Black Films at Sundance 2014

This year's films include Zoe Saldana and Lauryn Hill.

Dear White People - With the Golden Globes over and the Oscars a few weeks away, Hollywood is heading to Park City, Utah to discover the next big thing. The Sundance Film Festival, which has launched the careers of everyone from Middle of Nowhere's Ava DuVernay to Fruitvale Station's Ryan Coogler, starts on January 16. Here are all the Black films at this year's festival.Perhaps the most anticipated is Dear White People, Justin Simien's film about four Black students at an Ivy league university where riots break out over a popular "Blackface" party. The satirical film stars Tyler James Williams and Teyonah Parris.(Photo: Duly Noted, Homegrown Pictures)

1 / 13

Dear White People - With the Golden Globes over and the Oscars a few weeks away, Hollywood is heading to Park City, Utah to discover the next big thing. The Sundance Film Festival, which has launched the careers of everyone from Middle of Nowhere's Ava DuVernay to Fruitvale Station's Ryan Coogler, starts on January 16. Here are all the Black films at this year's festival.Perhaps the most anticipated is Dear White People, Justin Simien's film about four Black students at an Ivy league university where riots break out over a popular "Blackface" party. The satirical film stars Tyler James Williams and Teyonah Parris.(Photo: Duly Noted, Homegrown Pictures)

Fishing Without Nets - This drama about Somali pirates from the perspective of young, struggling fisherman could be a companion piece to Oscar contender Captain Phillips.(Photo: Think Media Studios)

2 / 13

Fishing Without Nets - This drama about Somali pirates from the perspective of young, struggling fisherman could be a companion piece to Oscar contender Captain Phillips.(Photo: Think Media Studios)

Hoop Dreams - Steve James' iconoclasic documentary, called the best film of the 1990s by Roger Ebert, comes back to Sundance 20 years after its debut. The film has been completely restored in honor of the anniversary.  (Photo: New Line Cinema)

3 / 13

Hoop Dreams - Steve James' iconoclasic documentary, called the best film of the 1990s by Roger Ebert, comes back to Sundance 20 years after its debut. The film has been completely restored in honor of the anniversary. (Photo: New Line Cinema)

No No: A Dockumentary - This feature-length documentary tells the true story of Dock Ellis, an MLB player who pitched a no-hitter while tripping on acid. The film, on the surface, chronicles the scandal that follows, but also paints a portrait of one of professional baseball's most "unabashedly Black" players. (Photo: Baseball Iconoclasts, LLC)

4 / 13

No No: A Dockumentary - This feature-length documentary tells the true story of Dock Ellis, an MLB player who pitched a no-hitter while tripping on acid. The film, on the surface, chronicles the scandal that follows, but also paints a portrait of one of professional baseball's most "unabashedly Black" players. (Photo: Baseball Iconoclasts, LLC)

All the Beautiful Things - The story of John and Barron, lifelong friends whose friendship is tested when Barron's girlfriend says Barron put a knife to her throat and raped her, sounds like the stuff of great fiction. But, remarkably, it's all true. This documentary follows what happens to their friendship after John convinces her to go to the police.(Photo: Riff Raff Films)

5 / 13

All the Beautiful Things - The story of John and Barron, lifelong friends whose friendship is tested when Barron's girlfriend says Barron put a knife to her throat and raped her, sounds like the stuff of great fiction. But, remarkably, it's all true. This documentary follows what happens to their friendship after John convinces her to go to the police.(Photo: Riff Raff Films)

ADVERTISEMENT
The Bravest, The Boldest - The high cost of war hangs in the air of Moon Molsen's tale of two army casualty-notification officers who travel to the Harlem projects to deliver some news to a Sayeeda Porter about her son serving in the war overseas. It's news that Sayeeda isn't ready to hear.(Photo: Pactum Films)

6 / 13

The Bravest, The Boldest - The high cost of war hangs in the air of Moon Molsen's tale of two army casualty-notification officers who travel to the Harlem projects to deliver some news to a Sayeeda Porter about her son serving in the war overseas. It's news that Sayeeda isn't ready to hear.(Photo: Pactum Films)

Concerning Violence - Lauryn Hill narrates this documentary about the African liberation struggles of the 1960s and 1970s. Concerning Violence, directed by Black Power Mixtape helmer Göran Hugo Olsson, combines newly discovered archival material depicting some of the most daring moments in the confrontation with colonial power.(Photo: Louverture Films)

7 / 13

Concerning Violence - Lauryn Hill narrates this documentary about the African liberation struggles of the 1960s and 1970s. Concerning Violence, directed by Black Power Mixtape helmer Göran Hugo Olsson, combines newly discovered archival material depicting some of the most daring moments in the confrontation with colonial power.(Photo: Louverture Films)

Finding Fela - Academy Award-winning director Alex Gibney helms this documentary about iconic Afrobeat musician and political activist Fela Kuti. Gibney weaves moments from the immensely popular Broadway musical FELA! with interviews to create a portrait of the man, his music, and his enduring cultural and political relevance. (Photo: Jigsaw Productions)

8 / 13

Finding Fela - Academy Award-winning director Alex Gibney helms this documentary about iconic Afrobeat musician and political activist Fela Kuti. Gibney weaves moments from the immensely popular Broadway musical FELA! with interviews to create a portrait of the man, his music, and his enduring cultural and political relevance. (Photo: Jigsaw Productions)

Freedom Summer - A story of democracy as relevant today as it was in 1964 Mississippi, Freedom Summer is about a group of activists who helpdc bring African-Americans — still marginalized despite advances in civil rights — into the political fold.   (Photo: Firelight films)

9 / 13

Freedom Summer - A story of democracy as relevant today as it was in 1964 Mississippi, Freedom Summer is about a group of activists who helpdc bring African-Americans — still marginalized despite advances in civil rights — into the political fold.  (Photo: Firelight films)

Infinity Polar Bear - Zoe Saldana stars in this film about a woman who must leave her two children to be cared for by their bipolar father while she pursues work in New York City. (Photo: Paper Street Films)

10 / 13

Infinity Polar Bear - Zoe Saldana stars in this film about a woman who must leave her two children to be cared for by their bipolar father while she pursues work in New York City. (Photo: Paper Street Films)

Photo By Photo: Paper Street Films

ADVERTISEMENT
White Shadow - Actor Ryan Gosling executive produces this gritty drama about a young albino growing up, and struggling to survive, in the African bush. Believed to possess magic powers in their bones, albinos are often murdered and mutilated for body parts. (Photo: Asmara Films, Chromosom Filmproduktion)

11 / 13

White Shadow - Actor Ryan Gosling executive produces this gritty drama about a young albino growing up, and struggling to survive, in the African bush. Believed to possess magic powers in their bones, albinos are often murdered and mutilated for body parts. (Photo: Asmara Films, Chromosom Filmproduktion)

Through a Lens Darkly: Black Photographers and the Emergence of a People - Thomas Allen Harris directs this expansive documentary about the way Black photographers and their subjects use the lens to evoke social change. Using the family album as a rubric, Harris confronts the way images of “Blackness” have affected his own family and sense of self-worth as an African-American.   (Photo: Digital Diaspora Family Reunion Productions)

12 / 13

Through a Lens Darkly: Black Photographers and the Emergence of a People - Thomas Allen Harris directs this expansive documentary about the way Black photographers and their subjects use the lens to evoke social change. Using the family album as a rubric, Harris confronts the way images of “Blackness” have affected his own family and sense of self-worth as an African-American.  (Photo: Digital Diaspora Family Reunion Productions)

Memphis - A haunting, impressionistic folktale of a talented singer drifitng through the streets of Memphis, Tennessee on a journey of self-discovery while avoiding selling out in the recording studio.(Photo: Visit Films)

13 / 13

Memphis - A haunting, impressionistic folktale of a talented singer drifitng through the streets of Memphis, Tennessee on a journey of self-discovery while avoiding selling out in the recording studio.(Photo: Visit Films)