Sundance film festival 2014: the key movies - in pictures

Nick Cave's carved face makes a return to the big screen in this unconventional cinematic-documentary about his 20,000th day on earth. Artists Iain Forsyth and Jane Pollard's feature documentary seems a strange trip – anything but a ‘man behind the mask’ look at this often-gothic musician and man. Instead, the film tells the fictionalised story of this one day, during the course of which Cave watches Scarface with his son and drives Ray Whinstone along Brighton’s seafront. Through an intimate lens, the film seeks to document Cave’s artistic process while, on a grander scale, exploring the creative spirit. • Alexis Petridis goes on set Photograph: PR

A Most Wanted Man: Anton Corbijn, the man who brought us Control, the film about Joy Division and their ill-fated, wriggly-dancing frontman Ian Curtis, has directed an adaptation of this John Le Carré novel. The film follows a German spy, Gunther Bachmann (Philip Seymour Hoffman), as he tries to get to the bottom of links between a renowned Muslim philanthropist and a terrorist group. If anyone can do it, Hoffman surely can. This is a star-peppered cast with the Hoff-man being joined by Rachel McAdams, Robin Wright, Willem Defoe, and Daniel Brühl. Photograph: PR

Boyhood: “The 12 Year Project”, Boyhood sees time-watching companions Ethan Hawke and Richard Linklater (of Before Sunrise, Before Sunset and Before Midnight fame) pairing up again, for what Hawke has said is a cinematic offering that is “Tolstoy-esque in scope”. Filmed over the course of 12 years (a few days each year), Boyhood watches as the fledgling son (played by Ellar Coltrane, pictured) of divorced parents (Hawke and Patricia Arquette), journeys from childhood to the age at which he could legally buy a Wetherspoons pint (although sadly not quite, for the film is set in Texas). Photograph: PR

Calvary: The writer-director of baffling/brilliant Irish action comedy The Guard, is back with Calvary. John Michael McDonagh is re-joined by the rosy-cheeked Brendan Gleeson in this film about Father James – the devout Jekyll to Sergeant Gerry Boyle’s (from The Guard) Hyde. Told by an unseen man in confession one day that he’s going to kill him, precisely because he’s done nothing wrong, Father James has a week to make peace, bless sundry souls and find out who might be plotting to pop him off. Let the black comedy capers commence … Photograph: PR

Camp X-Ray: Kristen Stewart plays a green Gitmo guard, fresh-ripped from her small-town roots, who strikes up an ethical quagmire of a friendship with an inmate, played by A Separation’s Peyman Moaadi. Shot just outside of LA, in a juvenile prison with a block of cells that was built to mimic Guantanamo Bay in the maximum security stakes, verisimilitude was key for scriptwriter Peter Sattler. This is a film in which place is apparently as much a character as any of the people. Photograph: PR

Finding Fela: Nigerian musician, composer and human rights activist Fela Kuti is given the Alex Gibney treatment in this documentary that looks at Kuti’s pioneering attempts to spread the Afrobeat sound throughout Africa and beyond. Having expertly chronicled the life and “Gonzo” style journalism of Hunter S Thompson, Enron’s smart guys in the room, Julian Assange’s WikiLeakers and Dilawar, the Afghan taxi driver who found himself on the wrong side of the US’s war on terror, what Gibney makes of Kuti will be well worth a look. Photograph: PR

Frank: An offbeat comedy from Lenny Abrahamson about Frank Sidebottom, possibly the strangest, definitely the most papier-mache, pop star ever (played by Fassbender - so yes, sadly, his face will be covered throughout). Co-starring Maggie Gyllenhaal, the film is largely about Jon (Domhnall Gleeson), who wants so much to be a musician that he bites off way more than he can chew and joins a troupe of eccentric musicians led by the hollow-headed genius. Photograph: PR

God's Pocket: In the cinematic directorial debut of Mad Men’s Roger "The Silver Fox" Sterling (John Slattery), Philip Seymour Hoffman plays a man scrambling to cover up the accidental death of his stepson in a construction accident. Based on Peter Dexter’s novel of the same name, the film also sees Slattery’s one-time onscreen mistress, Christina Hendricks, play alongside Richard Jenkins and Coen brothers’ favourite, John Turturro. Photograph: PR

Happy Christmas: Joe Swanberg is back, having not been away for very long at all, with a follow-up to the beer-soaked Drinking Buddies. As ever, the prolific director has got pints of talent on board, including Anna Kendrick, Melanie Lynskey, Mark Webber and Lena Dunham. But, this time, Swanberg has taken a turn for the photochemical, and has shot on Super 16mm. Set in Chicago, Happy Christmas is about a young couple who find themselves effectively with child, in the form of a younger sibling crashing in their basement. No doubt mellows will be harshed. Photograph: PR

Infinitely Polar Bear: In this semi-biographical drama-comedy, Maya Forbes tells the story of growing up in a 1970s mixed-race household, with a bipolar father (Mark Ruffalo), and ends that don’t always meet. Scroll down the credits and you’ll see JJ Abrams’ name nestled in there as executive producer – the pair met while their kids played in the same playground. Photograph: PR

Laggies: Another tale about the kind of permanent adolescence that Dunham has chronicled so famously of late, (genital) warts and all. In Laggies, 28-year-old Megan (Keira Knightley) clings to security in the form of a job flipping signs for her father’s accounting company. Friends might be getting married, in this latest from Lynn Shelton, but when Megan gets a proposal, she runs a panicked mile. Photograph: PR

Life Itself: 2013 saw the loss of Roger Ebert – a man who saw movies as empathy-generating machines. Based on his memoir, Steve (Hoop Dreams) James' film traces Ebert's story from young Hollywood buck to much-loved digital voice, even when he could no longer physically speak. Photograph: PR

Lilting: The sudden death of young Londoner, Kai, leaves his Chinese-Cambodian mother, Junn, and his boyfriend, Richard (Ben Whishaw), devastated. In this debut film from writer-director Hong Khaou – mentee of Michael Winterbottom – Richard then reaches out to Junn across the cultural divide Photograph: PR

Love Is Strange: A kind of later-life coming-of-age movie, this one, is about Ben (John Lithgow) and George (Alfred Molina) who, after 39 years together, decide to tie the knot. This causes the Catholic school at which George works to fire him, meaning the couple have to wave goodbye to their pricey New York pad and, for a while at least, to cohabitation. Relationships are strained in this latest from Keep the Lights On writer-director Ira Sachs Photograph: PR

Mitt: This might not be everyone’s idea of fun: an intimate few hours with Mitt Romney. To make this film, Greg Whiteley (perhaps best known for his work about cross-dressing punk rock stars, New York Doll) spent no less than six years shadowing the Mormon ex-presidential candidate and his family Photograph: PR

Song One: Johnny Flynn, off-screen frontman of the folk-rock band Johnny Flynn & The Sussex Wit, plays an on-screen musician, opposite the gamine, impossibly white-toothed Anne Hathaway, in Kate Barker-Froyland’s indie about grief, love and the connective power of music. Set against a Brooklyn backdrop, this romantic drama sees Hathaway seek out Flynn to try and coax her younger brother, through melodies, out of a coma. Photograph: PR

The Trip to Italy: Fictionalised versions of Coogan and Brydon reunite for another gastronomic jaunt, this time around Italy – two men, six meals, six lucky restaurants. Michael Winterbottom edited the first Trip into a movie for US audiences; this a second helping Photograph: PR

They Came Together: They Came Together sees Amy Poehler as Molly, a small sweet shop owner battling Paul Rudd as Joel, a corporate executive for Candy Systems and Research. Sound strangely reminiscent of You’ve Got Mail? No wonder, this is David Wain’s parodic take on the romcom. The poster bodes well. Photograph: PR

Young Ones: Jake (brother of Gwyneth) Paltrow’s offering is set in a future where water is hard to find. It’s dusty, it’s withered, and, as you can imagine, there are bandits a-plenty. Ernest Holm, played by Michael Shannon, lives on a farm with his children, Jerome (Kodi Smit-McPhee, whose role in The Road should stand him in good stead for another dystopia) and Mary (Elle Fanning). But, it’s not only bandits that he has to worry about – Mary’s upstart boyfriend (Nicholas Hoult) has some grand plans for the land. Photograph: PR