It’s that time of year again. Log fires crackling, decorations being hung, the weather going a bit loopy. Yes, it all points to only one thing! The Sundance Film Festival folk are finally starting to announce their picks for the dramatic/documentary competitions and NEXT <=> (that's how they write it) sections for next month’s cine-palooza. Oh, or Christmas. So it points to two things.
This coming fest, which takes place January 17-27, features the usual eclectic bundle of films from veteran fest entrants and some tantalising new talent.
Among the titles we’re excited about are John Krokidas’ beat-generation true-crime tale Kill Your Darlings, featuring Daniel Radcliffe, Ben Foster, Michael C Hall and Elizabeth Olsen; David Lowery’s **Ain’t Them Bodies Saints **(pictured above), which features Rooney Mara, Casey Affleck, Ben Foster and Nate Parker; Kyle Patrick Alvarez’s C.O.G; Francesca Gregorini’s Emanuel And The Truth About Fishes; Liz W Garcia’s The Lifeguard (which boasts Kristen Bell in the lead); true-life drama Fruitvale starring Michael B Jordan and Octavia Spencer and Lake Bell’s In A World…, which promises to bring the funny.
Primer director Shane Carruth is finally back with his second film, the mysterious and intriguing Upstream Color, and Alison Brie is once more starring in at least one Sundance title with Toy’s House, which also features the now traditional combo of Nick Offerman and Megan Mullally.
“The films, both documentary and narrative, selected for our 2013 Festival have a particular immediacy and fearlessness to them showing us that independent film is as vibrant, creative and relevant as ever,” says Festival director John Cooper. “Filmmakers are telling raw, powerful stories that are sure to create new energy in audiences and communities across the globe in the months to come.”
For the full list of dramatic and documentary competition entries for the US and World categories plus the NEXT brigade, head to the Sundance site. Empire’s Damon Wise will naturally be out there to report back, and he’s already begun sleep deprivation training. UK audiences will get to see a selection of the movie when Sundance London arrives on April 25 at the O2.