Park City, Utah - The Sundance Film Festival, well established as one of the top showcases for American independent film has announced the sixteen films to compete in their upcoming dramatic competition. While some films playing in other sections of the festival sometimes garner significant attention, the films in the dramatic competition are the most closely watched by industry observers. The "Sweet 16" for the 2003 Sundance Film Festival are as follows:
"All the Real Girls"
Synopsis: A young man, who has slept with almost every girl in his small southern town, falls in love with his best friend's younger sister, a virgin.
Writer/Director: David Gordon Green
Cast: Paul Schneider, Zooey Deschanel, Patricia Clarkson, Benjamin Mouton
"American Splendor"
Synopsis: An original mix of fiction and reality illuminates the life of comic book hero everyman Harvey Pekar.
Writers/Directors: Shari Springer, Robert Pulcini
Cast: Paul Giamatti, Hope Davis, Judah Friedlander
"Camp"
Synopsis: A group of talented young people attend a summer camp where they are given the rare opportunity to be themselves without judgement.
Writer/Director: Todd Graff
Cast: Daniel Letterle, Joanna Chilcoat, Robin de Jesus, Sasha Allen, Tiffany Taylor, Don Dixon
"Cooler, The"
Synopsis: To pay off a gambling debt with a casino, a man is employed to spread his bad luck with other gamblers.
Writers: Wayne Kramer, Frank Hannah
Director: Wayne Kramer
Cast: William H. Macy, Maria Bello, Alec Baldwin, Ron Livingston, Joey Fatone, Paul Sorvino, Shawn Hatosy, Estella Warren
"Die Mommy Die"
Synopsis: After the sudden death of her unloving husband, a former pop diva deals with her dysfunctional family.
Writer: Charles Busch
Director: Mark Rucker
Cast: Charles Busch, Frances Conroy, Philip Baker Hall, Natasha Lyonne, Jason Priestley, Stark Sands
"Dopamine"
Synopsis: A repressed computer animator fills a void in his life with an artificial creature and comes face to face with love.
Writers: Mark Decena, Timothy Breitbach
Director: Mark Decena
Cast: Jonathan Livingston
"Mudge Boy, The"
Synopsis: After the loss of his mother, a young boy expresses his loss in ways that even his own father can't understand.
Writer/Director: Michael Burke
Cast: Emile Hirsch, Richard Jenkins, Thomas Quiry
"Party Monster"
Synopsis: Based on a true story about two boys from the midwest that become involved in the New York club scene with tragic results.
Writers/Directors: Fenton Bailey, Randy Barbato
Cast:Macaulay Culkin, Seth Green, Chloe Sevigny, Natasha Lyonne, Dylan McDermot, Marilyn Manson, Wilson Cruz, Wilmer Valderrama, Diana Scarwid
"Pieces of April"
Synopsis: The outcast of the family decides to host Thanksgiving dinner in her dilapidated home.
Writer/Director: Peter Hedges
Cast: Katie Holmes, Patricia Clarkson, Derek Luke, Allison Pill, Sean Hayes, Oliver Platt
"Quattro Noza"
Synopsis: An exploration of youth rivalry, love, and war, set against the backdrop of hip hop and illegal street car racing in Southern California.
Writers: Joey Curtis, Albert Hernandez
Director: Joey Curtis
Cast: Brihanna Hernandez, Victor Larios, Robert Beaumont, Greg Leone
"Rhythm of the Saints"
Synopsis: A young Latina casts spells from the Santeria religion on those who tease her for being different.
Writer: Cyn Cañel Rossi
Director: Sarah Rogacki
Cast: Sarita Choudhury, Daniella Alonso, Ryan Donowho, Gano Grills, Onahoua Rodriguez, Ivan Martin
"Station Agent, The"
Synopsis: Born with dwarfism, a young man who has purposefully isolated himself from others, is unwittingly drawn into the lives of two other loners.
Writer/Director: Tom McCarthy
Cast: Patricia Clarkson, Peter Dinklage, Bobby Cannavale, Michelle Williams, Raven Goodwin, Paul Benjamin
"Technical Writer, The"
Synopsis: A writer of computer manuals, emerges from his hermetic existence with surprising results.
Writers: Scott Saunders, Michael Harris
Director: Scott Saunders
Cast: Michael Harris, Tatum O'Neal, William Forsythe, Pamela Gordon, Natalia Novikova, Oksana Lada
"Thirteen"
Synopsis: A thirteen-year-old girl's relationship with her mother is put to the test as she discovers drugs, sex, and petty crime in the company of her cool but troubled best friend.
Writers: Catherine Hardwicke, Nikki Reed
Director: Catherine Hardwicke
Cast: Holly Hunter, Evan Rachel Wood, Nikki Reed, Jeremy Sisto, Brady Corbet, Deborah Kara Unger, Kip Pardue
"United States of Leland, The"
Synopsis: The family and prison teacher of a troubled teen are left to unravel why he killed a retarded boy.
Writer/Director: Matthew Ryan Hoge
Cast: Ryan Gosling, Don Cheadle, Chris Klein, Kevin Spacey, Jena Malone, Lena Olin, Michelle Williams
"What Alice Found"
Synopsis: A down-on-her-luck young woman is taken in by an overly friendly RV couple, and introduced to a truckstop underworld.
Writer/Director: A. Dean Bell
Cast: Judith Ivey, Bill Raymond, Emily Grace, Michael Maronna, Justin Parkinson, David Rose
The Sundance Film Festival runs January 16th through the 26th. The winners of the festival will be presented on Saturday, 25 January 2003. The awards ceremony will be broadcast live on the Sundance Channel.
Park City, Utah - Veteran actor Patricia Clarkson, most recently seen in "Far From Heaven" stars in a whopping four films at the upcoming Sundance Film Festival. This is a record.
Equally impressive is the fact that three of the films ("All the Real Girls," "Pieces of April," and "The Station Agent") are in the dramatic competition. The fourth film is "The Baroness and the Pig," and will screen as part of the World Cinema section of the festival.
No stranger to the festival, Clarkson had previously appeared in a number of films at the festival including "High Art," which was in the 1998 dramatic competition.
Looking for something different? The following are some intriguing alternatives to your standard Hollywood fare (listed in order of initial U.S. theatrical release date):
"Standing in the Shadows of Motown" (Artisan)
Synopsis: A documentary of the legendary "Funk Brothers," Motown's house band that played on many of their classic recording sessions in Detroit.
Director: Paul Justman
Cast includes: Joe Messina, Johnny Griffith, Joe Hunter, Bob Babbitt, Richard "Pistol" Allen
Release Date: 15 November 2002 (New York and Los Angeles)
"Talk to Her" (Sony Pictures Classics)
Synopsis: Two men become friends in part due to their relationships with comatose women.
Writer/Director: Pedro Almodóvar
Cast includes: Rosario Flores, Javier Camara, Dario Grandinetti, Leonor Watling, Roberto Alvarez
Release Date: 22 November 2002 (New York and Los Angeles)
"Rabbit-Proof Fence" (Miramax)
Synopsis: After being abducted by the Australian government in 1931 to be trained as domestic servants, three Aborginal girls escape their captors and attempt to make the long journey home. Based on a true story.
Director: Phillip Noyce
Writer: Christine Olsen
Cast includes: Everlyn Sampi, Tianna Sansbury, Kenneth Branagh, Jason Clarke, David Gulpilil
Release Date: 29 November 2002 (New York and Los Angeles)
"Intacto" (Lions Gate)
Synopsis: A man goes on risky adventure in the hopes of regaining the luck he once had.
Director: Juan Carlos Fresnadillo
Writers: Andres Koppel, Juan Carlos Fresnadillo
Cast includes: Leonardo Sbaraglia, Eusebio Poncela, Monica Lopez, Antonio Dechent, Antonio Perez Dechent, Max Von Sydow
Release Date: 13 December 2002 (limited)
"Antwone Fisher" (Fox Searchlight)
Synopsis: Through the help of a naval psychiatrist, a young sailor is forced to confront his personal demons. Based on a true story.
Director: Denzel Washington
Writer: Antwone Fisher
Cast includes: Derek Luke, Denzel Washington, Joy Bryant, Salli Richardson, Stephen Snedden
Release Date: 20 December 2002 (limited)
"Gangs of New York" (Miramax)
Synopsis: Set in mid-19th century New York City, a young man seeks revenge for the death of his father.
Director: Martin Scorsese
Writers: Kenneth Lonergan, Steven Zallian, Jay Cocks, Martin Scorsese
Cast includes: Leonardo DiCaprio, Cameron Diaz, Daniel Day-Lewis, Liam Neeson, Henry Thomas
Release Date: 20 December 2002 (wide)
"Morvern Callar" (Cowboy)
Synopsis: In the wake of her writer boyfriend's suicide, an impoverished supermarket clerk sells his unpublished novel and travels to Spain for the easy life as a rave clubber.
Director: Lynne Ramsay
Writer: Lynne Ramsay, Liana Doznni
Cast includes: Samantha Morton, Kathleen McDermott, Linda McGuire, Duncan McHardy, Dolly Wells
Release Date: 20 December 2002 (limited)
"Chicago" (Miramax)
Synopsis: Set in the roaring 1920s, a Chicago chorus girl shoots her unfaithful lover and becomes part of a media sensation.
Director: Rob Marshall
Writers: Bill Condon, Fred Ebb
Cast includes: Renee Zellweger, Catherine Zeta-Jones, Richard Gere, Christine Baranski, Taye Diggs
Release Date: 27 December 2002 (limited)
"The Pianist" (Focus)
Synopsis: During the brutal Nazi occupation of Poland during World War II, a Jewish pianist struggles to survive inside the Warsaw ghetto. Based on a true story.
Director: Roman Polanski
Writers: Ronald Harwood, Wladyslaw Szpilman
Cast includes: Adrien Brody, Thomas Kretschman, Frank Finlay, Maureen Lipman, Ed Stoppard
Release Date: 27 December 2002 (New York and Los Angeles)
"Confessions of a Dangerous Mind" (Miramax)
Synopsis: The ficticious story of how Chuck Barris, the creator of the Gong Show and other game shows, became an assassin for the CIA.
Director: George Clooney
Writer: Charlie Kaufman
Cast includes: Sam Rockwell, Drew Barrymore, George Clooney, Julia Roberts, Fred Savage
Release Date: 31 December 2002 (New York and Los Angeles)
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