Indian American actress Mindy Kaling’s new film with Hollywood star Emma Thompson, “Late Night,” is set to have its world premiere at the 2019 Sundance Film Festival to be held Jan. 24-Feb. 3 in Park City, Utah.
Helmed by Indian American filmmaker Nisha Ganatra, in “Late Night,” a legendary late-night talk show host’s (Thompson) world is turned upside down when she hires her only female staff writer (Kaling). Originally intended to smooth over diversity concerns, her decision, according to the Sundance Festival website, has unexpectedly hilarious consequences as the two women separated by culture and generation are united by their love of a biting punchline.
For the 2019 festival, 112 feature-length films have been selected, representing 33 countries and 45 first-time filmmakers.
Among the other films that will see their world premieres at the festival include British Indian filmmaker Gurinder Chadha’s “Blinded by the Light,” and Indian filmmaker Ritesh Batra’s “Photograph.”
Starring Viveik Kalra, Hayley Atwell, Rob Brydon, and Kulvinder Ghir, among others, “Blinded by the Light” showcases how in 1987 during the austere days of Margaret Thatcher’s Britain, a teenager learns to live life, understand his family and find his own voice through the music of Bruce Springsteen.
In “Photograph,” starring Nawazuddin Siddiqui and Sanya Malhotra, a struggling street photographer, pressured to marry by his grandmother, convinces a shy stranger to pose as his fiancée. The pair develops a connection that transforms them in ways that they could not expect.
Pakistani American director Minhal Baig’s film starring Indo-Australian actress Geraldine Viswanathan, “Hala,” is also among the films having their world premieres at the festival. In the film, a Muslim teenager Hala copes with the unraveling of her family as she comes into her own.
Sundance Institute spotlights work at the dynamic crossroads of film, art and technology with the New Frontier selections. The 2019 Sundance Film Festival New Frontier slate includes “Taking The Horse To Eat Jalebis” by Indian director Anamika Haksar. In the film, “the waft of kebabs blends with the memories of an Indo-Islamic culture, fusing and playing with the dreams and subconscious landscapes of a modern migrant community laboring hard with dignity and humor,” according to the fest.