We now have our first real glimpse of the films we will be thinking and talking about in 2010, as the Sundance Film Festival has unveiled its competition slates for US and world titles. And as previewed, this year looks to be an all-star barn-burner, with brand new films from a host of Oscar winners (Alex Gibney, Davis Guggenheim, Leon Gast), nominees (Laura Poitras, Jeffrey Blitz, Heidi Ewing & Rachel Grady) and from folks who've had big success in Park City with their previous efforts (José Padilha, Amir Bar-Lev, Lucy Walker, Annie Sundberg & Ricki Stern).
We'll have much more on these films in the coming days and weeks (and frankly, months), but for now, here's this year's competition line-up, with descriptions furnished by the festival:
U.S. DOCUMENTARY COMPETITION
This year’s 16 films were selected from 862 submissions. Each film is a world premiere.
BHUTTO (Directors:
Jessica Hernandez and Johnny O'Hara)
A
riveting journey through the life and work of recently assassinated
Benazir Bhutto, former Pakistani prime minister and a polarizing figure
in the Muslim world. World Premiere
CASINO JACK & THE UNITED STATES OF MONEY (Director:
Alex Gibney)
A probing investigation into the lies, greed and
corruption surrounding D.C. super-lobbyist Jack Abramoff and his
cronies. World Premiere
FAMILY AFFAIR (Director: Chico
Colvard)
An uncompromising documentary that examines resilience,
survival and the capacity to accommodate a parent's past crimes in
order to satisfy the longing for family. World Premiere
FREEDOM RIDERS (Director:
Stanley Nelson)
The story behind a courageous band of civil rights
activists called the Freedom Riders who in 1961 creatively challenged
segregation in the American South. World Premiere
GAS LAND (Director: Josh
Fox)
A cross-country odyssey uncovers toxic streams, dying livestock,
flammable sinks and weakening health among rural citizens on the front
lines of the natural gas drilling craze. World Premiere
I'M PAT _______ TILLMAN (Director:
Amir Bar-Lev)
The story of professional football star and decorated
U.S. soldier Pat Tillman, whose family takes on the U.S. government
when their beloved son dies in a "friendly fire" incident in
Afghanistan in 2004. World Premiere
JEAN-MICHEL BASQUIAT: THE RADIANT CHILD (Director:
Tamra Davis)
The story of artist Jean-Michel Basquiat, whose work
defined, electrified and challenged an era, and whose untimely death at
age 27 has made him a cultural icon. World Premiere
JOAN RIVERS: A PIECE OF WORK (Directors:
Ricki Stern and Annie Sundberg)
A rare, brutally honest glimpse into
the comedic process and private dramas of legendary comedian and pop
icon Joan Rivers as she fights tooth and nail to keep her American
dream alive. World Premiere
LUCKY (Director: Jeffrey Blitz)
The story of what happens when ordinary people hit the lottery jackpot. World Premiere
MY PERESTROIKA (Director: Robin
Hessman)
Intimately tracking the lives of five Muscovites who came of
age just as the USSR collapsed and are adjusting to their post-Soviet
reality, My Perestroika maps the contours of a nation in profound transition. World Premiere
THE OATH (Director: Laura Poitras)
Filmed in Yemen, The Oath
tells the story of two men whose fateful encounter in 1996 set them on
a course of events that led them to Afghanistan, Osama bin Laden, 9/11,
Guantanamo, and the U.S. Supreme Court. World Premiere
RESTREPO (Directors: Sebastian Junger and Tim Hetherington)
Sebastian
Junger and Tim Hetherington's year dug in with the Second Platoon in
one of Afghanistan's most strategically crucial valleys reveals
extraordinary insight into the surreal combination of back breaking
labor, deadly firefights, and camaraderie as the soldiers painfully
push back the Taliban. World Premiere
A SMALL ACT (Director: Jennifer
Arnold)
A young Kenyan’s life changes dramatically when his education
is sponsored by a Swedish stranger. Years later, he founds his own
scholarship program to replicate the kindness he once received. World Premiere
SMASH HIS CAMERA (Director:
Leon Gast)
Jacqueline Kennedy Onassis sued him, and Marlon Brando broke
his jaw. The story of notorious, reviled paparazzo Ron Galella opens a
Pandora's Box of issues from right to privacy, freedom of the press and
the ever-growing vortex of celebrity worship. World Premiere
12TH & DELAWARE (Directors:
Rachel Grady and Heidi Ewing)
The abortion battle continues to rage in
unexpected ways on an unassuming corner in America. World Premiere
WAITING FOR SUPERMAN (Director: Davis Guggenheim)
Waiting for Superman
examines the crisis of public education in the United States through
multiple interlocking stories—from a handful of students and their
families whose futures hang in the balance, to the educators and
reformers trying to find real and lasting solutions within a
dysfunctional system. World Premiere
WORLD CINEMA DOCUMENTARY COMPETITION
This year’s 12 films were selected from 782 international documentary submissions.
A FILM UNFINISHED / Germany, Israel
(Director: Yael Hersonski)
Film reels uncovered in Nazi archives reveal
the mechanisms used to stage Warsaw Ghetto life--images which have
shaped our view of history. World Premiere
ENEMIES OF THE PEOPLE / Cambodia, United Kingdom (Directors:
Rob Lemkin and Thet Sambath)
A young journalist whose family was killed
by the Khmer Rouge befriends the perpetrators of the Killing Fields
genocide, evoking shocking revelations. U.S. Premiere
FIX ME / France, Palestinian Territories, Switzerland (Director:
Raed Andoni)
When Palestinian filmmaker Raed Andoni gets a headache
that won't quit, he seeks out help and insight in different forms in
his hometown of Ramallah. International Premiere
HIS & HERS / Ireland (Director: Ken Wardrop)
Seventy Irish women offer moving insights into the relationships between women and men. North American Premiere
KICK IN IRAN / Gemany (Director: Fatima
Geza Abdollahyan)
The first female professional Taekwondo fighter from
Iran to qualify for the Olympic Games struggles for recognition in a
society where women still play a subordinate role. World Premiere
LAST TRAIN HOME / Canada (Director: Lixin
Fan)
Getting a train ticket in China proves a towering ordeal as a
migrant worker family embarks on a journey, along with 200 million
other peasants, to reunite with their distant family. U.S. Premiere
THE RED CHAPEL (Det Røde Kapel) / Denmark
(Director: Mads Brügger)
A journalist with no scruples, a
self-proclaimed spastic, and a comedian travel to North Korea under the
guise of a cultural exchange visit to challenge one of the world’s most
notorious regimes. U.S. Premiere
RUSSIAN LESSONS / Georgia, Germany,
Norway (Directors: Olga Konskaya and Andrei Nekrasov)
An investigation
into Russian actions during the 2008 war in Georgia, revealing the
little known story of the ethnic cleansing in the region since the
dissolution of the Soviet Union. World Premiere
SECRETS OF THE TRIBE / Brazil (Director:
José Padilha)
Is the academic Anthropology community capable of
generating real knowledge about mankind? The scandals and the
infighting regarding the representation of indigenous Indians in the
Amazon Basin seems to indicate that the answer may be a resounding no. World Premiere
SINS OF MY FATHER / Argentina, Colombia
(Director: Nicolas Entel)
The life and times of notorious Colombian
drug lord Pablo Escobar are recounted through the eyes of his son, who
fled Colombia to move beyond his father's legacy. North American Premiere
SPACE TOURISTS / Switzerland (Director:
Christian Frei)
A humorous and laconic view of the way billionaires
depart our planet earth to travel into outer space for fun. North American Premiere
WASTE LAND / United Kingdom (Director:
Lucy Walker)
Lives are transformed when international art star Vik
Muniz collaborates with garbage pickers in the world's largest landfill
in Rio de Janeiro. World Premiere
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