Sundance unveils US, World Cinema competition sections

The opening night selections will be accompanied by a shorts programme. Sundance runs from Jan 19-29 in Park City, Salt Lake City, Ogden and Sundance, Utah. The 2012 event will reopen the refurbished venue formerly known as The Racquet Club, now under its new name The MARC, while New Frontier programme relocates to new digs at The Yard.

And in a new move that could take pressure off the opening weekend and entice people to stay longer, festival director John Cooper and director of programming Trevor Groth have scheduled several key world premieres for Tuesday (Jan 24). Additionally, Cooper and Groth confirmed that Sundance Film Festival USA, in which nine US cities host Sundance films for one night during the festival, will return for the third year. Titles will be announced shortly.

All in all 110 feature-length films were selected for the entire festival representing 31 countries and 44 first-time filmmakers, including 26 in competition. Films were selected from 4,042 feature-length submissions comprising 2,059 US and 1,983 international entries. 88 films will receive their world premiere.

US Dramatic Competition entries include Ry Russo-Young’s drama Nobody Walks starring John Krasinksi and Olivia Thirlby, Antonio Campos’ Simon Killer from Martha Marcy May Marlene producers Borderline Films and John Hawkes in Ben Lewin’s drama The Surrogate. The US Documentary Competition features Eugene Jarecki’s War On Drugs film The House I Live In and Kirby Dick’s The Invisible War, about the rape of soldiers within the US military.

The World Cinema Dramatic Competition roster boasts Wagner Moura in Luciano Moura’s Brazilian drama Father’s Chair and Sally El Hosaini’s UK entry My Brother The Devil. The World Cinema Documentary Competition entries include Yung Chang’s examination of New China in China Heavyweight and Putin’s Kiss (Denmark) from Lise Birk Pedersen, about a Russian youngster who questions her nationalistic beliefs.

Spotlight, Park City At Midnight, NEXT <=> and New Frontier will be announced tomorrow (Dec 1) followed by the Premieres and Documentary Premieres strands on Monday (Dec 5).

“We are, and always have been, a festival about the filmmakers,” Sundance Institute founder and president Robert Redford said. “So what are they doing? What are they saying? They are making statements about the changing world we are living in. Some are straight-forward, some novel and some offbeat but always interesting. One can never predict. We know only at the end, and I love that.”

Festival director John Cooper said: “In these challenging economic times, filmmakers have had to be more resourceful and truly independent in their approaches to filmmaking. Looking at this year’s submissions, the result is more fully-realised visions and stronger stories; we are proud to see the festival emerging as a key indicator of the health and creativity of our filmmaking community. The overall quality of the films in the 2012 competition section will make for an exciting festival and a remarkable year ahead for independent film audiences everywhere.”

Executive director of Sundance Institute Keri Putnam said: “The enthusiasm and optimism of John Cooper and his programming team this year is infectious; we are all excited to unveil and experience their selections for the 2012 Sundance Film Festival. On behalf of my colleagues at the Sundance Institute we are pleased to introduce new storytellers to our audience, welcome new and returning filmmakers to the festival and kick off a lively cultural dialogue for 2012.”

The complete list of films is available at the official website.

All films listed below are world premieres unless stated otherwise. The festival provided all synopses.

US DRAMATIC COMPETITION
The world premieres of 16 American narrative feature films.

Beasts Of The Southern Wild
Director: Benh Zeitlin. Screenwriter: Benh Zeitlin, Lucy Alibar
Waters gonna rise up, wild animals gonna rerun from the grave, and everything south of the levee is goin’ under, in this tale of a six year old named Hushpuppy, who lives with her daddy at the edge of the world.
Cast: Quvenzhané Wallis, Dwight Henry.

The Comedy
Director: Rick Alverson. Screenwriters: Rick Alverson, Robert Donne, Colm O’Leary
Indifferent even to the prospects of inheriting his father’s estate, Swanson whiles away his days with a group of aging Brooklyn hipsters, engaging in small acts of recreational cruelty and pacified boredom.
Cast: Tim Heidecker, Eric Wareheim, Kate Lyn Sheil, Alexia Rassmusen, Gregg Turkington.

The End Of Love
Director and screenwriter: Mark Webber
A young father unravels following the loss of the mother of his child.
Cast: Mark Webber, Shannyn Sossamon, Michael Cera, Jason Ritter, Amanda Seyfried, Frankie Shaw.

Filly Brown
Directors: Youssef Delara, Michael D Olmos. Screenwriter: Youssef Delara
A Hip Hop-driven drama about a Mexican girl who rises to fame and consciousness as she copes with the incarceration of her mother through music.
Cast: Lou Diamond Phillips, Gina Rodriguez, Jenni Rivera, Edward James Olmos.

The First Time
Director and screenwriter: Jonathan Kasdan
Two high schoolers meet at a party. Over the course of a weekend, things turn magical, romantic, complicated and funny, as they discover what it’s like to fall in love for the first time.
Cast: Brittany Robertson, Dylan O’Brien, Craig Roberts, James Frecheville, Victoria Justice.

For Ellen
Director and screenwriter: So Yong Kim
A struggling musician takes an overnight long-distance drive in order to fight his estranged wife for custody of their young daughter.
Cast: Paul Dano, Jon Heder, Jena Malone, Margarita Levieva, Shay Mandigo.

Hello I Must Be Going
Director: Todd Louiso. Screenwriter: Sarah Koskoff
Divorced, childless, demoralised and condemned to move back in with her parents at the age of 35, Amy Minsky’s prospects look bleak – until the unexpected attention of a teenage boy changes everything.
Cast: Melanie Lynskey, Blythe Danner, Christopher Abbott, John Rubinstein, Julie White.
DAY ONE FILM

Keep The Lights On
Director: Ira Sachs. Screenwriters: Ira Sachs, Mauricio Zacharias
An autobiographically inspired story of a passionate long-term relationship between two men driven by addiction and secrets but bound by love and hopefulness.
Cast: Thure Lindhardt, Zachary Booth, Julianne Nicholson, Souleymane Sy Savane, Paprika Steen.

Luv
Director: Sheldon Candis. Screenwriters: Sheldon Candis, Justin Wilson
An orphaned 11-year-old boy is forced to face the unpleasant truth about his beloved uncle during one harrowing day in the streets of Baltimore.
Cast: Common, Michael Rainey Jr., Dennis Haysbert, Danny Glover, Charles S Dutton.

Middle Of Nowhere
Director and screenwriter: Ava DuVernay
When her husband is incarcerated, an African-American woman struggles to maintain her marriage and her identity.
Cast: Emayatzy Corinealdi, David Oyelowo, Omari Hardwick, Lorraine Touissant, Edwina Findley.

Nobody Walks
Director: Ry Russo-Young. Screenwriter: Lena Dunham, Ry Russo-Young
Martine, a young artist from New York, is invited into the home of a hip, liberal LA family for a week. Her presence unravels the family’s carefully maintained status quo, and a mess of sexual and emotional entanglements ensues.
Cast: John Krasinski, Olivia Thirlby, Rosemarie DeWitt, India Ennenga, Justin Kirk.

Safety Not Guaranteed
Director: Colin Trevorrow. Screenwriter: Derek Connolly
A trio of magazine employees investigate a classified ad seeking a partner for time travel. One employee develops feelings for the paranoid but compelling loner and seeks to discover what he’s really up to.
Cast: Aubrey Plaza, Mark Duplass, Jake Johnson, Karen Soni.

Save The Date
Director: Michael Mohan. Screenwriters: Jeffrey Brown, Egan Reich, Michael Mohan
As her sister Beth prepares to get married, Sarah finds herself caught up in an intense post-breakup rebound. The two fumble through the redefined emotional landscape of modern day relationships, forced to relearn how to love and be loved
Cast: Lizzy Caplan, Alison Brie, Martin Starr, Geoffrey Arend, Mark Webber.

Simon Killer (France-US)
Director and screenwriter: Antonio Campos
A recent college graduate goes to Paris after breaking up with his girlfriend of five years. Once there, he falls in love with a young prostitute and their fateful journey begins.
Cast: Brady Corbet, Mati Diop, Constance Rousseau, Michael Abiteboul, Solo.

Smashed
Director: James Ponsoldt. Screenwriters: Susan Burke, James Ponsoldt
Kate and Charlie are a young married couple whose bond is built on a mutual love of music, laughter and… drinking. When Kate decides to get sober, her new lifestyle brings troubling issues to the surface and calls into question her relationship with Charlie.
Cast: Mary Elizabeth Winstead, Aaron Paul, Octavia Spencer, Nick Offerman, Megan Mullally.

The Surrogate
Director and screenwriter: Ben Lewin
Mark O’Brien, a 36-year-old poet and journalist with an iron lung, decides he no longer wishes to be a virgin. With the help of his therapist and the guidance of his priest, he contacts a professional sex surrogate to take him on a journey to manhood.
Cast: John Hawkes, Helen Hunt, William H Macy.

US DOCUMENTARY COMPETITION
The world premieres of 16 American documentary films.

Ai Weiwei: Never Sorry (US-China)
Director: Alison Klayman
Renowned Chinese artist and activist Ai Weiwei has garnered international attention as much for his ambitious artwork as his political provocations and increasingly public clashes with the Chinese government.

The Atomic States Of America
Directors: Don Argott, Sheena M Joyce
In 2010, the United States announced construction of the first new nuclear power plant in more than 32 years. A year later, a 9.0 magnitude earthquake struck the Fukushima Power Plant in Japan sparking a fierce debate in the U.S. over the safety and viability of nuclear power.

Chasing Ice
Director: Jeff Orlowski
Science, spectacle and human passion mix in this stunningly cinematic portrait as National Geographic photographer James Balog captures time-lapse photography of glaciers over several years providing tangible visual evidence of climate change.

DETROPIA
Directors: Heidi Ewing, Rachel Grady
The woes of Detroit are emblematic of the collapse of the US manufacturing base. This is the dramatic story of a city and its people who refuse to leave the building, even as the flames are rising.

ESCAPE FIRE: The Fight To Rescue American Healthcare
Director: Matthew Heineman, Susan Froemke
What can be done to save our broken medical system? Powerful forces are trying to maintain the status quo in a profit-driven medical industry, but a movement to bring innovative methods of prevention and healing is finally gaining ground – potentially saving the health of a nation.

Finding North
Director: Lori Silverbush, Kristi Jacobson
A crisis of hunger looms in America and is not limited to the poverty stricken and uneducated. Can a return to policies of the 1970s save our future?

The House I Live In
Director: Eugene Jarecki
For over 40 years, the War On Drugs has accounted for 45 million arrests, made America the world’s largest jailer and damaged poor communities at home and abroad. Yet, drugs are cheaper, purer and more available today than ever. Where did we go wrong and what is the path toward healing?

How To Survive A Plague
Director: David France
The untold story of the intensive efforts that turned AIDS into a manageable condition – and the improbable group of (mostly HIV-positive) young men and women whose amazing resilience broke through a time of rampant death and political indifference.

The Invisible War
Director: Kirby Dick
An investigative and powerfully emotional examination of the epidemic of rape of soldiers within the U.S. military, the institutions that cover up its existence and the profound personal and social consequences that arise from it.

Marina Abramović The Artist Is Present
Director: Matthew Akers
Marina Abramović prepares for a major retrospective of her work at The Museum of Modern Art in New York hoping to finally silence four decades of skeptics who proclaim: ‘But why is this art?’

ME At The ZOO
Director: Chris Moukarbel, Valerie Veatch
With 270 million hits to date, Chris Crocker, an uncanny young video blogger from small town Tennessee, is considered the Internet’s first rebel folk hero and at the same time one of its most controversial personalities.

The Other Dream Team (Lithuania-US)
Director: Marius Markevicius
The 1992 Lithuanian National Basketball Team went from the clutches of Communism to the Summer Olympics in Barcelona – a testament to the powerful role of sports as a catalyst for cultural identity.

The Queen Of Versailles
Director: Lauren Greenfield
Jackie and David were triumphantly constructing the biggest house in America – a sprawling, 90,000-square-foot palace inspired by Versailles – when their timeshare empire collapses and their house is foreclosed. Their rags-to-riches-to-rags story reveals the innate virtues and flaws of the American Dream.
DAY ONE FILM

Slavery By Another Name
Director: Sam Pollard
As slavery came to an end with Abraham Lincoln’s Emancipation Proclamation, a new system of involuntary servitude took its place with shocking force, brutalizing, terrorising and ultimately circumscribing the lives of hundreds of thousands of African Americans well into the 20th century.

Love Free Or Die: How The Bishop Of New Hampshire Is Changing The World
Director: Macky Alston
One man whose two defining passions are in conflict: An openly gay bishop refuses to leave the Church or the man he loves.

We’re Not Broke
Director: Karin Hayes, Victoria Bruce
As American lawmakers slash budgets and lay off employees, leaving many people scrambling to survive, multibillion-dollar corporations are concealing colossal profits overseas to avoid paying U.S. income tax. Fed-up Americans are taking their frustration to the streets.

WORLD CINEMA DRAMATIC COMPETITION
Fourteen films from emerging filmmaking talents offer fresh perspectives and inventive styles.

4 Suns (Czech Republic)
Director and screenwriter: Bohdan Sláma
Immature Fogi attempts to straighten up and accept his responsibilities as a new husband and father, as well as role model to his troubled son from a previous relationship, but finds himself unable to change his nature, leaving him to watch haplessly as his family begins to crumble.
Cast: Jaroslav Plesl, Aňa Geislerová, Karel Roden, Jiří Mádl, Klára Melíšková.

About The Pink Sky (Japan)
Director and screenwriter: Keiichi Kobayashi
A high school girl finds a wallet full of money and tracks down its owner, leading to unexpected consequences for the girl and her friends.
Cast: Ai Ikeda, Ena Koshino, Reiko Fujiwara, Tsubasa Takayama, Hakusyu Togetsuan.
International Premiere

Can (Turkey)
Director and screenwriter: Rasit Celikezer
A young married couple live happily in Istanbul, but their decision to illegally procure a child threatens their future together.
Cast: Selen Ucer, Serdar Orcin, Berkan Demirbag, Erkan Avci.

Father’s Chair (A Cadeira Do Pai) (Brazil)
Director: Luciano Moura, Screenwriters: Elena Soarez, Luciano Moura
Following the trail of his runaway teen son, Theo confronts his own identity as a son, a father and a man along the way.
Cast: Wagner Moura, Lima Duarte, Mariana Lima.

L (Greece)
Director: Babis Makridis. Screenwriters: Efthymis Filippou, Babis Makridis
A man who lives in his car gets caught up in the undeclared war between motorcycle riders and car drivers.
Cast: Aris Servetalis, Makis Papadimitriou, Lefteris Mathaios, Nota Tserniafski, Stavros Raptis.

The Last Elvis (El Ultimo Elvis) (Argentina)
Director: Armando Bo, Screenwriters: Nicolás Giacobone and Armando Bo
A Buenos Aires Elvis impersonator who believes that he is the reincarnation of the King struggles to shake free from reality and live his musical dream.
Cast: John McInerny, Griselda Siciliani, Margarita Lopez.

Madrid, 1987 (Spain)
Director and screenwriter: David Trueba
The balance of power and desire constantly shifts during the meeting of an older journalist and a young student, of two generations completely foreign to one another.
Cast: José Sacristán, María Valverde, Ramon Fontserè.
International Premiere

My Brother The Devil (UK)
Director and screenwriter: Sally El Hosaini
A pair of British Arab brothers trying to get by in gangland London learn the extraordinary courage it takes to be yourself.
Cast: James Floyd, Saïd Taghmaoui, Fady Elsayed.

Teddy Bear (Denmark)
Director: Mads Matthiesen. Screenwriter: Mads Matthiesen, Martin Pieter Zandvliet
Dennis, a painfully shy 38-year-old bodybuilder who lives with his mother, sets off to Thailand in search of love. Cast: Kim Kold, Elsebeth Steentoft, Lamaiporn Sangmanee Hougaard, David Winters, Allan Mogensen.

Valley Of Saints (India-US)
Director and screenwriter: Musa Syeed
Gulzar plans to run away from the war and poverty surrounding his village in Kashmir with his best friend, but a beautiful young woman researching the dying lake leads him to contemplate a different future.
Cast: Gulzar Ahmad Bhat, Mohammed Afzal Sofi, Neelofar Hamid.

Violeta Went To Heaven (Violeta Se Fue A Los Cielos) (Chile-Argentina-Brazil-Spain)
Director: Andrés Wood, Screenwriters: Eliseo Altunaga, Rodrigo Bazaes, Guillermo Calderón, Andrés Wood
A portrait of famed Chilean singer and folklorist Violeta Parra filled with her musical work, her memories, her loves and her hopes.
Cast: Francisca Gavilán, Thomas Durand, Luis Machín, Gabriela Aguilera, Roberto Farías.
International Premiere

Wish You Were Here (Australia)
Director: Kieran Darcy-Smith, Screenwriters: Felicity Price, Kieran Darcy-Smith
Four friends embark on a carefree holiday, but only three return home. Who knows what happened on that fateful night?
Cast: Joel Edgerton, Teresa Palmer, Felicity Price, Antony Starr.
DAY ONE FILM

WRONG (France)
Director and screenwriter: Quentin Dupieux
Dolph searches for his lost dog, but through encounters with a nympho pizza-delivery girl, a jogging neighbor seeking the absolute, and a mysterious righter of wrongs, he may eventually lose his mind… and his identity. Cast: Jack Plotnick, Eric Judor, Alexis Dziena, Steve Little, William Fichtner.

Young & Wild (Chile)
Director: Marialy Rivas. Screenwriters: Marialy Rivas, Camila Gutiérrez, Pedro Peirano
Seventeen-year-old Daniela, raised in the bosom of a strict Evangelical family and recently unmasked as a fornicator by her shocked parents, struggles to find her own path to spiritual harmony.
Cast: Alicia Rodríguez, Aline Kuppenheim, María Gracia Omegna, Felipe Pinto.

WORLD CINEMA DOCUMENTARY COMPETITION
Twelve documentaries by some of the most courageous and extraordinary filmmakers working today.

1/2 REVOLUTION (Denmark)
Director: Omar Shargawi, Karim El Hakim
In January 2011, two filmmakers captured the reality of the Egyptian revolution as it occurred out of view from the world’s media in the alleyways and streets away from the square – and in the process were arrested by the secret police.
North American Premiere

5 Broken Cameras (Palestine-Israel-France)
Directors: Emad Burnat, Guy Davidi.
A Palestinian journalist chronicles his village’s resistance to a separation barrier being erected on their land and in the process captures his young son’s lens on the world.
International Premiere

The Ambassador (Denmark)
Director: Mads Brügger
What happens when a very white European man buys his way into being a diplomat in one of Central Africa’s most failed nations? Welcome to the bizarre and hidden world of African diplomacy, where gin and tonics flow and diamond hustlers and corrupt politicians run free.
North American Premiere

Big Boys Gone Bananas!* (Sweden)
Director: Fredrik Gertten
The behind-the-scenes story of a full-scale attack on freedom of speech. When Dole set its sights on the WG Film production Bananas!* in May 2009, confusion was the method, aggression was the tactic and media control was the story.
North American Premiere

China Heavyweight (Canada-China)
Director: Yung Chang
In central China, where a coach recruits poor rural teenagers and turns them into Western-style boxing champions, the top students face dramatic choices as they graduate – should they fight for the collective good or for themselves? A metaphor for the choices everyone in the New China faces now.

Gypsy Davy (Israel-US-Spain)
Director: Rachel Leah Jones
How does a white boy with Alabama roots become a Flamenco guitarist in Andalusian boots? A tale of self-invention and the pursuit of happiness, regardless of the cost to others.
International Premiere

The Imposter (UK)
Director: Bart Layton
In 1994 a 13-year-old boy disappears from his home in San Antonio, Texas. Three and a half years later he is found alive thousands of miles away in Spain with a shocking story of kidnap and torture. But all is not what it seems in this tale that is truly stranger than fiction.

Indie Game: The Movie (Canada)
Director: Lisanne Pajot, James Swirsky
Follow the dramatic journeys of indie game developers as they create games and release those works, and themselves, to the world.

The Law In These Parts (Israel)
Director: Ra’anan Alexandrowicz
Israel’s 43-year military legal system in the Occupied Palestinian Territories unfolds through provocative interviews with the system’s architects and historical footage showing the enactment of these laws upon the Palestinian population.
International Premiere

Payback (Canada)
Director: Jennifer Baichwal
Based on Margaret Atwood’s best-selling book, Payback explores how debt is a central organizing principle in our lives – influencing relationships, societies, governing structures and the very fate of this planet.

Putin’s Kiss (Denmark)
Director: Lise Birk Pedersen
Nineteen-year-old Marsha is a model spokesperson in a strongly nationalistic Russian youth movement that aims to protect the country from its enemies. When she starts recognizing the organisation’s flaws, she must take a stand for or against it.
North American Premiere

Searching For Sugar Man (Denmark-UK)
Director: Malik Bendjelloul
Rodriguez was the greatest ‘70s US rock icon who never was. Hailed as the greatest recording artist of his generation he disappeared into oblivion – rising again from the ashes in a completely different context many miles away.
DAY ONE FILM