‘Freaky Tales,’ Kristen Stewart and Christopher Nolan help kick off Sundance Film Festival

For free real time breaking news alerts sent straight to your inbox sign up to our breaking news emails Sign up to our free breaking news emails Please enter a valid email address Please enter a valid email address SIGN UP I would like to be emailed about offers, events and updates from The Independent. The 40th edition of the Sundance Film Festival, the world’s premier showcase for independent film, kicks off Thursday with a starry gala honoring festival veterans like Kristen Stewart and Christopher Nolan and numerous world premieres. Over 17 films are playing on day one, including documentaries about Brian Eno, Lollapalooza and Frida Kahlo, Yance Ford’s inquiry into policing in America, “Power,” as well as the mock government experiment “Girls State.” In fiction premieres, some lucky ticketholders will be among the first to see Anna Boden and Ryan Fleck’s 80s-set “Freaky Tales” or “Thelma,” featuring June Squibb as a Los Angeles grandmother who gets scammed and goes on a mission to get her money back with the late Richard Roundtree. Slightly outside of town Thursday, some of the festival’s most well-heeled attendees will gather at the DeJoria Center in Kamas, Utah, for an opening night gala in which Nolan, Stewart, “Past Lives” director Celine Song and “The Eternal Memory” director Maite Alberdi will receive tribute awards. “Presenting ‘Memento’ at the Sundance Film Festival marked a pivotal moment in my career,” Nolan said in an earlier statement.