Sundance Review: Powerful Documentaries

  • January 29, 2026
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The final Utah edition of the Sundance Film Festival has lived up to its reputation for booking timely and powerful documentaries.

Did you hear about the small town newspaper in Kansas that was raided by police a few years back? The new documentary Seized, directed by Sharon Liese, explores how this shocking incident occurred in the first place, but also why many residents felt differently about it than press freedom advocates do. Its obvious that corrupt police chiefs shouldn’t raid newspapers, and it’s a tragedy that the 98-year old co-owner of the Marion County Record died the next day. The key to getting community members with surprising views about the raid on the record was trust and the director and her team presented critics of the paper fairly, while underscoring the First Amendment implications, leaving viewers to draw our own conclusions.

The Lake, directed by Abby Ellis, follows two scientists and one key political appointee as they struggle to convince Utah Republican state legislators to save the Great Salt Lake before toxic dust in the exposed lake bed renders Utah uninhabitable. The filmmakers trust viewers can handle hearing from farmers who see environmentalism as a threat. You can decide for yourself if praying for snow can replace effective policies. The Lake offers a mostly uncritical look at PR-minded Governor Spencer Cox, but the science is alarming and invigorating at the same time. I felt it risks letting the powers that be off the hook with hopeful spin. The film’s focus on faith is strategic and it could legitimately impact policy making here, if foot-dragging Republicans would finally listen to passionate BYU ecology professor Ben Abbott. Believe it or not, at the Salt Lake premiere, Governor Cox pledged onstage that the Great Sale Lake will be quote “full” again in time for the 2034 Olympics. 

Who Killed Alex Odeh? Answering that question is the basis for a film that mixes present day investigation with archival footage from 40 years ago when activist, poet, and teacher Alex Odeh was assassinated in California. Filled with damning evidence and disturbing revelations, the film might represent the only justice available at this point. 

Finally, two films in the Documentary Short program merit mentions. Nonfiction Short Film Jury Award winner The Boys and the Bees shows two young boys learning about nature and courage from their parents in rural Georgia. Bravo to director Arielle Knight. Very moving.

For this year’s Short Film Grand Jury Prize winner, The Baddest Speechwriter of All, 93-year old Clarence B. Jones sits down for an interview with basketball star and emerging storyteller Steph Curry. We learn about how the lawyer and writer met Dr. Martin Luther King Junior and went on to help him craft the historic I Have A Dream speech. 

Most Sundance shorts are available for paid streaming through February 1st at festival.sundance.org. 

Photo: Seized director Sharon Liese and her crew answers questions after a screening in Park City. Photo by Gavin Dahl

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