Sundance Institute Announces Films Selected To Screen As Part Of Inaugural Sundance Film Festival USA
Written by: FFT Webmaster | December 10th, 2009
Eight Filmmakers Dispatched from Park City to Bring their Films to Eight Cities
PARK CITY, UTAH – Sundance Institute today announced eight films from the 2010 Sundance Film Festival scheduled to screen in eight different cities nationwide on the night of Thursday, January 28, 2010. The screenings are part of the inaugural Sundance Film Festival USA, a ground-breaking initiative designed to highlight the ability of art, specifically film, to introduce new concepts, challenge ideals and spur debate. The Sundance Film Festival opens January 21 and runs through January 31, 2010.
Courtesy of Official Airline Sponsor Southwest Airlines, filmmakers will be dispatched from the Sundance Film Festival in Park City to cities across America, where they will introduce and screen their original films and engage in Q&As with local audiences. In addition to premiering their work at the 2010 Sundance Film Festival, most of these artists have a previous connection to the non-profit Sundance Institute, whether as advisors to the Institute’s directors’ or screenwriters’ labs, or as participants in past Festivals. In each city an introduction video featuring Robert Redford and highlights from the Festival will precede the screenings. Tickets for the January 28 screenings are available through each individual theater’s box office.
Films screening as part of Sundance Film Festival USA are:
Cyrus— Ann Arbor, MI — Michigan Theater www.michtheater.org
Directors and screenwriters: Jay Duplass and Mark Duplass –A recently divorced guy meets a new lady. Then he meets her son who is, well…interesting. Cast: John C. Reilly, Marisa Tomei, Jonah Hill, Catherine Keener. World Premiere
The Company Men — Brookline, MA — Coolidge Corner Theatre www.coolidge.org
Director and screenwriter John Wells will screen his drama — filmed on location in North Boston — about three company men attempting to survive a round of corporate downsizing while trying to fend off its effects on their families and their identities. Cast: Ben Affleck, Kevin Costner, Maria Bello, Tommy Lee Jones, Chris Cooper, Rosemarie DeWitt. World Premiere
Daddy Longlegs — Brooklyn, NY — BAM www.bam.org
Directors, screenwriters, brothers and Native New Yorkers Benny Safdie and Josh Safdie will bring to New York their latest film–A swan song to excuses and responsibilities, to fatherhood and self-created experiences, and to what it’s like to be truly torn between being a child and being an adult. Cast: Ronald Bronstein, Sage Ranaldo, Frey Ranaldo. North American Premiere
Jack Goes Boating — Chicago, IL — Music Box Theatre www.musicboxtheatre.com
Director: Philip Seymour Hoffman; Screenwriter: Bob Glaudini, both well know to Chicago film and theatre lovers. – A limo driver’s blind date sparks a tale of love, betrayal, friendship, and grace centered around two working-class New York City couples. Cast: Philip Seymour Hoffman, Amy Ryan, John Ortiz, Daphne Rubin-Vega, Tom McCarthy.
Teenage Paparazzo — Los Angeles, CA — Downtown Independent www.downtownindependent.com
Where better than Los Angeles to explore the effects of celebrity on culture? Director Adrian Grenier’s documentary does exactly that. A 13-year-old paparazzi boy snaps a photo of Grenier, leading the actor/director to explore the effects of celebrity on culture.
The Runaways — Madison, WI — Sundance Cinemas Madison www.sundancecinemas.com
Director and screenwriter: Floria Sigismondi–In 1970s LA, a tough teenager named Joan Jett connects with an eccentric producer to form an all-girl band that would launch her career and make rock history. Cast: Kristen Stewart, Dakota Fanning, Scout Taylor-Compton, Michael Shannon, Alia Shawkat, Tatum O’Neal.
The Extra Man — Nashville, TN — The Belcourt Theatre www.belcourt.org
Directors: Shari Springer Berman and Robert Pulcini; Screenwriters: Robert Pulcini, Jonathan Ames and Shari Springer Berman — A down-and-out playwright who escorts wealthy widows in Manhattan’s Upper East Side takes a young aspiring writer under his wing.Cast: Kevin Kline, Paul Dano, John C. Reilly, and Katie Holmes.
Howl— San Francisco, CA — Sundance Kabuki Cinemas www.sundancecinemas.com
Directors and screenwriters Rob Epstein and Jeffrey Friedman, both local San Franciscans, will be on hand to screen their nonfiction drama about the young Allen Ginsberg finding his voice, the creation of his groundbreaking poem HOWL, and the landmark obscenity trial that followed. Cast: James Franco, David Strathairn, Jon Hamm, Mary-Louise Parker, Jeff Daniels.
Festival Sponsors
The 2010 Sundance Film Festival sponsors to date include: Presenting Sponsors–Entertainment Weekly, HP, Honda and Sundance Channel; Leadership Sponsors–American Express, Bing™, DIRECTV, G-Technology by Hitachi, Southwest Airlines and YouTube™; Sustaining Sponsors– Blockbuster Inc., FilterForGood®, a partnership between Brita® and Nalgene®, L’Oréal Paris, Sony Electronics Inc., Stella Artois®, Timberland and Utah Film Commission. Their support will defray costs associated with the 10-day Festival and the nonprofit Sundance Institute’s year-round programs for independent film and theatre artists. In return, sponsorship of the preeminent Festival provides these organizations with global exposure, a platform for brand impressions and unique access to Festival attendees: The 2009 Sundance Film Festival, attended by over 40,000 visitors, generated an overall economic impact of a record $92.1 million and generated over $18 million in media exposure.
About Sundance Institute
Founded by Robert Redford in 1981, Sundance Institute is a not-for-profit organization that fosters the development of original storytelling in film and theatre. Internationally recognized for its artistic development programs for directors, screenwriters, producers, film composers, playwrights and theatre artists, Sundance Institute has nurtured such projects as Angels in America, Spring Awakening,Boys Don’t Cry and Born into Brothels.
For a sneak peek at the 2010 Sundance Festival visit www.sundance.org/festival