The 40-Year-Old Version

Director: Radha Blank
Screenwriters: Radha Blank

Description

Directing Award: U.S. Dramatic

Radha, a once-promising playwright, is barreling toward the stigma of being single and a struggling artist at the age of 40. Facing nonstop rejections from the theatre community while teaching a motley group of teens, she becomes creatively re-invigorated when she returns to rapping, her long-forgotten passion. When her play finally gets going, however, she puts recording a rap demo on the back burner and must navigate the awful tension of compromising her voice for career success.

In her knockout feature debut, Radha Blank writes, directs, and delivers a devastatingly endearing onscreen performance. The quintessential plight of an artist selling out or being true to oneself has never felt so fresh. Shot on black-and-white film, Blank features New York City and in turn claims it all for her own. Blank’s Radha is a magnetic woman to root for, crackly knees and all. Baring a vulnerability that is inspiring, deliciously funny, and dripping with honesty, this comedic gem represents what 40 really looks like—no less scared, but irresistible and authentic as f*@k.

Closed captioning is available for this film.

— C.D.

Screening Details

Sundance Film Festival Awards

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]