Since its inception in 1978 (it was known then as the U.S. Film Festival, and changed its name in 1985), the Sundance Film Festival has been the premier American festival for filmmakers to be discovered and have their careers changed forever.

There have been plenty of films to emerge from Sundance which have gone on to become hits at other festivals — in their theatrical release or on VOD, Netflix, and DVD. Others have premiered at Sundance and gone nowhere, never to be heard of again.

Notable filmmakers who have had Sundance breakthroughs include Steven Soderbergh (Sex, Lies and Videotape), Quentin Tarantino (Reservoir Dogs), Kevin Smith (Clerks), Darren Aronofsky (Pi), Paul Thomas Anderson (Hard Eight, a.k.a. Sydney), Kelly Reichardt (River of Grass), Rose Troche (Go Fish), and Ben Zeitlin (Beasts of the Southern Wild).

The very first Sundance I attended was in 2008, and I've gone back every year since. My veteran status doesn't diminish the thrill of discovering new films as a journalist, programmer, and festival director. The one clear moment of that first festival I remember is taking a chance on seeing a music documentary on a relatively unknown Canadian heavy band with a lead singer/guitarist known as "Lips" in Anvil! The Story of Anvil. The film screened in the now defunct Spectrum category, and seemed to strike a chord with the festival as being one of the underdog hits.

The 2008 festival will probably be best remembered for premiering the Oscar-winning doc Man on Wire or the grim drama Frozen River, which garnered actress Melissa Leo an Academy Award nomination. That festival even premiered another music documentary — Patti Smith: Dream of Life — and opened with a completed version of U2 3D and closed with CSNY/Déjà vu directed by Neil Young, but I will always remember the 2008 festival as belonging to Anvil.

The festival has done a fine job of premiering some of the biggest music-related films in recent years, including documentaries Searching For Sugar Man and Twenty Feet From Stardom. Both went on to win Academy Awards for Best Documentary. Two years ago, writer/director Damien Chazelle turned his 2013 short film Whiplash into a feature-length film, and it went on to win three Oscars including Best Supporting Actor, J.K. Simmons. (Chazelle's follow-up La La Land, a musical comedy with Ryan Gosling and Emma Stone, is opening in mid-July and seems poised for a Cannes berth this May.)

This year's lineup featured plenty of music-related films: Spike Lee's second Michael Jackson documentary, Michael Jackson's Journey from Motown to Off the Wall (now screening on Showtime) to actor Don Cheadle's directional debut, Miles Ahead, an atypical biopic on jazz legend Miles Davis. Miles Ahead opens in the Twin Cities in mid-April, at the Uptown Theatre. However, there were other music films that also had my attention.

A film I earmarked from the get-go was writer/director John Carney's Sing Street, his third music-related narrative after the whimsical Once and entertaining Begin Again. Sing Street is without a doubt a riotous crowd-pleaser and one of the funniest features at Sundance, but it's not without its faults. It takes place in the mid-1980s in Dublin. Conor (a terrific Ferdia Walsh-Peelo), a new student at a private school, Syng Street, does not fit in with anyone and his parents are on the brink of divorce. Leaving school one day, he sees pretty Raphina (Lucy Boynton) sitting across the street and tells her he is in a band to impress her and asks her to be in a music video. When she reluctantly agrees, there is only one problem: Conor is not actually in a band. When he meets fellow students Darren (Ben Carolan) and Eamon (scene-stealer Mark McKenna), a multi-talented musician who becomes the guitarist, the three begin to reach out to other friends to form a band.

When the band is formed, the next question is, what type of music will they play? To help Conor with this crisis is his older stoner/homebody brother Brendan (Jack Reynor), who gives him a crash course in music history and how to get the girl to fall for him. This is where Sing Street soars: through the catchy tunes the boys play. "Drive it Like You Stole It" and "The Riddle of the Model" are delightful treats, although the songs seem pretty unbelievably polished given the band's only starting.

Leads Walsh-Peelo, Boynton and Reynor are all nothing short of excellent, although all the other actors in the film seem to be background noise, making a good chunk of the narrative implausible. Sing Street seems destined to become another hit for Carney, and rightfully so. It is down right charming and loveable, despite some pitfalls in its character development, a flimsy narrative structure, and a questionable ending. (Sing Street will be released this year by the Weinstein Company.)

We take chances on newly-released films, bands we've never heard of, and books that have nice covers. The filmmakers are hoping moviegoers will take a similar chance on We Are X, a documentary about the Japanese band X Japan. X Japan, best described as a prog-rock glam-heavy band, have sold more than 30 million singles and albums, fill massive stadiums, and yet most top music critics would have a tough time naming one song by them.

Director Stephen Kijak (Scott Walker: 30 Century Man, Stones in Exile) follows X Japan as they embark on a reunion show at Madison Square Garden, preparing for one of their biggest concerts ever and the release of their first album in 20 years. Their success began in 1982, when the band members were only teenagers. They sparked a rock phenomenon and became fashion icons. Successful everywhere other than in the West, X Japan struggled to make the transition to becoming a world-renowned household name, even at a time where hair metal bands were all the rage.

In 1997, the band broke up and fans were devastated. Kijak's way of mixing footage from the reunion show with past historic performances works well enough, though at times, some of the material seems redundant or unimportant. The days leading up to the big show at MSG do have a nail-biting quality of heightened anticipation. Frontman Yoshiko, an impressive subject who gets most of the screen time, gives incredible insight into the band's highs and lows — including how two of the former members committed suicide, which is only mentioned briefly.

Kijak's We Are X will certainly be adored by fans, while non-fans still not knowing who X Japan are should finally give in to these Japanese rock gods.

With archival performances galore, director Thorsten Schutte's Eat That Question — Frank Zappa In His Own Words is basically as advertised. It could be compared to last year's Kurt Coban doc Montage of Heck or the Marlon Brando doc Listen to Me Marlon, where Zappa is front and center for the entire film, as he was front and center for most of his 30-year music career. Zappa was an intellect and innovator, and it shows in many of the clips and interviews interwoven throughout the film.

Zappa, a self-taught musician and thoughtful, often candid, speaker comes across as a genuine artist who cared more about his art then anything else. Even his role in the Mothers of Invention proved to be a pivotal spot in rock history, introducing a heavy jazz influence and altogether new form of avant-garde rock. Seeing the Mothers of Invention coming together feels a bit like witnessing your first-ever rock concert. Even the brief segment in which Zappa discusses his 1971 feature 200 Motels is a fascinating bit: the discovery of a new film format, video, will leave cinephiles in chuckles.

Working in a very straight forward matter, Schutte has plenty of gobsmacked interviews, performances, and behind-the-scenes footage with Zappa. Eat That Question is admirable and worth a look, even if at times it feels like chunks of Zappa's history were left on the cutting room floor. (There is another Zappa documentary in development, by Alex Winter with the full cooperation of the Zappa family.) Sony Picture Classics will release Eat That Question by end of 2016.)

The music film that left the biggest impression overal was Grand Jury Prize and Audience Award winner Sonita, based on Afghan rapper Sonita Alizadeh. From the opening of the documentary, Sonita is shown rapping to a group of young woman — which is both inspiring and playful, even though what Sonita is rapping about, is anything but.

Having left Afghanistan for Tehran, Sonita is also an undocumented Afghan refugee who fled in order not to be sold into marriage by her family for $9,000 and to pursue a career in music — specifically, rap music. (Her dream parents would be Rihanna and Michael Jackson.) When Sonita uploads "Brides for Sale" onto YouTube, the video goes viral and she becomes a sensation — which leads to a scholarship opportunity in the U.S., but her future is still uncertain.

When her mother comes for a visit to tell Sonita to come home, it's a red flag that the documentarians may be becoming too heavily involved with their subject. Director Rokhsareh Ghaem Maghami pays Sonita's mother $2,000 so they can continue filming for another six months. Maghami is even warned by her crew not to get involved with the family, as they suspect Sonita's mother is a liar, and might damage the film. Sonita's message is about freedom and pursuing a happier life, and when Maghami inserts herself, it becomes a moral dilemma and one wonders if the risk is worth the reward or the trouble.

Notwithstanding, Maghami's film is an intimate, stunning portrait that breaks barriers, just as this year's Sundance Film Festival lineup did in many ways.

Jim Brunzell III's Top Ten Films at Sundance 2016

1. Dark Night/USA (dir. Tim Sutton)

2. Author: The JT LeRoy Story/USA (dir. Jeff Feuerzeig)

3. Manchester by the Sea/USA (dir. Kenneth Longeran)

4. Lovesong/USA (dir. So Yong Kim)

5. Sonita/Germany, Iran & Switzerland (dir. Rokhsareh Ghaem Maghami)

6. Birth of a Nation/USA (dir. Nate Parker)

7. Kiki/USA & Sweden (dir. Sara Jordeno)

8. Certain Women/USA (dir. Kelly Reichardt)

9. Under the Shadow/U.K. & Jordan & Qatar (dir. Babak Anvari)

10. Sing Street/Ireland (dir. John Carney)

Jim Brunzell III is the director of the Sound Unseen Music/Film/Festival and the program director of the Austin Gay & Lesbian International Film Festival (aGLIFF). He currently resides in Austin, Texas. He can be reached at jim@soundunseen.com and you can follow him on Twitter @JimBrunzell_3.

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