The China Mail - Jennifer Lopez bring 1950s Hollywood 'diva' to Sundance indie fest

The musical film, about two mismatched cellmates who form an unlikely intimate bond during Argentina's 1970s military dictatorship, was the hottest ticket at this year's Sundance gathering, which typically focuses on smaller arthouse and documentary fare.

"It's about how love can cure any divide. These two people who couldn't be more different in this cell together -- doesn't matter their sexuality, their political beliefs. None of it," Lopez told AFP, on the red carpet.

"It's exactly the kind of story that we need to see right now," she said.

Based on the Broadway adaptation of Argentine author Manuel Puig's novel, "Kiss of the Spider Woman" is directed by Bill Condon.

Condon is best-known for blockbusters like "Dreamgirls," "Chicago" and the final "Twilight" films, but earned his big break at Sundance with 1998's Oscar-winning "Gods and Monsters."

He told AFP that Lopez's involvement undoubtedly helped the film procure financing, but that he also "knew she was the only person who could play this part."

"Because it's a diva. We don't have that many divas in our lives. I don't know whether it's gone out of fashion," he said.

Diego Luna plays Valentin, a tough and idealistic political prisoner who is experiencing horrific torture by the regime, but refuses to give up his revolutionary secrets.

He finds himself forced to bunk up with Molina (Tonatiuh), an LGBTQ convict who has secretly been sent to coax information from him.

Molina starts regaling Valentin with the plot of his favorite Hollywood musical -- shown in extensive flashbacks, starring Lopez as the glamorous diva Ingrid Luna, which begin to interweave with the prison narrative.

"When I read it, I thought to myself, 'This role was made for me, this is the role I was born to, this is the one.' And I had to wait, but it was worth it," said Lopez.

"It was challenging in the way that indie films are challenging... limited time, limited money."

Like most films at Sundance, the movie is up for sale, with producers hoping to spark a bidding war between Hollywood studios and streamers.

- Wildfires -

Elsewhere at Sundance, Josh O'Connor attended the premiere of "Rebuilding," a drama about wildfire victims that has become tragically timely in the wake of the Los Angeles blazes.

The British star of "The Crown" and "Challengers" plays a quiet, forlorn cowboy who loses his Colorado ranch and all his possessions in a wildfire.

His character finds himself living in a trailer at a federal emergency camp, where he must discover a new purpose and build connections with his unfamiliar community.

O'Connor told AFP that the recent Los Angeles, which killed more than two dozen people and destroyed thousands of homes, made the film more poignant -- but that there were positive parallels to draw.

"One of the things that I've heard a lot coming out of LA is this feeling of unity in the city," he said.

"I think that's what this movie is about -- community coming together to support each other, that we can't do it alone, and that isolation isn't good for us.

"That's what I think the relevance is."

Earlier at the Utah-based festival, Benedict Cumberbatch had unveiled "The Thing With Feathers," a surreal meditation on grief and bereavement.

The "Sherlock" and "Doctor Strange" actor stars as a widower struggling to raise his two young sons alone, in a movie based on Max Porter's experimental and poetic novel.

As hinted at by the title, Cumberbatch's character is visited an eight-foot-tall crow -- an unexpectedly literal manifestation of his unprocessed grief.

Sundance runs until next Sunday.

K.Leung--ThChM