Yesterday, Geoff Gilmore, the festival director, and the programming director John Cooper, announced the details of the competitive section of next year's Sundance Film Festival. The films screening in Documentary Competition are:
An American Soldier
Director and Screenwriter: Edet Belzberg
Uncle Sam wants you! A compelling exploration of army recruitment in the United States told through the story of Louisiana Sergeant, First Class Clay Usie, one of the most successful recruiters in the history of the U.S. Army. World Premiere
American Teen
Director and Screenwriter: Nanette Burstein
This irreverent cinema verite chronicles four seniors at an Indiana high school and yields a surprising snapshot of Midwestern life. World Premiere
Bigger, Stronger, Faster*
Director: Christopher Bell, Screenwriters: Christopher Bell, Alexander Bruno, Tamsin Rawady
A filmmaker explores America's win-at-all-cost culture by examining his two brothers' steroids use...and his own. World Premiere
Fields of Fuel
Director and Screenwriter: Josh Tickell
America is addicted to oil and it is time for an intervention. Enter Josh Tickell, a man with a plan and a Veggie Van, who is taking on big oil, big government, and big soy to find solutions in places few people have looked. World Premiere
Flow: For Love of Water
Director: Irena Salina
Water is the very essence of life, sustaining every being on the planet. Flow confronts the disturbing reality that our crucial resource is dwindling and greed just may be the cause. World Premiere
Gonzo: The Life and Work of Dr. Hunter S. Thompson
Director: Alex Gibney
Fueled by a raging libido, Wild Turkey, and superhuman doses of drugs, Thompson was a true "free lance," goring sacred cows with impunity, hilarity and a steel-eyed conviction for righting wrongs. Focusing on the good doctor's heyday, 1965 to 1975, the film includes clips of never-before-seen (nor heard) home movies, audiotapes, and passages from unpublished manuscripts. World Premiere
The Greatest Silence: Rape in the Congo
Director and Screenwriter: Lisa F. Jackson
Jackson travels to remote villages in the war zones of the Congo to meet rape survivors, providing a piercing, intimate look into the struggle of their lives. World Premiere
I.O.U.S.A.
Director: Patrick Creadon
Few are aware that America may be on the brink of a financial meltdown. I.O.U.S.A. explores the country's shocking current fiscal condition and ways to avoid a national economic disaster. World Premiere
Nerakhoon (The Betrayal)
Directors and Screenwriters: Ellen Kuras, Thavisouk Phrasavath
The epic story of a family forced to emigrate from Laos after the chaos of the secret air war waged by the U.S. during the Vietnam War. Kuras has spent the last 23 years chronicling the family's extraordinary journey in this deeply personal, poetic, and emotional film. World Premiere
The Order of Myths
Director: Margaret Brown
In 2007 Mobile, Alabama, Mardi Gras is celebrated...and complicated. Following a cast of characters, parades, and parties across an enduring color line, we see that beneath the surface of pageantry lies something else altogether. World Premiere
Patti Smith: Dream of Life
Director: Steven Sebring
An intimate portrait of music icon Patti Smith that mirrors the essence of the artist herself. World Premiere
Roman Polanski: Wanted and Desired
Director: Marina Zenovich; Screenwriters: Marina Zenovich, Joe Bini, P.G. Morgan
This film examines the public scandal and private tragedy which led to legendary director Roman Polanski's sudden flight from the United States. World Premiere
Secrecy
Directors: Peter Galison, Robb Moss
Amidst the American hunger for instantaneous news and up-to-date "facts," this unflinching film uncovers the vast, invisible world of government secrecy. World Premiere
Slingshot Hip Hop
Director: Jackie Reem Salloum
The voice of a new generation rocks and rhymes as Palestinian rappers form alternative voices of resistance within the Israeli-Palestinian struggle. World Premiere
Traces of the Trade: A Story From The Deep North
Director: Katrina Browne; Co-Directors: Alla Kovgan, Jude Ray; Screenwriters: Katrina Browne, Alla Kovgan
History finally gets rewritten as descendants of the largest slave-trading family in early America face their past, and present, as they explore their violent heritage across oceans and continents. World Premiere
Trouble the Water
Directors: Tia Lessin, Carl Deal
An aspiring rap artist and her streetwise husband, armed with a video camera, show what survival is all about when they are trapped in New Orleans by deadly floodwaters, and seize a chance for a new beginning. World Premiere
Also announced now are the films screening out of competition.
Closing Night Film
CSNY Deja Vu
Director: Bernard Shakey, Screenwriters: Neil Young, Mike Cerre, USA
The war in Iraq is the backdrop as the Crosby, Stills, Nash, and Young "Freedom of Speech Tour" crisscrosses North America. Echoes of Vietnam-era anti-war sentiment abound as the band connects with today's audiences. Cast: David Crosby, Graham Nash, Stephen Stills, Neil Young, Mike Cerre, Stephen Colbert. World Premiere
The films screening in Spectrum: Documentary Spotlight are:
Anvil! The True Story of Anvil
Director: Sacha Gervasi, USA
At 14, best friends Robb Reiner and Lips made a pact to rock together forever. Their band, Anvil, hailed as the "demi-gods of Canadian metal," influenced a musical generation that includes Metallica, Slayer, and Anthrax, despite never hitting the big time. Following a calamitous European tour, Lips and Robb, now in their fifties, set off to record their 13th album in one last attempt to fulfill their boyhood dreams. World Premiere
The Black List
Director: Timothy Greenfield-Sanders; Screenwriter: Elvis Mitchell, USA
Journalist Elvis Mitchell interviews twenty African American leaders, ranging from athletes and academics to politicians, social activists, and artists, providing a series of living portraits--a unique glimpse into the zeitgeist of black America--and redefining traditional notions of a "blacklist." World Premiere
Kicking It
Director and Screenwriter: Susan Koch, USA
The lives of homeless people are changed forever through an international soccer competition. This film follows six players as they set off for Cape Town, South Africa to play in the Homeless World Cup. World Premiere
The Linguists
Directors: Seth Kramer, Daniel A. Miller, Jeremy Newberger; Screenwriter: Daniel A. Miller, USA
David and Greg are "The Linguists," who document languages on the verge of extinction. In the rugged landscapes of Siberia, India, and Bolivia, their resolve is tested by institutionalized racism and violent economic unrest. World Premiere
Made in America
Director: Stacy Peralta; Screenwriters: Stacy Peralta, Sam George, USA
With a first-person look at the notorious Crips and Bloods, this film examines the conditions that have led to decades of devastating gang violence among young African Americans growing up in South Los Angeles. World Premiere
Where in the World is Osama Bin Laden?
Director: Morgan Spurlock; Screenwriters: Jeremy Chilnick and Morgan Spurlock, France
Filmmaker Morgan Spurlock explores every nook and cranny of the Middle East on a quest to find the world's most wanted man. World Premiere
Young@Heart
Director: Stephen Walker, UK
A choir of Massachusetts senior citizens delights audiences worldwide with their covers of songs by everyone from The Clash and Coldplay to Jimi Hendrix and Sonic Youth.