Eye For Film >> Festivals >> Sundance >> 2007 >> Independent Feature Film Competition: Dramatic

This competition showcases 16 films made by American independent filmmakers. The Grand Jury Prize went to Padre Nuestro, while Grace Is Gone took home the Audience Award and the Walter Salt Screenwriting Award. The Dramatic Directing Award went to Rocket Science. Acting Awards went to Jess Wexler for Teeth and Tamara Podemski for Four Sheets To The Wind. Joshua won an Excellence In Cinematography Award.

View other Sundance Film Festival Films by strand: From The Sundance Collection, Independent Feature Film Competition: Documentary, International Shorts: Animation, International Shorts: Documentary, International Shorts: Dramatic, New Frontier, Park City At Midnight, Premieres, Special Screenings, Spectrum, US Short Films: Animation, US Short Films: Documentary, US Short Films: Dramatic, World Cinema Competition: Documentary, World Cinema Competition: Dramatic

Joshua and Starting Out In The Evening

Adrift in Manhattan (Country: US; Year: 2007; Director: Alfredo De Villa; Writer: Nat Moss, Alfredo De Villa; Stars: Heather Graham, Victor Rasuk, Dominic Chianese, William Baldwin, Elizabeth Peña, Erika Michels, Marlene Forte, Richard Petrocelli, Adrianna Bremont, Stefanie Field, Jesse Green)

Set in New York City, a grieving eye doctor is forced to take a closer look at her life; an aging artist confronts the loss of his eyesight, and a young photographer battles his innermost demons.

World Premiere

Broken English (Country: USA, France, Japan; Year: 2007; Director: Zoe R Cassavetes; Writer: Zoe R Cassavetes; Stars: Parker Posey, Drea de Matteo, Tim Guinee, Gena Rowlands, Peter Bogdanovich, Roy Thinnes, Michael Panes, Justin Theroux, Philip Pavel, Melvil Poupaud, Dana Ivey)

A young woman in her 30s finds herself surrounded by friends who are married, in relationships or with children. She unexpectedly meets a quirky Frenchman who opens her eyes to a lot more than love.

World Premiere

Four Sheets To The Wind (Country: US; Year: 2007; Director: Sterlin Harjo; Writer: Sterlin Harjo; Stars: Wes Allen, Tamara Podemski, Jeri Arredondo, Laura Bailey, Nando Betancur, Darryl Cox, Fank Dodson, John Glosser, Christian Kane, Jim Kirkland, Blair Kroeber, Cody Lightning)

Cufe Smallhill finds his father dead. Fulfilling a dying wish, he disposes of the body in the family pond and sets off to begin a new life in the big city of Tulsa.

World Premiere

The Good Life (Country: Canada, US; Year: 2007; Director: Stephen Berra; Writer: Stephen Berra; Stars: Mark Webber, Zooey Deschanel, Harry Dean Stanton, Bill Paxton, Chris Klein, Patrick Fugit, Drea de Matteo, Bruce McGill, Donal Logue, Deborah Rush, Michael Baxter)

A story about a "mostly normal" young man whose small town existence running a faded movie palace is shaken when he comes in contact with a mysterious young woman.

World Premiere

Grace Is Gone (Country: US; Year: 2007; Director: James C Strouse; Writer: James C. Strouse; Stars: John Cusack, Emily Churchill, Rebecca Spence, Jennifer Tyler, Susan Messing, Shélan O'Keefe, Gracie Bednarczyk, Doug Dearth, Doug James, Alessandro Nivola, Zach Gray)

World Premiere

Teeth and Hounddog

Hounddog (Country: USA; Year: 2007; Director: Deborah Kampmeier; Writer: Deborah Kampmeier; Stars: Dakota Fanning, Isabelle Fuhrman, Cody Hanford, Piper Laurie, David Morse, Afemo Omilami, Ryan Pelton, Ron Prather, Christoph Sanders, Jill Scott, Frank Hoyt Taylor)

Drama about a girl growing up in the Deep South.

Full Review See: Sundance Film Festival 2006: Day 9

World Premiere

Joshua (Country: US; Year: 2006; Director: George Ratliff; Writer: David Gilbert, George Ratliffe; Stars: Sam Rockwell, Vera Farmiga, Celia Weston, Dallas Roberts, Michael McKean, Jacob Kogan)

Jealous of his baby sister and ignored by his parents, a nine-year-old boy plans a terrible revenge.

Full Review

World Premiere

Never Forever (Country: South Korea, US; Year: 2007; Director: Gina Kim; Writer: Gina Kim; Stars: Vera Farmiga, Jung-woo Ha, David McInnis, Eric L. Abrams, Richard Chang, Clem Cheung, Robert Dahey, Joseph DeBona, Trisha LaFache, Lenny Levi, Alex Manette)

When an American woman and her Asian-American husband discover they are unable to conceive, she begins a clandestine relationship with an attractive stranger in a desperate attempt to save her marriage.

World Premiere

On the Road with Judas (Country: US; Year: 2007; Director: JJ Lask; Writer: J.J. Lask; Stars: Aaron Ruell, Kevin Corrigan, Eddie Kaye Thomas, Amanda Loncar, Eleanor Hutchins, Alex Burns, Leo Fitzpatrick, Evan Bernard, Julie Betts, Jessica Blank, Judy Del Giudice)

Reality, fiction and the notions of storytelling intertwine in this narrative about a young thief and the woman he loves.

World Premiere

Padre Nuestro (Country: US; Year: 2007; Director: Christopher Zalla; Writer: Christopher Zalla; Stars: Jesús Ochoa, Armando Hernández, Jorge Adrián Espíndola, Paola Mendoza, Sean Andrew, Leonardo Anzures, Luis Antonio Aponte, Jean Brassard, Barbara Danicka, Eugenio Derbez, Ricky Garcia)

Fleeing a criminal past, Juan hops a truck transporting illegal immigrants from Mexico to New York City, where he meets Pedro, who is seeking his rich father.

World Premiere

Rocket Science and The Good Life

The Pool (Country: US; Year: 2007; Director: Chris Smith; Writer: Chris Smith, Randy Russell; Stars: Jhangir Badshah, Venkatesh Chavan, Ayesha Mohan, Nana Patekar)

A boy working in a hotel becomes obsessed with a swimming pool at a home in the opulent hills of Panjim, Goa in India. His life gets turned upside-down when he attempts to meet the mysterious family that arrives at the house.

World Premiere

Rocket Science (Country: US; Year: 2007; Director: Jeffrey Blitz; Writer: Jeffrey Blitz; Stars: Reece Thompson, Anna Kendrick, Nicholas D'Agosto, Vincent Piazza, Margo Martindale), Trailer

A teenager is determined to join his high school debating team despite his stutter.

Full Review

World Premiere

Snow Angels (Country: US; Year: 2007; Director: David Gordon Green; Writer: David Gordon Green, Stewart O'Nan; Stars: Deborah Allen, Michael Angarano, Jeanetta Arnette, Kate Beckinsale, Peter Blais, Scott Clackum, Brian Downey, Chase Duffy, Griffin Dunne, Carroll Godsman, Brian Heighton)

A drama that interweaves the life of a teenager with his former baby-sitter, her estranged husband, and their daughter.

See: Sundance Film Festival 2007: Day 3

World Premiere

Starting Out In The Evening (Country: US; Year: 2007; Director: Andrew Wagner; Writer: Andrew Wagner, Fred Parnes, based on the novel by Brian Morton; Stars: Frank Langella, Lauren Ambrose, Lili Taylor, Adrian Lester, Jessica Hecht)

A grad student convinces an ageing writer to let her write a thesis on him.

Full Review

World Premiere

Teeth (Country: US; Year: 2007; Director: Mitchell Lichtenstein; Writer: Mitchell Lichtenstein; Stars: Jess Weixler, John Hensley, Vivienne Benesch, Lenny Von Dohlen, Ashley Springer, Josh Pais, Nicole Swahn, Julia Garro), Trailer

A virgin's anatomical quirk means she bites off more than she can chew.

Full Review See: Sundance Film Festival 2007: Day 3

World Premiere

Weapons (Country: US; Year: 2007; Director: Adam Bhala Lough; Writer: Adam Bhala Lough; Stars: Nick Cannon, Paul Dano, Mark Webber, Riley Smith, Regine Nehy, Jade Yorker, Brandon Smith, Amy Ferguson, Aris Mendoza, Serena Reeder, Toni Trucks)

The story of a series of brutal, seemingly random youth-related killings over the course of a weekend in a typical working class American suburb, which tragically reveals how they are all interrelated.

World Premiere