Photo-Illustration: Illustration: Vulture. Photos: Getty Images, Sundance
You wouldn’t steal a car, but nonetheless, people are joyriding the hottest films out of Sundance. So far, two films have been pulled from digital, at-home screenings for the festival after issues of piracy and copyright infringement— people were circulating clips and key plot points for both films; neither has a distributor at the moment. You win some (Twinless won the audience award, and Selena won the US Documentary Special Jury Award for Archival Storytelling), and you lose some (no one can see your film until it gets bought). Here’s more about the films that were removed from the lineup.
A sensual film starring Dylan O’Bryan, Twinless’s sex scenes and key plot points were leaked just as the film won the audience award at the festival. “The film Twinless was a victim of some copyright infringement on various social media platforms, therefore the festival in partnership with the filmmakers have made the decision to remove the film from the Sundance Film Festival online platform. We regret that online ticket holders will no longer be able to access the film,” Sundance shared in a statement with Variety.
In the documentary on Selena Quintanilla’s music career and family life, the clips of unreleased songs featured in the film were circulating online, causing Sundance to take action. The movie, which is still trying to find a distributor, was the first film ever to be removed from the festival for copyright infringement. Sundance explained the decision in a statement shared with the Los Angeles Times, writing: “The Sundance Film Festival and the creative team of Selena y Los Dinos are sorry to inform our viewers that the film has suffered a series of copyright infringements and must therefore be removed from the Sundance Film Festival online platform… We acknowledge and regret that this may cause disappointment, however part of our commitment to advocating for independent filmmakers is ensuring that they can protect their art that they have created and earn a living — now and in the future. We take copyright infringement extremely seriously and intend to fully cooperate with local, state, and federal law enforcement.”
