Sundance Film Festival: London sets dates and announces opening film

The London edition of the Sundance Film Festival will take place July 6-9 at Picturehouse Central. 

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The opening film has been revealed to be Charlotte Regan’s Scrapper, which stars Triangle of Sadness star Harris Dickinson alongside newcomers Lola Campbell and Alin Uzun.  The film revolves around a 12-year-old girl who finds herself living alone in a London flat, until her estranged father shows up.  Scrapper had its world premiere at Sundance last Januarry to positive reviews and it won the world cinema grand jury prize: dramatic. The festival will act as the film’s UK premiere and Picturehouse Entertainment will release the film into cinemas August 25.  Regan, who is from London, described opening the festival as “insane and not something we imagined getting to do.” Clare Binns, Picturehouse managing director, said: “It is thrilling that Scrapper is opening the 2022 festival in [Regan’s] hometown – and this original and terrific film will set the tone for a wonderful weekend filled with films, an exciting industry programme and some special events.” Regan has long roots with Sundance; she was a fellow of the Sundance Ignite scheme, which seeks to identify and support new voices from the next generation of filmmakers. She was also named as one of Screen International’s Stars of Tomorrow in 2020. Her debut short film Standby played at Toronto International Film Festival, was nominated for a BAFTA and won the BFI Future Film award. The 2023 Sundance Film Festival: London will be the tenth edition of the festival. Last year’s highlights included Hatching, Good Luck to You, Leo Grande and Brian and Charles, which took home the audience award.