Sundance focuses on war
2009-12-03 20:25
Los Angeles - Films about the war in Afghanistan and slain former Pakistan prime minister Benazir Bhutto have been named in the line-up for next year's Sundance Film Festival.
The world's premiere festival for independent films from January 21-31 in Park City, Utah, will once again see a diverse field of competitors in the documentary and dramatic competitions.
A total of 16 films will vie for honours in the US Documentary competition, whittled down from some 862 submissions, organisers said.
Among the films likely to fuel interest are Bhutto, a look at the life and career of the former Pakistan prime minister, who was assassinated in 2007.
Other highlights films include I'm Pat _______ Tillman, Amir Bar-Lev's account of how the NFL star-turned-soldier's family fought to uncover the truth surrounding his death in a "friendly fire" incident in Afghanistan in 2004.
Artistic excellence
The conflict in Afghanistan also forms the backdrop for Restrepo, journalist Sebastian Junger's documentary about a year spent with a US military unit based in one of the country's most strategically important valleys.
In the world cinema competition, entries include Enemies of the People, which follows a young journalist in Cambodia whose family were murdered by the Khmer Rouge as he tracks down the perpetrators of the Killing Fields genocide.
The son of late Colombian cocaine baron Pablo Escobar takes viewers on a tour through his notorious father's life in Sins of My Father.
"One of the founding values of Sundance Institute is that artistic excellence should never be gauged in terms of marketability," Sundance Institute president and Hollywood icon Robert Redford said.
"This year's programme shows integrity and a willingness to move beyond preconceived ideas about what our festival should be."
A total of 112 feature-length films from 38 countries by 43 first-time filmmakers, including 24 in competition will unspool at next year's Sundance. More than 3 700 films were submitted for consideration, organisers said.
The festival also includes a new section devoted to low and no-budget films, as well as a one-night-only event when eight filmmakers from the festival will show films in eight cities across the US.