Sundance Film Festival aims to continue pushing industry forward

As Hollywood continues to explore uncharted waters when it comes to representation in front of and behind the camera, the Sundance Film Festival remains at the forefront of the conversation.

Among the 110 films screening at this year's edition, which begins Thursday and runs through Feb. 3 in Park City, Utah, are the expected idiosyncratic star vehicles - Jake Gyllenhaal in Dan Gilroy's art world satire "Velvet Buzzsaw," Shia LaBeouf's semi-autobiographical "Honey Boy" from director Alma Har'el - and crowdpleasers - the Emma Thompson-Mindy Kaling comedy "Late Night," directed by Nisha Ganatra and written by Kaling.

But a deeper dive into who makes Sundance films is a reminder of how much stronger indie film is than the studio world when it comes to inclusion. Of the 61 directors credited on 56 films across the four main