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
