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Sundance 2014

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Sundance 2014 kicked off on January 16th in Park City, Utah. 2014 marks the 30th year of the largest independent movie festival in the United States. Originally started to showcase and assist american filmmakers working outside of the studio system, Sundance has grown significantly over the past 30 years to become one of the biggest festivals showcasing U.S. and international independent film. Now, the festival has become more mainstream, attracting Hollywood’s rising stars and established acts who opt for smaller passion projects.

The festival offers 14 programs including Premiers, Doc Premier, Midnight (a showcase of horror and genre bending features), New Frontier (features that experiment and expand conventional methods of storytelling), Next (a collection of innovative films that exemplify the next wave of American film-making), Shorts Program, Spotlight, Sundance Kids and 4 competition programs, U.S. Dramatic, U.S Doc, World Dramatic, World Doc. The final two programs are Free Fail, a special presentation on embracing film failure and celebrating artistic risk-taking with panels and events headed by industry experts. Finally, Sundance Collection, presented in partnership with UCLA Film & Television archive, revisits some of the festival’s previous selections. 2014 offers screenings of Kevin Smith’s directorial début Clerks (1994) and Roger Ebert’s best film of the 1990’s, Steve James’s documentary Hoop Dreams (1994).

Some notable Premiers at this year’s festival include Richard Linklater’s Boyhood, David Wain’s romcom parody They Came Together starring Paul Rudd and Amy Poehler,  and the adaptation of Laura Kaisschke’s best selling coming of age novel White Bird in a Blizzard. The film, by the same name, by Greg Araki stars Shailene Woodly, Eva Green and Christopher Meloni.

Some of the films that have peeked our interest from this year’s line up include:

WHIPLASH (U.S. Dramatic)

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The opening night film from writer/director Damien Chazelle (Guy and Madeline on a Park Bench), Whiplash stars Miles Teller as Andrew, a dedicated drummer who attends a competitive Manhattan music conservatory. Plagued by the fear of being mediocre, Andrew devotes his life to his craft, determined for success at any costs. Selected to join the prestigious school band under the tutelage of J.K. Simmon’s ruthless instructor Fletcher, Andrew is driven to achieve perfection at any cost.

THE GREEN PRINCE (World Documentary)

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The unbelievable true story of Palestinian Mosab Hassan Yousef, the son of a Hamas founder and soldier for the liberation army who, after spending time imprisoned in Israel becomes an unlikely ally to the Shin Bet (Isreali Secret Service).  Despite feeling shame at his choice to defect and work for the enemy, Yousef was even more appalled by Hamas’s escalating tactics. The film documents the relationship, one of trust and unlikely friendship, of Yousef and his Shin Bet handler Gonen. While it is set in a world of political intrigue, the documentary focuses on the two men and their personal struggles with morality and duty.

A GIRL WALKS HOME ALONE AT NIGHT (Next)

A vampire love story unlike any other. The highly stylized film by first time feature film writer/director Ana Lily Amirpour takes audiences to Bad City, an Iranian ghost town plagued with depravity that is the home to prostitutes, drug addicts, pimps and other vagrants. There a mysterious woman stalks the night streets looking for a connection. While technically an American production by the LA based director, the film is in Farsi with english subtitles and offers a unique look into the Iranian New Wave. Described as “Cinema’s first Iranian vampire western” by Sundance, A Girl Walks Home Alone at Night seems like a perfect example of the festival’s Next programme.

DEAD SNOW: DEAD VS. RED (Midnight)

Tommy Wirkola’s follow up to 2009’s Dead Snow picks up right where it left off. With his friends and girlfriend dead, Martin manages to find an escape, but the Nazi zombies led by Colonel Herzog are still out there, and now he has an unlikely weapon against them. Fans of the first horror comedy will be delighted to know that the second one promises just as much gore and carnage as the first. Check out the teaser trailer but be warned, its not for the light of heart.  

GOD’S POCKET (U.S Dramtic)

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Emmy nominated actor John Slattery (Mad Men’s Roger Sterling) makes his directorial début with the gritty crime drama God’s Pocket. Written by Slattery and Alex Metcalf, Pocket tells the tale of a down and out man trying to cover up the accidental death of his stepson. The star studded cast includes Philip Seymour Hoffman, Richard Jenkins, Christina Hendricks and John Turturro.

THE BETTER ANGELS (New Frontier)

Jason Clarke stars as Tom Lincoln, father of Abraham, in A.J. Edwards’ visually expressive narrative about the iconic president’s childhood in Indiana from 1817- 1820. The Better Angels not only explores a pioneering era that shaped a nation, but the people, hardships and lessons that shaped one of history’s most iconic presidents. While Angels is the first feature for Edwards, the film is produced by Terence Malick  and boasts a pretty impressive cast. Alongside Clarke are Diane Kruger, Brit Marling, Wes Bentley and  Braydon Denney as young Abraham. Check out a clip below. 

Sundance runs from January 16th -26th. For more information and full festival listings head over to sundance.org/festival.