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Festival coverage

Sundance Film Festival

2009

Mary And Max opened the festival
Mary And Max opened the festival

The daddy of all independent festivals reaches its quarter century in 2009. Run in conjunction with the Sundance Institute - set up by Robert Redford to support independent film - it has continued to develop its brief. It championed documentary which has resulted in a slew of factual films hitting the multiplex and has recently turned its attention to short film.

The 2009 edition will open with the world premiere of claymation film Mary And Max.

Got a feature or short film screening at Sundance 2009 and want us to review it? Or have you an event we should attend? Feel free to get in touch with us.

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Other years (21)

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Latest reviews

  • 575 Castro St
    Review preview for 575 Castro St

    There's a mood of eerie melancholy as Milk lays out the reasons why he might become a target for someone who is "insecure, terrified, afraid" - a concept that has lost none of its resonance with campaigners in many fields of equal rights in the years that have passed since.

    Amber Wilkinson · 4 out of 5
    A light and motion study accompanying a tape recording by Harvey Milk to be played "in the event of my death by assassination".
  • Knife Point
    Review preview for Knife Point

    Mirabella-Davis lets his film unwind slowly. Tension hangs heavy as the humidity in the air.

    Jennie Kermode · 4.5 out of 5
    An evangelical family offers a traveling knife salesman a ride on their way through upstate New York.
  • Protect You + Me
    Review preview for Protect You + Me

    The intensity of director Brady Corbet's debut feature The Childhood Of A Leader is present in this short film

    Amber Wilkinson · 4 out of 5
    A meal with mum turns sour.
  • When You're Strange
    Review preview for When You're Strange

    Seamlessly balances the scenes that made the band infamous, with the intimate moments and the atmosphere of an era.

    Daniel Hooper · 4 out of 5
    Documentary tracking the rise of The Doors, featuring rare footage of the band and Jim Morrison.
  • Lymelife
    Review preview for Lymelife

    While it might be a bit too heavy handed in terms of symbolism and part of a very crowded genre, Lymelife isn't guilty of any major sins either.

    Owen Van Spall · 2.5 out of 5
    Set in the 1970s, a unique take on the dangers of the American dream seen through the innocent eyes of a 15-year-old boy.
  • Brooklyn's Finest
    Review preview for Brooklyn's Finest

    Has a brooding and moody power that makes up for what it lacks in originality.

    Nick Da Costa · 3.5 out of 5
    Trouble brews for three New York cops.
  • World's Greatest Dad
    Review preview for World's Greatest Dad

    A pitch-black satire on our selective memories of death and the deceased.

    Scott Macdonald · 4 out of 5
    A comedy about a high school poetry teacher who learns that the things you want most may not be the things that make you happy.
  • Moon
    Review preview for Moon

    Moon represents a return to a more sedate and thoughtful science fiction of the Seventies and Eighties.

    Tony Sullivan · 4.5 out of 5
    An astronaut starts to lose the plot at the end of a mission to the moon - but is there something else going on? Plus read our exclusive interview with
  • I Love You Phillip Morris
    Review preview for I Love You Phillip Morris

    What makes it work is that the film sticks so close to the form of a traditional Hollywood romance, ignoring the tropes of gay indie cinema.

    Jennie Kermode · 3 out of 5
    Having learned to lie about his sexuality, Steve finds he just can't kick the habit, even after he comes out and falls in love.
  • Old Partner
    Review preview for Old Partner

    A thoroughly disarming horse-fly-on-the-wall documentary.

    Tony Sullivan · 4 out of 5
    Documentary about an elderly farmer, his wife and their loyal ox.

A–Z of Sundance Film Festival 2009 reviews

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