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Previews
Sundance Premieres, Documentary Premieres
- Details
- Parent Category: Film Festivals
- Category: Previews
- Published on Friday, 21 January 2011 00:38
- Written by L E Shannon
The 2011 Sundance Film Festival runs January 20-30 in Park City, Salt Lake City, Og
den and Sundance, Utah. The nation’s most prestigious film festival presents the section with a long-time record as a career-launcher.
“2011 sees the majority of films in the Premieres section coming from outside the studios, illustrating that independent film is both robust and broadening its scope,” said John Cooper, Director of the Sundance Film Festival.
Premieres
Salt Lake City Gala Film:
The Music Never Stopped
Director Jim Kohlberg, Screenwriters Gwyn Lurie and Gary Marks
(based on the story "The Last Hippie” by Oliver Sacks) (USA)
Using the power of music, a father struggles to bond with his estranged son, who suffers a brain tumor that prevents him from forming new memories. With J.K. Simmons, Julia Ormond, Cara Seymour, Lou Taylor Pucci, Mia Maestro.
Cedar Rapids
Director Miguel Arteta, Screenwriter Phil Johnston (USA) 
A naive small-town Wisconsin man travels to Cedar Rapids, Iowa to represent his company at a regional insurance conference. With Ed Helms, John C Reilly, Anne Heche, Isiah Whitlock Jr., Alia Shawkat, Sigourney Weaver.
The Convincer
Director Jill Sprecher, with co-Screenwriter Karen Sprecher (USA)
An insurance salesman, caught in a caper involving a rare musical instrument, sets off a series of dramatic consequences. With Greg Kinnear, Alan Arkin, Billy Crudup, David Harbour.
The Details
Director / screenwriter Jacob Aaron Estes (USA)
When hungry raccoons discover worms living under the sod in a young couple’s backyard, the pest problem sets off a wild and absurd chain reaction of domestic tension, infidelity, organ donation and murder by way of bow and arrow. With Tobey Maguire, Elizabeth Banks, Laura Linney, Ray Liotta, Dennis Haysbert.
The Devil’s Double
Director Lee Tamahori, Screenwriter Michael Thomas (Belgium)
A chilling vision of the House of Saddam comes to life through the eyes of the man who knew too much. With Dominic Cooper, Ludivine Sagnier, Mimoun Oaissa, Raad Rawi, Philip Quast.
Flypaper
Director Rob Minkoff, Screenwriters Jon Lucas and Scott Moore (USA)
When two gangs try to rob the same bank at the same time, a clever hostage in the middle must save the day. With Patrick Dempsey, Ashley Judd, Mekhi Phifer, Jeffrey Tambor, Tim Blake Nelson, Pruitt Taylor Vince.
The Future
Director / screenwriter Miranda July (Germany, USA)
When a couple decides to adopt a stray cat their perspective on life changes radically. With Hamish Linklater, Miranda July, David Warshofsky, Isabella Acres, Joe Putterlik.
I Melt with You
Director Mark Pellington, Screenwriter Glenn Porter
(based on the story by Glenn Porter and Mark Pellington) (Canada, USA)
Four friends gather every year to celebrate their friendship. This year they are unexpectedly forced to confront a forgotten promise they made 25 years earlier. With Thomas Jane, Jeremy Piven, Rob Lowe, Christian McKay, Carla Gugino.
Life in a Day
Director Kevin Macdonald (UK)
This is a historic global experiment to create the world’s largest user-generated feature film. On July 24, 2010, professional and amateur filmmakers captured a glimpse of their lives on camera and uploaded the footage to YouTube, serving as a time capsule for future generations.
Margin Call
Director / screenwriter JC Chandor (USA)
Over a 24-hour period during the early stages of the 2008 financial crisis, the key people at an investment bank struggle to decide how to handle an emergency business situation while examining the personal and moral implications of every action they take. With Kevin Spacey, Paul Bettany, Jeremy Irons, Zachary Quinto, Demi Moore, Stanley Tucci.
My Idiot Brother
Director Jesse Peretz, Screenwriters Evgenia Peretz and David Schisgall (USA)
After serving time for selling pot, Ned successively moves in with each of his three sisters as he tries to get back on his feet. With Paul Rudd, Elizabeth Banks, Zooey Deschanel, Emily Mortimer.
Perfect Sense
Director David Mackenzie, Screenwriter Kim Fupz Aakeson (UK)
A love story about two people who start to fall in love just as the world begins to fall apart. With Ewan McGregor, Eva Green, Ewen Bremner, Stephen Dillane, Denis Lawson, Connie Nielsen.
Red State
Director / Screenwriter Kevin Smith (USA)
A group of misfits encounter extreme fundamentalism in Middle America. With Michael Parks, Michael Angarano, Kyle Gallner, John Goodman, Melissa Leo.
Salvation Boulevard
Director George Ratliff, with co-Screenwriter Doug Max Stone
(based on the novel by Larry Beinhart) (USA)
An evangelical preacher who has captivated a city with his charm frames an ex-hippie for a crime he did not commit. With Pierce Brosnan, Jennifer Connelly, Ed Harris, Greg Kinnear, Marisa Tomei.
Win Win
Director / screenwriter Tom McCarthy
(based on the story by Tom McCarthy and Joe Tiboni) (USA)
When a disheartened attorney moonlighting as a high school wrestling coach stumbles across a star athlete, things seem to be looking up -- until the boy's mother shows up fresh from rehab, flat broke, and threatening to derail everything. With Paul Giamatti, Amy Ryan, Bobby Cannavale, Jeffrey Tambor.
Closing Night Film:
The Son of No One
Director / screenwriter Dito Montiel (USA)
Two men in post-9/11 New York are forced to relive two murders they committed as young boys. Their lives start to unravel by the threat of the revelation of these shocking and personal secrets. With Channing Tatum, Al Pacino, Katie Holmes, Tracy Morgan, Ray Liotta, Juliette Binoche.
Documentary Premieres
Says John Cooper, Festival Director: “The decision to create a Documentary Premieres section was a natural evolution to shine a light on films with prominent filmmakers or anticipated subjects without distracting from documentaries in competition. Sundance Institute has since its inception been one of the leading organizations in the world in support of nonfiction film, and our Festival remains a platform for both first-time and established documentary filmmakers.” All the films are world premieres.
Becoming Chaz
Directors Fenton Bailey and Randy Barbato (USA)
Born biologically female, Chastity Bono invites the viewer into a deeply personal journey as he transitions from female to male, embracing his true self, which is Chaz.
Bobby Fischer Against the World
Director Liz Garbus (USA)
The drama of late chess-master Bobby Fischer's career was undeniable,as he careened from troubled childhood, to World Champion and Cold War icon, to a fugitive on the run.
Granito
Director Pamela Yates (USA)
A documentary film intertwines with Guatemala’s turbulent history and emerges as an active player in a nation’s struggle to heal itself and serve up justice.
The Greatest Movie Ever Sold
Director Morgan Spurlock (USA)
A documentary about branding, advertising and product placement is financed and made possible by branding, advertising and product placement.
The Interrupters
Director Steve James (USA)
From the Academy AwardTM-winning director of Hoop Dreams comes a story of ex-gang members who are now protecting their communities from the violence they themselves once employed.
Magic Trip
Directors Alison Ellwood and Alex Gibney (USA)
In 1964 Ken Kesey, author of One Flew Over the Cuckoo's Nest, and his band of Merry Pranksters set out on a cross-country road trip to the New York World's Fair. Fueled by large doses of LSD, they filmed the entire journey. Forty-plus years later, Academy Award-winning filmmaker Alex Gibney and co-director Alison Ellwood use that footage, audio recordings and photographs to create an immersion experience of the legendary trip.
Reagan
Director Eugene Jarecki (USA, UK)
Reagan examines the enigmatic career of one of the revered architects of the modern world – icon, screen star, and two-term president Ronald Reagan.
Rebirth
Director Jim Whitaker (USA)
Weaving together five stories of individuals whose lives were profoundly altered by the 9/11 attack. With unprecedented time-lapse footage of Ground Zero composed over ten years.
These Amazing Shadows
Directors Paul Mariano and Kurt Norton (USA)
The history and importance of the National Film Registry unfolds in a roll call of American cinema treasures that reflects the diversity of film, and indeed the American experience itself.
It is films such as these that say “Sundance”.
For further information, visit www.sundance.org/festival.
2011 Sundance Film Festival Short Film Program
- Details
- Parent Category: Film Festivals
- Category: Previews
- Published on Thursday, 20 January 2011 03:02
- Written by Lynne Shannon
The 2011 Sundance Film Festival runs January 20-30 in Park City, Salt Lake City, Ogden and 
Sundance, Utah. One of the don’t-miss tracks is the Short Film Program, long the start of many a filmmaker who went on to feature film, and even Academy Award™ winning, accomplishments.
This year’s eclectic mix of 81 films from 21 countries was culled from a record number of submissions: 3,014 from outside the U.S., and 6,467 entries altogether.
Some of the domestic films include:
Narrative:
AWOL – Director/Screenwriter Deb Shoval
Crazy Beats Strong Every Time – Director/Screenwriter Moon Molson
Forever’s Gonna Start Tonight – Director/Screenwriter Eliza Hittman
The Hunter and the Swan Discuss Their Meeting – Director/Screenwriter Emily Carmichael
I’m Having a Difficult Time Killing My Parents – Director Jeff Tomsic, with co-Screenwriter T.J. Miller
Pandemic 41.410806, -75.654259 – Director Lance Weiler, with co-Screenwriter Chuck Wendig
sexting – Director/Screenwriter Neil LaBute
Documentary:
Animals Distract Me – Director / Screenwriter Isabella Rossellini
The Barber of Birmingham: Foot Soldier of the Civil Rights Movement – Co-Directors Gail Dolgin and Robin Fryday
Living For 32 – Director Kevin Breslin
Animation:
Bike Race – Director Tom Schroeder with co-Screenwriter Hilde De Roover
Marcel the Shell With Shoes On – Director Dean Fleischer-Camp with co-Screenwriter Jenny Slate
Something Left, Something Taken – Directors / Screenwriters: Ru Kuwahata and Max Porter
Xemoland – Director / Screenwriter Daniel Cardenas
The international shorts hail from Australia, Belgium, Brazil, Canada, Chile, China, Czech Republic, Denmark, France, Germany, Iran, Ireland, Italy, Japan, Mexico, Poland, Romania, Spain, Sweden and the UK. Some entries are:
Narrative:
Blokes (Chile) – Director Marialy Rivas 
Cinderela (Brazil, France) – Director / Screenwriter Magali Magistry
Diarchy (Italy) – Director / Screenwriter Ferdinando Cito Filmomarino
shikasha (Japan) – Director / Screenwriter Isamu Hirabayashi
Small Change (Ireland) – Director / Screenwriter Cathy Brady
Stardust (Belgium) – Director / Screenwriter Nicolas Provost
Documentary:
Incident by a Bank (Sweden) – Director / Screenwriter Ruben Östlund
Negativipeg (Canada) – Director / Screenwriter Matthew Rankin
Out of Reach (Poland) – Director / Screenwriter Jakub Stozek
Animation:
1989 (When I was five years old) (Denmark) – Director / Screenwriter Thor Ochsner
8 BITS (France) – Directors Valere Amirault, Sarah Laufer, Jean Delaunay, and Benjamin Mattern
The External World (Germany) – Director / Screenwriter David O'Reilly
The Greatness (China) – Director / Screenwriter Yi Zhou
Tord and Tord (Sweden) – Director / Screenwriter Niki Lindroth von Bahr
New Frontier Shorts is “An electrifying celebration of innovation in filmmaking.” This year’s selections include:
Anne Truitt, Working (USA) – Director Jem Cohen
On the Way to the Sea (Canada, China) – Director / Screenwriter Tao Gu
Tornado (Mexico) – Director Francis Alys de Smedt
Yelp (With Apologies to Allen Ginsberg’s Howl) – Director Tiffany Shlain, with co-Screenwriter Ken Goldberg
Another “first” for this year’s Short Film Program is the new Indigenous Shorts Showcase. Says Trevor Groth, Sundance Film Festival Director of Programming. “...we are pleased to be able to shine a light on indigenous filmmakers working around the world in the short-form medium, and to provide festival goers with a window into native storytelling.” These films include:
The Cave (Canada) – Director / Screenwriter Helen Haig-Brown (Tsilhqot’in)
Choke (Canada) – Director / Screenwriter Michelle Latimer (Métis)
Ebony Society (Aotearoa-New Zealand) – Director / Screenwriter Tammy Davis (Nga-ti Rangi & Atihaunui a Paparangi)
The Rocket Boy (USA) – Director / Screenwriter Donavan Seschillie (Navajo Nation)
Stones (USA) – Director / Screenwriter Ty Sanga (Native Hawaiian)
For further information, visit www.sundance.org.
X-Dance 2011 at Sundance
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- Parent Category: Film Festivals
- Category: Previews
- Published on Tuesday, 18 January 2011 03:47
- Written by Lynne Shannon
This year, the GoPro X-Dance Action Sports Film Festival, presented by SkullCandy
, runs January 22-25, 2011 with screenings and panels at The Depot in Salt Lake City, Utah. The closing party and award ceremony will be at Harry O’s in Park City.
Two worlds -- action sports and the mainstream entertainment industry -- merge into one adrenaline-fueled culture that is X-Dance. Launched in 2001, X-Dance has grown to become the premier action sports film festival in the world. The mission of X-Dance is to nurture the growth of action sports filmmaking and to honor achievement on both sides of the camera. X-Dance will always recognize innovative work that pushes the limits of style and narrative.
The festival includes films with “skier Tanner Hall, soul surfer Rob Machado, world record breaking free skier Grete Eliassen, snowboard maverick Jeremy Jones, kayaking superstar Rush Sturges, and MotoX madman Robbie Maddison.” There will be Q&As with filmmakers and featured athletes after each screening.
Saturday, January 22:
2:00pm Elevate (moto-climb)
2:45pm OTP 6 (FMX)
4:00pm Look On The Bright Side (snowboarding)
4:50pm Say My Name (ski) starring Grete Eliassen
5:30pm Follow Me (mtn bike)
6:25pm Dream Result (kayaking) starring Rush Sturges
7:20pm Deeper (snowboarding) starring Jeremy Jones
8:20pm Castles In The Sky (surf) starring Rob Machado
9:20pm Who is J.O.B. (surf)
Sunday, January 23:
2:00pm Stoked And Broke
3:10pm Here We Go Again (mtn bike short)
3:20pm 9191 (snowboarding)
3:55pm Melali (surf) starring Rob Machado
4:45pm Moto 2 (Moto-X)
5:45pm Cypher Vision (surf short)
6:00pm G-Land (surf short)
8:00pm Like A Lion (ski) starring Tanner Hall
9:45pm Brutal Beauty (Roller Derby)
Monday, January 24:
2:00pm Azadi Freedom (ski)
2:40pm Windsurfer 2 (windsurfing)
3:50pm Halo Effect (kayaking) starring Rush Sturges
4:50pm 180 Degrees South (expedition) Starring Yvon Chouinard
8:00pm First Love (surf)
9:15pm Solo (BMX short)
9:30pm Life Cycles (mtn biking)
The Awards Ceremony will feature Ozomotli.
For more information, visit www.x-dance.com.
GoPro X-Dance Action Sports Film Festival
January 22-25, 2011
The Depot
400 W. South Temple
Salt Lake City, UT
(801) 355-5522
Global Lens 2011 Has Eye on World Cultures
- Details
- Parent Category: Film Festivals
- Category: Previews
- Published on Thursday, 13 January 2011 22:12
- Written by Lynne Shannon
Global Lens 2011 is being held January 13–28, 2011 at the Museum of Modern Art (MoMA) in New York City. This collaboration between MoMA and the Global Film Initiative (GFI) is now in its 8th year of touring throughout the United States and Canada. 
This year’s series includes nine award-winning feature films from Argentina, Bosnia-Herzegovina, Brazil, China, Georgia, Kyrgyzstan, India, Iran and Uruguay. Three of the films -- from Kyrgyzstan, Georgia and Uruguay -- are official submissions to this year’s Academy Awards™.
The Light Thief / Svet-Ake
dir. Aktan Arym Kubat
(Kyrgyzstan)
Kyrgyzstan’s official submission to the 2010 Academy Awards. A humble village electrician (played by writer-director Kubat) devotes his compassion and ingenuity to destitute neighbors as he dreams of supplying wind-generated electricity to the whole valley. But his dreams are threatened by encroaching corruption. This is Kubat’s fifth film. His second feature, The Swing, won the Golden Leopard at the Locarno International Film Festival in 1993, followed by The Adopted Son, which won the Silver Leopard at Locarno in 1998. In 2001, he was nominated for the European Film Academy (EFA) Discovery Award.
Street Days / Quchis Dgeebi
dir. Levan Koguashvili
(Georgia)
Georgia’s official submission to the 2010 Academy Awards. A middle-aged, unemployed heroin-addict hangs around the street outside his son’s school, where he himself was once a promising student while his wife works to support the family. But the couple is confronted with a moral dilemma which could affect their survival. Koguashvili attended the graduate film program at New York University. His short film, The Debt, was an Official Selection of the 2006 Sundance Film Festival. His documentary, Women from Georgia, was selected for the Panorama section of the 2009 Sarajevo Film Festival. Street Days is his first feature film.
A Useful Life / La Vida Útil
dir. Federico Veiroj
(Uruguay)
Uruguay’s official submission to the 2010 Academy Awards. After 25 years, Cinemateca Uruguaya is forced to close due to lack of support. Its most dedicated employee (real-life Uruguayan critic Jorge Jellinek) has devoted his life to caring for his beloved arthouse cinema, and now finds he needs to get a new life. Veiroj’s first feature film, Acne, was awarded the Films in Progress TVE Award at the 2007 San Sebastián International Film Festival, premiered at the Directors’ Fortnight in Cannes and went on to receive the Grand Jury Prize at the 2008 AFI Festival in Los Angeles. This is his second feature film.
Belvedere
dir. Ahmed Imamovic'
(Bosnia & Herzegovina)
A widow in the Belvedere refugee camp tries to forget the tragedy of the past war even as she continues to search for the remains of her husband and son. “An emotionally rich portrait of war’s troubled aftermath....” This is Imamovic's second feature. His first feature, Go West, won the Audience Award for Best Film at the 2006 Bosnian-Herzegovinian Film Festival in New York.
Dooman River
dir. Zhang Lu
(China)
In rural China, 12-year-old Chang-ho lives with his grandfather and mute sister along the frozen river-border with North Korea. Chang-ho bonds over soccer with one young border-crosser who co
mes scavenging food. “An exquisitely detailed story of compassion and strife across an uneasy geopolitical border.” Zhang made his feature debut with Tang Poetry in 2004. His second film, Grain in Ear, was invited to the 2005 Critics’ Week in Cannes, where it won the ACID/CCAS Support Award. This is his fifth film.
The Invisible Eye / La Mirada Invisible
dir. Diego Lerman
(Argentina)
Set during Argentina’s military regime of the 1980s, a lonely and deeply repressed assistant teacher at an elite Buenos Aires private school becomes obsessed with one of her students, despite “the school’s rigid code of conduct and proud identification with the nation state.” Lerman’s first feature film, Suddenly, was awarded the Silver Leopard at the Locarno International Film Festival. In 2008, he co-founded the production company Campo Cine with Nicolas Avruj.
The Tenants / Os Inquilinos
dir. Sérgio Bianchi
(Brazil)
A manual laborer/night student and his family live a relatively contented life in working-class São Paulo, until some young criminals move in next door. The real meaning of “there goes the neighborhood” as a community deals with both real and imagined dangers in an increasingly chaotic atmosphere. Bianchi began his career in film and photography in 1972. In addition to several short films, his features include Romance, The Secret Cause and Chronically Unfeasible.
The White Meadows / Keshtzar Haye Sepid
dir. Mohammad Rasoulof
(Iran)
Rahmat the boatman “navigates the increasingly brackish waters of a coastal land, collecting the heartaches and tears of its inhabitants.” This is Rasoulof’s third film. His first feature film is the docudrama The Twilight. His feature, Iron Island, was selected for the Directors’ Fortnight in Cannes. He also directed Head Wind, a documentary about the restrictions currently imposed in Iran on using satellites and the Internet.
The Global Film Initiative promotes cross-cultural understanding through the medium of cinema. Global Lens is “a project conceived to encourage filmmaking in countries with emerging film communities. The selection of nine programs, which include films developed with seed money from GFI, represents a concise survey of contemporary filmmaking from areas where local economic realities make such expensive and technology-driven endeavors a challenge.
Accomplished, entertaining, and thought-provoking, the films are also deeply rooted in the social and political realities of the countries where their talented and resourceful makers live and set their stories.”
For further information on the Initiative, please visit: http://globalfilm.org.
For more information about Global Lens 2011, also visit www.moma.org/film.
Global Lens 2011
January 13–28, 2011
The Museum of Modern Art
11 W. 53rd Street
New York, NY
(212) 708-9400
