In the second of four program announcements, Sundance Institute today announced the line-up of out-of-competition films screening in the Spectrum, Frontier and Park City at Midnight categories of the 2006 Sundance Film Festival, taking place January 19-29, 2006, in Park City, Utah. This follows yesterday’s announcement of the Independent Feature Film and World Cinema Competitions.
The selections for the Premieres section will be announced on Thursday, December 1st. The Short Film category will be announced on Monday, December 5.
SPECTRUM
The Spectrum program presents 24 out-of-competition dramatic and documentary works by some of the most promising new independent filmmakers from the U.S. and abroad. Spectrum films are eligible for the Audience Award at the 2006 Sundance Film Festival. Some Spectrum films presented at the Sundance Film Festival in the past include: GODS AND MONSTERS, MEAN CREEK, OPEN WATER, MARCH OF THE PENGUINS, METALLICA: SOME KIND OF MONSTER and RIZE.
The films screening in Spectrum are:
A MATTER OF DEGREES / U.S.A. (Director: Davis Guggenheim) – Al Gore has recently been traveling the world delivering a mesmerizing, bracing and visually exciting presentation on global climate change, proving that humankind must confront global warming now or face devastating consequences. Matter of Degrees both captures that presentation and explores Gore’s journey as a worldwide environmental champion. World Premiere.
ADAM’S APPLES / Denmark (Director and Screenwriter: Anders Thomas Jensen) – A dark comedy featuring a neo-nazi sentenced to community service at a church who clashes with the blindly devotional priest. U.S. Premiere.
ALL ABOARD! ROSIE’S FAMILY CRUISE / U.S.A. (Director: Shari Cookson) – In this documentary film, Rosie and Kellie O’Donnell create a floating utopia for 500 gay and lesbian families. World Premiere.
BATTLE IN HEAVEN / Mexico/France/Germany/Belgium (Director and Screenwriter: Carlos Reygadas) – Marcos and his wife kidnap a baby for ransom money, but it goes tragically wrong when the infant dies. U.S. Premiere.
BEYOND BEATS AND RHYMES: A HIP-HOP HEAD WEIGHS IN ON MANHOOD IN HIPHOP CULTURE / U.S.A. (Director: Byron Hurt ) – In this documentary film, a former college quarterback and hip-hop head tackles issues of masculinity, sexism, violence and homophobia in hip-hop culture. World Premiere.
CLEAR CUT: THE STORY OF PHILOMATH, OREGON / U.S.A. (Director: Peter Richardson) – A documentary about a rural Oregon timber town that is torn apart when a rift between conservative and liberal values in the school district threatens a college scholarship that has paid the tuition of every local graduate for the last 40 years. World Premiere.
DREAMLAND / U.S.A. (Director: Jason Matzner; Screenwriter: Tom Willett ) – A young woman living in a trailer park in the desert struggles with the question of caring for her hapless father and ill friend or fulfilling her own destiny. World Premiere.
EVERYONE STARES: THE POLICE INSIDE OUT / U.S.A. (Director and Screenwriter: Stewart Copeland) – A rare documentary compiled from the drummer’s personal Super 8 footage gives an intimate, inside look at what it was like to be a member of the 80’s rock band The Police, from CBGB’s to Shea Stadium. World Premiere.
FACTOTUM / U.S.A. (Director: Bent Hamer; Screenwriter: Jim Stark) – Based on the novel by cult author Charles Bukowski, FACTOTUM is the story of a man living on the edge; of a writer willing to risk everything to make sure his life is poetry. U.S. Premiere.
FORGIVING THE FRANKLINS / U.S.A. (Director and Screenwriter: Jay Floyd) – A repressed, God fearing Southern family is spiritually changed by an auto accident and their transformation puts them at odds with the conservative values of their community. World Premiere.
JEWBOY / Australia (Director and Screenwriter: Tony Krawitz) – JEWBOY is a film about a young orthodox man searching for his place in the world, his family and his faith. North American Premiere.
JOURNEY FROM THE FALL / Thailand/U.S.A. (Director and Screenwriter: Ham Tran) – Set during the thirteenth anniversary of the Vietnam War, JOURNEY FROM THE FALL tells the epic story of a family who is painfully torn apart by the war, forced to emigrate across a dangerous sea, reunified and struggling to survive in America. North American Premiere.
LA TRAGEDIA DE MACARIO / U.S.A. (Director and Screenwriter: Pablo Veliz) – A drama inspired by the tragic, true events of immigrants struggling to cross the Mexican-American border. World Premiere.
LEONARD COHEN I’M YOUR MAN / U.S.A. (Director: Lian Lunson) – An ubiquitous influence even as he remains elusively elsewhere, ladies and gentlemen, this documentary shows Leonard Cohen is back. U.S. Premiere.
MAN PUSH CART / Iran/U.S.A. (Director and Screenwriter: Ramin Bahrani) – The story of a former Pakistani rock star who now sells coffee and donuts from his push cart on the streets of Manhattan. North American Premiere.
OFF THE BLACK / U.S.A. (Director and Screenwriter: James Ponsoldt) – An unusual friendship develops between an aging high-school baseball umpire and a teenage pitcher after the young player vandalizes the older man’s house. World Premiere.
OPEN WINDOW / U.S.A. (Director and Screenwriter: Mia Goldman) – A struggling young photographer and an assistant professor are newly engaged and madly in love when their lives are shattered by a random act of violence. World Premiere.
THE PROPOSITION / Australia (Director: John Hillcoat; Screenwriter: Nick Cave) – Set at the end of the bushranger era, this atmospheric Australian epic tale concerns family, loyalty and betrayal. U.S. Premiere.
PUNCHING AT THE SUN / U.S.A. (Director and Screenwriter: Tanuj Chopra) – In the aftermath of 9/11 and his older brother’s murder, a fiery South Asian teen struggles to find a path between rage and redemption on the streets of Elmhurst, Queens. World Premiere.
SPECIAL / U.S.A. (Directors and Screenwriters: Jeremy Passmore, Hal Haberman) – Les Franken leads a painfully unremarkable life as a meter maid until he enrolls in a drug study for an experimental anti-depressant. World Premiere.
WHAT REMAINS / U.S.A. (Director: Steven Cantor) – An investigation into the creative process and life of controversial and celebrated American photographer Sally Mann. World Premiere.
WHO KILLED THE ELECTRIC CAR? / U.S.A. (Director and Screenwriter: Chris Paine) – A documentary that investigates the death and resurrection of the electric car, as well as the role of renewable energy and sustainable living in our country’s future. World Premiere.
WHO NEEDS SLEEP? / U.S.A. (Director: Haskell Wexler) – Unsettled by the preventable death of a coworker, filmmaker Haskell Wexler shows in this documentary that sleep deprivation and long work hours are a deadly combination. World Premiere.
WRESTLING WITH ANGELS: PLAYWRIGHT TONY KUSHNER / U.S.A. (Director: Freida Lee Mock) – This documentary is a rich tapestry of the personal and political life of Tony Kushner, the award-winning playwright and activist whose provocative and truthful work has contributed to a national dialogue on the most pressing issues of our times. World Premiere.
FRONTIER
The Festival’s Frontier section presents five films that represent new directions in filmmaking and Frontier Live, a live cinematic performance program. Utilizing experimental and innovative aesthetic approaches, work in the Frontier category challenges and provokes. Some Frontier films at Sundance Film Festival presented in the past include: TARNATION and THE JOY OF LIFE.
The films screening in Frontier are:
A DARKNESS SWALLOWED / U.S.A. (Director and Screenwriter: Betzy Bromberg) – A personal investigation of cellular memory, a bio-meta-physical musical, A DARKNESS SWALLOWED is a meditation of the evanescent traces of memory and loss.
CINNAMON / U.S.A. (Director and Screenwriter: Kevin Everson) – This experimental feature film provides a glimpse into the world of African American drag racing with the story that contrasts the consistent routine of a bank teller and mechanic as they prepare for the sport. World Premiere.
OLD JOY / U.S.A. (Director: Kelly Reichardt; Screenwriters: Jonathan Raymond, Kelly Reichardt) – The story of two old friends who reunite for a weekend camping trip in Oregon’s Cascade mountain range. As the two seekers move through the beautiful landscapes, they move through confusion, sudden insight, and spiritual battles. World Premiere.
PINE FLAT / U.S.A. (Director and Screenwriter: Sharon Lockhart) – An intimate portrait of a town’s children set in the stunning landscape of the Sierra Nevada mountains. Both an anthropological look at youth and a meditation on solitude, nature, socialization and the line between fact and fiction. World Premiere.
WILD TIGERS I HAVE KNOWN U.S.A. (Director and Screenwriter: Cam Archer) – A lyrical coming of age story about a 13-year-old boy who learns to cope with his newfound sexuality and his unrequited love for the cool kid in school. World Premiere.
The project presented in Frontier Live is:
OUR SECOND DATE U.S.A. (artists: Jennifer and Kevin McCoy) – The McCoy’s latest installation is a miniature movie set geared for live robotic cinema that puts the production, post-production, and exhibition of a film all in one room.
PARK CITY AT MIDNIGHT
Park City at Midnight offers eight out-of-competition films after-hours that are likely to amuse, surprise, or shock the bleary-eyed viewer and offer a lively last stop in the nightly film-going circuit. Some Midnight films presented at Sundance Film Festival in the past include: THE BLAIR WITCH PROJECT, SAW, OVERNIGHT, and STRANGERS WITH CANDY.
The films screening in Park City at Midnight are:
AMERICAN HARDCORE / U.S.A (Director: Paul Rauchman; Screenwriter: Steven Blush) – Inspired by Steven Blush’s book “American Hardcore: A tribal history” Paul Rachman’s feature documentary debut is a chronicle of the underground hardcore punk years from 1979 to 1986. World Premiere.
AWESOME, I FUCKIN’ SHOT THAT! / U.S.A. (Director: Nathanial Hornblower) – On October 9, 2004, the Beastie Boys handed out 50 HI 8 cameras to audience members at their sold-out performance in New York’s Madison Square Garden. This film is the result. World Premiere.
THE DESCENT / U.S.A. (Director and Screenwriter: Neil Marshall) – An all-female caving expedition goes horribly wrong as the explorers become trapped and ultimately pursued by a strange breed of predators. North American Premiere.
DESTRICTED / U.S.A. (Directors and Screenwriters: Mathew Barney, Larry Clark, Gaspar Noe, Marco Brambilla, Sam Taylor Wood) – Art meets sexuality in this unprecedented compilation of erotic art films made by the leading visual artists and filmmakers working today. World Premiere.
THE FOOT FIST WAY / U.S.A. (Director and Screenwriter: Jody Hill) – A Tae Kwon Do instructor who is king of his small kingdom, tries to keep it together after his wife cheats on him, taking his anger out on everyone around him in the funniest way ever. World Premiere.
MOONSHINE / U.S.A. (Director: Roger Ingraham; Screenwriters: Roger Ingraham, Lori Isbell Salvage) – In a small town, a young convenience store clerk burdened with new love and family troubles, mysteriously begins to turn into a vampire. World Premiere.
SALVAGE / U.S.A. (Directors and Screenwriters: Josh Crook and Jeff Crook) – College student Claire is stalked and murdered by serial killer Duke Desmond. Claire assumes it was a nightmare and wakes up to relive the day of her death over and over until she uncovers the terrifying mystery that guides her fate. World Premiere.
SUBJECT TWO / U.S.A. (Director and Screenwriter: Philip Chidel) – A troubled medical student volunteers for resurrection experiments – and is killed over and over again by a reclusive doctor intent on reinventing life. World Premiere.
Check out the line-up of Sundance Premieres>>>
