Sundance Film Festival names 2004 slate
December 3rd, 2003
This is a first, a documentary will open Sundance. The film, "Riding Giants," is a surf film from Stacy Peralta whose "Dogtown and Z-Boys" was a double award winner at Sundance in 2001. The story follows famed surfers as Laird Hamilton, Darrick Doerner, Titus Kinimaka, Brian Keaulana, and Dave Kalama, in its look at three generation of wave riding.
"Giants" will kick-off the 2004 Sundance Film Festival on January 15 at the Eccles Theater in Park City, marking the first time that the event debuts in the mountain town. Sundance typically opened with a gala showing in nearby Salt Lake City, but this year, the opening nights have been swapped and the event will screen Chris Eyre's "Edge of America" on January 16 in Salt Lake City. Eyre's film is a culture-clash drama about a Native American girls basketball team with an African-American coach, which is the Salt Lake City premiere.
The Sundance Film Festival, the top gathering for independent films in the United States, has named its competing films with festival organisers saying the work reflected an introspective quest for knowledge in the aftermath of the September 11, 2001 attacks.
Sundance, which is backed by actor Robert Redford, puts 16 dramatic movies and 16 documentaries into competition at its January festival that takes place in Park City, Utah, and each year movie fans travel to the mountain town east of Salt Lake City to see what young filmmakers have on their mind.
"This group of films was conceived and produced after 9/11, and I think that is reflected in a kind of uprootedness, a kind of anxiety I see in the work," festival director Geoff Gilmore, told Reuters on Monday.
In many of the movies set for the Sundance 2004 Film Festival, the main characters are searching for a sense of place and of fitting in with the world, Gilmore said.
Sundance is known for quirky and offbeat fare as well as for the stars who turn out on the streets of Park City to promote their work.
This year's films in the dramatic competition include "Harry and Max," by director/screenwriter Christopher Munch, which tells of two brothers -- one a down-and-out musician and the other up-and-coming teen idol -- who must come to grips with their dysfunctional past.
There is "Evergreen," from Enid Zentelis, about a poor girl seeking to gain acceptance in her boyfriend's affluent life, and "Napoleon Dynamite," by director Jared Hess that tells of a kid in rural Idaho whose dazzling combination of dance and ninja skills help him triumph over adversity.
Stars turning up onscreen will include Billy Bob Thornton in "Chrystal" about an ex-convict returning home to his estranged wife.
Joe Pantoliano and Jennifer Tilly star in a film "Second Best," in the section of the festival known as American Spectrum that showcases U.S. filmmakers.
(Source: Reuters)
"Giants" will kick-off the 2004 Sundance Film Festival on January 15 at the Eccles Theater in Park City, marking the first time that the event debuts in the mountain town. Sundance typically opened with a gala showing in nearby Salt Lake City, but this year, the opening nights have been swapped and the event will screen Chris Eyre's "Edge of America" on January 16 in Salt Lake City. Eyre's film is a culture-clash drama about a Native American girls basketball team with an African-American coach, which is the Salt Lake City premiere.
The Sundance Film Festival, the top gathering for independent films in the United States, has named its competing films with festival organisers saying the work reflected an introspective quest for knowledge in the aftermath of the September 11, 2001 attacks.
Sundance, which is backed by actor Robert Redford, puts 16 dramatic movies and 16 documentaries into competition at its January festival that takes place in Park City, Utah, and each year movie fans travel to the mountain town east of Salt Lake City to see what young filmmakers have on their mind.
"This group of films was conceived and produced after 9/11, and I think that is reflected in a kind of uprootedness, a kind of anxiety I see in the work," festival director Geoff Gilmore, told Reuters on Monday.
In many of the movies set for the Sundance 2004 Film Festival, the main characters are searching for a sense of place and of fitting in with the world, Gilmore said.
Sundance is known for quirky and offbeat fare as well as for the stars who turn out on the streets of Park City to promote their work.
This year's films in the dramatic competition include "Harry and Max," by director/screenwriter Christopher Munch, which tells of two brothers -- one a down-and-out musician and the other up-and-coming teen idol -- who must come to grips with their dysfunctional past.
There is "Evergreen," from Enid Zentelis, about a poor girl seeking to gain acceptance in her boyfriend's affluent life, and "Napoleon Dynamite," by director Jared Hess that tells of a kid in rural Idaho whose dazzling combination of dance and ninja skills help him triumph over adversity.
Stars turning up onscreen will include Billy Bob Thornton in "Chrystal" about an ex-convict returning home to his estranged wife.
Joe Pantoliano and Jennifer Tilly star in a film "Second Best," in the section of the festival known as American Spectrum that showcases U.S. filmmakers.
(Source: Reuters)
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