ESSENTIAL INDUSTRY AND AWARD NEWS 

FEBRUARY 02, 2021

Into Sundance’s Uncanny Valley

Is anybody having fun at an all-virtual Sundance Film Festival? The answer, amazingly enough, is yes, according to Katey Rich, who braved a succession of virtual parties thrown during the fest. “Thanks to platforms like Gather and the all-too-familiar Zoom, filmmakers, publicists, and the festival itself are working to maintain Sundance’s crucial social element,” she writes. “From festival-sponsored V.R. party spaces to private FaceTimes before a big premiere, people are finding ways to talk to other people ‘at’ Sundance—getting just a tiny bit of that ‘we’re all in this together’ vibe.” 

Elsewhere in HWD, Richard Lawson reviews late-breaking Oscar contender Judas and the Black Messiah; Maureen Ryan gives the latest on the fallout from Evan Rachel Wood’s abuse allegations against Marilyn Manson; we bid farewell to Saved by the Bell star Dustin Diamond; and Anthony Breznican updates us on Marvel’s coming Wakanda series—which will have to proceed without Chadwick Boseman.

Into the Sundance-Verse

Many months after Zoom burnout set in, virtual parties are still drawing crowds—and for some filmmakers, providing a sense of celebration they couldn’t get anywhere else.

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Double Feature

Terrific performances from LaKeith Stanfield and Daniel Kaluuya left us wanting more from Judas and the Black Messiah.

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The Aftermath

Marilyn Manson responds on Instagram, calling the accusations “horrible distortions of reality,” as Rose McGowan speaks out in support of the accusers.

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In Memoriam

Dustin Diamond, best known for playing Screech on Saved by the Bell, died Monday of cancer.

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Wakanda Forever

A Disney+ show set in the fictional nation is in the works—though Wakanda’s leader is gone.

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