Wednesday, November 30, 2005

Sundance Announces Spectrum, Frontier and Park City at Midnight Films Today, the non-competition categories were announced and you can find the complete PDF with full descriptions at this link. Pretty much all that remains is the Short Film list which will be announced on December 5. The complete screening schedule will appear on December 12 -- happy birthday to me -- which will detail the remaining of my festival favorites: the Panel Discussions, Digital Center events and Filmmaker Lodge presentations!) A reminder that the list and summary of my Sundance Podcasts and vCasts can help you get ready for the fest! The vCasts include Q&As with Naomi Watts (ELLIE PARKER, currently in release), Jared Hess (NAPOLEON DYNAMITE), Alice Wu (SAVING FACE), Craig Brewer (HUSTLE & FLOW), Blackhorse Lowe (5TH WORLD) and Jody Eldred (Sony HVR-Z1U). The podcasts include the always popular SUNDANCE FROM THE TEEN POV, Sundance Juror, UCLA professor and Film Critic EMANUEL LEVY and SUNDANCE FOR BEGINNERS. Spectrum Films to Screen at Sundance 2006: The Spectrum program presents 24 out-of-competition dramatic and documentary works by some of the most new independent filmmakers from the U.S. and abroad. Spectrum films are eligible for the Audience Award at the 2006 Sundance Film Festival. Some Spectrum films presented at the Sundance Film Festival in the past include: GODS AND MONSTERS, MEAN CREEK, OPEN WATER, MARCH OF THE PENGUINS, METALLICA: SOME KIND OF MONSTER and RIZE. A MATTER OF DEGREES / U.S.A. (Director: Davis Guggenheim) ADAM'S APPLES / Denmark (Director and Screenwriter: Anders Thomas Jensen) ALL ABOARD! ROSIE'S FAMILY CRUISE / U.S.A. (Director: Shari Cookson) BATTLE IN HEAVEN / Mexico/France/Germany/Belgium (Director and Screenwriter: Carlos Reygadas) BEYOND BEATS AND RHYMES: A HIP-HOP HEAD WEIGHS IN ON MANHOOD IN HIPHOP CULTURE / U.S.A. (Director: Byron Hurt ) CLEAR CUT: THE STORY OF PHILOMATH, OREGON / U.S.A. (Director: Peter Richardson) DREAMLAND / U.S.A. (Director: Jason Matzner; Screenwriter: Tom Willett ) EVERYONE STARES: THE POLICE INSIDE OUT / U.S.A. (Director and Screenwriter: Stewart Copeland) FACTOTUM / U.S.A. (Director: Bent Hamer; Screenwriter: Jim Stark) FORGIVING THE FRANKLINS / U.S.A. (Director and Screenwriter: Jay Floyd) JEWBOY / Australia (Director and Screenwriter: Tony Krawitz) JOURNEY FROM THE FALL / Thailand/U.S.A. (Director and Screenwriter: Ham Tran) LA TRAGEDIA DE MACARIO / U.S.A. (Director and Screenwriter: Pablo Veliz) LEONARD COHEN I'M YOUR MAN / U.S.A. (Director: Lian Lunson) MAN PUSH CART / Iran/U.S.A. (Director and Screenwriter: Ramin Bahrani) OFF THE BLACK / U.S.A. (Director and Screenwriter: James Ponsoldt) OPEN WINDOW / U.S.A. (Director and Screenwriter: Mia Goldman) THE PROPOSITION / Australia (Director: John Hillcoat; Screenwriter: Nick Cave) PUNCHING AT THE SUN / U.S.A. (Director and Screenwriter: Tanuj Chopra) SPECIAL / U.S.A. (Directors and Screenwriters: Jeremy Passmore, Hal Haberman) WHAT REMAINS / U.S.A. (Director: Steven Cantor) WHO KILLED THE ELECTRIC CAR? / U.S.A. (Director and Screenwriter: Chris Paine) WHO NEEDS SLEEP? / U.S.A. (Director: Haskell Wexler)? WRESTLING WITH ANGELS: PLAYWRIGHT TONY KUSHNER / U.S.A. (Director: Freida Lee Mock) Frontier Films to Screen at Sundance 2006: The Frontier section presents films that represent new directions in filmmaking. Utilizing experimental and innovative aesthetic approaches, work in the Frontier category challenges and provokes. Some Frontier films at Sundance Film Festival presented in the past include: TARNATION and THE JOY OF LIFE. A DARKNESS SWALLOWED / U.S.A. (Director and Screenwriter: Betzy Bromberg) CINNAMON / U.S.A. (Director and Screenwriter: Kevin Everson) OLD JOY / U.S.A. (Director: Kelly Reichardt; Screenwriters: Jonathan Raymond, Kelly Reichardt) PINE FLAT / U.S.A. (Director and Screenwriter: Sharon Lockhart) WILD TIGERS I HAVE KNOWN U.S.A. (Director and Screenwriter: Cam Archer) Frontier Live: OUR SECOND DATE U.S.A. (artists: Jennifer and Kevin McCoy) Park City at Midnight Films to Screen at Sundance 2006: Park City at Midnight offers out-of-competition films after-hours that are likely to amuse, surprise, or shock the bleary-eyed viewer and offer a lively last stop in the nightly film-going circuit. Some Midnight films presented at Sundance Film Festival in the past include: THE BLAIR WITCH PROJECT, SAW, OVERNIGHT, and STRANGERS WITH CANDY. AMERICAN HARDCORE / U.S.A (Director: Paul Rauchman; Screenwriter: Steven Blush) AWESOME, I FUCKIN' SHOT THAT! / U.S.A. (Director: Nathanial Hornblower) THE DESCENT / U.S.A. (Director and Screenwriter: Neil Marshall) DESTRICTED / U.S.A. (Directors and Screenwriters: Mathew Barney, Larry Clark, Gaspar Noe, Marco Brambilla, Sam Taylor Wood) THE FOOT FIST WAY / U.S.A. (Director and Screenwriter: Jody Hill) MOONSHINE / U.S.A. (Director: Roger Ingraham; Screenwriters: Roger Ingraham, Lori Isbell Salvage) SALVAGE / U.S.A. (Directors and Screenwriters: Josh Crook and Jeff Crook) SUBJECT TWO / U.S.A. (Director and Screenwriter: Philip Chidel) 2:57:36 AM  comment []

Sundance Announces WORLD Doc & Drama Competition Films for 2006 Here's the detail on the WORLD Documentary Competition films and WORLD Dramatic Competition films (complete PDF). I love the World Cinema films because they tell stories from places that are often unfamiliar to the American distribution chains. The narrative thread and story rhythms are often more intriguing because of the cultural influences. These films are often some of the BEST in the festival. (Remember: The Short Films will be announced December 5. The complete screening schedule will appear on December 12 -- happy birthday to me!) A reminder list and summary of the Sundance Podcasts and vCasts can help you get ready for the fest! The vCasts include Q&As with Naomi Watts (ELLIE PARKER, currently in release), Jared Hess (NAPOLEON DYNAMITE), Alice Wu (SAVING FACE), Craig Brewer (HUSTLE & FLOW), Blackhorse Lowe (5TH WORLD) and Jody Eldred (Sony HVR-Z1U). The podcasts include the always popular SUNDANCE FROM THE TEEN POV, Sundance Juror, UCLA professor and Film Critic EMANUEL LEVY and SUNDANCE FOR BEGINNERS. World Documentary Competition Films for Sundance 2006: 5 DAYS / Israel (Director: Yoav Shamir) -- evacuation of Jewish settlers from Gaza ANGRY MONK - REFLECTIONS ON TIBET / Switzerland (Director: Luc Schaedler) -- rebellious Tibetan monk Gendun Choephel BLACK GOLD / U.K. (Director: Marc Francis, Nick Francis ) -- coffee from Ethiopian bean to your cup BY THE WAYS, A JOURNEY WITH WILLIAM EGGLESTON / France (Director: Cédric Laty, Vincent Gérard) -- father of color photography, William Eggleston DEAR PYONGYANG / Japan (Director: Yang Yonghi) -- Korean-Japanese daughter explore's father's fierce loyalty to North Korea THE GIANT BUDDHAS / Switzerland (Director: Christian Frei) -- story of destruction of Buddha's of Bamiyan in Afghanistan GLASTONBURY / U.K. (Director: Julian Temple) -- England's annual Glastonbury Festival I IS FOR INDIA / England/Germany/Italy (Director: Sandhya Suri) -- Super8 films and letters tell tale of migration and belonging IN THE PIT / Mexico (Director: Juan Carlos Rulfo) -- bridge builders of Mexico City's Periferico freeway INTO GREAT SILENCE / Germany (Director: Philip Groening) -- life inside the Grande Chartreuse monastery KZ / U.K. (Director: Rex Bloomstein) -- tale of the town of Mauthausen, site of a former German concentration camp NO ONE / Mexico (Director: Tin Dirdamal) -- Central American immigrant Maria encounters a nightmare in Mexico while enroute to U.S. THE SHORT LIFE OF JOSÉ ANTONIO GUTIERREZ / Germany (Director: Heidi Specogna) -- story of first soldier to die in Iraq SONGBIRDS / U.K. (Director: Brian Hill) musical about 250 women in Downview Prison in England UNFOLDING FLORENCE: THE MANY LIVES OF FLORENCE BROADHURST / Australia (Director: Gillian Armstrong) -- life of flamboyant designer Florence Broadhurst VIVA ZAPATERO / Italy (Director: Sabina Guzzanti) -- censorship in Italy under Berlusconi World Dramatic Competition Films for Sundance 2006: 13 TZAMETI / France (Director and Screenwriter: Géla Babluani) -- Sebastien follows instructions intended for someone else and finds himself in clandestine, chaotic world ALLEGRO / Denmark (Director: Christoffer Boe; Screenwriters: Christoffer Boe, Mikael Wulff) -- amnesiac pianist returns to native Copenhagen and is led back to forgotten past THE AURA / Argentina (Director and Screenwriter: Fabián Bielinsky) -- introverted taxidermist dreams of executing the perfect robbery THE BLOSSOMING OF MAXIMO OLIVEROS / Philippines (Director: Auraeus Solito; Screenwriter: Michiko Yamamoto) -- young man is befriended by principled policeman and finds it difficult to sustain devotion to family of criminals EVE & THE FIRE HORSE / Canada (Director and Screenwriter: Julia Kwan) -- Chinese girl grapples with Catholicism, Confucianism and catastrophe GRBAVICA / Bosnia-Herzegovina (Director and Screenwriter: Jasmila Zbanic) -- woman and daughter struggle to survive aftermath of Balkan war THE HOUSE OF SAND / Brazil (Director: Andrucha Waddington; Screenwriter: Elena Soarez) -- story of a woman living in remote dunes of Brazil KISS ME NOT ON THE EYES / Lebanon (Director and Screenwriter: Jocelyne Saab) -- Egyptian dancer fights for artistic integrity and social independence LITTLE RED FLOWERS / China (Director: Zhang Yuan; Screenwriters: Ning Dai, Zhang Yuan) -- life in post-revolutionary Chinese orphanage MADEINUSA / Peru (Director and Screenwriter: Claudia Llosa) -- Peruvian girl's world changes when geologist arrives from Lima NO. 2 / New Zealand (Director and Screenwriter: Toa Fraser) -- Nanna Maria tries to bring passion back into the lives of her family ONE LAST DANCE / Singapore (Director and Screenwriter: Max Makowski) -- assassin is hired to kill men responsible for kidnapping an important man's son and is surprised by whose name he finds on the list THE PETER PAN FORMULA / South Korea (Director and Screenwriter: Cho Chang-Ho) -- adolescent confront mother's death and sexual desire PRINCESAS / Spain (Director and Screenwriter: Fernando Leon de Aranoa) -- two women form unbreakable friendship despite differences SÓLO DIOS SABE / Brazil/Mexico (Director: Carlos Bolado; Screenwriters: Carlos Bolado, Diane Weipert) -- Brazilian art student crosses paths with roguish Mexican journalist in Tijuana SON OF MAN / South Africa (Director: Mark Dornford-May; Screenwriters: Mark Dornford-May, Andiswa Kedama, Pauline Malefane) -- Jesus' life is translated into modern-day South Africa where the politics of compassion confront military dictatorship 2:28:08 AM  comment []

© Copyright 2006 Cyndi Greening.

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