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Steve Bannon, Michael Jackson Docs Added to the 2019 Sundance Film Festival
Alison Klayman (Photo Colin Jones) Although there’s always a chance of an unannounced sneak screening, Sundance’s program is officially locked today with two last additions. The catalog blurbs are below, but suffice to say that both are high-profile docs that lean hard into topics of the day. Dan Reed’s Leaving Neverland deals with alleged sexual abuse perpetrated by Michael Jackson through the stories of survivors while Alison Klayman’s The Brink looks at Steve Bannon’s post-Trump career as an international anti-immigrant rabble rouser. (Klayman was a Filmmaker 25 New Face back in 2011 while in post-production on her debut doc, Ai Weiwei: Never Sorry.)
From the press release:
DOCUMENTARY PREMIERES CATEGORY
The Brink / U.S.A. (Director: Alison Klayman, Producer: Marie Therese Guirgis) — Now unconstrained by an official White House post, Steve Bannon is free to peddle influence as a perceived kingmaker with a direct line to the President. After anointing himself leader of the “populist movement,” he travels around the U.S. and the world spreading his hard-line anti-immigration message. World PremiereSPECIAL EVENTS CATEGORY
Leaving Neverland / U.S.A, United Kingdom (Producer and Director: Dan Reed) — At the height of his stardom Michael Jackson began long-running relationships with two boys, aged 7 and 10, and their families. Now in their 30s, they tell the story of how they were sexually abused by Jackson, and how they came to terms with it years later. World Premiere
