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Post by Andrea on Nov 20, 2008 17:04:34 GMT -5
Did you notice the tiny litte Pierce pic on the main variety site? www.variety.com/index.asp?layout=hottopic&id=afm08 A little set report from August here - so they're heading for Sundance. Still we have to wait until December when the festival program will be announced ... www.manhattan.edu/newsletters/ManhattanMonthly/2008_09/News_01.htmlThe Greatest Films on Manhattan's Campus Cameras rolled, spotlights beamed, and aspiring young starlets fell in love on the Quad as Manhattan's campus transformed into a movie set for a day on Aug. 18. The one-day, 14-hour shoot for the independent film The Greatest , which stars Pierce Brosnan and Susan Sarandon, brought nearly 60 crew members and 100 extras to campus for the 24th of 25 days of filming. The archway, classrooms in De La Salle and Miguel Halls and the third floor locker room in Alumni Hall were used for nine scenes. “This [Manhattan College] is one of my favorite locations,” said Shana Feste, who began the screenplay during graduate school at the American Film Institute (AFI). “We were looking for this really beautiful place for these characters to fall in love and this is it.” Indeed, the film's two main characters Bennett (Aaron Johnson) and Rose (Carey Mulligan) are high school students who begin dating during their senior year, only to be torn apart by a tragic car accident that leaves Bennett dead. Shortly after, Rose finds out she is pregnant and moves in with Bennett's parents played by Brosnan and Sarandon, both of whom were not present for the Manhattan shoot. The Greatest marks Feste's directorial debut. After she graduated in 2004, she continued to work on the screenplay and, about a year ago, began the process of making it into a movie. “The domestic drama, this genre, is difficult to get made,” said Feste, who sought actors to star in the production, as well as investors to provide financing because independent films lack studio distribution. Despite the challenge, she persevered. A location scout contacted the College in late June to talk about shooting on he campus. In the next weeks, the details were finalized. The College also has been the site of filming for other movies. They include A Beautiful Mind (2001) and Six Degrees of Separation (1993). According to Feste, 25 days of filming makes for long days but she has a September deadline to meet for The Greatest , whose next stop will be entry in the 2009 Sundance Film Festival.
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Post by Andrea on Dec 1, 2008 16:47:21 GMT -5
Here www.kinopoisk.ru/level/2/news/861553/ they mention Sundance and The Greatest and films that shall premiere there. From my marginal Russian skills and the result of an online translator at least I think that's the site's content. I'm not sure if this is a real announcement, I wonder where they have their knowledge from. Yuliya, maybe you can help
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Post by Ace on Dec 1, 2008 17:29:34 GMT -5
They probably got it from here. It's a speculation piece but info from insiders (who often know when films are chosen by festivals well before official announcements) www.slashfilm.com/2008/11/26/possible-2008-sundance-premieres/Possible 2008 Sundance Premieres Posted on Wednesday, November 26th, 2008 at 5:35 pm by: Peter Sciretta As December nears, some of the potential line-up for the 2008 Sundance Film Festival is beginning to become clear. .... The Greatest - Shana Feste’s feature directorial debut about a troubled teenage girl (Carey Mulligan) and a family that is trying to get over the loss of their son (Aaron Johnson). Film also stars Pierce Brosnan, Susan Sarandon, and Johnny Simmons.
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Post by Ace on Dec 3, 2008 17:17:33 GMT -5
thefilmlot.com/tflblogwp/?p=180Sundance Announces 2009 Films in CompetitionDecember 3, 2008 Park City, UT — For the past 25 years the Sundance Film Festival has been bringing some of the best independent films to light. This coming year’s the festival will showcase 118 features including 87 world premieres, 19 North American premieres and 4 U.S. premieres, which were selected from 3, 661 feature-length submissions. The films in competition for 2009 are as follow U.S. DRAMATIC COMPETITION This year’s 16 films were selected from 1,026 submissions.The films screening in Dramatic Competition are: Adam (Director and Screenwriter: Max Mayer)—A strange and lyrical love story between a somewhat socially dysfunctional young man and the woman of his dreams. Cast: Hugh Dancy, Rose Byrne, Peter Gallagher, Amy Irving, Frankie Faison, Mark Linn-Baker. World Premiere Amreeka (Director and Screenwriter: Cherien Dabis)—When a divorced Palestinian woman and her teenage son move to rural Illinois at the outset of the Iraq war, they find their new lives replete with challenges. Cast: Nisreen Faour, Melkar Muallem, Hiam Abbass, Yussuf Abu-Warda, Alia Shawkat, Joseph Ziegler. World Premiere Arlen Faber (Director and Screenwriter: John Hindman)—A reclusive author of a groundbreaking spiritual book awakens to new truths when two strangers enter his life. Cast: Kat Dennings, Lauren Graham, Olivia Thirlby, Jeff Daniels, Tony Hale. World Premiere Big Fan (Director and Screenwriter: Robert Siegel)—The world of a parking garage attendant who happens to be the New York Giants’ biggest fan is turned upside down after an altercation with his favorite player. Cast: Patton Oswalt, Michael Rapaport, Kevin Corrigan, Marcia Jean Kurtz, Matt Servitto. World Premiere Brief Interviews with Hideous Men (Director and Screenwriter: John Krasinski)—When her boyfriend leaves with little explanation, a doctoral candidate in anthropology tries to remedy her heartache by interviewing men about their behavior. Cast: Julianne Nicholson, John Krasinski, Timothy Hutton, Dominic Cooper, Christopher Meloni, Rashida Jones. World Premiere Cold Souls (Director and Screenwrtier: Sophie Barthes)—In the midst of an existential crisis, a famous American actor explores soul extraction as a relief from the burdens of daily life. Cast: Paul Giamatti, David Strathairn, Dina Korzun, Emily Watson, Lauren Ambrose, Katheryn Winnick. World Premiere Dare (Director: Adam Salky; Screenwriter: David Brind)—Three very different teenagers discover that, even in the safe world of a suburban prep school, no one is who she or he appears to be. Cast: Emmy Rossum, Zach Gilford, Ashley Springer, Ana Gasteyer, Alan Cumming, Sandra Bernhard, Rooney Mara. World Premiere Don’t Let Me Drown (Director: Cruz Angeles; Screenwriters: Maria Topete and Cruz Angeles)—Two Latino teens whose lives are affected by the attack on the World Trade Center discover that love is the only thing that keeps them from drowning. Cast: E.J. Bonilla, Gleendilys Inoa, Damián Alcázar, Ricardo Chavira, Gina Torres. World Premiere The Greatest (Director and Screenwriter: Shana Feste)— After the tragic loss of their teenage son, a family is again thrown into turmoil by the arrival of a young woman. Cast: Pierce Brosnan, Susan Sarandon, Carey Mulligan, Johnny Simmons, Aaron Johnson, Mike Shannon. World Premiere.
Humpday (Director and Screenwriter: Lynn Shelton)—A farcical comedy about straight male bonding gone a little too far. Cast: Mark Duplass, Joshua Leonard, Alycia Delmore, Lynn Shelton, Trina Willard. World Premiere. Paper Heart (Director: Nicholas Jasenovec; Screenwriters: Nicholas Jasenovec and Charlyne Yi)—Even though performer Charlyne Yi doesn’t believe in love, she bravely embarks on a quest to discover its true nature–a journey that takes on surprising urgency when she meets unlikely fellow traveler, actor Michael Cera. Cast: Charlyne Yi, Michael Cera, Jake Johnson. World Premiere. Peter and Vandy (Director and Screenwriter: Jay DiPietro)—Juxtaposing a couple’s romantic beginnings with the twisted-manipulative-regular couple they have become, Peter and Vandy is a contemporary Manhattan love story with no beginning and no end. Cast: Jess Weixler, Jason Ritter, Jesse L. Martin, Tracie Thoms. World Premiere. Push (Director and Screenwriter: Lee Daniels)—Based on the acclaimed, best-selling novel by Sapphire, Push is the redemptive story of Precious Jones, a young girl in Harlem struggling to overcome tremendous obstacles and discover her own voice. Cast: Gabourey “Gabby” Sidibe, Paula Patton, Mo’Nique Imes, Lenny Kravitz, Mariah Carey. World Premiere. Sin Nombre (Director and Screenwriter: Cary Joji Fukunaga)—A teenage Mexican gang member maneuvers to outrun his violent past and elude unforgiving former associates in this thriller set among Central American migrants seeking to cross over to the United States. Cast: Edgar Flores, Paulina Gaitan, Kristyan Ferrer, Tenoch Huerta Mejía, Luis Fernando Peña, Diana García. World Premiere Taking Chance (Director: Ross Katz; Screenwriters: LtCol Michael R. Strobl, USMC (Ret.) and Ross Katz )—Based on real-life events, Lt. Col. Michael Strobl, a volunteer military escort officer, accompanies the body of 19-year-old Marine Chance Phelps back to his hometown of Dubois, Wyoming. Cast: Kevin Bacon, Blanche Baker. World Premiere Toe to Toe (Director and Screenwriter: Emily Abt)—The story of an inter-racial friendship put to the test by the intense pressures of a competitive Washington, D.C. prep school. Cast: Sonequa Martin, Louisa Krause, Silvestre Rasuk, Leslie Uggams, Gaius Charles, Ally Walker. World Premiere.
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Post by Ace on Dec 3, 2008 17:20:47 GMT -5
In this image released by The Sundance Institute, Pierce Brosnan and Susan Sarandon are shown in a scene from Shana Feste's, "The Greatest," one of 64 films announced Wednesday in competition at the Sundance Film Festival. The festival that showcases independent film runs Jan. 15-25 in Park City, Utah. www.charlotteobserver.com/118/story/391658.htmlRock, Brosnan, Sarandon line up for Sundance By DAVID GERMAIN AP Movie Writer Posted: Wednesday, Dec. 03, 2008Film Sundance LOS ANGELES Films featuring Chris Rock, Pierce Brosnan, Susan Sarandon, Paul Giamatti and Emily Watson are among those competing for top honors at January's Sundance Film Festival. Rock appears in the documentary "Good Hair," director Jeff Stilson's examination of African-American hairstyles, which was among 64 films announced Wednesday in Sundance's four competitions for U.S. and world cinema. Brosnan and Sarandon star in director Shana Feste's "The Greatest," about a couple coping with the loss of their teenage son, while Giamatti and Watson are among the cast of Sophie Barthes' "Cold Souls," centering on an actor in an existential crisis. The festival that showcases independent film runs Jan. 15-25 in Park City, Utah. Others films among the 16 in the U.S. drama category include the romance "Brief Interviews With Hideous Men," the writing-directing debut of "The Office" co-star John Krasinski. He also appears in the film along with Timothy Hutton, Julianne Nicholson and "Office" colleague Rashida Jones. The overall Sundance lineup is hard to categorize but will be heavy on "romance and activism," said festival director Geoffrey Gilmore. "The issue about romance is it feels like a new generation taking the idea of love stories and romantic melodrama into their own direction," Gilmore said. The U.S. and world documentary competitions are loaded with films examining social and environmental issues, including the ocean-wildlife studies "The Cove" and "The End of the Line," the oil chronicle "Crude," the top-soil tale "Dirt: The Movie" and the financial expose "Let's Make Money." Also in the Sundance dramatic lineup: "The Dream of the Romans," with Jeff Daniels and Lauren Graham in a story about the reclusive author of an influential spiritual book; "An Education," an adaptation of the Nick Hornby novel starring Peter Sarsgaard, Alfred Molina and Emma Thompson; "Five Minutes of Heaven," an Irish political drama with Liam Neeson; and "Taking Chance," a military homefront saga with Kevin Bacon. The documentary categories also include "When You're Strange," a chronicle of Jim Morrison and the Doors; "Thriller in Manila," examining the final boxing match between Muhammad Ali and Joe Frazier; and "William Kunstler: Disturbing the Universe," a portrait of the civil-rights lawyer directed by his daughters, Sarah and Emily Kunstler. The overall Sundance lineup presents 118 feature-length films, which were chosen from 3,661 submissions. Films in the star-studded premieres section and other categories will be announced Thursday.
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Post by Ace on Dec 3, 2008 18:52:33 GMT -5
www.nytimes.com/2008/12/04/movies/04sund.htmlSundance Tilts to Heart-TuggersBy MICHAEL CIEPLY Published: December 3, 2008 LOS ANGELES — If things turn out as expected, festivalgoers will have more to cry about than the room prices at Sundance next year. The programmers of the Sundance Film Festival on Wednesday announced a schedule of competition films that in their view, reflect an unusual tilt toward the emotional — maybe even melodramatic — side of independent cinema. The festival, Sundance’s 25th, is scheduled for Jan. 15 to 25 in Park City, Utah. (A full list of the competition films can be found at nytimes.com/carpetbagger.) “Audiences this year are going to be surprised,” Geoffrey Gilmore, the director of the festival, said this week in a far-ranging discussion of the mood and makeup of the 2009 program. “The range of emotions evoked by the films is going to be greater than in the past.” Mr. Gilmore even described one of the films selected, “The Greatest,” about a family dealing with the loss of a teenage son, as being “three-hankie, if not more.” Written and directed by Shana Feste, it stars Pierce Brosnan and Susan Sarandon.The festival’s flavor is also going to be a bit more international. Submissions from the United States fell, after years of steady increases, to 1,905 feature-length films, from 2,021 in 2008, while foreign submissions rose to 1,756, from 1,603. The 118 features selected (including noncompetition films still to be announced) were chosen from 3,661 submissions, up slightly from 3,624, despite a weakening independent movie market. “It hasn’t dropped the way it will drop, which I can tell you is certain to happen,” Mr. Gilmore said of the submissions pool and its probable future erosion by the continuing financial crisis. Mr. Gilmore and John Cooper, the festival’s director of programming, noted that many entries stepped across national boundaries, as filmmakers — American and otherwise — tackled stories and themes that connected with worlds beyond their borders, often with financing from far-flung sources. Thus the French-born writer and director Sophie Barthes, who got her start with a Ukrainian-language short, “Zimove Vesilya,” made “Cold Souls” with Paul Giamatti, in New York and St. Petersburg, Russia, with some backing from Arte France Cinéma. The movie concerns an American actor’s exploration of what the promotional materials describe as “soul extraction.” Another exercise in filmmaking without borders is “Sin Nombre,” which has Mexican backing and is set for distribution by Focus Features. Directed by the American-born Cary Fukunaga, with a largely Hispanic ensemble of actors, “Sin Nombre” is a thriller about Central American migrants trying to cross into the United States. But the festival’s biggest shift, those who programmed it say, appears to be from head to heart. Alienation is out. Engagement is in. “Not caring is no longer an issue,” said Mr. Cooper, who described this crop of festival filmmakers as a next wave who had clearly broken with the “navel gazing” that characterized past Sundance films. “The Chumscrubber,” for example, from the 2005 festival, was one of a run of indie movies about youth trapped in dysfunctional suburbia. To hear Mr. Gilmore tell it, things may get downright weepy. Of one coming film, Lee Daniels’s “Push,” based on a novel about the trials of an abused girl in Harlem, he said, “It’s so dark, but I cried so hard at the end of it.” Some movies, Mr. Gilmore said, would challenge assumptions about the festival’s supposedly knee-jerk devotion to liberal, progressive political messages. One such film, he said, was the director Ross Katz’s “Taking Chance,” based on real events, about a military escort officer who accompanies the body of a dead marine back to his hometown in Wyoming. More about the feelings and values of the characters involved in the story, “Taking Chance,” Mr. Gilmore said, stands apart from the heavy run of antiwar pictures that have populated festivals for years. Inevitably many of the festival’s features cluster around subjects and themes. Environmental calamity is a big one, especially on the documentary list. “Crude,” from Joe Berlinger, shows the oil industry chewing up the rain forest in Ecuador; “The Cove,” from Louie Psihoyos, tracks trouble in a sick ocean to a secret cove in Japan; and “Dirt the Movie,” from Bill Benenson and Gene Rosow, looks at man’s destruction of dirt. (Films shown out of competition — about half the features, and generally a more star-studded lot — are expected to be announced separately on Thursday.) The festival celebrates its 25th year with a relatively low-key approach — the related Sundance Institute had a silver anniversary two years ago — built around the notion of storytelling. Filmmakers and others involved with the festival over the years are being invited to contribute online (at festival.sundance.org) to a collection of reminiscences, some of which are likely to be shared in connection with January’s screenings. Mr. Cooper and Mr. Gilmore said festival officials were stepping carefully around demands that they cooperate with a boycott of businesses associated with supporters of California’s Proposition 8, banning gay marriage. The festival, for instance, will make certain that no film is screened only in the Holiday Village theater in Park City, operated by Cinemark, a chain whose chief executive, Alan Stock, donated to Proposition 8’s backers in the November election. The idea is to give anyone who has qualms about Cinemark the opportunity to see a movie somewhere else. But, given the dearth of theaters, programmers don’t intend to abandon the Holiday Village. “We don’t have an alternative,” Mr. Gilmore said. “If we had another theater we could walk down the street to, we might be thinking about that.”
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Post by Ace on Dec 4, 2008 11:40:03 GMT -5
Los Angeles Times: Nervous time for indie films
John Horn Dec, 4 2008
HOLLYWOOD -- Veteran Los Angeles film producer Leslie Urdang stands among the most fortunate independent filmmakers. From 1,026 submissions, Urdang's low-budget "Adam," an uplifting love story featuring a man with Asperger's syndrome, was selected to compete in January's Sundance Film Festival, which programmers say is likely to be more upbeat and accessible than recent gatherings.
Having survived overwhelming odds to make it into the nation's pre-eminent showcase and market for movies made outside the studio system, "Adam," which stars Hugh Dancy ("King Arthur") and Rose Byrne ("28 Weeks Later"), now faces an equally daunting challenge: landing a distributor. Well before the U.S. economy nose-dived, the market for highbrow movies was cratering.
"The marketplace is extremely challenging," Urdang said. "Everyone hopes for a big sale, but there's an awareness that it's far less common than it used to be. We're looking at a range of ways of getting our films released."
Specialized movies have suffered through a terrible year at the box office, and the toll was especially hard on movies that premiered at last January's Sundance festival.
Several high-profile Sundance titles have yet to come out (including "The Mysteries of Pittsburgh" and "Sunshine Cleaning"), but the handful that did reach theaters mostly vanished swiftly: "American Teen" (domestic gross: $943,000), "Baghead" ($140,000) and "What Just Happened" ($1.1million) were among the biggest Sundance-launched washouts. One of this year's best theatrical Sundance performers -- the wine-tasting drama "Bottle Shock," with ticket sales of more than $4 million -- had to be distributed by its own makers.
Although the festival reports no drop-off in sponsors, media registration or ticket sales, several Sundance veterans said they were re-evaluating their festival plans.
"I think everyone is scaling back," said James Schamus, whose Focus Features has the only film in dramatic competition that already has theatrical distribution, the Spanish-language "Sin Nombre." Even with that film, Schamus said, Focus is planning to send fewer staffers to Park City, Utah, for the festival than last year.
Film publicist Jeff Hill, a fixture in Park City for the last 16 years, decided last week to skip the 2009 festival. "The cost to go and operate there outweighs the return," Hill said in an e-mail.
"I am very nervous about what's going on," said lawyer John Sloss, the leading sales agent at the festival over the past several years.
Sundance programmers have never tried to create a lineup that is intentionally commercial. In fact, the festival, now celebrating its 25th anniversary, was started by Robert Redford largely to bring attention to smaller movies that might otherwise escape the spotlight.
But the festival has nevertheless yielded a series of breakout art films, including "Little Miss Sunshine," "Napoleon Dynamite," "The Blair Witch Project" and "Sex, Lies, and Videotape."
Cooper said the 16 films in dramatic competition for 2009, announced Wednesday, were not as esoteric and challenging as in recent years, when Sundance subject matter included drug addiction, mental illness and sexual degradation -- and those were the comedies.
Rather than craft depressing movies about such gloomy times, Cooper said, writers and directors are turning toward more uplifting narratives.
"They looked at the world and said, We can't make dark movies. We need something hopeful.' There's a lot of romance -- people dealing with love and life and relationships. What they are really concentrating on is a better sense of story -- and ones that have real emotional impact," Cooper said.
Buyers for independently financed movies said they were targeting several dramatic-competition films for possible acquisition, among them: "Big Fan," from the writer of "The Wrestler"; "Brief Interviews with Hideous Men," an adaptation of David Foster Wallace's stories by actor-turned-director John Krasinski; "The Dream of the Romans," a story about a reclusive author starring Jeff Daniels; "The Greatest," a drama starring Pierce Brosnan and Susan Sarandon; and "Paper Heart," a quasi-documentary with "Juno's" Michael Cera.
Cooper said the festival's 16 competition documentaries, selected from 879 submissions, would continue the nonfiction filmmaking trend toward advocacy and away from impartial journalistic observation. "They are basically telling you what to do, versus This is something that is going on,' " Cooper said.
Documentary competition titles include "The Cove," about cruelty to ocean mammals; "Dirt the Movie," a documentary about, yes, topsoil; "Boy Interrupted," a mother's account of her son's tragic battle with mental illness; and "When You're Strange," a look at the rock band The Doors from Sundance feature veteran Tom DiCillo.
Cooper and his staff added an additional 16 international documentaries (from 744 submissions) and 16 international dramatic films (from 1,012 submissions) to the festival slate.
In part, it's that volume of movies being made -- rather than the number getting into Sundance -- that has sales agents, distributors and producers so nervous. On any given weekend, as many as a dozen new independent movies can arrive in theaters. That makes it nearly impossible (and very expensive) for these smaller movies to get a toehold, and the economic crisis has been accompanied by a 4 percent decrease in movie admissions, most of which are sold for big-budget blockbusters anyway.
"Event films are recession-proof, but specialized movies are discretionary," said lawyer and Sundance sales agent Steven Beer, explaining why movies such as "The Dark Knight" can sell millions of tickets while many Sundance movies go unseen.
"It's a new day, a new era. The majority of people who like specialized films will see them at festivals, on DVDs, or online through streaming or downloads, but not in the conventional theatrical marketplace," Beer said.
IFC Films is distributing more movies through its video-on-demand services than in theaters. "I don't think the audience is going away at all," said Arianna Bocco, IFC's vice president of production and acquisitions. "I think they are changing how they see movies. The audience is still there, and they are still hungry. You just have to reach them in different ways."
If filmmakers arrive at Sundance assuming they will get a theatrical deal, they are likely to go home disappointed, said sales agent Andrew Herwitz, who sold the solid art-house hit "Waitress" to Fox Searchlight at Sundance in 2007. He said he was afraid the festival's more difficult movies might struggle to ever make it to the multiplex. "In this market," Herwitz said, "those films will not get distribution."
"Adam" producer Urdang says she knows the hurdles her film faces. "The costs of everything, from production to marketing, have expanded beyond what can be supported," Urdang said. But she believes her film's central story holds appeal not only to people touched by autism in its different forms but also to anyone struggling to form personal bonds. "It really illuminates the obstacles that all of us face in intimacy."
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Post by Andrea on Dec 13, 2008 6:19:00 GMT -5
festival.sundance.org/2009/film_events/films/greatest a promising description Crying your eyes out at the movies used to be commonplace. But the difficulty of affecting a contemporary audience emotionally demonstrates how much respect a work like The Greatest engenders: it is an enormously moving, intelligent exploration of pain and grieving, a film that will touch you and stay with you.The death of their teenage son, Bennett, in a car crash is almost too much for the Brewer family to bear, not just because his was a life of such promise but also because the impact of his death unleashes the turmoil that was just beneath the surface of their lives. His mother becomes obsessed and can’t let go; his father, in turn, can’t face it at all; and his brother’s secondary status is magnified and entrenched. And when Bennett’s girlfriend appears, the family must come to grips with circumstances that complicate their loss even further. An ensemble film that is the debut of Shana Feste, a particularly talented young filmmaker, this sensitive and heartbreaking feature showcases Susan Sarandon and Pierce Brosnan at their best and launches a career for young actress Carey Mulligan that is certain to be impressive. This is one of the standout works of this Festival and is as fine a debut as we can present.
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Post by Ace on Dec 13, 2008 13:16:06 GMT -5
Thanks! I've been looking for updates on the site and didn't see this yet. Very promising though most festival write ups usually are. But then this film was selected from over a 1,000 entrants as one of 16 in the Dramatic Competition category so it's evident the festival directors think very highly of it. It also has 6 showings including opening day of the festival Jan 17 3:15 p.m. - GREAT17CAEccles Theatre, Park CitySun. Jan 18 8:30 a.m. - GREAT18RMRacquet Club, Park CityMon. Jan 19 6:30 p.m. - GREAT19OAPeery's Egyptian Theater, OgdenWed. Jan 21 11:30 a.m. - GREAT21LDLibrary Center Theatre, Park CityWed. Jan 21 9:00 p.m. - GREAT21WNTower Theatre, SLCFri. Jan 23 8:00 p.m. - GREAT23RNRacquet Club, Park City
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Post by STACE on Dec 20, 2008 3:34:36 GMT -5
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Post by STACE on Dec 20, 2008 3:35:52 GMT -5
IT DOES WORK! ;D
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Post by Andrea on Jan 6, 2009 17:18:46 GMT -5
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Post by Ace on Jan 6, 2009 21:41:46 GMT -5
Thanks! Interesting remarks from the writer/director.
FYI, this wouldn't open in Firefox for me but did in IE. Could be the browser or i don't have the right plug in for FF.
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Post by Ace on Jan 8, 2009 1:43:55 GMT -5
Variety: Sundance First Look: The Greatest weblogs.variety.com/thompsononhollywood/2009/01/httpfestivalsundanceorg2009film_eventsfilmsgreatest.htmlIt's Sundance time. My mailbox is clogged with pitches for movies to screen, interviews to do. I'm planning on a radical new approach this year, since so many of the movies that buyers slather over in advance turn out to be disappointments, and the ones that go home with distribs are the ones critics and audiences actually admire. (See: Frozen River, Ballast, Trouble the Water.) So I'm going to go see the movies that look good, and then decide who to interview based on what I like! (I'm taking my flipcam.) Radical. It's how I did it for years. Meanwhile, I'll check out The Greatest based on this preview clip. It's from Sundance producer perennial Lynette Howell (Phoebe in Wonderland, Half Nelson), who says the script from a first-time writer-director (Shana Feste) sailed through the process of funding and casting. Pierce Brosnan and Susan Sarandon quickly signed on to this story of parental love and loss. It's about two parents (Brosnan and Sarandon)rocked to their foundations when they suddenly lose their teenage son (Aaron Johnson). Then his old girlfriend (Carey Mulligan) turns up. Revolutionary Road's Michael Shannon also stars. link.brightcove.com/services/link/bcpid301778988/bctid6460692001The video plays on the Variety bog -- pity I can't imbed it here or use the youtube function for Brightcove. It's a scene with Susan and Pierce.
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Post by Ace on Jan 9, 2009 17:43:21 GMT -5
www.variety.com/index.asp?layout=festivals&jump=story&id=2470&articleid=VR1117998282&cs=1Starry Sundance films look to scoreBy DADE HAYES, MICHAEL JONES When sellers trek to Sundance this week, they will be peddling a host of star-driven projects, ranging from a gritty Antoine Fuqua cop drama with Richard Gere and Ethan Hawke, to a gay buddy comedy starring Jim Carrey and Ewan McGregor. But a bleak economy, a shakeout among indie distributors and a sluggish track record among last year’s entries are raising the question: Can even high-profile projects make a sale? Sellers -- led by the big five major talent agencies, repping a total of 27 films -- are putting on an optimistic face, while trying to temper their clients’ expectations. "We feel like there’s still a very vibrant market for quality, marketable, specialized movies," says CAA’s Micah Green. "Sundance provides an opportunity to demonstrate audience reaction, critical reaction, and the energy that can surround a movie." Yet Green says his clients "are realistic on where the market is and are not expecting that the sales process is always as simple as ‘go to Sundance, screen your film, have a bidding war.’ " The Carrey-McGregor pic, "I Love You, Phillip Morris," is directed by "Bad Santa" scribes Glenn Ficarra and John Requa and is being repped by CAA and Endeavor. CAA also is teaming with William Morris, on Fuqua’s "Brooklyn’s Finest." Boldfaced names are a fixture of the modern Sundance scene, but the stars in the sales lineup recall last year’s debut of Robert De Niro starrer "What Just Happened?" After a tepid response in Utah, the pic regrouped and got a closing-night spot in Cannes, but still wound up going out through Magnolia Pictures, the Mark Cuban-Todd Wagner sister company of producer 2929. CAA’s list of 11 titles also includes "The Office’s" John Krasinski’s adaptation of "Brief Interviews with Hideous Men," R.J. Cutler’s study of Anna Wintour’s war room in the docu "The September Issue," and (with ICM) the romancer "Arlen Faber" with Jeff Daniels and Olivia Thirlby ("Juno"). Even before the economic turmoil, the retrenchment or shutdown of several indie and specialty distribs affected who sells what and how. There already were ample indications that the days of multiple movies fetching sky-high process were ending, with new fears that sellers were overreaching. John Sloss’ firm Cinetic grew to the point that last year it had 19 pics -- way too many, several vets say. "I don’t think you can give the same attention to all of those movies," says IFC acquisitions chief Arianna Bocco. Attorney and producer Jonathan Gray agrees. "What happens to you if you’re not the belle of the ball?" he asks. This year, Cinetic has scaled back to around 10 films. Moreover, sales commissions have grown along with the increased volume at many sales companies. Gray says the customary 5% commission is now often 10%. And some sellers seek upfront payments for their services in order to cover travel and expenses. Agencies don’t provide their services for free either. But they promise connections. In Endeavor’s stable, "Spread" has some commercial appeal, at least on paper. The pic, about a gigolo in L.A., stars Ashton Kutcher, who produced through his Katalyst Films shingle. Endeavor’s Graham Taylor and his indie finance colleagues set up "Spread" before Kutcher moved to CAA. Endeavor is also feeling early heat on Scott Sanders’ blaxploitation sendup, "Black Dynamite," and Shana Feste’s drama "The Greatest" (with CAA) starring Pierce Brosnan and Susan Sarandon.Among William Morris’s collection are "Shrink," with Kevin Spacey as a troubled psychiatrist to Hollywood’s A-list, and Emily Abt’s prep school drama "Toe to Toe." They’ll try again with Derik Martini’s suburban drama "Lymelife," which failed to land a home at Toronto despite some favorable reaction. ICM and UTA have pared it down to three pics each this year. ICM is pushing the comedy docu "Good Hair," Chris Rock’s study of African-American hair culture while UTA has "Paper Heart," a comedic docu-narrative lovestory starring Michael Cera and Charlyne Yi. UTA’s Richard Klubeck says it’s not just the loss of specialty distribs causing angst. "It’s also the fact that a couple of the buyers that are still around have reduced the level of commitment they’ll make to a film." Outside of the tenpercentaries, there are plenty of significant titles. Andrew Hurwitz has "Big Fan," the helming debut of "Wrestler" scribe Robert Siegel; Elle Driver is selling the horror pic "Dead Snow"; and the Film Sales Co. has Jeff Lipsky’s comedy "Once More with Feeling" starring Chazz Palminteri and exec produced by Rainbox Entertainment prexy Ed Carroll. Among Cinetic’s pics are the Paul Giamatti comedy "Cold Souls" as well as "The Winning Season," which marks helmer Jim Strouse’s switch to comedy after "Grace is Gone." The latter stars Sundance regular Sam Rockwell as a washed-up basketball coach. Josh Braun’s Submarine Entertainment has "Humpday," Lynn Shelton’s reworking of the buddy comedy; and Dan Eckman’s "Mystery Team." Describing the latter pic, Sundance programmer Trevor Groth wrote, "If Encyclopedia Brown, the kids from ‘American Pie’ and Nancy Drew all had sex, their baby would probably look something like ‘Mystery Team.’ " Submarine will also hope to build on its impressive docu sales track record with Ondi Timoner’s Internet bubble ride "We Live In Public" and Louie Psihoyos’ "The Cove" (with WMA). In detailing a hidden dolphin-killing spot, the film appears to share the thriller spine of "Man On Wire," the hit docu Braun sold to Magnolia at 2008’s Sundance. Despite the financial crisis, the fest is as important as ever to Braun. "There is a feeling it will be a tough year. A lot of my process is just figuring out expectations. As long as I’m on the same page as my filmmakers, it will be a compatible ride." "I’m not focusing on the downturn," says Braun. "We’re signing movies that we think are saleable and we’ll sell them. If I allow any negativity to seep into my thoughts, it’s that it may take a little longer."
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Post by Ace on Jan 14, 2009 14:30:18 GMT -5
online.wsj.com/article/SB123145249193865739.htmlWall St Journal: Sundance Film Festival May Face Lack of Bidders JANUARY 9, 2009 By LAUREN A.E. SCHUKER For 20 years, one of the hallmarks of the Sundance Film Festival has been giddy bidding over low-budget movies that distributors hope will generate big returns at the box office. But when Sundance opens next week, after months of contraction in both the independent-film market and the broader economy, the picture is likely to be different. Plenty of celebrities are still planning to pile into tiny Park City, Utah, for the 10-day event. But studio executives, directors and others say that when it comes to acquisitions, restraint will prevail. "I know it's going to be a difficult year for the festival," says festival director Geoffrey Gilmore. At the moment, he says, buyers just aren't in the mood to take a gamble on a picture that doesn't have obvious broad appeal. "So much of the success of this industry is generated by taking risks, and if you're not willing to take risks, then what are you left with?" The Sundance slowdown started last year. Mr. Gilmore estimates that the total outlay by buyers to acquire movies at Sundance plunged to about a third of the roughly $45 million spent in 2007, or around $15 million. This year, the festival faces an additional challenge: Many of the major studios have either closed or slimmed down their divisions that specialized in independently produced fare. Warner Bros. shuttered two labels, Warner Independent Pictures and Picturehouse, and absorbed the majority of the staff for New Line Cinema, another specialty division, into its main operations. Viacom Inc.'s Paramount Pictures made the same move with Paramount Vantage, which spent about $1 million on the documentary "American Teen" at last year's Sundance; the film didn't break that sum at the domestic box office. "The landscape of buyers this year is definitely smaller," says Guy Stodel, Paramount Vantage's executive vice president of production and acquisitions. In preparing for the festival, Mr. Stodel has had several conversations with his staff about buying films that will appeal to a wide audience. "You can get emotional about a film and want to buy it because it moves you," he told colleagues this past week. "But that doesn't translate to getting an audience on a Friday night." Michael Schaefer, senior vice president of acquisitions and co-productions at Summit Entertainment, the studio that released teen sensation "Twilight" around Thanksgiving, says that the fact that buyers aren't writing checks the way they once were, "is a good thing. So many of those movies bought two or three years ago did not perform as their buyers had hoped." Sundance began in 1978 as the Utah/US Film Festival, but seven years later Robert Redford took it over and the focus shifted toward American independent film. Veteran buyers of specialty films say 1989, the year that Miramax bought Steven Soderbergh's "Sex, Lies, and Videotape" for $1 million, ushered in the era of bidding wars that has dominated the scene in recent years. In 1991, the event was officially renamed the Sundance Film Festival. Mr. Soderbergh, who is returning to Sundance this year for a series of speaking engagements, acknowledges that an era is over. "We didn't spend that much on 'Sex, Lies,' and what happened with that film doesn't happen that often anymore. We are all seeing fewer instances of movies exploding at a festival and then coming out and finding an audience in the marketplace." Some of the glut's biggest victims were films showcased at last year's Sundance, such as "Hamlet 2," a Steve Coogan comedy that triggered an all-night bidding war at the festival. The film sold for about $10 million to Focus Features, only to bring in less than $5 million at the box office. "It was disappointing, and we lost a little bit of money," says James Schamus, chief executive of Focus. Nobody is likely to repeat Focus's mistake again this year, says veteran film producer Harvey Weinstein, co-chairman of the Weinstein Co. As the longtime head of Miramax Films, he helped put Sundance on the map. Spending $10 million "was an incredible financial mishap," Mr. Weinstein says. "The optimism will hopefully turn to pragmatism." This year, even some of the festival's most commercial fare -- like "I Love You Phillip Morris," a comedy about a cop-turned-criminal starring Jim Carrey -- might have trouble attracting $10 million bids. With fewer buyers on the market, executives like Mr. Stodel and Mr. Schaefer are hoping prices for top films finally go down. Buyers are tracking a few films in particular, including "The Greatest," the story of a grieving family after the death of their teenage son, starring Susan Sarandon and Pierce Brosnan. Another film generating some buzz is "Mary & Max," the claymation film from an Australian director about an eight-year-old girl who corresponds with a middle-aged New Yorker with Asperger's syndrome. Buyers are also looking at a film directed by John Krasinski, best known for his role as Jim on "The Office," about the inner nature of man based on the late David Foster Wallace's short story collection "Brief Interviews with Hideous Men." "Brooklyn's Finest," the story of three men who work in law enforcement, is also arousing the interest of potential buyers, especially with a cast that includes Richard Gere, Ethan Hawke, Don Cheadle and Wesley Snipes. Some agents who come to Sundance to sell films are already nervous. John Sloss, an entertainment lawyer, brought 19 films to Sundance last year, but only sold five by the time the festival finished. Within a few months, he had sold all but one of the movies. "Last year was very tough," he says. Now, he is being "really cautious." He is only bringing 11 or 12 films to the festival this year.
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Post by Ace on Jan 14, 2009 14:32:22 GMT -5
flavorwire.com/7604/what-will-be-this-years-golden-egg-at-sundance What Will Be This Year’s Golden Egg at Sundance? Tuesday Jan 13, 2009 by Caroline Stanley Last year Hamlet 2, sold to Focus Features for a cool $10 million making it one of the biggest deals ever to go down at Sundance. The year before Little Miss Sunshine went to Fox Searchlight for the same hefty price. The first film, most of you probably didn’t see, but it was kind of funny — just not $10 million funny. (This was our favorite part.) The latter won two Academy Awards and that year’s Independent Spirit Award for Best Feature. Go figure. So what films are poised to land this year’s double-digit deal given the current economy? Variety has a few starry-eyed ideas about it here; we provide a cheat sheet for the buzziest flicks after the jump. I Love You, Phillip Morris: A dark comedy starring Jim Carrey that marks the directing debut of the Bad Santa writing team of Glenn Ficarra and John Requa. We’re not usually big Carrey fans, and the “I was in a car crash and now I’m a gay con artist” plot line could go either way, but we’d buy a ticket just to watch him make out with Ewan McGregor. Brooklyn’s Finest: Training Day’s Antoine Fuqua directs this cop story from first-time screenwriter Michael Martin (a former tollbooth clerk from East New York), inspired in part by Spike Lee’s Do the Right Thing. The cast includes Ethan Hawke, Richard Gere, Wesley Snipes, Don Cheadle and Ellen Barkin. That’s a lot of heavyweight Hollywood bang for your buck. Spread: Ashton Kutcher’s late to the party addition to the Sundance roster isn’t part of the formal competition, which means they’re braving the freezing temps solely for a hot sale. While we’d pony up for the meta thrill of watching Kutcher star in a May/December romance (alongside Anne “I see aliens” Heche, no less), Cinematical’s post makes us wary of what misfortunes the official trailer might hold. The Greatest: Pierce Brosnan and Susan Sarandon team up for this directorial debut from screenwriter Shana Feste. There aren’t many details about the drama online, but we do know that it revolves around a family grieving the loss of their teenage son and focuses on a character played by Zoe Kravitz. If it’s as good as an earlier Sarandon flick, Safe Passage, we’re buying. Shrink: Kevin Spacey playing a psychiatrist/burn out. Initially it reminded us of another recent flick (which we loved), but it also sounds like the most interesting project he’s taken on in a long time. Jonas Pate, who helmed 2007’s The Take, directs the indie and the ensemble cast includes Robin Williams and Gore Vidal. Yep. Gore Vidal. That’s got to be worth something.
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Post by Ace on Jan 14, 2009 14:34:02 GMT -5
defamer.com/5130965/the-5-films-likeliest-to-cause-a-sundance-09-bidding-warThe 5 Films Likeliest To Cause A Sundance '09 Bidding WarBy STV, Wed Jan 14 2009 Those tall, icy piles of matter smothering Park City every January aren't always snow — they could just as easily be discarded Sundance dreams. But as usual, a few lucky ones will avoid the freeze. Amid the contraction and pocketbook panic gripping the independents and mini-majors this winter, predicting a Sundance bear market seems a safe, obvious choice for 2009. But it also seems relative — especially following a year when sales of festival films reportedly plunged 66 percent from their collective 2007 high of $45 million, and eight-figure buys like Hamlet 2 (and its subsequent seven-figure gross) signaled a reality check that had little or nothing to do with an imploding economy. Distributors need content; they just don't need to walk away with one film to show for $11 million. So what will they be spending on — and for how much — over the next 10 days? We scoured this year's selections for a few intrepid predictions: · I Love You Phillip Morris. Jim Carrey is a cop who turns to crime, goes to prison and winds up falling in love with a fellow inmate played by Ewan McGregor. Adapted from a true story by the guys who brought you Bad Santa, Morris may not be the first film that goes (it doesn't premiere until Sunday), but it's already commanding the highest going rate at the fest and could tempt a Miramax or Fox Searchlight — the latter of which is one of the few potential suitors with the proven alacrity and class to successfully sell a film like this — to write a $9 million or $10 million check in the wee hours of Monday morning. If it's not this year's What Just Happened?, languishing overhyped, unfunny and out of place in Park City. · An Education. Nick Hornby adapted his novel about Jenny (Carey Mulligan), a 16-year-old London girl whose coming of age is kick-started after meeting an older man (Peter Sarsgaard) in 1961. She's on her way to Oxford, he's on his way to a nightclub, holy Christ what will she choose? Word is that An Education is a starmaker for Mulligan, aided by another anticipated film at the fest (see below) and a supporting cast — Sarsgaard, Emma Thompson, Alfred Molina, Sally Hawkins — that will attract the likes of Sony Pictures Classics, Miramax and Focus Features for at least $4 million. · The Greatest. Setting itself up as an In the Bedroom without the undercooked revenge subplot, The Greatest thrusts Pierce Brosnan and Susan Sarandon into grief over the loss of their teenage son in a car accident. Mulligan appears as the dead kid's girlfriend, lessons are learned, Oscar clips ensue — again, if it's any good: Sundance's bead on middle-class white mourning is growing tired, and Brosnan's executive producer credit whispers "vanity project." But to the extent they even show up with any money at all, the Weinsteins and Paramount Vantage are suckers for this kind of stuff. It may not leave Park City with a deal, but we'll probably hear numbers between $4 million and $5 million throughout the week. · Cold Souls. Paul Giamatti plays himself in the story of an actor, tormented by his forthcoming role as Uncle Vanya, who turns to a futuristic soul-freezing enterprise as a means of assuaging his anxiety. Which works great — until his soul is stolen and enlisted for use by a Russian soap star. On one hand, the quirk potential here is kind of skin-crawling. But on the other, director Sophie Barthes blew us away with her 2007 short Happiness, which skimmed similar themes with warmth and sincerity. Sony Classics won't want anything remotely Kaufmanesque after Synecdoche, New York, but IFC Films and Magnolia Pictures will probably fight over this in the $2 million range for its potential in both the theatrical and VOD arenas. · Bronson. It may turn out to be this year's Wrestler — not for any stirring actorly comebacks but rather for an edgy tour de force take on crime, celebrity and class as seen through the psychotic eyes of Charlie Bronson (Tom Hardy), Britain's most notorious prisoner. Hardy will pull out an Eric Bana-style prison-saga breakthrough thanks to director Nicolas Winding Refn, whose Pusher Trilogy endures as one of the decade's great (and greatly underrated) cinematic achievements and whose style fuses hyperrealistic violence with Scandinavian chamber drama. It will polarize Sundance and stimulate salivary glands around the Fox Searchlight and Magnolia condos, from one of which (probably Searchlight, who's seen genre risks like Night Watch pay off before) will come a $3 million buy late next week. Bet on it.
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Post by Ace on Jan 14, 2009 14:36:12 GMT -5
www.empireonline.com/features/23-buzz-films-at-sundance-2009/default.asp23 Buzz Films From Sundance 2009 Damon Wise selects his favourites from this year's Sundance Film Festival line-up This year from January 15 to 25, Park City in Utah will be playing host to the Sundance Film Festival, perhaps the most prestigious launching ground for new independent films in the world. And 2009 will be interesting. As you can probably tell from the release schedules, the studios are suffering from a distinct lack of tentpole releases this year, while the usually steady supply of 'worthy' movies was hit hard by last year's strike. So, although the credit crunch means that nobody will be paying the crazy prices of the past ($10 million for 1999's Happy, Texas???), there'll be a lot of people looking to see if the indie world can plug the gaps with the new Juno, the new Sideways, or the new Lost In Translation. Don't forget, Sundance is where Little Miss Sunshine made its debut (without a distributor), and the fest has birthed such cult classics from the last decade as The Blair Witch Project, Reservoir Dogs, Clerks, Garden State, Napoleon Dynamite, while docs launched there include Super-size Me, DiG!, Man On Wire, Capturing The Friedmans and Enron: The Smartest Guys In The Room. As for the stars that were born here, you may know some of them: Quentin Tarantino, Steven Sodervergh, Kevin Smith, Paul Thomas Anderson... So here we present, (mostly) sight unseen, some of the buzz titles that could be causing a stir at this year's event... www.empireonline.com/features/23-buzz-films-at-sundance-2009/2.aspThe Greatest Section: US Dramatic Competition Director: Shana Feste Stars: Pierce Brosnan, Susan Sarandon, Aaron Johnson What's It About? The are shades of In The Bedroom, a previous Sundance hit, and Nanni Moretti's Cannes winner The Son's Room about this first-time feature, in which a husband and wife (Brosnan and Sarandon) come to terms with both their son's death and an unexpected visit from his girlfriend.
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Post by Ace on Jan 14, 2009 14:40:26 GMT -5
www.straitstimes.com/Breaking%2BNews/Lifestyle/Story/STIStory_325935.htmlSubdued Sundance predicted PARK CITY (Utah) - THE 25th Sundance Film Festival gets underway on Thursday with more than 100 movies due to be screened over the 10-day carnival, the world's largest marketplace for independent film. Against a backdrop of the faltering US economy, organisers are expecting a more subdued festival with less raucous partying as film-makers, actors and studio executives descend on the mountain town of Park City. A typically diverse field of films are entered in the documentary and dramatic competitions, with subjects ranging from African-American hairstyles, environmental disasters in the Amazon to sixties supergroup The Doors. 'This year's films are not narrowly defined. Instead we have a blurring of genres, a crossing of boundaries: geographic, generational, socio-economic and the like,' said Sundance Film Festival director Geoffrey Gilmore. One of the expected highlights of the festival's prestigious documentary competition includes 'When You're Strange", a much-anticipated look at 1960s supergroup The Doors, the first feature film to spotlight the band. Tom DiCillo's film is billed as a dark and dangerous look at the group whose hell-raising frontman Jim Morrison died in Paris in 1971. Other entries generating early buzz include 'Good Hair,' comedian Chris Rock's exploration of African-American hairstyles and 'The September Issue,' R.J Cutler's behind-the-scenes account of life at fashion bible Vogue. Cutler's crew were granted unprecedented access for nine months as they followed Vogue editor-in-chief Anna Wintour and her team as they prepared the 2007 September issue of the magazine. Meanwhile, Greg Barker's 'Sergio,' looks at the life and times of late United Nations High Commissioner of Human Rights Sergio Vieira de Mello, the Brazilian diplomat killed in a bombing of the United Nations compound in Baghdad in 2003. Among the entries in the dramatic competition is 'The Greatest", Shana Feste's film starring Pierce Brosnan and Susan Sarandon as a couple grieving the loss of their teenage son. The violent world of Central American gangs is the setting for Cary Joji Fukunaga's 'Sin Nombre,' about a teenage hoodlum attempting to outrun his past. In the international dramatic competition, France's 'Louise-Michel' appears to be a movie for the grim global economic times. The film tells the story of a group of laid off workers at a shuttered factory who pool their compensation money to hire a hitman to kill the corrupt executive behind the plant's closure. Away from the festival, America's economic woes are expected to impact Sundance's reputation as a scene for wild partying, with fewer events planned and a drop in visitors expected. Hollywood legend Robert Redford, one of the founding fathers of the festival, told the Salt Lake Tribune that that development may not be a bad thing. 'I'm not going to be bothered if there's a reduced attendance,' Redford told the newspaper. 'I'm focused on, 'What are the films being shown? And what do they represent?'' Veteran entertainment industry publicist Mickey Cottrell meanwhile told the Tribune it remained to be seen how Hollywood belt-tightening would affect the festival. 'We all know the pockets are not as deep as they have been in the past. We'll just have to see how deep they are.' Another publicist, Jim Dobson, added: 'It will be a calmer Sundance for sure. The days of throwing away 100,000 dollars for Jay-Z to perform are a thing of the past.' The festival closes on January 25. -- AFP
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