Cynematik • Cyndi Greening

Documentaries are selling well at Sundance 2008.

ESPN announced that it has acquired Sundance soccer documentary KICKING IT, the story of seven soccer players from six countries as they participate in the 4th annual Homeless World Cup. The film was directed by Susan Koch and produced by Ted Leonsis (who executive produced last year’s NANKING). ESPN will retain exclusive television rights worldwide, and execute the film’s digital distribution while working with the filmmakers to secure theatrical, DVD and other distribution.

ROMAN POLANSKI: WANTED AND DESIRED has been acquired internationally by The Weinstein Company, the company announced Saturday morning. The international deal excludes all U.S. and Canadian rights, as well as U.K. television rights. The film was directed by Marina Zenovich.

Other documentaries rumored to be close to selling or in negotiations include RECRUIT (formerly AN AMERICAN SOLDIER), director Edet Belzberg’s story of Louisiana Sergeant, First Class Clay Usie, one of the most successful recruiters in the history of the U.S. Army; director Nanette Burstein’s AMERICAN TEEN, which is really about a group of Indiana teens, and SECRECY, the Peter Galison and Robb Moss documentary about the U.S. government’s penchant for keeping things hidden from the public.

It was reported earlier that THE BLACK LIST: VOLUME ONE was acquired early by HBO Documentary Films and international competition doc UP THE YANGTZE was acquired by Zeitgeist Films.

In the realm of dramatic film, all international rights outside the U.S. for Lance Hammer’s BALLAST have been acquired by Paris-based Celluloid Dreams.

Fortissimo Films has announced a deal for worldwide sales rights to the closing night film, CSNY DEJA VU. A look at Crosby, Stills, Nash & Young’s 2007 “Freedom of Speech Tour,” the film was directed by Neil Young.

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Festival 2008 is full under sail and the acquisitions have begun. Given the Writer’s Strike and the possibility of a future with limited purchase options, there is some expectation that the mini-major studios and distributors such as Sony Pictures Classics, Magnolia Pictures and IFC Films will heat up the buying at the festival.

UP THE YANGTZE was the first acquisition announced at the festival. The Three Gorges Dam, an enormous and hotly contested symbol of the Chinese economic development, provides the backdrop for the film. Beautifully shot and edited, the film tells Yu Shui’s story. Among the two million losing their livelihood to the dam, the Yu family must send their daughter off to work.

HBO Documentary Films said it picked up THE BLACK LIST: VOLUME ONE. Timothy Greenfield-Sanders directed the movie which features interviews with black cultural figures and icons ranging from Kareem Abdul-Jabbar and Sean Combs to Colin Powell.

Of great personal interest to me is U2 3D. The film is a feature-length compilation of U2 concert footage shot using a new generation of digital 3D cinema technology in which the blue and red cardboard glasses of the earlier 3D films have been replaced by sleeker polarized black glasses. The film’s technology is the work of two companies: Burbank-based 3ality and Beverly Hills-based Real D. At the Sundance premiere, the film will be shown in Dolby 3D Digital Cinema.

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Readers of this blog know that I started attending Sundance in 1996. Because of that, I have an extensive archive of Sundance Podcasts and Videocasts. To get yourself in the Sundance spirit, you might want to check out some of the past panel discussion and Q&A’s.

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Seven days until the 2008 Sundance Film Festival begins. A couple hundred films will be screened in the shadow of the Wasatch range and many of them will acquire distribution during the festival. Distribution is the “holy grail” of independent filmmaking. Elusive and extremely difficult to secure, selection in the Sundance Film Festival often anoints indie product as viable. In little over a week, we will be covering the distribution deals that thrust the new indie filmmakers into the industry.

As we complete the Zambian feature and documentary, we too are looking at distribution. According to RISKY BUSINESS, the book by Mark Litwak on indie financing and distribution, the three things that make a film more appealing to a distributor are…

• STAR POWER … participation by recognized industry creatives
• FESTIVAL FEVER … selection in a key festival
• GREAT REVIEWS … recognition by film critics

According to Litwak, there are between 800 and 1000 indie films available for sale at any given moment. So your film is competing with a glut of product. Presenting the strong selling points of your films is the key to distribution. Oh sure, there are tons of panels, books and articles on the many potential distribution avenues … including the web, DVD, tape and international markets. So, I spent most of the day, recalling our Zambian production adventures and trying to think of why that might be interesting to a potential audience (and therefore a distributor).

Because of the scenes she was editing, Pamela Jo kept reminding me how grumpy I had been on certain shooting days … oh the hours and hours and hours we waited … and while the clock ticked, I kept wondering if we’d ever get the film done. Knowing our return flights had already been booked, the clock reverberated like a prescient death knell. To this day, it amazes me that we finished shooting both films. The next few months will reveal if the story is of interest to an audience. We will document the process for you indie filmmakers.

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Music at Sundance is always something extraordinary. There are always the new, breakout musical acts that are going to go on to do fabulous things. There are generally a few acts from the “old guarde” doing their swan song in the mountains. There are two options ….

Music on Main are the outdoor (yes, outdoor in the dead of winter) concerts. This year’s artists on 24 January include GOLD STREETS as the opening act, HA HA TONKA in a supporting role, and MERIDIAN WEST headlining.

For those who prefer their music in a warmer setting, there is the Music Cafe. This year’s scheduled artists include Ingrid Michaelson, Jesca Hoop, Sea Wolf, Paddy Casey, Eef Barzelay, Pat Monahan, Ben’s Brother, Sondre Lerche, AM, Jessie Baylin, Patti Smith, Peter & Gordon, Dusty Rhodes and the River Band, Butch Walker, Quincy Coleman, Adam Levy, Tim Finn, Gavin DeGraw, Missy Higgins, Meiko, Brett Dennen and ROAN.

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I love Sundance Panel Discussions. They bring contemporary filmmakers together to talk candidly about the issues of the day. I’ve attended panels that had panelists vigorously disagreeing with one another about the subject. I’ve attended panels that had the audience members verbally assaulting filmmakers for their opinions. There is always something wonderful that happens in the Panel Discussions. There are panels at the Prospector and the Filmmaker Lodge. Here then, a brief summary of this year’s schedule.

Filmmaker Lodge

Saturday, 19Jan: Rewriting the Process
A discussion of voice, collaboration, adaptation and rewriting by participants in the Sundance Screenwriters Laboratory.

Sunday, 20Jan: Are You Global Enough
New funding and training opportunities in the international documentary community.

Monday, 21Jan: Sundance Work in Process
Documentary filmmakers who have participated in and been supported by the Sundance Documentary Film Program.

Monday, 21Jan: The Producing Cap
Seasoned producers discuss problem-solving in contemporary filmmaking.

Tuesday, 22Jan: Meet the Film Funds and Commissioning Editors
YOU MUST PRE-REGISTER FOR THIS EVENT to assure being able to attend it. Meet folks from HBO, PBS, ITVS, A&E and other funders. Come prepared, have your pitch, your summary, a video short and anything else that might help sell your piece.

Tuesday, 22Jan: Black in America
Discussions with African American filmmakers about where progress is being made in Black Cinema.

Wednesday, 23Jan: The Latin Resurgence
A while back I did a post on the rising popularity of Mexican cinema. At Sundance, they’ve got a panel on the broader rise of Latin American cinema.

Thursday, 24Jan: Stories that Must Be Told: Today’s Human Rights
The documentary film movement as a witness and agent for change in the Human Rights Movement.

Thursday, 24Jan: Producing Native Cinema
Like Black Cinema and Latin American cinema, Native Cinema is on the rise. The contemporary marketplace seems every more welcoming to more voices and diverse stories.

Friday, 25Jan: Critics Cornered?
Do critics still matter? Now that there are gazillions of blog sites and viewer review sites, what is the role of critics in the success or failure of a film?

Prospector Panels

Saturday, 19Jan: On Crisis Survival: Stories of Disaster and Its Aftermath
How does filmmaking intersect with disasters and human crisis?

Sunday, 20Jan: In 3-D: The Future Is Now
Leading producers and creatives discuss the new generation of 3D in film and gaming.

Monday, 21Jan: On Comedy: Are We Laughing in Dark Times?
Film comedy is often the domain of perversity, taboo and dysfunction. What are we allowed to laugh at in these dark times? What are we laughing?

Tuesday, 22Jan: On Invention: The Cinema and Science of Moving Forward
Neurobiologically speaking, what does it mean to have an inventive mind? An assembly of scientists and filmmakers will tinker with the idea.

Wednesday, 23Jan: On Cinematic Imagination: New Spaces for a New Cinema Culture
How do you establish an environment where originality can flourish? For artists working outside of traditional modes of moviemaking, the creative freedoms and unique perspectives are discussed.

Friday, 25Jan: On Plurality: The Middle East in Perspective
Exploring Islam, expressing personal stories, and the transformative power of film.

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So, if you’re looking for a nice place to stay during the 2008 Sundance Film Festival, there are two condos at the Marriott Mountainside Resort. They sleep eight and go for $3500 for all ten days (which works out to $437.50 per person or $43.75 per night — not bad for a ski property right in Park City). It’s ideal for skiers and film aficionados. The only challenge, you have to find seven Sundance friends or pony up a bit more dough for the accommodations. We stayed here last year and it was terrific. You’re right on the ski slopes, the shuttle bus practically comes to the door and there a a lot of dining places within a block or two. I don’t own the condos and don’t get anything but the goodwill for referring it on … you can email me and I’ll pass it on.

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I promised myself that I would start blogging every day again. I am already irritated that I made this resolution and it is only the second day.

The Sundance Film Festival is really bearing down on us now. January 17 – 27, 2008. Yesterday, I got an email about the condo we rented last year and a telephone call from an industry friend in LA who wants to go to the festival. I printed out the 2008 Sundance Film Guide so I could get more familiar with the films screening this year. This should help me get back in the swing of things. So, I’d be on the lookout for more Sundance posts starting tomorrow.

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ASSASSINATION OF A HIGH SCHOOL PRESIDENT/ U.S.A.
Director: Brett Simon; Screenwriter: Kevin Jakubowski — A rookie journalist for the school paper unravels a mysterious plot involving the class president, drugs, and a ring of stolen test scores in this noir caper set at a quirky Catholic High School. Cast: Reece Thompson, Bruce Willis, Mischa Barton, Michael Rapaport, Kathryn Morris, Josh Pais.

BE KIND REWIND/ U.S.A.
Director and Screenwriter: Michel Gondry — When a man whose body accidentally becomes magnetized unintentionally erases every tape in his friend’s video store, the pair set out to remake the lost films, including BACK TO THE FUTURE, THE LION KING and ROBOCOP. Cast: Jack Black, Mos Def, Mia Farrow, Danny Glover.

CSNY DÉJÀ VU/ U.S.A.
Director: Bernard Shakey; Screenwriters: Neil Young, Mike Cerre — The war in Iraq is the backdrop as the Crosby, Stills, Nash, and Young “Freedom of Speech Tour” crisscrosses North America. Echoes of Vietnam-era anti-war sentiment abound as the band connects with today’s audiences. Cast: David Crosby, Graham Nash, Stephen Stills, Neil Young, Mike Cerre, Stephen Colbert.

THE DEAL/ Canada
Director: Steven Schachter; Screenwriters: William H. Macy, Steven Schachter — A long-time Hollywood producer on the verge of suicide cons a major studio into financing a $100-million film based on a non-existent script, starring a black action star who has converted to Judaism. Cast: William H. Macy, Meg Ryan, LL Cool J.

DEATH IN LOVE/ U.S.A.
Director and Screenwriter: Boaz Yakin — A self-assured but neurotic 40-year-old bachelor attempts to make sense of his complicated life as he negotiates his sexual relationships in the shadow of his mother’s concentration camp experience. Cast: Josh Lucas, Jacqueline Bisset, Adam Brody, Lukas Haas.

DIMINISHED CAPACITY/ U.S.A.
Director: Terry Kinney; Screenwriter: Sherwood Kiraly — Learning that his senile uncle harbors a priceless baseball card, Cooper embarks on a road trip intent on selling it to save money for his uncle’s later years. He and his friends become entangled in the oddball world of baseball memorabilia and love. Cast: Matthew Broderick, Alan Alda, Virginia Madsen, Dylan Baker.

THE ESCAPIST/ Ireland
Director: Rupert Wyatt; Screenwriters: Rupert Wyatt and Daniel Hardy — A convict twelve years into a life sentence is determined to make peace with his sick daughter. He develops an ingenious escape plan, recruiting a band of misfits to put it into action. Cast: Brian Cox, Joseph Fiennes, Seu Jorge, Damian Lewis.

THE GREAT BUCK HOWARD/ U.S.A.
Director and Screenwriter: Sean McGinly — When a law school dropout answers an advertisement to be a personal assistant he unknowingly signs on to work for a belligerent has-been magician struggling to resurrect his career. This leads to a journey across the country staging the comeback of a lifetime. Cast: Colin Hanks, John Malkovich, Emily Blunt, Tom Hanks, Steve Zahn.

THE GUITAR/ U.S.A.
Director: Amy Redford; Screenwriter: Amos Poe — The life of a woman is transformed after she is diagnosed with a terminal disease, fired from her job and abandoned by her boyfriend. Given two months to live, she throws caution to the wind to pursue her dreams. Cast: Saffron Burrows, Isaach De Bankole, Paz De La Huerta.

HENRY POOLE IS HERE/ U.S.A.
Director: Mark Pellington; Screenwriter: Albert Torres — Henry Poole abandons his fiancée and family business to spend what he believes are his remaining days alone. The discovery of a “miracle” by a nosy neighbor ruptures his solitude and restores his faith in life. Cast: Luke Wilson, Radha Mitchell, Cheryl Hines, Adriana Barraza.

IN BRUGES/ United Kingdom
Director and Screenwriter: Martin McDonagh — Two London hit men are ordered to take a forced vacation in Bruges, Belgium. This is the suspenseful, twisted tale of how their time in exile goes awry. Cast: Colin Farrell, Brendan Gleeson, Ralph Fiennes, Clémence Poésy.

INCENDIARY/ United Kingdom
Director and Screenwriter: Sharon Maguire — A spirited young mother juggles grief and love in the aftermath of a dramatic terrorist attack in London. Cast: Michelle Williams, Ewan McGregor, Matthew MacFadyen.

THE MERRY GENTLEMAN/ U.S.A.
Director: Michael Keaton; Screenwriter: Ron Lazzeretti — After fleeing an abusive marriage, a young woman sets off to start a new life. When she finds herself an unwitting witness to a murder she stumbles into a curious friendship with a depressed hit man. Cast: Kelly Macdonald, Michael Keaton.

A RAISIN IN THE SUN/ U.S.A.
Director: Kenny Leon; Screenwriter: Paris Qualles — After moving to Chicago’s South Side in the 1950s, a black family struggles to deal with poverty, racism, and inner conflict as they strive for a better life. Adapted for the screen from Lorraine Hansberry’s play, this is a moving portrait of dreams deferred. Cast: Sean Combs, Phylicia Rashad, Audra McDonald, Sean Patrick Thomas.

SAVAGE GRACE/ U.S.A.
Director: Tom Kalin, Screenwriter: Howard A. Rodman — The true story of the beautiful and charismatic Barbara Daly, who married above her class to Brooks Baekeland, heir to the Bakelite plastics fortune. Their only child is a failure in his father’s eyes, and as he matures and becomes increasingly close to his lonely mother, the seeds for tragedy are sown. Cast: Julianne Moore, Stephen Dillane, Eddie Redmayne.

SLEEPWALKING/ Canada/ U.S.A.
Director: Bill Maher; Screenwriter: Zac Stanford — A young man ill equipped to raise his abandoned niece is forced to take responsibility when faced with the prospect of losing her to a foster home. Cast: Nick Stahl, AnnaSophia Robb, Charlize Theron, Dennis Hopper, Woody Harrelson, Deborrah-Lee Furness.

SMART PEOPLE/U.S.A.
Director: Noam Murro; Screenwriter: Mark Jude Poirier — An acerbic and self-absorbed literature professor has alienated his son and turned his daughter into an overachieving, friendless teen. When his brother unexpectedly shows up at his door, the man is forced is to confront his own life. Cast: Dennis Quaid, Sarah Jessica Parker, Thomas Haden Church, Ellen Page, Ashton Holmes.

TOWELHEAD (F.K.A. NOTHING IS PRIVATE)/ U.S.A.
Director and Screenwriter: Alan Ball — The life of a 13-year-old Arab-American girl is illuminated as she navigates her way through the confusing and frightening path of adolescence and sexual awakening. Cast: Aaron Eckhart, Maria Bello, Toni Collette, Summer Bishil.

TRANSSIBERIAN/ Spain
Director: Brad Anderson; Screenwriters: Brad Anderson and Will Conroy — A Trans-Siberian train journey from China to Moscow becomes a thrilling chase of deception and murder when an American couple encounters a mysterious pair of fellow travelers. Cast: Woody Harrelson, Emily Mortimer, Kate Mara, Thomas Kretschmann, Eduardo Noriega and Ben Kingsley.

U2 3D/ U.S.A.
Directors: Catherine Owens, Mark Pellington — A 3-D presentation of U2’s global “Vertigo” tour. Shot at seven different shows, this production employs the greatest number of 3-D cameras ever used for a single project.

THE VISITOR/ U.S.A.
Director and Screenwriter: Tom McCarthy — A college professor becomes embroiled in the lives of a young immigrant couple he discovers squatting in his Manhattan apartment. Confronted with adversity, these strangers become inextricably bound together. Cast: Richard Jenkins, Hiam Abbass, Haaz Sleiman, Danai Gurira.

WHAT JUST HAPPENED?/ U.S.A.
Director: Barry Levinson; Screenwriter: Art Linson — A comedy about a desperate movie producer who is trying to survive a crazed director, a shameless actor, a clueless executive, a battered agent, and above all a broken second marriage while struggling to maintain a shred of dignity. Cast: Robert DeNiro, Bruce Willis, Sean Penn, Catherine Keener, Stanley Tucci, John Turturro.

THE YEAR OF GETTING TO KNOW US/ U.S.A.
Director and Screenwriter: Patrick Sisam — A commitment-phobic man reunites with his estranged, ailing father and comes to terms with his own childhood. Cast: Jimmy Fallon, Chase Ellison, Lucy Liu, Sharon Stone, Tom Arnold.

THE YELLOW HANDKERCHIEF/ U.S.A.
Director: Udayan Prasad; Screenwriter: Erin Dignam — A recently released convict and a pair of disillusioned young people, three strangers of two generations, bound by loneliness, reach out to one another, embarking on a road trip through Louisiana. Cast: Maria Bello, William Hurt, Eddie Redmayne, Veronica Russell.

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NEW FRONTIER FILMS

cASTING a gLANCE / U.S.A.
Director and Screenwriter: James Benning)—An experiential look at Robert Smithson’s monumental sculpture, the Spiral Jetty, as it has evolved over 30 years in concert with the ebb and flow of the Great Salt Lake.

EAT, FOR THIS IS MY BODY (MANGE, CECI EST MON CORPS)/ France/ Haiti
Director and Screenwriter: Michelange Quay)— A dreamlike meditation on the evolution of racial conquest and liberation in Haiti. Cast: Sylvie Testud.

FEAR(S) OF THE DARK (PEUR(S) DU NOIR)/ France
Directors: Blutch, Charles Burns, Marie Callou, Richard McGuire, Pierre Di Sciullio, Lorenzo Mattotti Screenwriters: Jerry Kramsky, Pirus, Romaine Slocombe, Artistic Director: Etienne Robial)—Ten leading graphic artists and cartoonists have breathed life into their phobias and nightmares in this animated feature.

HALF-LIFE/ U.S.A.
Director and Screenwriter: Jennifer Phang)— As troubling signs of global cataclysms accelerate, a brother and sister react to their father’s desertion and the powerful presence of their mother’s new boyfriend.

REVERSION/ U.S.A.
Director and Screenwriter: Mia Trachinger)— In a world in which the past, present and future simultaneously unfold, a woman whose genetic mutation leaves her devoid of morality struggles to preserve her romance with the man she loves.

SEVEN INTELLECTUALS IN BAMBOO FOREST, PARTS 4 and 5/ U.S.A.
Artist: Yang Fudong — A rare screening of the artist’s most recently completed films in his celebrated series, based on the history of seven intellectuals in the ancient Chinese Wei and Jin Dynasties.

PARK CITY AT MIDNIGHT

ADVENTURES OF POWER/ U.S.A.
Director and Screenwriter: Ari Gold)—In his quest to become the world’s greatest air-drummer, a small-town dreamer must overcome obstacles and ridicule to save the day. Cast: Adrian Grenier, Jane Lynch, Jimmy Jean-Louis.

THE BRØKEN/ U.S.A.
Director and Screenwriter: Sean Ellis)—On a busy London street a woman sees herself driving by in her own car. Stunned, she trails the mystery woman as events take an eerie turn into a living nightmare. Cast: Lena Heady, Richard Jenkins, Asier Newman.

GEORGE A. ROMERO’S DIARY OF THE DEAD/ U.S.A.
Director and Screenwriter: George A. Romero)— When a group of film students making an indie horror film find themselves trapped in a world being consumed by flesh-eating zombies, they cleverly switch gears and use the camera to document the world crumbling around them. Cast: Nick Alachiotis, Matt Birman, George Buza, Wes Craven, Stephen King, Quentin Tarantino, Guillermo del Toro.

DONKEY PUNCH/ United Kingdom
Director: Olly Blackburn; Screenwriters: Olly Blackburn, David Bloom)— After meeting at a nightclub in a Mediterranean resort, seven young adults decide to continue partying aboard a luxury yacht in the middle of the ocean. But when one of them dies in a freak accident the others argue about what to do, leading to a ruthless fight for survival. Cast: Robert Boulter, Sian Breckin, Tom Burke.

FUNNY GAMES/ U.S.A.
Director and Screenwriter: Michael Haneke)—A family settles into its vacation home, which happens to be the next stop for a pair of young, articulate, white-gloved serial killers on an excursion through the neighborhood. Cast: Naomi Watts, Tim Roth, Michael Pitt, Brady Corbet, Devon Gearhart.

HELL RIDE/ U.S.A.
Director and Screenwriter: Larry Bishop)— Quentin Tarantino presents this bloody, sexy tale of motorcycle revenge. It’s a modern-day take on 1960s motorcycle flicks, with bikers who hit the road to avenge the death of one of their “old ladies” at the hands of a rival motorcycle gang. Cast: Larry Bishop, Dennis Hopper, Michael Madsen.

OTTO; OR, UP WITH DEAD PEOPLE/ Germany/ Canada
Director and Screenwriter: Bruce LaBruce)— A lonely gay zombie searches for love and meaning in contemporary Berlin. Cast: Jey Crisfar, Katharina Klewinghaus, Susanne Sachsse, Marcel Schlutt.

TIMECRIMES (LOS CRONOCRÍMENES)/ Spain
Director and Screenwriter: Nacho Vigalondo)— A man accidentally travels back to the past, only to meet himself there. He also encounters a series of mysteries—pieces of an unpredictable jigsaw puzzle of terror, drama, and supsense—that all lead to an unthinkable crime. Cast: Karra Elejalde, Candela Fernández, Bárbara Goenaga.

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SPECTRUM DOCUMENTARY

ANVIL! THE TRUE STORY OF ANVIL/ U.S.A.
Director: Sacha Gervasi — At 14, best friends Robb Reiner and Lips made a pact to rock together forever. Their band, Anvil, hailed as the “demi-gods of Canadian metal,” influenced a musical generation that includes Metallica, Slayer, and Anthrax, despite never hitting the big time. Following a calamitous European tour, Lips and Robb, now in their fifties, set off to record their 13th album in one last attempt to fulfill their boyhood dreams.

THE BLACK LIST/ U.S.A.
Director: Timothy Greenfield-Sanders; Screenwriter: Elvis Mitchell — Journalist Elvis Mitchell interviews twenty African American leaders, ranging from athletes and academics to politicians, social activists, and artists, providing a series of living portraits— a unique glimpse into the zeitgeist of black America— and redefining traditional notions of a “blacklist.”

KICKING IT/ U.S.A.
Director and Screenwriter: Susan Koch — The lives of homeless people are changed forever through an international soccer competition. This film follows six players as they set off for Cape Town, South Africa to play in the Homeless World Cup.

THE LINGUISTS/ U.S.A.
Directors: Seth Kramer, Daniel A. Miller, Jeremy Newberger; Screenwriter: Daniel A. Miller — David and Greg are “The Linguists,” who document languages on the verge of extinction. In the rugged landscapes of Siberia, India, and Bolivia, their resolve is tested by institutionalized racism and violent economic unrest.

MADE IN AMERICA/ U.S.A.
Director: Stacy Peralta; Screenwriters: Stacy Peralta, Sam George — With a first-person look at the notorious Crips and Bloods, this film examines the conditions that have led to decades of devastating gang violence among young African Americans growing up in South Los Angeles.

WHERE IN THE WORLD IS OSAMA BIN LADEN?/ France
Director: Morgan Spurlock; Screenwriters: Jeremy Chilnick and Morgan Spurlock — Filmmaker Morgan Spurlock explores every nook and cranny of the Middle East on a quest to find the world’s most wanted man.

YOUNG@HEART/ United Kingdom
Director: Stephen Walker — A choir of Massachusetts senior citizens delights audiences worldwide with their covers of songs by everyone from The Clash and Coldplay to Jimi Hendrix and Sonic Youth.

SPECTRUM DRAMATIC

AUGUST/ U.S.A.
Director: Austin Chick; Screenwriter: Howard A. Rodman — An aggressive young dot-com entrepreneur struggles to keep his head above water as the bottom falls out of the market in August of 2001. Cast: Josh Hartnett, Adam Scott, Naomie Harris.

BAGHEAD / U.S.A.
Directors and Screenwriters: Mark Duplass and Jay Duplass — As previously done in their last film THE PUFFY CHAIR, the Duplass Brothers explore the minutiae of relationship dynamics in this in-depth study of a group of desperate actor friends. And a bag. And a head. Cast: Steve Zissis, Ross Partridge, Greta Gerwig.

BIRDS OF AMERICA/ U.S.A.
Director: Craig Lucas; Screenwriter: Elyse Friedman — Three siblings couldn’t be more different, or more neurotic. But when they find themselves converging at the family manse, they become surprisingly indispensable to one another. Cast: Matthew Perry, Ginnifer Goodwin, Ben Foster.

BLIND DATE/ U.S.A.
Director: Stanley Tucci; Screenwriters: Stanley Tucci, David Schechter — A married couple has suffered a tragedy, and now the only way they can relate to one another is by meeting as different characters through a series of personal ads. A remake of the original work by the late Dutch director Theo van Gogh. Cast: Stanley Tucci, Patricia Clarkson, Thijs Romer.

BOTTLE SHOCK/ U.S.A.
Director: Randall Miller; Screenwriters: Jody Savin, Randall Miller — The story of the early days of California wine making featuring the now infamous, blind Paris wine tasting of 1976 that has come to be known as “Judgment of Paris.” Cast: Alan Rickman, Bill Pullman, Chris Pine, Rachael Taylor, Freddy Rodríguez, Eliza Dushku.


CHRONIC TOWN/ U.S.A.
Director: Tom Hines; Screenwriter: Michael Kamsky — A bittersweet slice-of-life comedy about a cab driver with substance abuse problems who weathers a cold Alaskan winter with his cadre of friends and lovers. Cast: JR Bourne, Emily Wagner, Dan Butler.

GOLIATH/ U.S.A.
Director and Screenwriter: David Zellner — Faced with a demotion, a pending divorce, and less-than-friendly neighbors, a man pins his hopes for salvation on finding his missing cat, Goliath. Cast: David Zellner, Caroline O’Connor, Nathan Zellner.

A GOOD DAY TO BE BLACK & SEXY/ U.S.A.
Director and Screenwriter: Dennis Dortch — Six progressive vignettes explore sexuality and relationships in the black community of Los Angeles. Cast: Kathryn Taylor, Valley Jones, Chonte’ Harris.

LOVE COMES LATELY/ Germany/ Austria
Director and Screenwriter: Jan Schütte — An 80-year-old man continues to pursue his love life with youthful vigor, risking his relationship with the woman he loves. Based on the short stories by Isaac Bashevis Singer. Cast: Otto Tausig, Rhea Perlman, Tovah Feldshuh

MOMMA’S MAN/ U.S.A.
Director and Screenwriter: Azazel Jacobs — A man who has avoided his wife and child at home has a change of heart after an imposed stay in his own parents’ loft. Cast: Flo Jacobs, Ken Jacobs, Dana Varon.

QUID PRO QUO/ U.S.A.
Director and Screenwriter: Carlos Brooks — A paraplegic New York public radio reporter becomes involved with a mysterious woman while researching a story about able-bodied people who secretly yearn to be paralyzed. Cast: Nick Stahl, Vera Farmiga, Kate Burton.

RED/ U.S.A.
Director: Trygve Diesen; Co-Director: Lucky McKee; Screenwriter: Stephen Susco)­— An older, reclusive man’s best friend and inspiration for living is his 14-year-old dog named “Red.” When three troublesome teens kill the dog for no good reason, the grieving man sets out for justice and redemption by whatever means available to him. Cast: Brian Cox, Tom Sizemore, Kim Dickens.

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The competition films for Sundance 2008 have been announced. For this festival, 121 feature-length films were selected representing 25 countries with 55 first-time filmmakers, including 32 in competition. These films were selected from 3,624 feature film submissions (2,021 U.S. and 1,603 international) as compared with last year when there were 1,852 U.S. and 1,435 international submissions.

Festival films screen in nine sections: Documentary Competition, Dramatic Competition, World Cinema Documentary Competition, World Cinema Dramatic Competition, Spectrum, New Frontier, Park City at Midnight, and from the Sundance Collection. Feature films selected for the Premieres, Spectrum, Park City at Midnight, and New Frontier categories will be announced Thursday, November 29. The Short Film program will be announced on Wednesday, December 5. Films screening in The Sundance Collection will be announced on Wednesday, December 12.

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This year’s 16 films were selected from 1,068 submissions.

AMERICAN SON
Director: Neil Abramson; Screenwriter: Eric Schmid — Before being deployed for active duty, a young Marine takes a four-day Thanksgiving leave to return home to Bakersfield, California. There he meets a young woman, tries to connect with old friends, and confronts his volatile home life. Cast: Nick Cannon, Melonie Diaz, Matt O’Leary, Jay Hernandez, Tom Sizemore, Chi McBride.

ANYWHERE, U.S.A.
Director: Anthony (Chusy) Haney-Jardine; Screenwriters: Anthony (Chusy) Haney-Jardine, Jennifer Macdonald — Told in three segments ranging from satirical to tragic, the film is a wildly original look at American manners, prejudices, and family dynamics. Cast: Perla Haney-Jardine.

BALLAST
Director and Screenwriter: Lance Hammer — A riveting, lyrical portrait of an emotionally frayed family whose lives are torn asunder by a tragic act in a small Mississippi Delta town. Cast: Michael J. Smith Sr., Jim Myron Ross, Tarra Riggs, Johnny McPhail.

CHOKE
Director and Screenwriter: Clark Gregg —An adaptation of Chuck Palahniuk’s (Fight Club) novel, CHOKE is the sardonic story about mother and son relationship, fear of aging, sexual addiction, and the dark side of historical theme parks. Cast: Sam Rockwell, Anjelica Huston, Kelly MacDonald, Brad Henke.

DOWNLOADING NANCY
Director: Johan Renck; Screenwriters: Pamela Cuming, Lee Ross —The tale of an unhappy wife whose online search for someone to put her out of her misery results in a torturous love affair. Cast: Maria Bello, Jason Patric, Rufus Sewell, Amy Brenneman.

FROZEN RIVER
Director and Screenwriter: Courtney Hunt —Set in rural upstate New York on a Mohawk Reservation bordering Canada, a mother left to care for her teenage son finds herself lured into the world of illegal immigrant smuggling. Cast: Melissa Leo, Misty Upham, Charlie McDermott, Michael O’Keefe, Mark Boone, Jr.

GOOD DICK
Director and Screenwriter: Marianna Palka —The tale of a lonely girl drawn from her isolated life and solitary apartment by a doting young video store clerk who strives to capture her affections. Cast: Jason Ritter, Marianna Palka, Tom Arnold, Mark Webber, Martin Starr, Eric Edelstein.

THE LAST WORD
Director and Screenwriter: Geoff Haley —An off-beat romantic comedy about a solitary writer who makes his living composing other people’s suicide notes. After meeting the sister of a recently deceased client, he finds his reclusive life and secret career upended by an unusual romance. Cast: Winona Ryder, Wes Bentley, Ray Romano.

THE MYSTERIES OF PITTSBURGH
Director and Screenwriter: Rawson Marshall Thurber — Based on Michael Chabon’s novel, the film chronicles the defining summer of a recent college graduate who crosses his gangster father and explores love, sexuality, and the enigmas surrounding his life and his city. Cast: Jon Foster, Peter Sarsgaard, Rawson Marshall Thurber, Sienna Miller, Mena Suvari, Nick Nolte.

NORTH STARR
Director and Screenwriter: Matthew Stanton —After witnessing the brutal murder of his best friend, a young African American man flees the badlands of Houston and finds himself in Trublin, a backward, racially intolerant town where he meets an unlikely kindred spirit who takes him under his wing. Cast: Jerome Hawkins, Matthew Stanton, Chris Sullivan, Isaac Lamb, Zach Johnson, Wayne Campbell.

PHOEBE IN WONDERLAND
Director and Screenwriter: Daniel Barnz — Confounded by her clashes with the seemingly rule-obsessed world, a little girl takes her already dysfunctional family down the rabbit hole when she seeks enlightenment from her unconventional drama teacher.
Cast: Elle Fanning, Felicity Huffman, Patricia Clarkson, Bill Pullman, Campbell Scott, Peter Gerety.

PRETTY BIRD
Director and Screenwriter: Paul Schneider — A comic tale of three would-be entrepreneurs who set out to invent a rocket belt. The clash of their mismatched personalities soon dissolves the business into a morass of recriminations, retaliations, kidnapping, and murder in this parable of American dreams and delusions. Cast: Billy Crudup, Paul Giamatti, Kristen Wiig, David Hornsby.

SLEEP DEALER
Director: Alex Rivera; Screenwriters: Alex Rivera, David Riker — Set in a near-future, militarized world marked by closed borders, virtual labor and a global digital network that joins minds and experiences, three strangers risk their lives to connect with each other and break the barriers of technology. Cast: Luis Fernando Peña, Leonor Varela, Jacob Vargas.

SUGAR
Directors and Screenwriters: Anna Boden, Ryan Fleck —Anna Boden and Ryan Fleck, who last teamed up for HALF NELSON, chronicle the journey of Dominican baseball star Miguel “Sugar” Santos recruited from his native country to play in the U.S. minor leagues. Cast: Algenis Perez Soto.

SUNSHINE CLEANING
Director: Christine Jeffs; Screenwriter: Megan Holley — —Struck by financial hardship, an ambitiousmother and her unmotivated sister become entrepreneurs in the field of biohazard removal and crime scene clean-up. Cast: Amy Adams, Emily Blunt, Steve Zahn, Alan Arkin.

THE WACKNESS
Director and Screenwriter: Jonathan Levine — During a sweltering New York summer, a troubled teenage drug dealer trades pot for therapy sessions with a drug-addled psychiatrist, and in the process falls for the doctor’s daughter. Cast: Josh Peck, Ben Kingsley, Famke Janssen, Olivia Thirlby, Mary Kate Olsen, Method Man.

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This year’s 16 films were selected from a record 953 submissions.

AN AMERICAN SOLDIER
Director and Screenwriter: Edet Belzberg — An exploration of army recruitment in the United States told through the story of Louisiana Sergeant, First Class Clay Usie, one of the most successful recruiters in the history of the U.S. Army.

AMERICAN TEEN
Director and Screenwriter: Nanette Burstein — This cinema vérité chronicles four seniors at an Indiana high school and yields a surprising snapshot of Midwestern life.

BIGGER, STRONGER, FASTER*
Director: Christopher Bell; Screenwriters: Christopher Bell, Alexander Buono, Tamsin Rawady — A filmmaker explores America’s win-at-all-cost culture by examining his two brothers’ steroids use…and his own.

FIELDS OF FUEL
Director and Screenwriter: Josh Tickell — America is addicted to oil and it is time for an intervention. Enter Josh Tickell, a man with a plan and a Veggie Van, who is taking on big oil, big government, and big soy to find solutions in places few people have looked.

FLOW: FOR LOVE OF WATER
Director: Irena Salina — Water is the very essence of life, sustaining every being on the planet. FLOW confronts the disturbing reality that our crucial resource is dwindling and greed just may be the cause.

GONZO: THE LIFE AND WORK OF DR. HUNTER S. THOMPSON
Director: Alex Gibney —Fueled by a raging libido, Wild Turkey, and superhuman doses of drugs, Thompson was a true “free lance,” goring sacred cows with impunity, hilarity, and a steel-eyed conviction for writing wrongs.

THE GREATEST SILENCE: RAPE IN THE CONGO
Director and Screenwriter: Lisa F. Jackson — Jackson travels to remote villages in the war zones of the Congo to meet rape survivors, providing a piercing, intimate look into the struggle of their lives.

I.O.U.S.A.
Director: Patrick Creadon — Few are aware that America may be on the brink of a financial meltdown. I.O.U.S.A. explores the country’s shocking current fiscal condition and ways to avoid a national economic disaster.

NERAKHOON (THE BETRAYAL)
Director: Ellen Kuras; Co-Director: Thavisouk Phrasavath; Screenwriters: Ellen Kuras, Thavisouk Phrasavath — The story of a family forced to emigrate from Laos after the chaos of the secret air war waged by the U.S. during the Vietnam War.

THE ORDER OF MYTHS
Director: Margaret Brown — In 2007 Mobile, Alabama, Mardi Gras is celebrated…and complicated. Following a cast of characters, parades, and parties across an enduring color line, we see that beneath the surface of pageantry lies something else altogether.

PATTI SMITH: DREAM OF LIFE
Director and Screenwriter: Steven Sebring — An intimate portrait of music icon Patti Smith that mirrors the essence of the artist herself.

ROMAN POLANSKI: WANTED AND DESIRED
Director: Marina Zenovich; Screenwriters: Marina Zenovich, Joe Bini, P.G. Morgan — The film explores the public scandal and private tragedy which led to legendary director Roman Polanski’s sudden flight from the United States.

SECRECY
Directors: Peter Galison, Robb Moss — Amidst the American hunger for instantaneous news and up-to-date “facts,” this unflinching film uncovers the vast, invisible world of government secrecy.

SLINGSHOT HIP HOP
Director: Jackie Reem Salloum —The voice of a new generation rocks and rhymes as Palestinian rappers form alternative voices of resistance within the Israeli-Palestinian struggle.

TRACES OF THE TRADE: A STORY FROM THE DEEP NORTH
Director: Katrina Browne; Co-Directors: Alla Kovgan, Jude Ray; Screenwriters: Katrina Browne, Alla Kovgan — History finally gets rewritten as descendants of the largest slave-trading family in early America face their past, and present, as they explore their violent heritage across oceans and continents.

TROUBLE THE WATER
Directors: Tia Lessin, Carl Deal — An aspiring rap artist and her streetwise husband, armed with a video camera, show what survival is all about when they are trapped in New Orleans by deadly floodwaters, and seize a chance for a new beginning.

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