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Sundance Film Festival · 2007

Sundance Film Festival 2007

Spectrum

The Spectrum section of the festival, is "a tribute to the abundance of compelling new voices and the creative spirit in independent filmmaking". It presents 24 out-of-competition dramatic and documentary films from new filmmakers around the world.

Programme

24 films · 8 reviews

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Angel-A

Paris & philososphy, black & white, rom & com.

(Country: France; Year: 2005; Director: Luc Besson; Writer: Luc Besson; Stars: Jamel Debbouze, Rie Rasmussen, Gilbert Melki, Serge Riaboukine, Akim Chir, Eric Balliet)

Full review

North American Premiere

Bugmaster (Mushishi)

A Japanese spirit exorcist and his disciple.

(Country: Japan; Year: 2006; Director: Katsuhiro Ôtomo; Writer: Yuki Urushibara; Stars: Jô Odagiri, Nao Omori, Yû Aoi, Makiko Esumi)

Full review

US Premiere

Dark Matter

Inspired by real events, dark matter delves into the world of a brilliant chinese astronomy student whose dreams are challenged when he arrives in america to pursue his PhD.

(Country: US; Year: 2007; Director: Shi-Zheng Chen; Writer: Billy Shebar; Stars: Ye Liu, Meryl Streep, Aidan Quinn, Sina Amedson, Erick Avari, Blair Brown, Rob Campbell, Dan Christensen, Jeshua De Horta, Joe Grifasi, Bill Irwin)

World Premiere

Das Fraulein (Fräulein, Das Fräulein)

Review preview for Das Fraulein

As a character study, this feels as real as a knife cut, slicing to the heart of shattered dreams, long-forgotten hopes and aspirations which may go unfulfilled.

Amber Wilkinson · 3.5 out of 5
Two women from the former Yugoslavia have their perceptions and dreams altered by a young Bosnian with a lust for life.

(Country: Switzerland; Year: 2006; Director: Andrea Staka; Writer: Andrea Staka, Barbara Albert, Marie Kreutzer; Stars: Mirjana Karanovic, Marija Skaricic, Ljubica Jovic, Andrea Zogg, Pablo Aguilar, Zdenko Jelcic, Tiziana Jelmini, David Imhoof, Kenneth Huber, Sebastian Krähenbühl)

Full review

North American Premiere

Dedication

A socially dysfunctional children's book author is forced to work closely with a female illustrator when he loses his long-time collaborator and only friend.

(Country: US; Year: 2007; Director: Justin Theroux; Writer: David Bromberg; Stars: Tom Wilkinson, Billy Crudup, Christine Taylor, Bob Balaban, Catherine Lloyd Burns, Amy Sedaris, Cassidy Hinkle, Mandy Moore, Jeremy Shamos, Christopher Fitzgerald, Dianne Wiest)

World Premiere

Delirious

A small time paparazzo befriends and hires a homeless young man who flirts with fame and fortune when he becomes entangled with a famous pop star.

(Country: US; Year: 2006; Director: Tom DiCillo; Writer: Tom DiCillo; Stars: Steve Buscemi, Michael Pitt, Alison Lohman, Gina Gershon, Elvis Costello, Tom Aldredge, Peter Appel, Doris Belack, Phillip Bloch, Lynn Cohen, Marcus Collins)

North American Premiere

The Devil Came On Horseback

Review preview for The Devil Came On Horseback

A powerful and heart-rending call to attention.

Amber Wilkinson · 4 out of 5
One man's mission to tell the world about genocide in Sudan.

(Country: USA; Year: 2007; Director: Ricki Stern, Anne Sundberg; Writer: Ricki Stern, Anne Sundberg; Stars: Brian Steidle) , Official site

Full review

World Premiere

Expired

A troubled fellow parking officer, their love affair becomes an awkward dance of attraction and antagonism.

(Country: US; Year: 2007; Director: Cecilia Miniucchi; Writer: Cecilia Miniucchi; Stars: Samantha Morton)

World Premiere

Fay Grim

A single mother whose husband has been missing for seven years is used as bait by the CIA in this international espionage caper.

(Country: US; Year: 2006; Director: Hal Hartley; Writer: Hal Hartley; Stars: Parker Posey, DJ. Mendel, Liam Aiken, Megan Gay, Jasmin Tabatabai, Chuck Montgomery, James Urbaniak, John Keogh, Claudia Michelsen, Jeff Goldblum, Leo Fitzpatrick)

US Premiere

The Go-Getter

When his mother dies a teenager takes a road-trip in a stolen car to find his long-lost brother. Along the way he discovers a profound connection with the car-owner and with himself as well.

(Country: US; Year: 2007; Director: Martin Hynes; Writer: Martin Hynes; Stars: Lou Taylor Pucci, Zooey Deschanel, Jena Malone, Giuseppe Andrews, Kathleen M. Darcy, John Anthony Delgado, Bill Duke, Colin Fickes, Allison Flashman, Jsu Garcia, Judy Greer)

World Premiere

Great World of Sound

When a man answers an ad to train as a record producer, he's excited by the prospect of signing undiscovered artists only to discover his new job isn't all it's cracked up to be.

(Country: US; Year: 2007; Director: Craig Zobel; Writer: George Smith, Craig Zobel; Stars: John Baker, Frances Green, James Green, Libertad Green, Michael Harding, Pat Healy, Kene Holliday, Barlow Jacobs, Carver Johns, Robert Longstreet, Rebecca Mader)

World Premiere

If I Had Known I Was A Genius

A young African-American man recounts his life. When he finds out he has a high IQ he struggles to fit in somewhere while also battling with his dysfunctional family.

(Country: US; Year: 2007; Director: Dominique Wirtschafter; Writer: Markus Redmond; Stars: Markus Redmond, Whoopi Goldberg, Keith David, Debra Wilson, Sharon Stone, Tara Reid, Della Reese, Nikita Ager, Reed Alexander, John Balma, Steven E. Barnes)

World Premiere

Interview

A fading political journalist has a falling out with his editor and is given an assignment to interview a top television actress, which derails into a battle of wits and deep dark secrets.

(Country: US; Year: 2007; Director: Steve Buscemi; Writer: Steve Buscemi, Theodor Holman, David Schechter; Stars: Steve Buscemi, Sienna Miller, Michael Buscemi, Tara Elders, David Schecter, Molly Griffith, Elizabeth Bracco, James Villemaire, Jackson Loo, muMs da Schemer, Doc Dougherty)

World Premiere

Low and Behold

When an unmotivated young man signs on as an insurance adjuster in hurricane-ravaged New Orleans, he is profoundly changed by the destruction and loss he encounters.

(Country: US; Year: 2007; Director: Zack Godshall; Writer: Zack Godshall, Barlow Jacobs; Stars: Eddie Rouse, Robert Longstreet, Barlow Jacobs,Julia Adams, Jude Cambise, Joe Fontana, Rhonda Huete, Glenn Robin,)

See: Sundance Film Festival 2007: Day 6

World Premiere

Miss Navajo

A documentary that explores the role of women and tradition in Navajo culture by following one young woman as she prepares for and competes in the Miss Navajo nation pageant.

(Country: US; Year: 2007; Director: Billy Luther; Stars: Radmilla Cody, Marilyn Help Hood, Ida Gail Organick)

World Premiere

Red Road

Review preview for Red Road

The film makes no compromises to its audience.

Angus Wolfe Murray · 4.5 out of 5
A psychological thriller from Glasgow's heart of darkness.

(Country: UK/Denmark; Year: 2006; Director: Andrea Arnold; Writer: Andrea Arnold; Stars: Kate Dickie, Tony Curran, Martin Compston, Nathalie Press, Andrew Armour, Paul Higgins)

Full review

US Premiere

Reprise

Review preview for Reprise

Reprise is difficult to watch. It demonstrates an originality and energy which requires control to make sense of itself.

Angus Wolfe Murray · 3 out of 5
The literary life for two young friends in Norway.

(Country: Norway; Year: 2006; Director: Joachim Trier; Writer: Eskil Vogt, Joachim Trier; Stars: Anders Danielsen Lie, Espen Klouman-Høiner, Viktoria Winge, Henrik Elvestad, Christian Rubeck, Odd Magnus Williamson, Rebekka Karijord, Henrik Mestad, Silje Hagen, Pål Stokka, Sigmund Sæverud, Tone Danielsen, voice of Eindride Eidsvold)

Full review

US Premiere

The Same Moon (La Misma Luna)

When his grandmother dies a young Mexican boy struggles to cross the border to reunite with his beloved mother, who is working hard in los angeles to create a better life for the family.

(Country: Mexico; Year: 2007; Director: Patricia Riggen; Writer: Ligiah Villalobos; Stars: Kate del Castillo, Eugenio Derbez, Mário Almada, Adrian Alonso, Isaac Bravo, Ernesto D'Alessio, Los Tigres del Norte, Julie Dove, America Ferrera, J. Teddy Garces, Jesse Garcia)

World Premiere

Save Me

A deft exploration of the controversial gay reform movement, save me follows a sex and drug addicted young man who is forced into a christian-run ministry in an attempt to cure him of his "gay affliction", where instead he is faced with the truth in his heart and spirit.

(Year: 2007; Director: Robert Cary; Writer: Craig Chester, Alan Hines, Robert Desiderio)

World Premiere

Tuli

When a young girl in a remote Philippine village is forced into an arranged marriage by her abusive father, she rejects traditional mores and creates an alternative life.

(Country: Philippines; Year: 2005; Director: Auraeus Solito; Writer: Jimmy Flores; Stars: Desiree Del Valle, Carlo Aquino, Vanna Garcia, Bembol Roco, Luis Alandy, Eugene Domingo, Ama Quiambao)

North American Premiere

The Unforeseen

When a west Texas farm boy develops pristine hill country into large-scale subdivisions, threatening a fragile limestone aquifer, an environmental movement rises up and fights back. This documentary takes a hard look at the American dream and asks, "what does it mean to grow?"

(Country: US; Year: 2007; Director: Laura Dunn; Stars: Gary Bradley, Judah Folkman, William Greider, Willie Nelson, Robert Redford, Ann Richards, , , , ,)

World Premiere

Wonders Are Many

A documentary that tracks the creation of Peter Sellars' and John Adams' 2005 opera about Robert Oppenheimer and the Manhattan Project, while also exploring the complex birth of nuclear weapons.

(Country: US; Year: 2007; Director: Jon Else; Stars: John Adams, Peter Sellars)

World Premiere

Waitress

Review preview for Waitress

One-liners come thick and fast in this bittersweet, whistle-stop romp, with Shelly almost always managing to undercut her syrup with something more stringent.

Amber Wilkinson · 4 out of 5
Offbeat comedy about the trials and tribulations of an unhappily married waitress in small-town America.

(Country: USA; Year: 2007; Director: Adrienne Shelly; Writer: Adrienne Shelly; Stars: Keri Russell, Cheryl Hines, Adrienne Shelly, Nathan Fillion, Jeremy Sisto, Andy Griffith, Eddie Jemison, Lew Temple, Darby Stanchfield, Heidi Sulzman, Lauri Johnson) , Official site

Full review See: Sundance Film Festival 2006: Day 7

World Premiere

The Year Of The Fish

Review preview for The Year Of The Fish

Although there are no real surprises plot-wise, the film feels refreshingly different.

Tony Sullivan · 3.5 out of 5
Rotoscope-animated retelling of Cinderella, transporting the action to a New York massage parlour.

(Country: US; Year: 2007; Director: David Kaplan; Writer: David Kaplan; Stars: An Nguyen, Ken Leung, Tsai Chin, Hettienne Park, Lee Wong, Corrine Wu, Lori Tan Chinn, Lloyd Suh, Sally Leung Bayer, Akira Tekayami, Ken Marks, Henry Yuk, Paul J.Q. Lee, Matthew Saldivar, Gine Lui Ng) , Official site

Full review See: David Kaplan Q&A at premiere of The Year Of The Fish , Sundance Film Festival 2007: Day 4

World Premiere