Every new year brings in one of our favorite film festivals, the Sundance Film Festival, it will take place from January 23-February 2, 2025, in person in Park City and Salt Lake City, Utah. Also returning this year is the festival’s online component, which lets you catch all of the competition films and more (if the film opts in), starting January 30-February 2, 2025. You can check out ticketing information here.

When scheduling your festival selections do not dismiss documentaries, there have been incredible selections over the years (Daughters, Fire of Love, Boys State, Three Identical Strangers). Marlee Matlin: Not Alone Anymore premieres on the festival’s opening day, following Marlee Matlin the first Deaf actor to win an Academy Award as she reflects on her life and explores on what it means to be a driving force. Ryan White (Ask Dr. Ruth, Assassins) returns to Park City with Come See Me in the Good Light following two poets, facing cancer, embark on a poignant and humorous journey through love and mortality. Charlie Shackleton’s Zodiac Killer Project is a self-aware documentary that probes into the inner workings of the true crime genre.

Starting from 15,775 submissions to 4,138 feature-length films, down to its 86 feature film program, we now bring you our top 15 most anticipated documentary feature films.

SALLY

PREMIERES

Sally Ride became the first American woman to blast off into space, but beneath her unflappable composure was a secret. Sally’s life partner, Tam O’Shaughnessy, reveals their hidden romance and the sacrifices that accompanied their 27 years together.

MOVE YA BODY: THE BIRTH OF HOUSE

PREMIERES

Out of the underground dance clubs on the South Side of Chicago, a group of friends turn a new sound into a global movement.

SLY STONE SLY LIVES! (AKA THE BURDEN OF BLACK GENIUS)

PREMIERES

This documentary captures the band’s rise, reign, and subsequent fadeout while shedding light on the unseen burden that comes with success for Black artists in America.

THIRD ACT

U.S. DOCUMENTARY COMPETITION

Robert’s diagnosis of Parkinson’s disease leads Tad to tell the story of his father, his life and career, and the profound influence it has had on Tad’s sense of self, artistry, and citizenship.

FOLKTALES

PREMIERES

Teenagers converge at a traditional folk high school in Arctic Norway. Dropped at the edge of the world, they must rely on only themselves, one another, and a loyal pack of sled dogs.

SEEDS

U.S. DOCUMENTARY COMPETITION

An exploration of Black generational farmers in the American South reveals the fragility of legacy and the significance of owning land.

THE PERFECT NEIGHBOR

U.S. DOCUMENTARY COMPETITION

A seemingly minor neighborhood dispute in Florida escalates into deadly violence. Police bodycam footage and investigative interviews expose the consequences of Florida’s “stand your ground” laws.

ANDRÉ IS AN IDIOT

U.S. DOCUMENTARY COMPETITION

André, a brilliant idiot, is dying because he didn’t get a colonoscopy. His diagnosis sends him on an unexpected journey learning how to die without losing his sense of humor.

ENDLESS COOKIE

WORLD DOCUMENTARY COMPETITION

Exploring the complex bond between two half brothers, this animated hangout film sweetly careens through issues of race and identity, making observations about city and reservation life that spring geysers of giggles everywhere it treads.

2000 METERS TO ANDRIIVKA

WORLD DOCUMENTARY COMPETITION

A journalist follows a Ukrainian platoon on their mission to traverse one mile of heavily fortified forest and liberate a strategic village from Russian occupation.

FREE LEONARD PELTIER

PREMIERES

One of the surviving leaders of the American Indian Movement, has been in prison for 50 years following a controversial conviction. A new generation of Native activists is committed to winning his freedom before he dies.

PREDATORS

U.S. DOCUMENTARY COMPETITION

Posing uncomfortable, and perhaps unanswerable questions about society’s conception of crime and punishment, Predators focuses its lens on the phenomenon of To Catch a Predator.

MIDDLETOWN

PREMIERES

A group of teenagers uncovered a vast conspiracy involving toxic waste that was poisoning their community. Thirty years later, they revisit their film and confront their legacy.

PEE-WEE AS HIMSELF

EPISODIC

A two-part documentary chronicling the life of artist and performer Paul Reubens and his alter ego Pee-wee Herman.

SELENA Y LOS DINOS

U.S. DOCUMENTARY COMPETITION

Selena Quintanilla — the “Queen of Tejano Music” — and her family band, Selena y Los Dinos’ legacy is chronicled through never-before-seen footage from the family’s personal archive.