Sundance lineup for 40th edition features Kristen Stewart, Chiwetel Ejiofor and Steven Soderbergh

Kristen Stewart and Steven Yeun co-star in a love story about a satellite and a buoy, Chiwetel Ejiofor directs a film about the life of Rob Peace and Will Ferrell takes a road trip with his best friend who is transitioning in three of the films premiering at the Sundance Film Festival in January. “It’s funny to say discovery around Steven Soderbergh because he is such an independent film and now studio film stalwart…’Presence’ is a really wildly creative film.” Ryan Fleck and Anna Boden, who launched “Mississippi Grind” at Sundance and went on to direct “Captain Marvel,” are also back with “Freaky Tales,” set in 1987 Oakland and following four interconnected tales. Kristen Stewart, no stranger to Sundance, has two films: The buoy/satellite love story “Love Me” and “Love Lies Bleeding,” which Yutani called two of the most surprising films of the festival. The “Dungeons & Dragons” actor will be in “The American Society of Magical Negroes,” a debut feature, and the midnight film “I Saw the TV Glow,” with Fred Durst and Danielle Deadwyler, that Yutani said shows “a real range.” Other performances that could have people talking are Alicia Silverstone in a midnight film called “Krazy House,” Carol Kane in Nathan Silver’s “Between the Temples,” and 93-year-old June Squibb playing opposite the late Richard Roundtree in “Thelma,” a thriller in which she takes to the streets after getting duped by a phone scammer. In the episodic section, Debra Granik has “Conbody vs Everybody,” about a former convict who starts a gym, and Richard Linklater has a three-part documentary series “God Save Texas.” Amanda McBaine and Jesse Moss also return with their “Boys State” follow-up “Girls State,” an opening day film that Yutani said “sets the tone for how we want our festival to be seen.” “It’s such a rich, rich combination of films that I think exhibit some really wild and adventurous creativity,” Hernandez said.