Sundance 2008, January 17-27

The 2008 Sundance Film Festival runs January 17-27, 2008, in Park City, Salt Lake City, Ogden, and Sundance, Utah. There are 4 competition categories: (i) Documentary (ii) Dramatic (iii) World Cinema Documentary (iv) World Cinema Dramatic. In addition to the four Competition categories, the Festival presents films in five out-of-competition sections.

For the 2008 Sundance Film Festival, 121 feature-length films were selected including 87 world premieres, 14 North American premieres, and 12 U.S. premieres representing 25 countries with 55 first-time filmmakers, including 32 in competition. These films were selected from 3,624 feature film submissions composed of 2,021 U.S. and 1,603 international feature-length films. These numbers represent an increase from last year when 1,852 U.S. and 1,435 international feature-length films were considered.

In 'Dramatic' category, this year’s 16 films were selected from 1,068 submissions. Each film is a world premiere: AMERICAN SON (Director: Neil Abramson; Screenwriter: Eric Schmid), ANYWHERE, U.S.A. (Director: Chusy Haney-Jardine; Screenwriters: Chusy Haney-Jardine, Jennifer Macdonald), BALLAST (Director and Screenwriter: Lance Hammer), CHOKE (Director and Screenwriter: Clark Gregg), DOWNLOADING NANCY (Director: Johan Renck; Screenwriters: Pamela Cuming, Lee Ross), FROZEN RIVER (Director and Screenwriter: Courtney Hunt), GOOD DICK (Director and Screenwriter: Marianna Palka), THE LAST WORD (Director and Screenwriter: Geoff Haley), THE MYSTERIES OF PITTSBURGH (Director and Screenwriter: Rawson Marshall Thurber), NORTH STARR (Director and Screenwriter: Matthew Stanton), PHOEBE IN WONDERLAND (Director and Screenwriter: Daniel Barnz), PRETTY BIRD (Director and Screenwriter: Paul Schneider), SLEEP DEALER (Director: Alex Rivera; Screenwriters: Alex Rivera, David Riker), SUGAR (Directors and Screenwriters: Anna Boden, Ryan Fleck), SUNSHINE CLEANING (Director: Christine Jeffs; Screenwriter: Megan Holley), THE WACKNESS (Director and Screenwriter: Jonathan Levine).

In 'World Cinema Dramatic' category, this year’s 16 selections are from 983 submissions and represent 17 countries: ABSURDISTAN/ Germany/Azerbaijan (Director: Veit Helmer; Screenwriters: Veit Helmer, Zaza Buadze, Gordan Mihic, Ahmet Golbol), BLUE EYELIDS (PÁRPADOS AZULES)/ Mexico (Director: Ernesto Contreras; Screenwriter: Carlos Contreras), CAPTAIN ABU RAED/ Jordan (Director and Screenwriter: Amin Matalqa), THE DRUMMER (JIN. GWU)/ Hong Kong/ Taiwan/ Germany (Director and Screenwriter: Kenneth Bi), I ALWAYS WANTED TO BE A GANGSTER (J'AI TOUJOURS RÊVÉ D'ÊTRE UN GANGSTER)/ France (Director and Screenwriter: Samuel Benchetrit), JUST ANOTHER LOVE STORY (KÆRLIGHED PÅ FILM)/ Denmark (Director and Screenwriter: Ole Bornedal), KING OF PING PONG (PING PONGKINGEN)/ Sweden (Director: Jens Jonsson; Screenwriters: Jens Jonsson, Hans Gunnarson), MÁNCORA/ Spain/Peru (Director: Ricardo de Montreuil; Screenwriter: Oscar Torres), MEGANE (GLASSES)/ Japan (Director and Screenwriter: Naoko Ogigami), MERMAID (RUSALKA)/ Russia (Director and Screenwriter: Anna Melikyan), PERRO COME PERRO (DOG EAT DOG)/ Colombia (Director: Carlos Moreno; Screenwriters: Alonso Torres, Carlos Moreno), RIPRENDIMI (GOOD MORNING HEARTACHE)/ Italy (Director: Anna Negri; Screenwriters: Anna Negri, Giovanna Mori), STRANGERS/ Israel (Directors and Screenwriters: Erez Tadmor, Guy Nattiv), UNDER THE BOMBS (SOUS LES BOMBES)/ Lebanon (Director: Philippe Aractingi; Screenwriters: Philippe Aractingi,Michel Léviant), THE WAVE (DIE WELLE)/ Germany (Director: Dennis Gansel; Screenwriters: Dennis Gansel and Peter Thorwarth), THE WIND AND THE WATER (BURWA DII EBO)/ Panama (Directors and Screenwriters: A collective collaboration).

The Opening Night Film for the festival would be the world premiere of IN BRUGES, written and directed by first-time feature filmmaker and award-winning playwright, Martin McDonagh. With an international cast starring Academy Award-nominee Ralph Fiennes, Colin Farrell and Brendan Gleeson, IN BRUGES tells the suspenseful, twisted tale of two London hit men ordered to take a forced vacation in Bruges, Belgium, and how their subsequent time in exile goes awry.

For details, visit www.sundance.org/festival