Written by: Matthew McGuire

The Sundance Film Festival has announced select films that will be screened at the 2016 event in Salt Lake City, Park City and nearby cities in Utah.

These nine films showcase established directors with a passion for cinema. Rob Zombie, Kevin Smith and a long list of talented actors make up the first round of film announcements for the 2016 Sundance Film Festival.

Preview the artists behind the films with Sundance Fest on YouTube. Review all nine films on the Sundance Film Festival’s main website.

The festival takes place January 21-31 in Park City, Salt Lake City, Ogden and Sundance, Utah.

Yoga Hosers / U.S.A. (Director and screenwriter: Kevin Smith) — Colleen Collette and Colleen McKenzie are teenage besties from Winnipeg who love yoga and live on their smartphones. But when these sophomores get invited to a senior party by the school hottie, the Colleens accidentally uncover an ancient evil buried beneath their Canadian convenience store. Cast: Lily-Rose Depp, Harley Quinn Smith, Johnny Depp, Justin Long, Austin Butler, Tyler Posey. World Premiere

The Blackout Experiments / U.S.A. (Director: Rich Fox) — A group of friends discover the dark underworld of the ultra-scary, psychosexual horror experience called Blackout. But what starts as a thrill ride through the unknown becomes deeply personal, developing into an obsession that hijacks their lives and blurs the line between reality and paranoid fantasy. World Premiere

Under the Shadow / United Kingdom, Jordan (Director and screenwriter: Babak Anvari) — Tehran, 1988: As the Iran-Iraq War rumbles into its eighth year, a mother and daughter are slowly torn apart by the bombing campaigns on the city coupled with the country’s bloody revolution. As they struggle to stay together amidst these terrors, a mysterious evil stalks through their apartment. Cast: Narges Rashidi, Avin Manshadi, Bobby Naderi, Ray Haratian, Arash Marandi. World Premiere

Sundance Film Festival News