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 November 19, 2008 "Mary and Max" to Open 2009 Sundance Film Festival
The world premiere of "Mary and Max," a clay animation freature from Academy Award-winning short creators Adam Elliot and producer Melanie Coombs will kick off the 25th Sundance Film Festival on January 15th in Park City, Utah. The feature stars Philip Seymour Hoffman and Toni Collette with narration by Barry Humphries. [ read more in On The Scene ] [ 0 comments ] [ filed under Festival News, Lead Story, Park City ] November 10, 2008 PARK CITY '09 | In the Wake of Prop 8, Film Community & Fest Organizers Defend Sundance Amidst Talk of Boycott
With about a week to go before programmers internally lock the lineup for the 2009 Sundance Film Festival, organizers are carefully navigating calls for a boycott of the annual event. Talk of a boycott emerged via blogs last week, including Huffington Post and AmericaBlog, in the wake of anger and frustration over the passage of California ballot Proposition 8 halting same sex marriages in the state. Members of the indie film community immediately came to the festival's defense today, including filmmmaker Allison Anders ("Mi Vida Loca," "Gas, Food Lodging"), who said, "To boycott the festival which has been the home for all diverse voices to be presented on the screen is dangerously backward thinking." [ read more in On The Scene ] [ 19 comments ] [ filed under Festival News, Lead Story, On The Scene, Park City ] October 1, 2008 Sundance Halts Online Fest Initiative; Short Filmmakers Kept in the Dark by Aggregator Mediastile
The Sundance Film Festival has ended its relationship with new media aggregator Mediastile Inc. after the company repeatedly failed to send royalty payments and traffic reports to Sundance directors who screened films online via iTunes, Netflix and XBox LIVE. Over the weekend, Sundance organizers e-mailed filmmakers to confirm the shift, leaving them to resolve their individual situations with Mediastile, which controls digital rights to their work. The decision affects at least 45 filmmakers who had opted to put their work online after also being accepted to screen at Sundance this year, as well as another crop from the 2007 festival. [ read more in On The Scene ] [ 1 comments ] [ filed under Festival News, Lead Story, Park City, Shorts ] September 29, 2008 REVIEW | Looking for Stability in a Soggy Mississippi: Lance Hammer's "Ballast"
[EDITOR'S NOTE: Anthony Kaufman reviewed "Ballast" at this year's Sundance Film Festival, the film opens in limited release this week.] The cool, wet misty plains of the Mississippi Delta offer little comfort to the three protagonists of art-director Lance Hammer's bracing feature debut "Ballast." In fact, the desolate surroundings--yards with broken cars, fields with no harvest, decrepit gas stations--only further reflect their downtrodden condition. But by the time this remarkably sure-footed first film is finished, a slight glimmer of hopefulness arises among the psychological and physical turmoil. [ read more in Movies ] [ 1 comments ] [ filed under Park City, Reviews ] August 1, 2008 PARK CITY '08 REVIEW | Women of the Year: Courtney Hunt's "Frozen River"
EDITORS NOTE: This review of Sundance Film Festival grand jury prize winner "Frozen River" was originally published during festival. As Ray Eddy, the heroine of filmmaker Courtney Hunt's riveting melodrama "Frozen River;" a working-class mom in Upstate New York trying to care for two sons after her husband skips out with the family savings, actress Melissa Leo sports a nose turned red from the winter cold. She has creased cheekbones weathered by hard living and tattoos on her thin body. Leo is the female embodiment of harsh New York winters and the impoverished rural communities along the St. Lawrence River. But don't think for a second that Leo's unforgettable lead performance in "Frozen River" is purely a physical one. As Ray, the type of workingwoman seldom seen in movies, Leo shows a fiery passion to do right by her sons and emotional power bright enough for ten movie dramas. [ read more in Movies ] [ 0 comments ] [ filed under Lead Story, Park City, Reviews ] July 7, 2008 PARK CITY '09 | Sundance Fest: Early Deadline, August 8th
The early submission deadline for all films for the 2009 Sundance Film Festival is August 18th, while the final deadline is September 5th for shorts and September 8th features. Festival organizers are reporting no significant changes in eligibility requirements for the festival, but additional details are available in the 2009 Submissions FAQ.  [permalink] [ filed under Festivals, Park City ] July 1, 2008 REVIEW | High Times in the 90's: Jonathan Levine's "The Wackness"
This review was originally published during the 2008 Sundance Film Festival. A filmmaker who matters is someone capable of re-invigorating genres with spunk and a playful lack of caution. That's Jonathan Levine, who wowed the 2006 Toronto International Film Festival audiences with his gory, sly horror film "All the Boys Love Mandy Lane." His follow up is even better, the high-energy coming-of-age tale "The Wackness," a fun-loving movie that audiences will find impossible to resist. [ read more in Movies ] [ 4 comments ] [ filed under Lead Story, Park City, Reviews ] April 12, 2008HR | Sony gets some 'Sugar'
Sony Pictures Classics has acquired Anna Boden and Ryan Fleck's "Sugar," according to The Hollywood Reporter. The deal marks the fourth feature acquisition out of this year's Sundance Film Festival for SPC, after nabbing Jonathan Levine's "The Wackness," Courtney Hunt's "Frozen River" and The Duplass Brothers' "Baghead." [permalink] [ filed under Acquisitions, Park City ] March 4, 2008iW NEWS | ThinkFilm Takes "Momma's Man"
Azazel Jacob's "Momma's Man" has been acquired by ThinkFilm in a deal for North American rights, the company confirmed today. A Sundance Film Festival debut earlier this year, the film will screen this month at the New Directors/New Films series and then have an exclusive release later this year. It tells the story of Mikey, a young man who returns to the comfort of his parents and the home where he grew up instead of rejoining his own wife and newborn baby in Los Angeles. For the deal, ThinkFilm is reteaming with some of the backers of their 2006 release, "Half Nelson." The film was produced by Alex Orlovsky, Hunter Gray, and executive producer Paul Mezey. The pact, brokered by Cinetic Media, was negotiated by the company's Mark Urman, Randy Manis and Ben Stambler. Reviewing the film for indieWIRE during Sundance, Rob Nelson called "Momma's Man" an, "exceptionally tender, funny, and poignant New York indie." [Eugene Hernandez] [permalink] [ filed under Acquisitions, Park City ] February 4, 2008IFC Gets "Ballast" Ahead of Berlinale
IFC Films today announced the acquisition of Lance Hammer's 2008 Sundance Film Festival dramatic competition debut, "Ballast." The company has acquired North American rights to the movie, which is set to screen in competition at the upcoming Berlinale. The deal was negotiated by VP of acquisitions Arianna Bocco and William Morris Independent's Cassian Elwes. Asked what prompted the idea for this film, in an interview with indieWIRE, director Hammer said recently, "The Mississippi Delta in winter is a cold and austere flatscape - almost lunar. Vast cotton acreages are fallow and devoid of human activity. The flatness is interrupted only by occasional hardwood outcroppings, which are grey and leafless. The skies are steel and saturated with rain. There is an energetic resonance in the Delta that moves me, especially in the winter. It is something that I cannot easily articulate but has to do with a sense of sorrow, and the dignity of endurance in the face of sorrow. It's quite palpable...I'm hopeful that some of this tone has been conveyed with this iteration." [permalink] [ filed under Acquisitions, Berlin, Park City ] February 1, 2008 PARK CITY '08 REVIEW | Broken Mountain: Matthew Stanton's "North Starr"
A laundry list of missteps including sloppy editing, poor supporting performances and lethargic storytelling qualifies Matthew Stanton's directing debut "North Starr" as a gigantic bust. The fact that "North Star' tackles worthy themes involving racism and the need for tolerance makes its flaws all the more disappointing. After watching his best friend murdered, Demetrious (Jerome Hawkins) flees Houston. He pays a taxi driver to take him as far away as possible, ending up in Trublin, a small town in rural Texas. Some of Trublin's residents do their best to harass Demetrious. But Darring (Matthew Stanton), a local ranch hand, offers Demetrious work at the North Starr farm and a chance to adapt to a new place and lifestyle. Demetrious suffers from repeated nightmares and it slowly becomes clear that Trublin plays a role. [ read more in Movies ] [ 1 comments ] [ filed under Park City, Reviews ] January 31, 2008  More from PARK CITY '08 | Leiner & Levine
Sony Pictures Classics' Dylan Leiner and director Jonathan Levine (right) made the rounds during the awards after-party last Saturday night. Earlier that evening, iW learned that SPC had picked up rights to Levine's Sundance competition film, "The Wackness," starring Josh Peck, Sir Ben Kingsley, Famke Janssen and Mary Kate Olsen. Anthony Kaufman reported on SPC's busy dealmaking in a recent article. [ read more in iPOP ] [ 0 comments ] [ filed under Park City, Sundance Film Festival ]  More from PARK CITY '08 | Trouble The Water Folks at the Awards
"Trouble The Water" folks had a good night last Saturday in Park City, picking up the best doc prize at the Sundance Film Festival. Directors Tia Lessin and Carl Deal were joined by Scott Roberts (middle), one of the subjects of the Hurricane Katrina doc. Roberts and his wife, Kimberly had a debut of their own at Sundance, when she gave birth hours after the world premiere of the film. [ read more in iPOP ] [ 0 comments ] [ filed under Park City, Sundance Film Festival ]  PARK CITY '08 REVIEW | Chit-Chat Love: Geoff Haney's "The Last Word."
They banter constantly, the cerebral, soft-spoken Evan (Wes Bentley) and his high-energy, somewhat needy girlfriend Charlotte (Winona Ryder). Quiet or subtlety has no place in their relationship or in writer/director Geoff Haley's oddball romantic comedy "The Last Word." But constant chatter is not the same as fully developed storytelling. "Last Word," Haley's debut feature after his 2002 short film "The Parlor," claims a clever idea but never develops into fully drawn storytelling. Evan Merck (Bentley) lives a solitary existence as the writer of other people's suicide notes. His reclusive existence in a drab downtown Los Angeles apartment changes after meeting Charlotte (Ryder), a dead client's sister. An awkward romance blossoms but Evan keeps his job as a suicide note scribe secret. More importantly, he does not want Charlotte to know that her younger brother was a recent client. [ read more in Movies ] [ 0 comments ] [ filed under Lead Story, Park City, Reviews ] January 30, 2008 More from PARK CITY '08 | Diego Praises the Cinematographer
Actor Diego Luna took to the stage at the Sundance awards ceremony last weekend after serving as a juror for the dramatic competition (headed by Quentin Tarantino). Among the winners who received their prizes Saturday night was Lol Crawley (left) who won the "Excellence in Cinematography Award: Dramatic" for his work in Lance Hammer's praised "Ballast." Here, the two get chummy at the after-party... [ read more in iPOP ] [ 1 comments ] [ filed under Park City, Sundance Film Festival ]  More from PARK CITY '08 | Sundance Views a "Good Dick"
Scottish director Marianna Palka along with actors Tom Arnold and Jason Ritter at the Racquet Club during the Sundance Film Festival following a screening of their dramatic competition film, "Good Dick." Palka said that the idea "just came to me" and that she wrote the romance feature so she could act in it, then added, "as I was writing it, I figured I could direct it and produce it too..." During the post-screening Q&A, Tom Arnold, ever the comedian, chimed in, "So Marianna, does Jason have an 8 1/2 inch dick?" [ read more in iPOP ] [ 0 comments ] [ filed under Park City, Sundance Film Festival ]  PARK CITY '08 REVIEW | Crazy/Beautiful: Anthony Haney-Jardine's "Anywhere, USA"
High Art crashes into "The Dukes of Hazzard" in writer/director Anthony Haney-Jardine's "Anywhere, USA," the most unusual of the dramatic competition films at this year's Sundance Film Festival. On one level, "Anywhere" is experimental hokum, a parade of Southern stereotypes and trailer park jokes. Yet, beneath the trashy humor and broad-stroke characters, "Anywhere" claims striking visual beauty, a standout performance and pride in its Ashville, NC locations and residents. [ read more in Movies ] [ 0 comments ] [ filed under Lead Story, Park City, Reviews ] January 29, 2008 PARK CITY '08 | Sundance Buying Spree Stirs Talk; Sony Classics Adds "Baghead," "River," and "Wackness" to '08 Slate
In a Sundance year that saw buyers zeroing in on a small handful of titles like "Hamlet 2," "American Teen," and "Choke," each going to a different Indiewood company, Sony Pictures Classics' slow-and-steady approach yielded a bounty of three notable acquisitions late in the festival. "Frozen River," which went onto win the Grand Jury Prize, and "Baghead," the Duplass brother's comedy, were bought for a song by comparison (low-to-mid six figure sums each), while the Sundance audience award winner "The Wackness," an early '90s-set hip-hop coming-of-age dramedy from the director of "All the Boys Love Mandy Lane," was purchased for upwards of seven figures. The news has had insiders, observers (and bloggers) buzzing. [ read more in Biz ] [ 4 comments ] [ filed under Acquistions, Lead Story, Park City ]  PARK CITY '08 REVIEW | American Wine: Randall Miller's "Bottle Shock"
Does every film festival get the wine movie it deserves? Four years ago, Cannes popped the cork on Jonathan Nossiter's "Mondovino," a rich and full-bodied documentary wherein the subject of winemaking was mainly a means to explore the buzz-kill of globalization and to toast anti-Americanism (at least according to tipsy American critics). Now, with a tip of the glass to "Sideways," Sundance is pouring "Bottle Shock," whose fact-based tale of a Napa vineyard's unlikely splash in our Bicentennial year, sending the French scurrying back to their grapes, tastes more "American" than freedom fries. As this year's very real market woes turn faith in our exports to escapist fantasy, successful distribution in the U.S. seems all but assured, a slot in Cannes or Venice about as likely as an award-winning Carlo Rossi. [ read more in Movies ] [ 1 comments ] [ filed under Lead Story, Park City, Reviews ] January 28, 2008PARK CITY '08 | Catching Up: 100+ Dispatches, Buzz, Photos, Notebooks, Reviews, and Interviews From Sundance '08
The 2008 Sundance Film Festival came to a close on Sunday night in Park City, UT and indieWIRE is wrapping up its coverage this week. Our dispatches, reviews, interviews, news, photos and buzz from Park City '07 included more than 100 articles and buzz items about Sundance and Slamdance 2008, iPOP photos and feature articles. We invite you to check out indieWIRE's coverage from Park City. [ read more in On The Scene ] [ 0 comments ] [ filed under Festival Dispatches, Lead Story, Park City ]  PARK CITY '08 | "Ballast" Takes some Nods
"Ballast" had a good night Saturday with two wins. The film picked up the cinematography prize as well as the directing prize (dramatic) for Lance Hammer who took to the stage at the awards ceremony in Park City. [ read more in iPOP ] [ 0 comments ] [ filed under Lead Story, Park City, Sundance Film Festival ]  PARK CITY '08 | "American Son" at Closing Night
"American Son" director Neil Abramson and producer Danielle Renfrew joined the fun at the awards night after-party Saturday night. Everyone danced, ate and drank and even commented on the go-go dancers... [ read more in iPOP ] [ 0 comments ] [ filed under Park City, Sundance Film Festival ]  PARK CITY '08 REVIEW | Love Rollercoaster: Dennis Dortch's "A Good Day to Be Black & Sexy"
Six vignettes make up "A Good Day to Be Black & Sexy" and as is always the case with omnibus storytelling, some of writer/director Dennis Dortch's LA-based stories of men, women and their sexual battles are better than others. What's undeniably consistent about "Black & Sexy," premiering in the Dramatic Spectrum at the Sundance Film Festival, is its narrative verve, honest approach to bad adult behavior, visual pizzazz, easygoing performances and lively funk soundtrack. [ read more in Movies ] [ 0 comments ] [ filed under Lead Story, Park City, Reviews ] January 27, 2008 PARK CITY '08 REVIEW | Dancing Fool: Stanley Tucci's "Blind Date"
Ordinary conversations between actor/director Stanley Tucci and his past collaborator actress Patricia Clarkson would be joys to behold compared to Tucci's creative stumble, a backwards remake of late filmmaker Theo Van Gogh's 1996 couples drama "Blind Date." Tucci and Clarkson have displayed liveliness and passion on plenty of occasions. But as Don and Janna, an unhappy married couple that answers each other's fake classified ads as a means to re-spark their relationship, they surprisingly, fail to click. [ read more in Movies ] [ 0 comments ] [ filed under Park City, Reviews ]  PARK CITY '08 | Tarantino Commands the Stage
Dramatic jury head Quentin Tarantino provided a round of laughs as he took to the stage Saturday night in Park City to present the winner of the jury award for best feature (awarded to "Frozen River" by Courtney Hunt). He reminisced that when he came to Park City with "Reservoir Dogs" he never won an award, "and it felt shitty..." The charismatic director even stuck around for the after-party chatting up fest-goers and posing for pics. [ read more in iPOP ] [ 2 comments ] [ filed under Park City, Sundance Film Festival ]  PARK CITY '08 | And the winners kiss....
Director Courtney Hunt received a nice smooch from her leading lady Melissa Leo after their film "Frozen River" won the dramatic competition prize at Sundance Saturday night. The festival really stepped up the party this year... Usually the food and drinks are pretty minimal and most people take off to private gatherings at condos, but this year's Western-themed awards party included a ton o' food and a decent bar. Plus some hot bartenders... [ read more in iPOP ] [ 0 comments ] [ filed under Park City, Sundance Film Festival ]  PARK CITY '08 DISPATCH | "Frozen River" and "Trouble The Water" Win Top Prizes at Sundance '08, "Man On Wire" Wins World Doc Jury and Audience Awards
Courtney Hunt's "Frozen River" won the dramatic grand jury prize and Tia Lessin and Carl Deal's "Trouble The Water" won the documentary grand jury prize at the 2008 Sundance Film Festival tonight. The dramatic audience award went to Jonathan Levine's "The Wackness," while the documentary audience award went to Josh Tickell's "Fields of Fuel." In the world cinema documentary competition, James Marsh's "Man on Wire" won both the grand jury prize and the audience award, while the world cinema dramatic jury prize went to Jens Jonsson's "King of Ping Pong" ("Ping Pongkingen") and the dramatic audience award went to Amin Matalqa's "Captain Abu Raed." [ read more in On The Scene ] [ 2 comments ] [ filed under Festival Dispatches, Lead Story, Park City ]  PARK CITY '08 NOTEBOOK | Overlooked Frontier and Midnight Sections Offers Standout "Half Life" and Well-Directed "The Broken"
While the Sundance 2008 comes to close and the air clears around the buzz for the big sales out of the premiere and competition sections, the often wrongly overlooked New Frontiers and Midnight programs float to the surface as some of the year's most interesting offerings. [ read more in Movies ] [ 0 comments ] [ filed under Festival Dispatch, Lead Story, Park City ] January 26, 2008PARK CITY '08, 6:19 p.m. | Sony Classics Closing "Wackness" Pact
Buzz from the Awards ceremony... Sony Pictures Classics is closing a deal for North American rights to Jonathan Levine's 2008 Sundance Film Festival Dramatic Competition entry, "The Wackness," according to insiders. The deal, being brokered by CAA, is expected to be announced soon. Sony Classics has had a busy festival, acquiring Courtney Hunt's Dramatic Competition entry "Frozen River" and also nabbing The Duplass Brothers "Baghead" from the Spectrum section. [Eugene Hernandez] [permalink] [ filed under Acquisitions, Park City ]  PARK CITY '08 REVIEW | Kicking and Screaming: Azazel Jacobs' "Momma's Man"
The year's prevailing Sundance theme--young males kicking and screaming their way into acceptance of adult duties and/or downward mobility--finds one of its fullest expressions in "Momma's Man," director Azazel Jacobs's exceptionally tender, funny, and poignant New York indie. Like "Sugar," and "Ballast," the festival's other great narrative films, Jacobs's low-fi third feature forges unique stylistic territory for the American independent film while specifically recalling such disparate classics as Alexander Sokurov's "Mother and Son" and Albert Brooks's woefully underrated "Mother." Jacobs's work is a rare cinematic expression of heartfelt matriphilia; someone in the industry with love to spare needs to pick up this gifted orphan right away. [ read more in Movies ] [ 0 comments ] [ filed under Park City, Reviews ] PARK CITY '08, 3:01 p.m. | "Man on Wire" Stir Audiences, Buyers
Doc buzz continues... Buyers were drawn to a Noon time Sundance Film Festival screening of James Marsh's accaimed BBC Storyville/Discovery documentary "Man on Wire" at the Holiday Village theater today. Spotted in the audience were execs from Picturehouse, Warner Independent Pictures, and Sony Pictures Classics. The film, being sold at Sundance by Sumbarine, captures the dramatic tightrop walk of Philippe Petit atop a wire stretched 200 feet between the two World Trade Center towers in 1974. Enthusiastically received at Saturday's screening, Petit smiled and proclaimed to the crowd, "I am an artistic criminal." Insiders are weighing offers on the film, in the wake of recent fest screenings, projecting a deal to close in the coming days. [Eugene Hernandez] [permalink] [ filed under Acquisitions, Documentary, Park City ] iW NEWS | "Kicking It" Links Theatrical, DVD, Streaming, and TV Pacts with Liberation, Netflix/Red Envelope and ESPN
Jay Boberg's Liberation Entertainment has acquired North American theatrical rights to Susan Koch's doc, "Kicking It" at the Sundance Film Festival, joining forces with Netflix's Red Envelope Entertainment and ESPN for the film's release. In a unique deal brokered by CAA and Submarine, immediately following the theatrical release Netflix will distribute the film to its subscribers on DVD and via online streaming simultaneous with the ESPN broadcast. The sports network, which announced its acquisition of worldwide broadcast rights at the start of this year's Sundance festival, will work closely with Netflix to cross promote the day-and-date release of the film. The story of seven players from six countries competing in the 4th Annual Homeless World Cup, the soccer story was produced by Ted Leonsis. [Eugene Hernandez] [permalink] [ filed under Acquisitions, Documentary, Park City ]  PARK CITY '08 | Perry in Town for "Birds"
Actor Matthew Perry was among the bevy of star wattage that descended on Sundance this year, though he was in town in support of his role in Craig Lucas' (right) Spectrum film "Birds of America." Lucas wrote "The Secret Lives of Dentists" in 2003 as well as "Longtime Companion" in 1990, which won an audience award. Also joining the pair here is actress Danielle Lindberg. [ read more in iPOP ] [ 0 comments ] [ filed under Park City, Sundance Film Festival ]  PARK CITY '08 | Provincetown in Park City
There's the Sundance of celebrity, the Sundance of business deals, the Sundance of those awful branding house nightmares that have raised the cheese factor in the nighttime party scene to the umpteenth degree, as well as the Sundance of festival programmers, who descend on Park City in search of new work that they will program for their festival. Among them, Andrew Peterson, director of programming at the Provincetown International Film Festival (top right) and Connie White who heads the fest (bottom right), which will be having its 10th anniversary edition this June. Joining them were Howard Karren (advisory board member) from Premier and the Sundance Channel's SVP for PR, Sarah Eaton. [ read more in iPOP ] [ 0 comments ] [ filed under Park City, Sundance Film Festival ]  PARK CITY '08 NOTEBOOK | Slamdance Docs "Dear Zachary" and "My Mother's Garden" Offer Personal Stories; "Portage" and "Jetsam" Thrill
There's a certain intensity to low budget productions that often heightens their impact. At the Slamdance Film Festival, where singular vision overwhelms the importance of name talent and studio appeal, a number of sturdy entries achieve their cogent artistic intentions with focused minimalism. This is especially true for the documentaries and thrillers, two genres of filmmaking that work best with a heavy component of realism. The particular smallness of these movies fits their varying content. [ read more in Movies ] [ 0 comments ] [ filed under Lead Story, Park City, Reviews ]  PARK CITY '08 REVIEW | Cat's Out of the Bag: David and Nathan Zellner's "Goliath"
"Goliath," co-directed by brothers David and Nathan Zellner, is an experimental film in appearance, tempo and most importantly spirit. Its tale, about a sad sack of a man (David Zellner) searching for his beloved lost cat Goliath, is something chancy filmmaker Harmony Korine would love. Yet, midway into the film, the Zellner Brothers (David Zellner also wrote the screenplay) abandon their film's lovely quirkiness for more conventional, beginning-middle-end narrative drama. It's a bold misstep because the subtle, lingering "Goliath," premiering in Dramatic Spectrum at the Sundance Film Festival, lacks the emotional heft necessary for ordinary storytelling. "Goliath's" strengths are its oddest qualities. When the Zellners attempt to play matters straight, even attempting a melodramatic climax, "Goliath" loses much of the spark that made it irreverent fun in the first place. [ read more in Movies ] [ 2 comments ] [ filed under Park City, Reviews ] January 25, 2008iW NEWS | "The New Year Parade," "Song Sung Blue" Lead Slamdance's Awards
The 14th annual Slamdance Film Festival has announced 15 film and screenplay prize winners in three categories who will share more than $200,000 in cash and prizes, plus, for one winner, guaranteed production of a feature film. The just-concluded festival received over 3,500 submissions from 25 countries for less than 100 programming slots. Notable winners include Tom Quinn's "The New Year Parade," which was awarded the Grand Jury Award for best narrative feature, and Greg Kohs' "Song Sung Blue," which won the Grand Jury Award for best documentary feature. Audience awards were given to Ryan Piotrowicz's "The Project" in the narrative feature category, and "Song Sung Blue" in the documentary category. indieWIRE will be publish another dispatch from Slamdance on Saturday morning. [Peter Knegt] [permalink] [ filed under Honors, Park City ]  PARK CITY '08 DISPATCH | Name Actors Not Needed: "Baghead," "Ballast," "Momma's Man" Shine in Park City
Back in 2005 at the Sundance Film Festival, The Duplass Brothers' "The Puffy Chair" debuted rather quietly here in Park City. At the time, the low-budget indie reminded many of the sort of sleeper that specialty companies would have quickly plucked from the festival a few years earlier, yet it took some 18 months before the film would eventually make it to theaters. This year, things seem different. At a Sundance Film Festival in which buyers and audiences alike are seemingly rejecting a number of big-budget, star-driven films made outside the studio system, Jay Duplass and Mark Duplass' latest low-budget comedy, "Baghead" was quickly acquired for North American distribution just days after its Park City premiere. Competing against a number of other companies, Sony Classics swifty secured a deal for the film. [ read more in On The Scene ] [ 2 comments ] [ filed under Festival Dispatches, Lead Story, Park City ] iW NEWS | "Sleep Dealer" Takes Sundance Prize
The 2008 Sundance Film Festival announced that Alex Rivera's "Sleep Dealer" is the winner of this year's Alfred P. Sloan Prize. The prize carries a $20,000 cash award for the filmmakers, and is presented to "an outstanding feature film focusing on science or technology as a theme, or depicting a scientist, engineer or mathematician as a major character." indieWIRE reviewed the film and interviewed the director earlier this week. The prize will be presented during Sundance's awards ceremony Saturday, January 26, 2008. [Peter Knegt] [permalink] [ filed under Honors, Park City ]  PARK CITY '08 REVIEW | Up, Up and Away: Paul Schneider's "Pretty Bird"
Smart, sharp and lovely to watch, "Pretty Bird," premiering in dramatic competition at the Sundance Film Festival, is all one can hope for from an actor making the transition to feature filmmaking. Paul Schneider may not be a household name due to his starring role in another Sundance film, David Gordon Green's 2003 romance "All the Real Girls," or supporting roles in studio films "Elizabethtown," "The Family Stone" and "The Assassination of Jesse James by the Coward Robert Ford." But by stepping behind the camera, writing and directing the lively huckster tale "Pretty Bird," Schneider enters a new chapter in his film career, one of promise, excitement and perhaps, the chance to make a welcome contribution to American independent film. [ read more in Movies ] [ 0 comments ] [ filed under Park City, Reviews ]  PARK CITY '08 NOTEBOOK | Under Construction: The Nonfiction New Wave Takes Root at Sundance
At the end of a recent blog posting, Premiere film critic Glenn Kenny wondered aloud about some of the documentaries he'd seen at the Sundance Film Festival. Summing up his thoughts on Nanette Burstein's hit "American Teen" Kenny wrote "Burstein's trim, fast-moving film utilizes tricks and techniques that would give old-schoolers such as Wiseman and the Maysles Brothers rage attacks. The pop soundtrack, the voiceovers, the graphic collages, the animation sequences illustrating the dreams and desires of some of its subjects...none of it's a surprise, coming as it does from the co-director of the Bob Evans fantasia "The Kid Stays in the Picture," but all of it does raise the question of just how documentary is defining itself these days." Kenny's questioning reflects a decades-old discussion, often fueled by film critics (and sometimes by journalists or by some within the documentary community) over the use of construction -- created or recreated content -- within the context of nonfiction filmmaking. Often this is accompanied with a similar name check of a veteran filmmaker, with the implicit understanding that construction represents a shift in tradition within the genre. [ read more in Movies ] [ 2 comments ] [ filed under Documentary, Festival Dispatch, Lead Story, Park City ] iW NEWS | Anchor Bay Scares up Rights to Slamdance Horror "Jack Brooks"
Writer/director Jon Knautz' Slamdance Film Festival horror/comedy "Jack Brooks: Monster Slayer" has been acquired by Anchor Bay Entertainment in a mid six-figure deal with a theatrical commitment, the festival announced Friday afternoon. The deal was negotiated by Shaun Redick and Nate Bolotin of the Collective with Anchor Bay's Mark Ward. Several distributors pursued the film, according to Slamdance. Starring Trevor Matthews and Robert Englund ("Nightmare on Elm Street"), the film is described as a "nostalgic throwback to the classic '80s horror-comedy creature features." [Brian Brooks] [permalink] [ filed under Acquisitions, Park City ]  PARK CITY '08 REVIEW | Hope Despite A Cold Despair: Tom Hines's "Chronic Town"
A constant haze of icy mist and cigarette smoke brings director Tom Hines' emotionally raw relationship drama "Chronic Town" beautiful grimness and undeniable power. Yet, just as the sliver of a moon hanging over cold, harsh Fairbanks, Alaska is a sign of welcome beauty, there's also a sliver of hope for "Chronic Town's" troubled protagonist Truman (JR Bourne). [ read more in Movies ] [ 0 comments ] [ filed under Park City, Reviews ] iW NEWS | Sony Classics Bags "Baghead" for North America
In a late night deal concluded Thursday night, Sony Pictures Classics has acquired all North American rights to Sundance Film Festival Spectrum feature "Baghead" by Mark and Jay Duplass, an insider close to the deal confirmed. The deal, brokered by Submarine, is understood to be a mid to high six-figure pact. Others understood to be pursuing the horror/comedy hybrid include IFC, Netflix, Picturehouse, Samuel Goldwyn and Sony Pictures Worldwide Acquisition Group. In "Baghead," four struggling actors head to a cabin in the woods to write a screenplay with roles for themselves and are thrust into a bizarre situation they could not have imagined. Sony Classics reps were not available for comment. [Brian Brooks] [permalink] [ filed under Acquisitions, Park City ] January 24, 2008 PARK CITY '08 DISPATCH | Queer Cinema Then and Now at Sundance '08
A rather staggering forty-four films with either GLBT themes or a GLBT director are screening at this year's Sundance Film Festival, including new works from directors Tom Kalin ("Savage Grace"), Isaac Julien's "Derek"), Bruce LaBruce ("Otto; Or Up With Dead People"), producer Christine Vachon, as well as a screening of Gregg Araki's remastered "The Living End." The films inspired a reunion of sorts at this year's festival, anchored on Saturday night with a dinner celebrating the group of queer films. In remarks during dinner B. Ruby Rich, who coined the term "New Queer Cinema" at a Sundance panel in 1992, emotionally proclaimed the room as "filled with history." [ read more in On The Scene ] [ 1 comments ] [ filed under Festival Dispatches, Lead Story, Park City, Queer Cinema ]  PARK CITY '08 | "August" on Main
Director Austin Chick ("XX/XY") returns to the Sundance Film Festival with his Spectrum feature, "August," about an aggressive dot-com entrepreneur struggling to keep his head above water as the bottom falls out of the market during the tech bubble bust. The film stars Josh Hartnett and Adam Scott (right). [ read more in iPOP ] [ 0 comments ] [ filed under Park City, Sundance Film Festival ] iW NEWS | Sundance/NHK International Filmmakers Awards Winners Announced
The Sundance Institute and NHK (Japan Broadcasting Corporation) announced the winners of the 2008 Sundance/NHK International Filmmakers Awards. The four winners were selected from 12 finalists by an international jury which included Gregg Araki, Jeremy Pikser, Erin Cressida Wilson, Martin Rejtman, Andrucha Waddington, Shekhar Kapur and Anand Tucker. The winners were Alejandro Fernandez for "Huacho," Braden King for "Here," Aiko Nagastu for "Apoptosis" and Radu Jude for "The Happiest Girl in the World." These annual awards were created in 1996 to honor and support visionary film directors from four global regions (Europe, Latin America, the United States, and Japan) in realizing their next projects. The winning director from each region will receive a $10,000 award and a guarantee from NHK to purchase the Japanese television broadcast rights upon completion of their project. The four winners are presented with the award at the annual Sundance Film Festival Awards Ceremony on Saturday, January 26. [Peter Knegt] [permalink] [ filed under Honors, Park City ]  PARK CITY '08 | "Mancora" All Together
The folks from world cinema dramatic competition film "Mancora" huddled together for a shot between television interviews earlier in the week off Main Street. The road movie/love story/spiritual odyssey takes place in Peru. Pictured left to right: director Ricardo de Montreuil, and actors Jason Day, Elsa Pataky, Enrique Murciano, Liz Gellardo and Diego Ojeda (producer). [ read more in iPOP ] [ 0 comments ] [ filed under Park City, Sundance Film Festival ]  PARK CITY '08 SHORTS COLUMN | International Shorts and Five-Minute-or-Less Flicks Dominate Sundance
In 2007, the Sundance Film Festival programmed 28 international short films. This year, a record number of 42 international shorts make up the 2008 Sundance Film Festival roster. While world cinema representation has expanded, running time of the 83 official short film selections has shrunk, with 25% clocking in at five minutes or less. And with only eight films exceeding the twenty-minute mark, it's clear that extremely-short shorts are enjoying a comeback in Park City. "I've always felt that anyone who is truly interested in independent film should pay attention to shorts," notes Sundance founder Robert Redford in this year's festival catalogue. "They are often an indication of what's coming down the creative pike." [ read more in Movies ] [ 0 comments ] [ filed under Lead Story, Monthly Short Film Column, Park City ] iW NEWS | NeoClassics Takes Slamdance Thriller "Crooked Lake"
Worldwide rights (excluding Canada) for Slamdance action/thriller "Crooked Lake aka Portage" have been acquired by Canadian-based distributor NeoClassics Films Ltd. The film, written and directed by Matthew Miller, Sascha Drews and Erzra Krybus. is described as "a coming of age story about four 14-year-old girls who encounter death and overcome extreme adversity on a Summertime canoe trip to the north woods, where everything that can go wrong does." NeoClassics plans a June theatrical release in the States in "key cities" in June. Based in Vancouver with operations run from the Culver City offices of its U.S. subsidiary, NeoClassics is initially distributing directly to theaters in the U.S. with plans to add direct theatrical distribution in Canada and the U.K. It sells all other rights worldwide. [Brian Brooks] [permalink] [ filed under Acquisitions, Park City ]  PARK CITY '08 | Kodak and the Filmmakers
Kodak held its annual Sundance bash at the Riverhorse on Main Street (affectionately called 'the horse') though this year it succumbed to the branding house virus and became the Bon Apetit house, though we must say the food was good and not nearly as cheesy as most of the other branding nightmares on Main. Anyway, among the guests were filmmaker (and frequent festival iPOPper) Benjamin Piety (left) whose short, "Sunlit Shadows" is screening at the festival. Also joining him are D.P. Scott Uhlfelder and executive producer/editor, Morgan Gross (right). [ read more in iPOP ] [ 0 comments ] [ filed under Park City, Sundance Film Festival ]  PARK CITY '08 | Dinner with Stella and "Bottle Shock"
Stella Artois hosted its annual media dinner at the posh Stein Eriksen Lodge outside Park City Tuesday night, with many media attending as well as filmmakers including Sundance Spectrum director Randall Miller ("Bottle Shock") with Stella Artois exec David Daniels. The four course meal was paired with various types of Stella. And was deelish! [ read more in iPOP ] [ 0 comments ] [ filed under Park City, Sundance Film Festival ]  PARK CITY '08 REVIEW | Surprisingly Ordinary : Clark Gregg's "Choke"
Comedy perfection. That's the reasonable expectation for "Choke," based on the great novel by rebel author Chuck Palahniuk and starring Sam Rockwell as a sex addict dealing with the illness of his mother, a role tailored to his manic strengths. But after a fantastically funny opening at a sex addict support meeting, "Choke" begins to slide, the gaps between laughs steadily grow and by film's end you're left wondering how something with so much potential could end up so ordinary. [ read more in Movies ] [ 0 comments ] [ filed under Park City, Reviews ] PARK CITY '08 3:03 a.m. | Sony Classics Reportedly Gets "Frozen River" at Sundance
Trade reports indicate that Sony Pictures Classics has acquired Courtney Hunt's "Frozen River." However, details differ with the Hollywood Reporter detailing that a pact for North American rights is valued at just under $1 million, and Variety reporting a U.S. rights deal valued in the low to mid six-figures. [permalink] [ filed under Acquisitions, Park City ]  PARK CITY '08 DISPATCH | Immigration and Water Make a Sundance Splash
Filmmakers Anna Boden and Ryan Fleck returned this week to the very same podium at the Sundance Film Festival's Racquet Club Theater where two years ago they first introduced their acclaimed "Half Nelson." Boden and Fleck's latest film, "Sugar," which had its world premiere Monday at the venue, is the noble immigrant story of Miguel Santos, played by Algenis Perez Soto, an aspiring Dominican baseball player who hopes to succeed in the major leagues in the U.S. At 19, he receives a break, winning a place in the minor leagues with a team in Iowa. But, after initial success, his pitching begins to falter and he starts to question his life's ambition. [ read more in On The Scene ] [ 0 comments ] [ filed under Festival Dispatches, Lead Story, Park City ] January 23, 2008iW NEWS | Vantage Announces "Teen" Deal
Calling "American Teen," "The most entertaining and uplifting film we saw at Sundance," Paramount Vantage president Nick Meyer announced the acquisition of Nanette Burstein's documentary today. The announcement confirmed that the company acquired worldwide distribution rights, excluding the U.K. for the film, about a group of teenagers in their senior year of high school in a small Indiana town. Produced by Nanette Burstein, Jordan Roberts, Eli Gonda and Chris Huddleston, the film is an A&E Indiefilms Presentation of a Firehouse Films and Quasiworld Entertainment production in association with 57th and Irving. Cinetic and CAA negotiated the deal with Jeffrey Freedman from Vantage. The company indicated that company EVP Amy Israel and director Ben Cotner will oversee the project for the company. [Eugene Hernandez] [permalink] [ filed under Acquisitions, Park City ]  PARK CITY '08 | Amir and PJ
Filmmaker Amir Bar-lev (left), at Sundance one year after his "My Kid Could Paint That" was a big hit at the festival, is on the fests doc jury this year. At the Cinetic party, he smiles alongside cinematographer PJ Raval, here in Park City. Raval is co-director of "Best Kept Secret," a new film expected to hit the fest circuit this year. [ read more in iPOP ] [ 2 comments ] [ filed under Park City, Sundance Film Festival ]  PARK CITY '08 | Spurlock and Sloss
At the Cinetic Party, company founder John Sloss (left) poses for a snapshot with filmmaker Morgan Spurlock. Sloss sold Spurlock's "Super Size Me" at Sundance a few years back and later proved instrumental in brokering a relationship between Spurlock and Adam & Steven Dell, who came up with the idea for his latest film, "Where In the World is Osama Bin Laden?", which Spurlock wrote with Jeremy Chilnick. Sloss sold the project to The Weinstein Company a year ago at the European Film Market in Berlin. [ read more in iPOP ] [ 0 comments ] [ filed under Park City, Sundance Film Festival ]  PARK CITY '08 | Annie and Jehane
Filmmakers Annie Sundberg ("The Devil Came on Horseback") and Jehane Noujaim ("Control Room") pose for iPOP at the jammed Cinetic party on Monday night at Zoom in Park City. [ read more in iPOP ] [ 0 comments ] [ filed under Park City, Sundance Film Festival ] AFP: Festival film takes on water profiteers
Documentary film "Flow," premiering at the Sundance Film Festival this week, condemns water profiteering, calling for a UN resolution to make access to clean drinking water a human right. The film by French-born director Irena Salina blasts Paris-based Suez and Vivendi Environment for commercializing water systems around the world, as well as Nestle, the world's largest bottled water seller, for draining watersheds. Michel Comte reports. [permalink] [ filed under Festivals, Park City ]  PARK CITY '08 REVIEW | True Grit: Trygve Allister Diesen's "Red"
A scene of tranquil beauty and everyday leisure turns unsettlingly violent at the start of director Trygve Allister Diesen's engaging pulp drama "Red." Avery Allan Ludlow (Brian Cox) is a widower living alone in a rural Oregon town. A regular fishing trip becomes a crime scene after a group of teens rob Ludlow and shoot his beloved dog Red. The boys get away with the crime but Ludlow wants justice and it's not long before everything spins out of control. "Red," premiering in the Spectrum section of the Sundance Film Festival, is pure pulp fiction; a revenge tale, but one of dramatic substance and cinematic polish. [ read more in Movies ] [ 0 comments ] [ filed under Park City, Reviews ]  PARK CITY '08 NOTEBOOK | International Films Shine At Sundance: "Abu Raed"; "Absurdistan"; "Mermaid"; "Stranded"
Movies made outside the United States can illuminate the individuality of distant cultures for American audiences--while simultaneously highlighting the similarities to our particular surroundings. In both its narrative and documentary components, the international entries of the Sundance Film Festival convey both possibilities. The best of them combine universal storytelling devices with a unique sense of places. [ read more in Movies ] [ 0 comments ] [ filed under Lead Story, Park City, Reviews ] |
