The latest film from "An Inconvenient Truth" director Davis Guggenheim and Amir Bar-Lev's documentary about football player-turned-soldier Pat Tillman are among the documentaries set for the competition at the 2010 Sundance Film Festival.
The Sundance Institute on Wednesday announced the lineup of films selected to screen in the U.S. and World Cinema Dramatic and Documentary competitions for the 2010 festival.
On Thursday, the festival will reveal the lineup of films in five out-of-competition sections.
Well-known names on the list of documentary directors include Tamra Davis ("Billy Madison"), with a documentary on artist Jean-Michel Basquiat; author-journalist Sebastian Junger (documentary "Restrepo" with Tim Hetherington); and Oscar winner Guggenheim with new education-themed doc "Waiting for Superman."
Documentarians Rob Epstein and Jeffrey Friedman ("Paragraph 175") move into the dramatic competition with "Howl," about Allen Ginsburg, while actors Mark Ruffalo and Josh Radnor making their feature directing debuts in the dramatic category as well.
The 2010 festival features several changes, including a new section devoted to low- and no-budget filmmaking and Sundance Film Festival U.S.A.
Also, rather than have one opening-night film, the festival will launch on Jan. 21 with one narrative film, one documentary and one shorts program.
“Being a seasoned programming team and having the support of a healthy organization afforded us the ability to take risks and rethink all programs this year, so we chose to do some things a little bit differently,” John Cooper, director of the Sundance Film Festival, said in a statement. “We believe this makes for an exciting festival that responds to both artist and audience, one that will invigorate the independent film community.”
Robert Redford, Sundance Institute president and founder, said: “Our mandate is to support the independent artist and celebrate originality, creativity and compelling storytelling. It is not our place to decide what will be shown a year from now in theaters. Our place is to shine a light on the art of film. This year’s program shows integrity and a willingness to move beyond preconceived ideas about what our festival should be.”
The 2010 lineup comprises 112 feature-length films representing 38 countries by 43 first-time filmmakers, including 24 in competition. These films were selected from 3,724 feature-length film submissions composed of 1,920 U.S. and 1,804 international feature-length films.
The 2010 Sundance Film Festival runs Jan. 21-31 in Park City, Salt Lake City, Ogden and Sundance, Utah.
