Festival Predictions

2018 Sundance Film Festival Predictions: David & Nathan Zellner’s Damsel

Published on November 14, 2017

We incorrectly labeled this guesstimate as dropping in 2017 and to be frank, we’re a bit surprised that it didn’t shore up at the Venice Film Festival apres Robert Pattinson (a significant go to player for the more difficult Euro-centric and American indie material) went to Cannes with Safdie Bros. Good Time. This only confirms that the film might have gone through a more arduous post-production phase than their Sundance preem Goliath (2008), Kid-Thing (2012) and Kumiko, the Treasure Hunter combined, or perhaps producers felt a Sundance preem might help better position the film for the market. Aside from some creative credits being clarified, very little in terms of updates have been offered on David and Nathan Zellner’s Damsel. Shot in Utah/Oregon back in August of 2016, Pattinson, Mia Wasikowska, Joseph Billingiere and the bros. are credited as the film’s top players. Tonally, we expect this western to feature a certain level of absurdity, and the look and setting to be memorable one with some choice folks in the creative departments: in cinematographer Adam Stone (Loving) and production designer Scott Kuzio (David Lowery’s Old Man and the Gun).

Gist: Written by the Zellner bros., this is about a businessman (Pattinson) who travels West to join his fiancée (Wasikowska) in the mountains.

Production Co./Producers: Chris Ohlson, David Zellner and Nathan Zellner

Prediction: U.S. Dramatic Competition followed by Berlin Film Festival showing.

U.S. Distributor: Rights Available. TBD (domestic). TBD (international)

Eric Lavallée

Eric Lavallée is the founder, CEO, editor-in-chief, film journalist and critic at IONCINEMA.com (founded in 2000). Eric is a regular at Sundance, Cannes and TIFF. He has a BFA in Film Studies at the Mel Hoppenheim School of Cinema. In 2013 he served as a Narrative Competition Jury Member at the SXSW Film Festival. He was an associate producer on Mark Jackson's This Teacher (2018 LA Film Festival, 2018 BFI London). In 2022 he served as a New Flesh Comp for Best First Feature at the 2022 Fantasia Intl. Film Festival. Current top films for 2022 include Tár (Todd Field), All That Breathes (Shaunak Sen), Aftersun (Charlotte Wells).