Sundance Shocker: BLKNWS: Terms & Conditions Pulled From Fest by Financier Over “Secret” Cut
In a rather shocking bit of news for film geeks headed to Park City, Utah for the 2025 Sundance Film Festival, one of the event’s higher profile films has suddenly been yanked from the schedule. Director Kahlil Joseph’s BLKNWS: Terms & Conditions will no longer premiere during the festival’s Sundance Next section, after being pulled from the festival by its own studio and financier, Participant. Variety broke the news that BLKNWS had been recalled, publishing a legal statement from Participant that lays out accusations against filmmaker Joseph, saying that the director recut the film in “secret” after delivering a final cut to them, seemingly in breach of contract. They objected to this cut of the film being used to enter festivals without Participant’s knowledge or approval.
Suffice to say, this is never news one expects to see only days before BLKNWS: Terms & Conditions was supposed to make its high-profile debut at the festival on Friday, Jan. 24. It’s especially confusing given that Participant, which had produced films such as Spotlight and Green Book, essentially shut down the majority of its operations last year. The studio founded by billionaire Jeff Skol is now primarily a holdings company for the films in its collection of assets. The letter from Participant published by Variety, however, hints at friction between the company and Joseph.
BLKNWS: Terms & Conditions is a difficult to summarize multimedia project, an experimental film that was meant to be a cornerstone of this year’s Sundance Next program. Joseph, who contributed to Beyonce’s visual album Lemonade, reportedly created a film that blends narrative and documentary elements, described on the Sundance site as “weaving together the journeys of W. E. B. Du Bois, Joseph’s own family legacy, and a mysterious young journalist who boards an International cruise liner, the Nautica, to cover the Transatlantic Biennial while cleverly staying undercover.” The film would have appeared on Paste‘s own forthcoming list of our most anticipated Sundance features before the left-field announcement.
“Given that Mr. Joseph delivered the film to Participant in November 2024, and Participant submitted that version to Sundance in reliance that it was the final cut of the film, it is completely unacceptable that Mr. Joseph continued to purport to make changes to the film,” stated Participant’s legal representative in the letter published by Variety. The Sundance Film Festival, meanwhile, made the following statement: “We are deeply disappointed to have been informed on Tuesday evening, January 21, by Participant Media that they have pulled BLKNWS: Terms & Conditions from the 2025 Sundance Film Festival. We were looking forward to premiering the film for our audiences and will be in touch with all customers who purchased tickets.”
Suffice to say, there’s likely to be plenty more talk about the disappearance of BLKNWS: Terms & Conditions during the festival. It’s hard to say when anyone will actually see the film again, but we’ll let you know when the news breaks.