It’s nearly New Year’s and that means Sundance is just around the bend in Park City, Utah. This year, the festival is making some modest changes, however. Instead of showing a single film on opening night, the evening will include one narrative film, one documentary and one short. In addition, the prestigious festival will add a new section devoted to very low or no-budget films, a nod to Sundance’s early years.

Founder Robert Redford asserts that the event still honors quality over mass appeal. “It is not our place to decide what will be shown a year from now in theaters,” he says. “Our place is to shine a light on the art of film. This year’s program shows integrity and a willingness to move beyond preconceived ideas about what our festival should be.”

On December 2, 112 of the 3,724 feature-length submissions were selected for inclusion for competition in the 2010 festival being held January 21-31.

Selections include:

U.S. Dramatic Competition
Blue Valentine, director Derek Cianfrance
Douchebag, director Drake Doremus
The Dry Land, director Ryan Piers Williams
happythankyoumoreplease, director Josh Radnor
Holy Rollers, director Kevin Tyler Asch
Howl, directors Rob Epstein and Jeffrey Friedman
The Imperialists are Still Alive!, director Zeina Durra
Lovers of Hate, director Bryan Poyser
Night Catches Us, director Tanya Hamilton
Obselidia, director Diane Bell
Skateland, director Anthony Burns
Sympathy for Delicious, director Mark Ruffalo
3 Backyards, director Eric Mendelsohn
Welcome to the Rileys, director Jake Scott
Winter’s Bone, director Debra Granik

U.S. Documentary Competition
Bhutto, directors Jessica Hernandez and Johnny O’Hara
Casino Jack: The United States of Money, director Alex Gibney
Family Affair, director Chico Colvard
Freedom Riders, director Stanley Nelson
GasLand, director Josh Fox
I’m Pat _______ Tillman, director Amir Bar-Lev
Jean-Michel Basquiat: The Radiant Child, director Tamra Davis
Joan Rivers: A Piece of Work, directors Ricki Stern and Annie Sundberg
Lucky, director Jeffrey Blitz
My Perestroika, director Robin Hessman
The Oath, director Laura Poitras
Restrepo, directors Sebastian Junger and Tim Hetherington
A Small Act, director Jennifer Arnold
Smash His Camera, director Leon Gast
12th Delaware, directors Rachel Grady and Heidi Ewing
Waiting for Superman, director Davis Guggenheim

World Cinema Documentary Competition
A Film Unfinished, Germany/Israel, director Yael Heronski
Enemies of the People, United Kingdom/Cambodia, directors Rob Lemkin and Thet Sambath
Fix Me, France/Palestinian Territories/Switzerland, director Raed Andoni
His Hers, Ireland, diretor Ken Wardrop
Kick in Iran, Germany, director Fatima Geza Abdollahyan
Last Train Home, Canada, director Lixin Fan
The Red Chapel (Det Røde Kapel), Denmark, director Mads Brügger
Russian Lessons, Georgia/Germany/Norway, directors Olga Konskaya and Andrei Nekrasov
Secrets of the Tribe, Brazil, director José Padilha
Sins of My Father, Argentina, director Nicolas Entel
Space Tourists, Switzerland, director Christian Frei
Waste Land, United Kingdom, director Lucy Walker

World Cinema Narrative Competition
All That I Love, Poland, director Jacek Borcuch
Animal Kingdom, Australia, director David Michôd
Boy, New Zealand, director Taika Waititi
Contracorriente (Undertow), Colombia/France/Germany/Peru, director Javier Fuentes-Leon
Four Lions, United Kingdom, director Chris Morris
Grown Up Movie Star, Canada, director Adriana Maggs
The Man Next Door, Argentina, director Mariano Cohn and Gastón
Me Too (Yo También), Spain, directors Álvaro Pastor and Antonio Naharro
Nuummioq, Greenland, directors Otto Rosing and Torben Bech
Peepli Live, India, director Anusha Rizvi
Son of Babylon, Iraq, director Mohamed Al Daradji
Southern District (Zona Sur), Bolivia, director Juan Carlos Valdivia
The Temptation of St. Tony, Estonia, Veiko Õunpuu
Vegetarian (Chaesikjueuija), South Korea, director Lim Woo-seong

Share: