Observed: 6 Trends We Noticed At The 2016 Sundance Film Festival

The Sundance Film Festival sets the tone for what to expect over the next 12 months of cinema, not just in terms of the great films on the horizon, but also the trends and themes that keep popping up. What happens over the course of 11 cold January days in Park City, Utah often has a long-term impact. So for those who weren’t able to attend Sundance, here’s what you might see in your neck of the woods in 2016:

READ MORE: The 18 Best Films Of The 2016 Sundance Film Festival 

Real Diversity
Given the still-raging debate about this year’s all-white Oscar nominations, Sundance attendees were more sensitive than ever to how well the festival represents diverse cultural perspectives — especially since American independent cinema has a reputation for favoring quirky dramedies about well-to-do white folks. But while the programmers booked plenty of what’s often derogatorily referred to as “Sundance movies,” this year also saw the biggest sale in the festival's history go...