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Sundance Film Festival · 2010

Sundance Film Festival 2010

Spotlight (Narrative)

New for 2010, the Spotlight section is a tribute to the cinema we love. Regardless of where these impressive films have played throughout the world, the Sundance Film Festival is thrilled to light a marquee for them. We've split the strand into Narrative and Documentary sections for ease of reference.

Programme

12 films · 7 reviews

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Bran Nue Dae

Review preview for Bran Nue Dae

On stage, energetic performances can overcome slight characterisation and shallow plotting but onscreen, the wafer-thin characters and lack of plot thrust are exposed.

Amber Wilkinson · 2.5 out of 5
A boy runs away from boarding school and goes on a surreal - and musical-number filled - roadtrip across Australia.

(Country: Australia; Year: 2009; Director: Rachel Perkins; Writer: Reg Cribb, Rachel Perkins, Jimmy Chi, Kuckles, Patrick Duttoo Bin Amat, Michael Manolis Mavromatis, Stephen Pigram; Stars: Rocky McKenzie, Jessica Mauboy, Geoffrey Rush, Ernie Dingo)

Full review See: Sundance Film Festival 2010: Day Six - Buried, Winter's Bone, Bran Nue Day and Contracorriente

US Premiere

Daddy Longlegs (Go Get Some Rosemary)

Review preview for Daddy Longlegs

What directors Benny and Josh Safdie have done here is show the destructive effects of fairytale.

Nick Da Costa · 4 out of 5
A happy-go-lucky man tries to bond with his kids but can't quite get the hang of responsibility.

(Country: US; Year: 2009; Director: Benny Safdie, Josh Safdie; Writer: Benny Safdie, Josh Safdie; Stars: Ronald Bronstein, Sage Ranaldo, Frey Ranaldo)

Full review

North American Premiere

Enter The Void

Review preview for Enter The Void

A day-glo postmortem avant-garde mind-trip that for some will be enlightening, while others will find it to be little more than an endurance test.

Andrew Grant · 4.5 out of 5
A psychedelic journey into the afterlife.

(Country: France, Germany, Italy; Year: 2009; Director: Gaspar Noé; Writer: Gaspar Noé; Stars: Nathaniel Brown, Paz de la Huerta, Cyril Roy, Emily Alyn Lind, Jesse Kuhn, Olly Alexander, Masato Tanno, Ed Spear, Sara Stockbridge, Edward L. Papazian)

Full review

US Premiere

I Am Love (Io sono l'amore)

Review preview for I Am Love

I Am Love is social melodrama in the best traditions of Italian cinema.

Chris · 5 out of 5
Left on the sidelines, a bored woman embarks on a journey of self discovery.

(Country: Italy; Year: 2009; Director: Luca Guadagnino; Writer: Luca Guadagnino, Barbara Alberti, Ivan Cotroneo, Walter Fasano; Stars: Tilda Swinton, Edoardo Gabbriellini, Pippo Delbono, Alba Rohrwacher, Marisa Berenson)

Full review

US Premiere

Louis CK: Hilarious

Sharp-tongued comedian Louis C.K. pulls no punches in this visceral concert experience.

(Country: US; Year: 2010; Director: Louis CK; Writer: Louis CK; Stars: Louis CK)

World Premiere

Lourdes

Review preview for Lourdes

This is a film with a fine regard for detail, and it is neither mocking nor deferential.

Val Kermode · 4 out of 5
The story of a wheelchair-using woman's pilgrimage in search of a miracle.

(Country: Austria; Year: 2009; Director: Jessica Hausner; Writer: Jessica Hausner; Stars: Gilette Barbier, Walter Benn, Aurelia Burckhardt, Martin Habacher, Hubert Kramar, Gerhard Liebmann, Elina Löwensohn, Petra Morzé, Martin Thomas Pesl, Linde Prelog, Léa Seydoux, Sylvie Testud, Bruno Todeschini, Orsolya Tóth, Thomas Uhlir)

Full review

US Premiere

Mother And Child

Review preview for Mother And Child

Bening’s performance is a triumph over leaden writing.

Sophie Monks Kaufman · 2 out of 5
Tale of three women and maternal love.

(Country: US, Spain; Year: 2009; Director: Rodrigo García; Writer: Rodrigo García; Stars: Annette Bening, Kerry Washington, Naomi Watts, Samuel L Jackson, Jimmy Smits, David Morse, Carla Gallo, Tatyana Ali, Amy Brenneman, Marc Blucas, Brittany Robertson, Cherry Jones, Lisa Gay Hamilton, Ahmed Best, S. Epatha Merkerson) , Official site

Full review

US Premiere

A Prophet (Un prophète)

Review preview for A Prophet

An unlikely, but highly effective, marriage of arthouse and mainstream sensibilities.

Anton Bitel · 4 out of 5
An illiterate teenager struggles when he is sent to jail, but after embarking on a series of "missions" for a gang leader, he begins to hatch plans of his own.

(Country: France, Italy; Year: 2009; Director: Jacques Audiard; Writer: Thomas Bidegain and Jacques Audiard, based on an original screenplay by Abdel Raouf Dafri and Nicolas Peufaillit; Stars: Tahar Rahim, Niels Arestrup, Adel Bencherif, Reda Kateb, Hichem Yacoubi, Jean-Philippe Ricci, Gilles Cohen, Antoine Basler, Leïla Bekhti, Pierre Leccia, Foued Nassah, Jean-Emmanuel Pagni, Frédéric Graziani, Slimane Dazi) , Official site , Trailer

Full review See: French Film Festival preview

Pumzi

A Sci-Fi film about futuristic Africa, 35 years after World War III, "The Water War".

(Country: South Africa, Kenya; Year: 2009; Director: Wanuri Kahiu; Writer: Wanuri Kahiu; Stars: Chantelle Burger, Kudzani Moswela)

North American Premiere

St Louis Blues (Un transport en commun)

Along the journey from Dakar to Saint Louis, seven passengers of a taxi meet each other and tell their lives through songs.

(Country: France, Senegal; Year: 2009; Director: Dyana Gaye; Stars: Anne Jeanine Barboza, Yakhoub Ba, Bakary 'Vieux' Cissé, Abdoulaye Diakhaté, Antoine Diandy, Marième Diop, Adja Fall, Naïma Gaye, Umban Gomez de Kset, Mbègne Kassé, Gaspard Manesse, Bigué N'Doye)

US Premiere

The Tunnel

When her father vanishes in Eighties Zimbabwe, young Elizabeth believes he has dug a tunnel to the city. Only by facing reality will she discover the truth behind his disappearance.

(Country: South Africa; Year: 2010; Director: Jenna Bass; Writer: Jenna Bass; Stars: Mveleli Jela, Tyrone Keogh, Patricia Matongo, Chiedza Mhende, Sibulele Mlumbi, Finch Moyo, Martin Munro, Vuyisile Pandle, Ntlantla Qhomo, Vuyolwethu Tshalisa, Anthony Watterson, Pakamisa Zwedala)

World Premiere

Women Without Men (Zanan-e bedun-e mardan)

Four women search for freedom in Iran, 1953.

(Country: Germany; Year: 2009; Director: Shirin Neshat; Writer: Shahrnoush Parsipour; Stars: Bijan Daneshmand, Pegah Ferydoni, Arita Shahrzad, Shabnam Toloui, Orsolya Tóth)

US Premiere