The Circuit

by Jette Kernion
Butt-Numb-a-Thon, aka BNAT, the annual 24-hour Austin movie marathon organized by Ain't It Cool founder Harry Knowles, offered plenty of surprises to attendees this year, including a record number of excerpts from upcoming films. The audience members at Alamo Drafthouse South Lamar brought pillows, blankets, and some even wore pajamas, but remained more or less alert starting at noon on Saturday with the 1934 drama "Viva Villa" through the end of Steven Soderbergh's biopic "Che" at nearly 1 pm Sunday.

Now in its tenth year, BNAT has been increasing the number of clips from as-yet-unreleased films, which studios are looking to promote to a Comic-Con type of crowd. The audience was captivated by the first 45 minutes of Pixar's May 2009 release "Up", even though some of the opening scenes were not fully rendered in the film's animation style. Co-director Pete Docter and producer Jonas Rivera held a short Q&A after the screening.

Director McG arrived early on Sunday morning with an extended set of clips from "Terminator: Salvation", and teased the audience by claiming that he had the entire film with him on a DVD, but was not permitted to show it.

BNAT attendees were also treated to the first 20 minutes of "Watchmen" with Jackie Earle Haley, who plays Rorschach, in attendance; several extended scenes from Henry Selick's 3-D animated fantasy film "Coraline," and a couple of excerpts from DreamWorks' animated 3D film "Monsters vs. Aliens," with co-director Conrad Vernon providing context and information. Extended trailer-type sequences were also shown from "Knowing," "Observe and Report," and "Push."

The clips did not offer the only 3D experience during BNAT. The Lionsgate remake of "My Bloody Valentine," which will be released in January, was shown in full with director Patrick Lussier and actresses Jaime King and Megan Boone present for a Q&A. (King was attending all of BNAT as a participant.) Other as-yet-unreleased films in the BNAT lineup included the comedy "I Love You, Man," starring Paul Rudd, which will open the SXSW film festival in March; "The Curious Case of Benjamin Button," during which caviar and vodka were served at an appropriate moment; "Valkyrie," which was paired with another film set in World War II, the Humphrey Bogart film "Sahara" from 1943; and the version of "Che" that has played in New York and Los Angeles.

The movie marathon interspersed vintage films and trailers along with the previews and newer films. In the middle of the night, attendees were awakened by the version of "Metropolis" recut in 1984 by Giorgio Moroder, including the soundtrack with contributions from Adam Ant and Freddie Mercury. Sam Fuller's controversial film "White Dog" was also shown.

BNAT has taken place in Austin every December since 1999. Thousands of film fans from around the world apply to Ain't It Cool for admission to the event, which holds less than 250 people. The lineup is not announced beforehand, or even during the festival until just before a film is shown.

Proving its mettle with studio preems, SXSW will open next March with the world premiere of John Hamburg's "I Love You, Man" starring Paul Rudd as a man with only women for friends, desperate to find a best man for his wedding.

Pic follows a growing line of studio preems the fest has launched -- "Knocked Up," "Forgetting Sarah Marshall," "21," "Harold and Kumar Escape from Guantanamo Bay."

The film also stars Jason Segel, Jon Favreau, and Rashida Jones whose father Quincy is giving the keynote at SXSW Music.

And falling in threes. 

This week saw First Look, Peace Arch, and now the Yari Film Group -- all hit by declining fortunes and, in two cases, lawsuits. 

The Yari Film Group, while not having the kind of library of the other two, is perhaps the highest profile of the group.  The "Crash" producer hasn't able to catch another wave.  After famously losing his Oscar lawsuit, Bob Yari (pictured) has reached again and again for awards respect.  Despite the company's troubles he's pushing two longshots this season -- "What Doesn't Kill You" and "Nothing But the Truth." 

And even as he closes YFG he still seems hell-bent on getting in the winner's circle by keeping the production arm going.  (Though the two films they have -- Joe Carnahan's "Killing Pablo" and the Jennifer Lopez romantic comedy "The Governess" -- may not get him there.)

“Our goal is to aggressively work towards reorganizing our debt so that we can become a stronger company,” Yari said. “In the meantime, our production arms are distinct entities with separate financing which remain unaffected by the legal proceedings. We will go on functioning, making new films, covering our payroll and paying for employee benefits.”

While none of the three companies could have been called big hunters in the indie film market, their hobbling is yet another somber reminder that indie film may have a long way to go before it hits bottom -- and just as the season turns to Sundance.

On paper, Sundance and Telluride read like sister fests.  Both are set in old mining towns turned posh ski resorts, both covet their preems, and both can be termed the most extreme kind of film festival -- though on opposite ends.  Telluride works to keep the experience unchanging from year to year.  Sundance has both embraced its popularity and fought against it.

At the International Film Festival Summit in Vegas on Monday, Variety's Anne Thompson sat down with Sundance senior programmer Trevor Groth and Telluride co-director Gary Meyer for a panel titled "The Art and Philosophy of Curating a Film Festival."  The two programmers compared their events to a conference room full of anxious, note-taking festival directors. 

• Groth, a former Sundance intern who rose the ranks, said the competition element of Sundance has its pros and cons. "I think Robert Redford would be happy not to have a film competition," said Groth. "But the competition attracted foreign films that wanted to compete."

"The biggest discussion we have is whether to slot a film in the Competition or [non-competition] Spectrum program," said Groth.  "Small films that take chances work better outside the pressure of competition."  Groth singled out "The Blair Witch Project" as one that was almost slotted into the dramatic comp.  It instead played in the better-fitting Midnight section, where it stood out and was quickly picked up.

• While Telluride has no competition, Meyer spoke on the remarkable run of award winning films that they've unspooled.  "'Capote,' 'Brokeback Mountain,' and 'Walk the Line' really transformed Telluride,'" he said, into a true awards season opener.

But while they scored again with the world preem of "Slumdog Millionaire" the 2008 fest saw little award product:  "The WGA strike hurt.  A lot of films just weren't finished."

• At both fests this year, industry execs grumbled about the lack or product while cinestes praised both fests as having gone "back to its roots."  "Every few years we get that comment," said Groth, particularly when not much has sold.

• Meyer reflected on a time in Telluride's history when they almost became Sundance.  "Before Sundance became the market it is, years ago Hollywood execs and agents tried to push their way into Telluride," said Meyer.  The town, as it is famous for, pushed them right back out.  "So the industry went to Park City instead.  Thank god for that."

Photo by Eugene Hernandez, indieWIRE.

Winning short films from the 2009 SXSW Film Festival will qualify for an Oscar nom, the festival and Academy announced today.  This Friday, December 12, is the final deadline for submissions.  So three days to make an Oscar qualifying pic.  Good luck.

by Steven Gaydos
Like many film fans, I go to film festivals for surprises. Some brave the winter snows of Prop. 8-loving Utah to find the next Darren Aronofsky, while others have risked incurring the wrath of the totalitarians in Soviet-era Moscow to discover the next Ousmane Sembene.

Me, I go to the Bahamas International Film Festival in Nassau at the beginning of tourist season to learn that 26-year-old "At the Movies" TV pundit Ben Lyons (pictured left of Lawrence Fishburne) is actually pretty smart and good at the job of covering the film biz.

Before you accuse me of professional cowardice, let me clarify: the risk is not in the Bahamian setting, which was balmy, beautiful, refreshing, a delight, but in bringing this troubling news to serious film fans back in America.

You think this is easy? Last time I checked the blogosphere, Lyons was getting pilloried in terms like "half-wit" and "starfucker," while getting accused of everything from nepotism (yes, Hollywood readers, believe and read on) to "destroying the fabric of American cinema," whatever that means.

There's even a website called stopbenlyons.com. I never saw a website called robertmugabe.com or one called stopcarrottop.com and having never watched his show, I figured this guy must be pretty bad and/or stupid.

So when he sat down for the fest's highlight, an hour-and-a-half public chat with Laurence Fishburne, who was receiving the fest's Career Achievement award, I was stage-side with a drool bucket.

But surprise!

Ben didn't drool.

Instead, he did a lively, freewheeling discussion with Fishburne who was, absolutely no surprise at all, smart, charming, witty and generous with his insights about his three-and-a-half decades in the business. Ben dug out some great anecdotes about Tommy Lee Jones who did a soap opera with Fishburne way back when and "rewrote every bit of dialogue he was handed and got away with it because he was Tommy Lee Jones."

Ben worked on weaving filmmakers and films, TV and stage work and Fishburne's personal journey into a compelling narrative which included a stop at Francis Coppola and "Apocalypse Now" which Fishburne got cast in because "Fred Roos asked a secretary if she would believe I was 18 years old (Fishburne was 14 at the time) and she said 'Yes,' so 'Thank you' to that woman whoever she was, wherever she is!" He also confirmed the non-drug-free nature of that storied set, remembering "the guy who brought the Thai sticks to the crew. Like a fool I asked him what was in his briefcase one day and finally he showed me. It was some incredible smoke."

Ben (never reading crib notes like some people I could mention) (me) also ventured onto political ground, querying Fishburne about a recent New York Times piece that suggested television might experience "The Obama Effect," which would lead to more black leading men on the tube.

Fishburne acknowledged the pressure he feels as the recent replacement for William Petersen on "CSI" "after he was the star and after nine years as the number one show in the world." He said he had read the article in the Times and had "started to get questions about it." So he "called CBS president Les Moonves to ask him what he'd like me to say when people ask me why there aren't more black leading men on television. Les said, 'Dennis Haysbert is on 'The Unit.'"

Ben fielded questions from the audience, walked, talked and, if my eyes didn't deceive me, chewed gum at the same time.

As I have done several hundred interviews with filmmakers such as the one Ben had just done and I think I do a pretty good job and he did an even better job and looks a hell of a lot younger and than prettier than me, I made another discovery: Ben Lyons may be a starfucker but I suspect that most of his detractors are just fucking jealous.

by Team Variety Spain and Miguel Rosón, José Alvarez-Rilla and Rafa Pérez

Gijón ended with a bang, like the protagonist of Alex Holdridge's fest closer, "In Search of a Midnight Kiss," the b/w romantic comedy which played to laughs and warm applause at Gijón. The press, especially femme scribes, liked the film too, which bodes well for its commercial distribution, by Sherlock Films, in Spain.

The Duplass Brothers, who sold "Baghead" to Sony Classics at last Sundance, make the jump to studio stuff:

John C. Reilly, Jonah Hill and Marisa Tomei are in talks to star in an untitled Mark and Jay Duplass comedy for Fox Searchlight.

The Duplass brothers will make their studio directing debut on the pic, formerly known as "Safety Man," from a script they penned.

Story centers on a recently divorced man (Reilly) who meets the woman of his dreams (Tomei). She has a teenage son (Hill) who has no interest in sharing his mother with a new man.

by Team Variety Spain and Miguel Rosón, José Alvarez-Rilla and Rafa Pérez
The Argentinean have come. The 46th Gijon Intl. Film Festival, which ran Nov. 20-29, was packed by tribs (Lucrecia Martel) and prizes for Argentine filmmakers.


Lisandro Alonso, director of "Liverpool," and Luis Minarro, one of its producers, cock-a-hoop as they accept Gijon's top Prince of Asturias Prize.

Alonso took fest's top plaudit, the Prince of Asturias prize, for "Liverpool," the tale of a merchant-sailor's return to his home village in the depths of Tierra del Fuego.  The prize is kudos for a standard-bearer of a Spanish-speaking indie cinema - "Liverpool" received no broadcaster finance in Spain, it can hope, even with its Gijon kudos, for merely niche distribution in theatrical - with seemingly slight story lines but vivacious cinematography which dwells delightfully on detail. Think Alonso, or Spaniards Marc Recha and Jose Luis Guerin, whose "Stills From the City of Sylvia" Euro preemed at Gijon last year.


Lucrecia Martel & Jose Luis Cienfuegos, photo by Palmira Escobar.

Introduced in the opening gala as "the first Almodovar girl ever standing behind the camera instead of in front of it",  Argentinean director, producer and scriptwriter Lucrecia Martel, who received a Gijon tribute, strolled through Gijón smoking her trademark cigars. After Cannes Competish contender, "The Woman Without a Head," her next project is the comicbook based, alien-invader tale, "El Eternauta". Screenplay will be ready in April, Martel said in Gijón.  
    

Gijón, after the storm.

Cinemagoers who weren't swept away by Gijón's lineup could always be swept away by its weather. An industrial port on Spain's north coast, Gijón suffers seeming perma drizzle. Last week, during the festival, it went one worse: An Arctic snap lashed its streets with hail, churned its sea - and got more people into warm cinemas.

As we highlighted in our big fest article for Weekly Variety, the Queer Lounge in Park City will be there, will be queer, so get used to it.  Founder Ellen Huang told the Park City Record today:

"It's more important for us to be in Utah. It's more important for us because of the passage of Prop 8 in California," she said, adding, "There were actually a number of organizations looking to us to take the lead."

...

Huang, though, said she cannot predict whether people will boycott the Sundance movies shown at the Holiday Village 4 movie theater. There have been calls for people to not go to movies there based on Proposition 8 donations linked to theater owner Cinemark.

"I definitely think the air will be electric," she said

Reinacted docus won the night as "Man On Wire" and "Waltz with Bashir" tied for Distinguished Feature honors tonight at the International Documentary Association Awards.  

James Marsh's "Man On Wire" uses extensive recreations to chronicle Philippe Petit's illegal high-wire walk between the World Trade Center towers, while "Waltz With Bashir" director Ari Folman's war-time rememberances in Lebanon are entirely animated.

Hosted by "Supersize Me" helmer Morgan Spurlock at the DGA Theater, the annual gala also honored vet docmakers Werner Herzog ("Encounters at the End of the World"), Rob Epstein ("The Times of Harvey Milk"), editor Sam Pollard ("When the Levees Broke"), and preservationist Marina Goldovskaya..

Thesp Adrian Grenier presented the Audience Award to "Food Fight," Chris Taylor's look at the organic food industry. Stefan Forbes earned the Jacqueline Donnet Emerging Filmmaker Award for his docu "Boogie Man: The Lee Atwater Story."

In an article for next week, we'll be looking at how the economic crisis could affect Sundance.  Sony Classics' Tom Bernard thinks with fewer execs going, they'll be more virtual Sundance:

"A lot of the studios monitor the festival from the office.  The seller screen for them in LA at the same time they screen at Sundance.  A quiet practice but one that has been consistant.  They'll be more of that this year."  

Via the NY Time piece today, Sundance told Michael Cieply that they're treading lightly around the gay marriage ban issue:

The festival, for instance, will make certain that no film is screened only in the Holiday Village theater in Park City, operated by Cinemark, a chain whose chief executive, Alan Stock, donated to Proposition 8’s backers in the November election. The idea is to give anyone who has qualms about Cinemark the opportunity to see a movie somewhere else.

But, given the dearth of theaters, programmers don’t intend to abandon the Holiday Village.

“We don’t have an alternative,” Mr. Gilmore said. “If we had another theater we could walk down the street to, we might be thinking about that.”

The 2009 Sundance Film Festival has unveiled the lineup for its U.S. and World competitions for dramatic and documentary features. All U.S. entries and most World pics are world preems.

The non-competitive sections including Premieres, Spectrum, Midnight, and New Frontiers will be announced December 4.

Sundance unspools January 15-25, 2009 in Park City, Utah.

DOCUMENTARY COMPETITION:

• "Art & Copy" (Director: Doug Pray; Screenwriter: Timothy J. Sexton)--Rare interviews with the most influential advertising creative minds of our age illustrate the wide-reaching effect advertising and creativity have on modern culture. World Premiere
• "Boy Interrupted" (Director: Dana Perry)-- An intimate look at the life, mental illness and death of a young man told from the point of view of the filmmaker: his mother. World Premiere
• "The Cove" (Director: Louie Psihoyos; Screenwriter: Mark Monroe)--Dolphins are dying, whales are disappearing, and the oceans are growing sick. The horrors of a secret cove nestled off a small, coastal village in Japan are revealed by a group of activists led by Ric O’Barry, the man behind"Flipper". World Premiere
• "Crude" (Director: Joe Berlinger)--The inside story of the “Amazon Chernobyl” case in the rainforest of Ecuador, the largest oil-related environmental lawsuit in the world. World Premiere
• "Dirt the Movie" (Directors: Bill Benenson and Gene Rosow)--The story of the relationship between humans and dirt,"Dirt The Movie" humorously details how humans are rapidly destroying the last natural resource on earth. World Premiere
• "The General (El General)" (Director: Natalia Almada)--As great-granddaughter of Mexican President Plutarco Elias Calles, one of Mexico’s most controversial revolutionary figures, filmmaker Natalia Almada paints an intimate portrait of Mexico. World Premiere
• "Good Hair" (Director: Jeff Stilson)--Comedian Chris Rock turns documentary filmmaker when he sets out to examine the culture of African-American hair and hairstyles. World Premiere
• "Over the Hills and Far Away" (Director: Michel Scott)--"Over the Hills and Far Away" chronicles the journey of the Isaacson family as they travel through Mongolia in search of a mysterious shaman they believe can heal their autistic son. World Premiere
• "The Reckoning: The Battle for the International Criminal Court" (Director: Pamela Yates)--A battle of monumental proportions unfolds as International Criminal Court Prosecutor Luis Moreno Ocampo faces down warlords, genocidal dictators and world superpowers in bringing perpetrators of crimes against humanity to justice. World Premiere
• "Reporter" (Director: Eric Daniel Metzgar)--Set in Africa, this documentary chronicles, in verité fashion, the haunting, physically grueling and shocking voyage of Pulitzer-Prize winning journalist, Nicholas Kristof."World Premiere
• "The September Issue" (Director: R.J. Cutler)--With unprecedented access, director R.J. Cutler and his crew shot for nine months as they captured"Vogue" editor in chief Anna Wintour and her team preparing the 2007"Vogue"September issue, widely accepted as the"fashion bible" for the year's trends. World Premiere
• "Sergio" (Director: Greg Barker)--"Sergio" examines the role of the United Nations and the international community through the life and experiences of Sergio Vieira de Mello, the U.N.'s High Commissioner for Human Rights, including interviews with those who knew and worked with him over the course of his extraordinary career. World Premiere
• "Shouting Fire: Stories from the Edge of Free Speech" (Director: Liz Garbus)--An exploration of the history and current state of free speech in America narrated by the filmmaker's father, First Amendment attorney Martin Garbus. World Premiere
• "We Live in Public" (Director: Ondi Timoner)--"We Live in Public" is the story of the Internet’s revolutionary impact on human interaction as told through the eyes of maverick web pioneer, Josh Harris and his transgressive art project that shocked New York. World Premiere
• "When You're Strange"(Director: Tom DiCillo)--The first feature documentary about The Doors, "When You're Strange" enters the dark and dangerous world of one of America’s most influential bands using only footage shot between 1966 and 1971. World Premiere
• "William Kunstler: Disturbing the Universe"(Directors: Sarah Kunstler and Emily Kunstler)--With clients including Martin Luther King Jr., Malcolm X, and the Chicago 10, the late civil rights attorney William Kunstler was one of the most famous lawyers of the 20th century. Filmmakers Emily and Sarah Kunstler explore their father’s life from movement hero to “the most hated lawyer in America.” World Premiere

U.S. DRAMATIC COMPETITION

• "Adam" (Director and Screenwriter: Max Mayer)--A strange and lyrical love story between a somewhat socially dysfunctional young man and the woman of his dreams.
  Cast: Hugh Dancy, Rose Byrne, Peter Gallagher, Amy Irving, Frankie Faison. World Premiere
• "Amreeka" (Director and Screenwriter: Cherien Dabis)--When a divorced Palestinian woman and her teenage son move to rural Illinois at the outset of the Iraq war, they find their new lives replete with challenges." Cast: Nisreen Faour, Melkar Muallem, Hiam Abbass, Yussuf Abu-Warda, Alia Shawkat. World Premiere
• "Big Fan" (Director and Screenwriter: Robert Siegel)--The world of a parking garage attendant who happens to be the New York Giants' biggest fan is turned upside down after an altercation with his favorite player.
  Cast: Patton Oswalt, Michael Rapaport, Kevin Corrigan, Marcia Jean Kurtz, Matt Servitto. World Premiere
• "Brief Interviews with Hideous Men" (Director and Screenwriter: John Krasinski)--When her boyfriend leaves with little explanation, a doctoral candidate in anthropology tries to remedy her heartache by interviewing men about their behavior.
  Cast: Julianne Nicholson, John Krasinski, Timothy Hutton, Dominic Cooper, Christopher Meloni, Rashida Jones. World Premiere
• "Cold Souls" (Director and Screenwrtier: Sophie Barthes)--In the midst of an existential crisis, a famous American actor explores soul extraction as a relief from the burdens of daily life.
  Cast: Paul Giamatti, Dina Korzun, David Strathairn, Emily Watson, Lauren Ambrose, Oksana Lada. World Premiere
• "Dare" (Director: Adam Salky; Screenwriter: David Brind)--Three very different teenagers discover that, even in the safe world of a suburban prep school, no one is who she or he appears to be.
  Cast: Emmy Rossum, Zach Gilford, Ashley Springer, Ana Gasteyer, Alan Cumming, Sandra Bernhard, Rooney Mara. World Premiere
• "Don't Let Me Drown"(Director: Cruz Angeles; Screenwriters: Cruz Angeles and Maria Topete)--Two Latino teens whose lives are affected by the attack on the World Trade Center discover that love is the only thing that keeps them from drowning.
  Cast: E.J. Bonilla, Gleendilys Inoa, Damián Alcázar, Ricardo Chavira, Gina Torres. World Premiere
• "The Dream of the Romans" (Director and Screenwriter: John Hindman)--A reclusive author of a groundbreaking spiritual book awakens to new truths when two strangers enter his life.
  Cast: Jeff Daniels, Lauren Graham, Lou Pucci, Olivia Thirlby. World Premiere
• "The Greatest" (Director and Screenwriter: Shana Feste)-- After the tragic loss of their teenage son, a family is again thrown into turmoil by the arrival of a young woman.
  Cast: Pierce Brosnan, Susan Sarandon, Carey Mulligan, Johnny Simmons, Aaron Johnson, Zoë Kravitz. World Premiere
• "Humpday"(Director and Screenwriter: Lynn Shelton)--A farcical comedy about straight male bonding gone a little too far.
  Cast: Mark Duplass, Joshua Leonard, Alycia Delmore, Lynn Shelton, Trina Willard. World Premiere
• "Paper Heart" (Director: Nicolas Jasenovec)--Even though performer Charlyne Yi doesn't believe in love, she bravely embarks on a quest to discover its true nature--a journey that takes on surprising urgency when she meets unlikely fellow traveler, actor Michael Cera.
  Cast: Charlyne Yi, Michael Cera, Nicolas Jasenovec, Jake Johnson. World Premiere
• "Peter and Vandy" (Director and Screenwriter: Jay DiPietro)--Juxtaposing a couple's romantic beginnings with the twisted-manipulative-regular couple they have become,"Peter and Vandy" is a contemporary Manhattan love story with no beginning and no end.
  Cast: Jess Weixler, Jason Ritter, Jesse L. Martin, Tracie Thoms. World Premiere
• "Push" (Director and Screenwriter: Lee Daniels)--Based on the acclaimed, best-selling novel by Sapphire,"Push" is the redemptive story of Precious Jones, a young girl in Harlem struggling to overcome tremendous obstacles and discover her own voice.
  Cast: Gabourey “Gabby” Sidibe, Paula Patton, Mo’Nique Imes, Lenny Kravitz. World Premiere
• "Sin Nombre"/U.S.A"."(Director and Screenwriter: Cary Fukunaga)--A teenaged Mexican gang member maneuvers to outrun his violent past and elude unforgiving former associates in this thriller set among Central American migrants seeking to cross over to the United States.
  Cast: Paulina Gaitan, Diana Garcia, Damayanti Quintanar, Karl Braun. World Premiere
• "Taking Chance" (Director: Ross Katz; Screenwriters: Ross Katz, Michael Strobl)--Based on real-life events, Lt. Col. Michael Strobl, a volunteer military escort officer, accompanies the body of 19-year-old Marine Chance Phelps back to his hometown of Dubois, Wyoming.
  Cast: Tom Aldredge, Sherman Alpert, Nicholas Art, Kevin Bacon, Blanche Baker. World Premiere
• "Toe to Toe" (Director and Screenwriter: Emily Abt)--The story of an inter-racial friendship put to the test by the intense pressures of a competitive Washington, D.C. prep school.
  Cast: Sonequa Martin, Louisa Krause, Silvestre Rasuk, Anwan Glover, Gaius Charles. World Premiere

WORLD CINEMA DOCUMENTARY

• "211:Anna" (Italy) (Directors:Paolo Serbandini & Giovanna Massimetti)--The story of Anna Politkovskaya, a Russian journalist and human rights activist who risked her life to report the truth about the Chechen conflict and President Vladimir Putin. World Premiere
• "Afghan Star" (Afghanistan/UK) (Director: Havana Marking)--After 30 years of war and Taliban rule,"Pop Idol" has come to television in Afghanistan: millions are watching and voting for their favorite singer. This film follows the dramatic stories of four contestants as they risk their lives to sing.North American Premiere "Big River Man" USA (Director: John Maringouin)--"An overweight, wine-swilling Slovenian world-record-holding endurance swimmer resolves to brave the mighty Amazon--in nothing but a Speedo®. World Premiere
• Burma VJ" (Denmark) (Director: Anders Oestergaard)--In September 2007, Burmese journalists risking life imprisonment to report from inside their sealed-off country are suddenly thrown onto the global stage as their pocket camera images of the Saffron Revolution make headlines everywhere. World Premiere
• "The""End of the Line" (UK) (Director: Rupert Murray)--Based on the book by journalist Charles Clover,"The End of the Line" reveals the devastating effect that global overfishing is having on fish stocks and the health of our oceans.World Premiere
• The Glass House"/ USA (Director: Hamid Rahmanian)--"The Glass House" follows four teenage girls striving to overcome drug addiction, abandonment and abuse by attending a rehabilitation center in Tehran.North American Premiere
• "Kimjongilia" (France/USA) (Director: N.C. Heikin)--Defectors from North Korea finally speak out about the terrifying reality of their lives--and escapes.World Premiere
• Let's Make Money" (Austria/China/South Africa/Spain/Switzerland/U.S.A.) (Director: Erwin Wagenhofer)--From the factories of India, to financial markets in Singapore, to massive housing developments in Spain and offshore banks in Jersey,"Let's Make Money" reveals complex and shocking workings of global money flow.World Premiere
• "Nollywood Babylon" (Canada) (Directors: Ben Addelman and Samir Mallal)--Welcome to the wacky world of Nollywood, Nigeria's bustling home-grown movie industry.U.S. Premiere
• Old Partner" (South Korea) (Director: Chung-ryoul Lee)--A humble octogenarian farmer lives out his final days with his spitfire wife and his loyal old ox in the Korean countryside.North American Premiere
• "Prom Night in Mississippi" (Canada) (Director: Paul Saltzman)--When a small-town Mississippi high school resolves to hold its first integrated senior prom, strong emotions fly and traditions are challenged to their core. World Premiere
• "The Queen and I" ("Drottningen och jag") (Sweden) (Director: Nahid Persson Sarvestani)-- Swedish filmmaker Sarvestani","an Iranian exile who helped overthrow the Shah's regime in 1979, confronts her own assumptions and complex truths about Iran when she enters the life of the Shah's widow. World Premiere
• "Quest for Honor" (Kurdistan / USA) (Director: Mary Ann Bruni)--A former teacher and tireless activist works with local lawmen, Kurdish government agencies and her colleagues to investigate and eradicate honor killings in the tribal regions of Kurdistan.World Premiere
• Rough Aunties" / UK (Director: Kim Longinotto)--Fearless, feisty and unwavering, the 'Rough Aunties' protect and care for the abused, neglected and forgotten children of Durban, South Africa.North American Premiere
• Thriller in Manila" (UK) (Director: John Dower)--A tale of betrayal stoked by the racial politics of 1970s America,"Thriller in Manila" chronicles the most intense and bitter sporting rivalry ever: the 1975 final match between Muhammad Ali and Joe Frazier.North American Premiere
• "Tibet in Song" USA (Director: Ngawang Choephel)--Through the story of Tibetan music, this film depicts the determined efforts of Tibetan people, both in Tibet and in exile, to preserve their unique cultural identity. Choephel served six years of an 18-year prison sentence for filming in Tibet.World Premiere

WORLD CINEMA DRAMATIC COMPETITION

• "Before Tomorrow" ("Le Jour Avant Lendemain") (Canada) (Directors: Madeline Piujuq & Marie-Helene Cousineau)--A wise old woman fights to survive impossible circumstances with her young grandson in the Canadian arctic.
  Cast: Peter-Henry Arnatsiaq, Paul-Dylan Ivalu, Madeline Piujuq Ivalu, Mary Qulitalik, Tumasie Sivuarapik. U.S. Premiere
• Bronson" (UK) (Director: Nicolas Winding Refn; Screenwriter: Brock Norman Brock)--"Bronson" traces the transformation of Mickey Peterson into Britain's most notorious, dangerous, and charismatic prisoner, Charles Bronson.
  Cast: Tom Hardy. North American Premiere
• Carmo, Hit the Road" (Spain) (Director and Screenwriter: Murilo Pasta)-- A lonely, handicapped smuggler and a beautiful girl embark on a reckless ride through a South American border landscape.
  Cast: Mariana Loureiro, Fele Martínez,Seu Jorge. World Premiere
• "The Clone Returns" (Kuron Wa Kokyo-Wo Mezasu") (Japan) (Director and Screenwriter: Kanji Nakajima) --A Japanese astronaut who dies during a mission is subsequently resurrected as a clone and returns to his childhood home.
  Cast: Mitsuhiro Oikawa, Eri Ishida, Hiromi Nagasaku. North American Premiere
• " Dada's Dance" (China) (Director: Zhang Yuan; Screenwriter: Li Xiaofeng)--Dada is a flirtatious young woman who lives with her mother in a small town. Having to fend off the constant advances of her mother's boyfriend who tells her she is adopted, she undertakes a journey in search of her birth mother.
  Cast: Li Xinyun, Li Xiaofeng, Gai Ge, Chen Jun. North American Premiere.
• "An Education" (UK) (Director: Lone Scherfig; Screenwriter: Nick Hornby)--In the early 60s, a sharp 16-year-old with sights set on Oxford meets a handsome older man whose sophistication enraptures and sidetracks both her and her parents.
  Cast: Peter Sarsgaard, Carey Mulligan, Alfred Molina, Emma Thompson. World Premiere
• Five Minutes of Heaven" (UK) (Director: Oliver Hirschbiegel; Screenwriter: Guy Hibbert)--Two men from the same town but from different sides of the Irish political divide discover that the past is never dead--in fact it isn't even past.
  Cast: Liam Neeson, James Nesbitt, Anamaria Marinca. World Premiere.
• A French Gigolo" ("Cliente") (France) (Director and Screenwriter: Josiane Balasko)--An attractive, successful 50-something woman regularly treats herself to the sexual services of young men selected on Internet sites. When one particular escort becomes a habit, the relationship gets a bit more complicated.
  Cast: Nathalie Baye, Eric Caravaca, Isabelle Carré, Josiane Balasko. North American Premiere.
• "Heart of Time" ("Corazon Del Tiempo") (Mexico) (Director and Screenwriter: Alberto Cortes)--In La Esperanza de San Pedro, Chiapas, in the midst of the Zapatista struggle, a young woman makes serious waves when she falls in love with a revolutionary fighter from the mountains.
  Cast: Rocío Barrios. North American Premiere
• "Louise-Michel" (France (Directors: Benoit Delepine and Gustave Kervern)--When a French factory is abruptly closed by its corrupt management, a group of disgruntled female workers pool their paltry compensation money and hire a hit man to knock off the corrupt executive behind the closure.
  Cast: Yolande Moreau, Bouli Lanners. North American Premiere.
• Lulu and Jim" ("Lulu und Jimi")(Germany) (Director: Oskar Roehler)--Bright garish colors, rock and roll and wild dance numbers mark this road movie about lovers fleeing from the evil powers of a 1950s deeply bigoted German society.
  Cast: Jennifer Decker, Ray Fearon, Katrin Saß, Rolf Zacher, Udo Kier. World Premiere.
• The Maid" ("La Nana") (Chile) (Director and Screenwriter: Sebastian Silva)--When her mistress brings on another servant to help with the chores, a bitter and introverted maid wreaks havoc on the household.
  Cast: Catalina Saavedra, Claudia Celedón, Mariana Loyola, Alejandro Goic, Andrea García-Huidobro. North American Premiere.
• One Day in a Life (Un Altro Pianeta)" Italy) (Director and Screenwriter: Stefano Tummolini)-- One languid summer day, a man heads to the beach in search of sunshine and bit of peace, but finds himself tangled up in the dramas of an eclectic group of nearby sunbathers.
  Cast: Antonio Merone, Lucia Mascino. World Premiere.
• "Unmade Beds" (UK) (Director and Screenwriter: Alexis Dos Santos)--Two young foreigners find romance in the vibrant, artistic underground of London's East End." Cast: Deborah Francois, Fernando Tielve. World Premiere
• "Victoria Day" (Canada) (Director and Screenwriter: David Bezmozgis)--Over the course of one week in 1988, the search for a missing teammate, parental expectations, a burgeoning sexual awakening and the rock concert of the century all threaten to jolt a sixteen year old into adulthood.
  Cast: Mark Rendall, Sergiy Kotelenets, Nataliya Alyexeyenko, Holly Deveaux, John Mavrogiannis. World Premiere
• "Zion and His Brother" ("Zion Ve-Achiv") (France / Israel) (Director and Screenwriter: Eran Merav) The disappearance of a young boy sends a wedge between two teenage brothers whose loyalty had been unshakeable, in this gritty story of a working class Tel Aviv single-parent family.
  Cast: Reuven Badalov, Ronit Elkabetz, Tzahi Grad. World Premiere

Hours before the Sundance list comes out, iW's Eugene Hernandez has some advice for those that got in, and those that didn't.  The takeaway?  All is not lost.

Barry Jenkins, whose low-budget indie film debuted at South by Southwest is an example of many of the opportunities on the horizon for filmmakers who don't go to Utah. At this very moment, festivals including SXSW, Tribeca, CineVegas and the Los Angeles Film Festival, not to mention Slamdance, are eyeing filmmakers who didn't get into Sundance.

Check it out here.