1989 Sundance Film Festival

The United States Film Festival opened with a restoration of F.W. Murnau's 1927 film SUNRISE and continued with over 60 feature films and 30 shorts. Notable works included MURDERS AMONG US: THE SIMON WIESENTHAL STORY, DEAD MAN OUT, TWO-LANE BLACKTOP, COMING OUT, COVER UP: BEHIND THE IRAN-CONTRA AFFAIR, MOTEL, APARTMENT ZERO, 84 CHARLIE MOPIC, HEATHERS, POWWOW HIGHWAY, SEX, LIES AND VIDEOTAPE, LETTERS FROM THE PARK, SOME GIRLS and TRUE LOVE. The Festival featured a 15-film tribute to John Cassavetes (SHADOWS, FACES, MINNIE AND MOSKOWITZ), as well as a centennial celebration of the work of Charlie Chaplin and two programs devoted to the much-loved cartoons of Jay Ward (ROCKY AND BULLWINKLE, DUDLEY DO-RIGHT). Writer Gabriel Garcia Marquez spear-headed the Festival's continuing exploration of Latin American Film, overseeing the creation of six feature-length works based on his stories. Short films were also spotlighted, both in the Discovery Program for emerging filmmakers and the Rouges Gallery of new American shorts. The Festival introduced two new awards this year: the Audience Award and the Filmmakers Trophy.

  • Awards
  • Credits
  • Panels
  • Projects

For All Mankind

Audience Award: Documentary

sex, lies, and videotape

Audience Award: Dramatic

John Huston

Filmmaker Trophy Documentary

Powwow Highway

Filmmaker Trophy Dramatic

For All Mankind

Grand Jury Prize: Documentary

True Love

Grand Jury Prize: Dramatic

The Roommate

Special Jury Recognition

Soviet Power

Special Jury Recognition
 

Karen Cooper

Documentary Competition Juror

Elliot Caplan

Documentary Competition Juror

Nick Hart-Williams

Documentary Competition Juror

Dennis O’Rourke

Documentary Competition Juror

Jean-Pierre Gorin

Documentary Competition Juror

Jodie Foster

Dramatic Competition Juror

Beth Henley

Dramatic Competition Juror

Monte Hellman

Dramatic Competition Juror

Debra Hill

Dramatic Competition Juror

David Burton Morris

Dramatic Competition Juror

Peggy Rajski

Dramatic Competition Juror

Larry Kardish

Competition Selection Advisory Committee Member

Mitchell Block

Competition Selection Advisory Committee Member

Robert Hawk

Competition Selection Advisory Committee Member

Marjorie Skouras

Competition Selection Advisory Committee Member

Lawrence Smith

Competition Selection Advisory Committee Member

John Pierson

Competition Selection Advisory Committee Member

Tony Safford

Program Director, Sundance Film Festival

... They Haven’t Seen This...

84 Charlie Mopic

A Bitter Message of Hopeless Grief

A Child is Waiting

A Day’s Pleasure

A Happy Sunday (Un Domingo Feliz)

A Salute to the Jay Ward Studio

A Slice of Life

A Very Old Man with Enormous Wings (Un Senior Muy Viejo con Unas Alas Enormes)

A Woman under the Influence

Apartment Zero

Behind the Screen

Cheap Shots

Chet’s Romance

Clownhouse

Comic Book Confidential

Coming Out

Coverup: Behind the Iran - Contra Affair

Crime in the Streets

Dead Man Out

Edge of the City

Eyeplay

Fable of the Beautiful Pigeon Fancier (Fabula de la Bella Palomera)

Faces

Flying Blind

For All Mankind

Funny

Gingerale Afternoon

Gloria

Heathers

Heavy Petting

Homesick

How to Kiss

Husbands

Isadora Duncan: Movement from the Soul

I’m the One You’re Looking for (Yo Soy El Que Tu Buscas)

John Huston

Journey to Spirit Island

La Ofrenda: The Days of the Dead

Letters from the Park

Let’s Get Lost

Lighting over Braddock: A Rust Bowl Fantasy

Limelight

Lobster Man from Mars

Lodz Ghetto

Love Streams

Mikey and Nicky

Minnie and Moskowitz

Miracle in Rome (Milagro en Roma)

Miracle Mile

Morgan’s Cake

Motel

Mr. Fixit

Muddy Hands

Murderers Among Us: The Simon Wiesenthal Story

Of Men and Angels

One A.M.

One Day the Refrigerator Broke

Open Window

Opening Night

Peacemaker

Portrait of Imogen

Powwow Highway

Prisoners of Inertia

Saint Catherine’s Wedding Ring

sex, lies, and videotape

Shadows

Short-Term Bonds

Some Girls

Soviet Power

Sunnyside

Sunrise, F.W. Murnau’s 1927 Silent Masterpiece

Swimming

Teach 109

That’s Adequate

The Big Dis

The Big Picture

The Haircut

The Killing of a Chinese Bookie

The Laserman

The Pawnshop

The Personal Life of Mr. Phelps

The Rink

The Roommate

The Summer of Miss Forbes (El Verano de la Senora Forbes)

The Tempest

Thelonious Monk: Straight, No Chaser

Those Guys

Too Late Blues

Tracks

True Love

Trust Me

Two - Lane Blacktop

Tzara and Joyce

Who Killed Vincent Chin?

Yosemite:The Fate of Heaven

Zadar! Cow from Hell

  
As you use our Online Archives, please understand that the information presented from Festivals, Labs, and other activities is taken directly from official publications from each year. While this information is limited and doesn't necessarily represent the full list of participants (e.g. actors and crew), it is the list given to us by the main film/play/project contact at the time, based on the space restrictions of our publications. Each entry in the Online Archives is meant as a historical record of a particular film, play, or project at the time of its involvement with Sundance Institute. For this reason, we can only amend an entry if a name is misspelled, or if the entry does not correctly reflect the original publication. If you have questions or comments, please email [email protected]