In its second year as a virtual festival due to growing cases of the Omicron variant of Covid-19, the 2022 Sundance Film Festival offered even more music-related films this year. Jim Brunzell III covered a handful of these for KUTX.
This year, Jim jumped head-first into all the music-related films, which included fiction films and documentaries on controversial Irish singer Sinead O’ Connor, controversial rapper Kanye West, Latinx artists, the New York sound from the late 90s featuring The Strokes, LCD Soundsystem and the Yeah Yeah Yeahs, and a Middle Eastern all-female metal band, Slave to Sirens.
Listen to Jim’s Sundance wrap-up for KUTX:
jeen-yuhs: A Kanye Trilogy — Kanye West in three acts. The story beyond the iconic music, an intimate and empathetic chronicle featuring never-before-seen footage from 21 years in the life of a captivating figure.
Meet Me In The Bathroom — An immersive journey through the New York music scene of the early 2000s. Set against the backdrop of 9/11, the film tells the story of how a new generation kickstarted a musical rebirth for New York City that reverberated around the world. Inspired by the book by Lizzy Goodman.
Nothing Compares – The story of Sinéad O’Connor’s phenomenal rise to worldwide fame and subsequent exile from the pop mainstream. Focusing on Sinéad’s prophetic words and deeds from 1987 to 1993, the film reflects on the legacy of this fearless trailblazer through a contemporary feminist lens.
Mija — Doris Muñoz is a young, ambitious music manager whose undocumented family depends on her ability to launch pop stars. When she loses her biggest client, Doris hustles to discover new talent and finds Jacks, another daughter of immigrants for whom “making it” isn’t just a dream: it’s a necessity.
Sirens — On the outskirts of Beirut, Lilas and Shery, co-founders and guitarists of the Middle East’s first all-female metal band, wrestle with friendship, sexuality and destruction in their pursuit of becoming thrash metal rock stars.
Jim Brunzell III formerly worked with Austin’s aGLIFF (the All Genders, Lifestyles, and Identities Film Festival) and is currently the Interim Executive Director for the Oxford Film Festival in Oxford, MS and the Festival Director of Sound Unseen Music+Film festival (based in Minneapolis but expanded to Texas audiences in 2020.) Now based in Oxford, MS, Jim is a four-time My KUTX guest host and covers music-related films for KUTX.
