Jonathan Dayton and Valerie Faris’ feature directorial debut, “Little Miss Sunshine,” premiered at the 2006 Sundance Film Festival and remains a favorite among audiences and the film community alike.
By Lucy Spicer
What does your favorite film mean to you? Is it a guaranteed pick-me-up? Did it alter your view of the world? Is it so quotable that it changed your vocabulary forever?
Your favorite film can say a lot about you, and learning that someone else has the same favorite as you is a powerful moment that can form an instant bond. We love seeing how independent film has the ability to connect us — that’s why we like to ask filmmakers to name their fave Sundance-supported titles for our “Give Me the Backstory” interview series.
While we wait to find some new favorites at the upcoming 2025 Sundance Film Festival, we decided to look back at responses from filmmakers at 2024 Fest and tally up the most-mentioned Sundance faves. Find seven of these titles below, along with insight from the filmmakers who love them.
Little Miss Sunshine
Co-directed by Jonathan Dayton and Valerie Faris in their feature debut, Little Miss Sunshine charmed audiences with its depiction of family dynamics delivered by a memorable ensemble cast featuring Toni Collette, Greg Kinnear, Steve Carell, Alan Arkin, Paul Dano, and Abigail Breslin. The quirky road film premiered at the 2006 Sundance Film Festival and would go on to garner a slew of awards, including a Best Original Screenplay Oscar for Michael Arndt and an Oscar for Best Performance by an Actor in a Supporting Role for Alan Arkin.
“Little Miss Sunshine made a big impact on me when it came out, and I still love it. I was really drawn to the fact that it was a comedy with great performances and big laughs that also had a ton of heart and style. That alchemy really resonated with me and inspired me to try to make work with similar ingredients.” — Josh Margolin, writer-director of Thelma
Check here for viewing options.
Get Out
In a departure from writer-director Jordan Peele’s comedy background, the filmmaker’s feature debut used psychological horror to address pervasive racism in the United States. Starring Daniel Kaluuya, Allison Williams, Bradley Whitford, and more, Get Out premiered as a surprise special screening at the 2017 Sundance Film Festival before going to receive numerous accolades, including the Oscar for Best Original Screenplay.
“Get Out. It’s a perfect movie. I return to it again and again as an example of brilliant storytelling.” — Kelly O’Sullivan, co-director of Ghostlight
Check here for viewing options.
Beasts of the Southern Wild
Director Benh Zeitlin’s debut feature was supported by Sundance Institute’s Feature Film Program and Producers Program before premiering at the 2012 Sundance Film Festival, where it won the U.S. Dramatic Grand Jury Prize as well as the U.S. Dramatic Excellence in Cinematography Award. Set in a bayou community known as “the Bathtub,” the film is steeped in magical realism and revolves around Hushpuppy, its indomitable 6-year-old protagonist played by Quvenzhané Wallis, who would become the youngest person to be nominated for the Academy Award for Best Actress.
“Beasts of the Southern Wild — and that little Hushpuppy, just knocked me out.” — Nzingha Stewart, director of Me/We
Check here for viewing options.
Fruitvale Station
Writer-director Ryan Coogler’s film was supported by Sundance Institute’s Feature Film Program and premiered at the 2013 Sundance Film Festival, where it won the U.S. Dramatic Grand Jury Prize and the U.S. Dramatic Audience Award. Starring Michael B. Jordan, Octavia Spencer, Melonie Diaz, and Chad Michael Murray, Coogler’s powerful feature debut depicts the final day in the life of Oscar Grant III.
“Too many [favorites] to count, but Fruitvale Station stands out for me. I’m an admirer of Ryan Coogler as a Black writer-director — not only for the film he made, but for the path that he charted in the decade after his Sundance premiere.” — J.M. Harper, director of As We Speak
Check here for viewing options.
Whiplash
Based on a short film he brought to the Festival the previous year, writer-director Damien Chazelle’s Whiplash premiered at the 2014 Sundance Film Festival, where it won the U.S. Dramatic Grand Jury Prize and the U.S. Dramatic Audience Award. Chazelle’s intense tale of a young jazz musician (Miles Teller) and the instructor who pushes him to the brink (J.K. Simmons) would go on to win Academy Awards for Best Sound Mixing, Best Film Editing, and Best Supporting Actor.
“I was (and still am) blown away by Whiplash.” — Greg Jardin, writer-director of It’s What’s Inside
Check here for viewing options.
The Blair Witch Project
Written and directed by Daniel Myrick and Eduardo Sánchez, The Blair Witch Project combined the found-footage genre with a trailblazing internet marketing strategy that had viewers questioning whether the events in the film were fact or fiction. Featuring largely improvised dialogue, the story of three film students who get lost in the woods while searching for a mythical figure premiered at the 1999 Sundance Film Festival.
“There are so many it’s hard to choose from, but I would say a classic that I love is The Blair Witch Project. That movie changed the world in many ways and skyrocketed indie horror.” — Jared Lank, writer-director of Bay of Herons
Check here for viewing options.
Grizzly Man
Winner of the Alfred P. Sloan Feature Film Prize at the 2006 Sundance Film Festival, Werner Herzog’s Grizzly Man follows Timothy Treadwell, a bear enthusiast who chose to live in Alaska’s Katmai National Park so he could be close to the brown bears there. Herzog’s documentary weaves together Treadwell’s personal footage with interviews with animal professionals to paint a portrait of a man whose singular love of bears would eventually result in his death.
“Werner Herzog’s Grizzly Man, one of the films that opened my eyes to the possibilities of documentary filmmaking.” — Arun Bhattarai, co-director of Agent of Happiness
Check here for viewing options.
