim-flim artist with a flair for oompah tunes.

Should the Academy Awards ever add a Virtual Reality category, at least two women directors may be in the running. Wesley Allsbrook debuted a 12-minute short for Oculus, “Dear Angelica,” featuring the voices of Geena Davis and Mae Whitman in a beautiful love letter from a daughter to her deceased actress mother. And in the most whimsical/unnerving contribution to the festival, Rogue Ruben re-created Jon Hamm’s hologram character from “Marjorie Prime” (directed by Michael Almereyda), who entertained guests at the film’s afterparty.

Never thought I’d be able to say I walked through Jon Hamm, but there you go. It’s a brave new Sundance.