Sundance 2007 Line Up Announced
Hi Folks,
Here is the South Asian centric content for Sundance 2007
“The Pool,” directed by documaker Chris Smith and written by Smith and Randy Russell, a class study acted in Hindi and filmed in Goa, India, about a young hotel worker’s fixation on a swimming pool and the family the comes to occupy the house it adjoins. Nana Patekar, Venkatesh Chavan, Jhangir Badshah and Ayesha Mohan topline.”
“How She Move?” (Canada), directed by Ian Iqbal Rashid and written by Annmarie Morais, the tale of a private school student forced to return to her former crime-ridden neighborhood, where she takes up competitive “Step” dancing. World premiere.”
“Enemies of Happiness” (Denmark), directed by Eva Mulvad and Anja Al Erhayem, an account of the victory of a 28-year-old Afghani woman in the 2005 parliamentary election ”
ALSO HERE IS THE COMPLETE LINE UP (Source: Variety)
DRAMATIC COMPETITION
- “Adrift in Manhattan,” directed by Alfredo de Villa (”Washington Heights”) and written by Nat Moss and de Villa, in which Heather Graham plays a grieving eye doctor reassessing her life, while an aging artists deals with his loss of eyesight and a photographer battles personal demons. Features an eye-popping sex scene with Graham. Victor Rasuk, Dominic Chianese, William Baldwin and Elizabeth Pena also star.
- “Broken English,” directed and written by Zoe Cassavetes, her dramatic feature bow is a romantic yarn about a thirtysomething woman (Parker Posey) who embarks upon a relationship with an offbeat Frenchman while her friends are preoccupied with family life. Also with Melvil Poupaud, Drea de Matteo, Gena Rowlands, Justin Theroux, Peter Bogdanovich, Tim Guinee, James McCaffrey, Josh Hamilton and Bernadette Lafont.
- “Four Sheets to the Wind,” a debut feature from Sundance Lab director-writer Sterlin Harjo, a comedy/drama about a Native American brother and sister who, after their father dies, embark upon a new life in Tulsa. With Cody Lightning and Jeri Arredondo.
- “The Good Life,” directed and written by Steve Berra, about how the arrival of a young woman disrupts the life of a young man who has dedicated himself to operating a faded movie palace in a small town. Toplines Mark Webber, Zooey Deschanel, Bill Paxton, Harry Dean Stanton, Chris Klein, Patrick Fugit, Drea de Matteo, Bruce McGill,, Donal Logue and Deborah Rush.
- “Grace Is Gone,” the first dramatic feature from director-writer James C. Strouse, a topical story about the three days it takes for a young father (John Cusack) to summon the courage to tell his young daughters that their mother has been killed in Iraq. Alessandro Nivola, Shelan O’Keefe and Gracie Bdenarczyk fill out the cast.
- “Joshua,” directed by George Ratliff (”Hellhouse”) and written by David Gilbert and Ratliff, a threatening child meller about the eponymous eight-year-old prodigy who wreaks havoc on his New York family when a baby sister is brought home from the hospital. Sam Rockwell, Vera Farmiga, Celia Weston, Dallas Roberts, Michael McKean and Jacob Kogan play the main roles.
- “Never Forever,” directed and written by Gina Kim, about a woman (Vera Farmiga) who launches into a clandestine relationship with a stranger when she and her Asian-American husband can’t conceive a child. Also with David McInnis, Jung-woo Ha and Hwasi Lee.
- “On the Road With Judas,” directed and written by J.J. Lask, in which reality, fiction and different storytelling modes mix to relate the tale of a young thief and his lover. Featuring Aaron Ruell, Eddie Kaye Thomas and Kevin Corrigan.
- “Padre Nuestro,” directed and written by Christopher Zalla, an immigration survival story about a criminal’s passage from his native Mexico to New York City, where he meets a man looking for his wealthy father. With Jesus Ochoa, Armando Hernandez, Jorge Adrian Espindola and Paola Mendoza.
- “The Pool,” directed by documaker Chris Smith and written by Smith and Randy Russell, a class study acted in Hindi and filmed in Goa, India, about a young hotel worker’s fixation on a swimming pool and the family the comes to occupy the house it adjoins. Nana Patekar, Venkatesh Chavan, Jhangir Badshah and Ayesha Mohan topline.
- “Rocket Science,” directed and written by documaker Jeffrey Blitz (”Spellbound”), an HBO-produced story about a 15-year-old stutterer from New Jersey who is drawn into the intense world of competitive debating when he falls for the star of the debate team.
- “Snow Angels,” directed by David Gordon Green (”George Washington”) and written by Stewart O’Nan, a dark tale about a teenager, his former babysitter, her estranged husband and their daughter. Stars Sam Rockwell, Kate Beckinsale, Griffin Dunne and Amy Sedaris.
- “Starting Out in the Evening,” directed by Andrew Wagner (”The Talent Given Us”) and written by Wagner and Fred Parnes, concerning a grad student who convinces an aging, solitary writer (Frank Langella) that his thesis will put him back in the literary spotlight. Also featuring Lili Taylor, Lauren Ambrose and Adrian Lester.
- “Teeth,” directed and written by Mitchell Lichtenstein, a conceptually provocative yarn about a devoutly Christian high school girl (Jess Wexler) who finds she possesses a “physical advantage” over men when she becomes the victim of a sexual assault. John Hensley, Josh Pais, Hale Appleman and Lenny von Dohlen also appear.
- “The Untitled Dakota Fanning Project aka Hounddog,” directed and written by Deborah Kampmeier (”Virgin”), a Southern Gothic tale set in 1961 Alabama about a precocious girl who finds what she’s looking for in blues music. Fanning toplines along with Robin Wright Penn, David Morse, Piper Laurie, Afemo Omilami
- “Weapons,” directed and written by Adam Bhala Lough, a multi-strand revenge drama which examines the interrelationship among several seemingly random youth-related killings in a small town over the course of a weekend. Features Nick Cannon, Paul Dano, Mark Webber, Riley Smith, Regine Nehy, Jade Yorker, Brandon Mychal Smith, Amy Furguson, Aris Mendoza, Serena Reeder, Toni Trucks and Arliss Howard.
DOCUMENTARY COMPETITION
- “Banished,” directed by Marco Williams, an exploration of what might be done to right the wrongs committed in three American towns that forcibly ejected their black populations in the early 20th century.
- “Chasing Ghosts,” directed by Lincoln Ruchti and written by Ruchti and Michael Verrechia, a look at the winners of the original 1982 Video Game World Championship.
- “Crazy Love,” directed by Dan Klores, the troubling true story of an obsessive relationship between a married man and a beautiful, single 20-year-old woman that started in 1957 and continues.
- “Everything’s Cool,” directed by Judith Helfand and Daniel B. Gold, about the struggles of some self-appointed global warming activists to find the right ways to move from advocacy to public action on behalf of alternative energy.
- “For the Bible Tells Me So,” directed by Daniel Karslake, which looks at five conservative Christian families as a way of analyzing how the religious right has tried to use the Bible to stigmatize gays and advance the separation between church and state.
- “Ghosts of Abu Ghraib,” directed by Rory Kennedy, which uses first-hand testimonies by those involved to examine the abuses at the Iraqi prison.
- “Girl 27,” directed by David Stenn, an investigation into the cover-up of a scandal stemming from the rape of underage dancer Patricia Douglas at a wild MGM stag party in 1937.
- “Hear and Now,” directed by Irene Taylor Brodsky, the story of the filmmaker’s deaf parents who, after 65 years of silence, decide to have cochlear implant surgery in an attempt to gain hearing.
- “Send a Bullet,” directed by Jason Kohn, a look at aspects of corruption and violence in contempo Brazil.
- “My Kid Could Paint That,” directed by Amir Bar-Lev, which focuses on a four-year-old girl whose paintings, which have been compared to the work of Kandinsky, Pollock and Picasso, have already netted her parents $300,000.
- “Nanking,” directed by Bill Guttentag and Dan Sturman, a study of the “Rape of Nanking” by the Japanese in the ’30s, with attention to the special efforts of a small group of Westerners who saved more than 250,000 people in the midst of the violence.
- “No End in Sight,” directed by Charles Ferguson, a comprehensive analysis, using first-time interviews with significant participants, of the chain of decision that led to the U.S. invasion and occupation of Iraq.
- “Protagonist,” directed by Jessica Yu, which uses the stories of four diverse men to explore the organic relationship between human life and Euripidean dramatic structure.
- “War Dance,” directed by Sean Fine and Andrea Nix Fine, about the efforts of three young Ugandan girls and their refugee camp school to travel to compete in a national music and dance festival.
- “White Light/Black Rain: The Destruction of Hiroshima and Nagasaki,” directed by Steven Okazaki, which looks at the human cost of atomic warfare.
- “Zoo,” directed by Robinson Devor (”Police Beat”), a humanizing account of the notorious case of an apparently normal Seattle man who died during a sexual encounter with a horse.
WORLD CINEMA DRAMATIC COMPETITION
- “Blame It On Fidel” (France), directed and written by Julie Gavras, which takes the point of view of a 9-year-old girl whose parents become political radicals in early ’70s Paris.
- “Drained” (Brazil), directed by Heitor Dhalia and written by Marcal Aquino and Dhalia, about the life change of a devious pawnbroker.
- “Driving With My Wife’s Lover” (South Korea), directed by Kim Tai-sik and written by Kim Joen-han and Kim, which describes the long taxi journey of a man and the cab driver he’s learned is having an affair with his wife.
- “Eagle Vs. Shark” (New Zealand), directed and written by Taika Waititi, a portrait of two social misfits who try to find love. A Miramax release in its world premiere.
- “Ezra” (France), directed by Newton I. Aduaka and written by Aduaka and Alain-Michel Blanc, which examines the attempt of a former child soldier to carve out a normal life after the civil war in Sierra Leone. World premiere.
- “Ghosts” (U.K.), directed by Nick Broomfield and written by Broomfield and Jez Lewis, a fact-based telling of the tragic struggle of an illegal Chinese woman to find a footing in the U.K.
- “How Is Your Fish Today? (U.K.), directed by Xiaolu Guo and written by Rao Hui and Xiaolu, which looks at a Chinese writer’s inner journey through his fictional characters.
- “How She Move?” (Canada), directed by Ian Iqbal Rashid and written by Annmarie Morais, the tale of a private school student forced to return to her former crime-ridden neighborhood, where she takes up competitive “Step” dancing. World premiere.
- “The Island” (Russia), directed by Pavel Lounguine and written by Dmitri Sobolev, a drama bout an odd monk at a small Russian Orthodox monastery.
- “Khadak” (Belgium/Germany), directed and written by Peter Brosens and Jessica Woodworth, about a young Mongolian faced with the end of the nomad way of life in the wake of an animal plague.
- “The Legacy” (Georgia/France), directed and written by Gela Babluani and Temur Babluani, which focuses on three French hipsters and a translator who encounter an old man and his grandchild determined to end a clan war in Georgia, where the French intend to claim an inherited castle.
- “The Night Buffalo” (Mexico), directed by Jorge Hernandez Aldana and written by Hernandez Aldana and Guillermo Arriaga, about a 22-year-old schizophrenic who designs a web to ensnare his cheating girlfriend and her lover before committing suicide. World premiere.
- “Noise” (Australia), directed and written by Matthew Saville, about the struggle of a young cop, who suffers from tinnitus, or ear-ringing, to clear his head of the screaming he hears in the wake of a mass murder on a train. World premiere.
- “Once” (Ireland), directed and written by John Carney, a modern musical love story featuring Glen Hansard and his Irish band “The Frames.”
- “Dreams of Dust” (Burkina Faso/Canada/France), directed and written by Laurent Salgues, about a Nigerian peasant who hopes to put his past behind him by working in a gold mine in Burkina Faso.
- “Sweet Mud” (Israel), directed and written by Dror Shaul, an account of a man the deal with his mother’s mental illness within the constraints of ’70s kibbutz life.
WORLD CINEMA DOCUMENTARY COMPETITION
- “Acidente” (Brazil), directed by Cao Guimaraes and Pablo Lobato, an experimental, poetic expression of everyday life culled from images of 20 cities in Menas Gerais, Brazil.
- “Bajo Juarez, The City Is Devouring Its Daughters” (Mexico), directed by Alejandra Sanchez, an examination of the societal corruption backdropping the many cases of sexual abuse and murders of women in a Mexican industrial border town.
- “Cocalero” (Bolivia), directed by Alejandro Landes, which follows the campaign of Aymaran Indian Evo Morales to becomed the first indigenous president of Bolivia. World premiere.
- “Comrades In Dreams” (Germany), directed by Uli Gaulke, a look at four people in different parts of the world who bring cinema to locals.
- “Crossing the Line” (U.K.), directed by Daniel Gordon, which recounts the life of one of the few Americans who defected to North Korea during the Cold War.
- “Enemies of Happiness” (Denmark), directed by Eva Mulvad and Anja Al Erhayem, an account of the victory of a 28-year-old Afghani woman in the 2005 parliamentary election.
- “Hot House” (Israel), directed by Shimon Dotan, which examines how Israeli prisons have become a breeding ground for future Palestinian leaders and terrorists.
- “In the Shadow of the Moon” (U.K.), directed by David Sington, a comprehensive account of the American Apollo space program. World premiere.
- “The Future Is Unwritten” (Ireland.U.K.), directed by Julien Temple, a look at Joe Strummer and the punk rock generation.
- “Manufactured Landscapes” (Canada), directed by Jennifer Baichwal, which focuses on the work of photographer Edward Burtynsky and his portraits of the transformation of landscapes due to industry and manufacturing.
- “The Monastery: Mr. Vig and the Nun” (Denmark), directedby Pernille Rose Gronkjaer, about how an 82-year-old male virgin and a Russian nun transform the former’s castle into an Orthodox Russian monastery.
- “On A Tightrope” (Norway/Canada), directed by Petr Lom, which uses the efforts of four orphans to learning tightrope walking to express the struggle of the Uighur Chinese Muslim minority to reconcile religion and communism.
- “Three Comrades” (Drie Kameraden) (Netherlands), directed by Masha Novikova, an account of how the lives of three lifelong friends are devastated by the war in Chechnya.
- “A Very British Gangster” (U.K.), directed by Donal MacIntyre, a up-close look at Dominic Noonan, the head of one of Britain’s best known crime families, in Manchester.
- “VHS — Kahloucha” (Tunisia), directed by Nejib Belkadhi, about a self-styled filmmaker in a poor Tunisian community.
- “Welcome Europa” (France), directed by Bruno Ulmer, about the struggles of Kurdish, Moroccan and Romanian immigrants in Europe.
Vivek “my film is being considered for Sundance, is the biggest desi filmmaker lie” Kumar
Anurag Kashyap
Abhay Deol
Dibakar Banerjee
Hansal Mehta
Khalid Mohamed
Kundan Shah
Anish Kuruvilla
Jaideep Verma
Manish Gupta
Navdeep Singh
Bhavani Iyer
D. Santosh
Onir
Ashvin Kumar
Ramu Ramanathan
Sudhir Mishra
Pankaj Advani
Revathy
Saurabh Shukla
Shilpa Shukla
Sujoy Ghosh
Suparn Verma
Santosh Sivan
Shashank Ghosh
Shivajee
Pavan Kaul
Partho Sen-Gupta
Prroshant Naryannan
Sam Langoria
Satish Kasetty
Anybody from PFC covering Sundance this year? Any chance of any first hand inputs of what’s happening out there direct to the site?
Hooray for all the modestly budgeted studio films that totally look like edgie indie films starring mainstream actors who worked under scale!
Go Focus Features!
Guys did u know “the pool” was written into a screenplay by anurag kashyap .
The thing is that (insider info) = the director just went and shot the film without any script… anurag had the footage and had to make a story out of it … he did that too !!!
Last nite met him in the shoot of no smoking (post coming soon) .. he was ecstasic
Nana Patekar was casted for 7 days after the shots were taken. It would be intersting to watch the Pool!!
@Kartik Krishnan: AK saw the footage. Suggested improvisations. AK had only one day to spare since he had to go south to write for “Hanuman 2″. So he came down to goa, and wrote the entire screenplay and dialogues in one night. And also took time out to go for dinner. :-)
@Kartik Krishnan (Sorry but I would like to clarify): The director had come down with the short story written by his friend Randy. But after coming down and shooting the initial screenplay, he wanted to exploit more of the “Indianess” of the plot. And thats where AK stepped in. And then there was magic.
@Manjeet Singh: There’s an interesting story behind casting “Nana Patekar”. Maybe I can write an article on it if you want :P. His shoot was the last in the film and all his lines were written by AK. The acting by the cast is phenomenal especially the relationship between/with the kids and Ayesha and Nana.
imoldboy, please use the contact form to email me… i’ll set an account up for you to write your experiences.
Imoldboy! Would love to hear the story behind the casting of NanaPatekar. Please bless us with the inside information ;)
- Guys, Anurag has just received an invitation to come to Sundance… He’ll make a firm decision in a day or two… incase he is in… how many would like to gather over the weekend of his visit to sundance for some chai paani scotch or just plain water for a tete-a-tete with Anurag.
Please email me if you are interested and I’ll keep you guys posted on this.