To showcase the diversity of contemporary independent cinema, the Sundance Film Festival Premieres section offers the latest work from American and international directors as well as world premieres of highly anticipated films. Each is a world premiere.
Margin Call and Perfect Sense
Cedar Rapids
(Year: 2011; Director: Miguel Arteta; Writer: Phil Johnston; Stars: Ed Helms, John C Reilly, Anne Heche, Isiah Whitlock Jr., Alia Shawkat, Sigourney Weaver)
A wholesome and naive small-town Wisconsin man travels to big city Cedar Rapids, Iowa to represent his company at a regional insurance conference.
World Premiere
The Convincer
(Country: US; Year: 2011; Director: Jill Sprecher; Writer: Jill Sprecher, Karen Sprecher; Stars: Billy Crudup, Lea Thompson, Alan Arkin, Greg Kinnear, Bob Balaban, David Harbour, Michelle Arthur, Michelle Hutchison, Sue Scott, Chris Carlson, Alec George, Max Hauser, Ben Mark, Jeremy Murray, Jason P. Schumacher)
An insurance salesman, caught in a caper involving a rare musical instrument, sets off a series of dramatic consequences.
World Premiere
The Details
(Country: US; Year: 2010; Director: Jacob Aaron Estes; Writer: Jacob Aaron Estes; Stars: Elizabeth Banks, Tobey Maguire, Laura Linney, Ray Liotta, Kerry Washington, Sam Trammell, Dennis Haysbert, Gary Schwartz, Shanga Parker, Cathy Vu, Sarah Best, Marlette Buchanan, Martin Andris, Melissa Mainzer, Jesse James Pattison)
When hungry raccoons discover worms living under the sod in a young couple’s backyard, the pest problem sets off a wild and absurd chain reaction of domestic tension, infidelity, organ donation and murder by way of bow and arrow.
World Premiere
The Devil's Double
(Country: Belgium, Netherlands; Year: 2010; Director: Lee Tamahori; Writer: Michael Thomas; Stars: Dominic Cooper, Ludivine Sagnier, Raad Rawi, Mem Ferda, Dar Salim, Khalid Laith, Pano Masti, Nasser Memarzia, Philip Quast, Selva Rasalingam, Mark Mifsud, Mimoun Oaïssa, Stewart Scudamore, Jamie Harding, Akin Gazi),
Official Site
The story of Uday Hussein, as seen through the eyes of his body double.
World Premiere
I Melt With You
(Country: Canada; Year: 2011; Director: Mark Pellington; Writer: Glenn Porter, based on the story by Glenn Porter and Mark Pellington; Stars: Thomas Jane, Jeremy Piven, Rob Lowe, Christian McKay, Carla Gugino)
Four friends gather every year to celebrate their friendship. This year they are unexpectedly forced to confront a forgotten promise they made 25 years earlier. As they examine choices they've made, they realise that what they said they would do with their lives and what they have done are entirely different.
World Premiere
Life In A Day and The Devil's Double
Life In A Day
(Country: UK; Year: 2011; Director: Kevin Macdonald; Stars: Cindy Baer, Moica, David Jacques, Caryn Waechter, Drake Shannon),
Official Site
Clips of real life from all around the world as experienced on the 24th of July 2010.
World Premiere
Margin Call
(Country: US; Year: 2011; Director: JC Chandor; Writer: JC Chandor; Stars: Kevin Spacey, Paul Bettany, Jeremy Irons, Zachary Quinto, Penn Badgley, Simon Baker, Mary McDonnell, Demi Moore, Stanley Tucci, Aasif Mandvi, Grace Gummer, Ashley Williams, Susan Blackwell, Al Sapienza, Maria Dizzia),
Official Site
A day in the life of a investment firm's meltdown.
World Premiere
The Music Never Stopped
(Country: US; Year: 2011; Director: Jim Kohlberg; Writer: Gwyn Lurie, Gary Marks, based on the book by Oliver Sacks; Stars: Julia Ormond, JK Simmons, Mía Maestro, Lou Taylor Pucci, Tammy Blanchard, Cara Seymour, Scott Adsit, Michael Belveduto, Anthony Del Negro, Kelly AuCoin, Joe Urban, Peggy Gormley, Alex Ziwak, Rich Campbell, Erica Fae)
A father struggles to bond with his estranged son who suffers a brain tumor that prevents him from forming new memories. He learns to embrace his son’s choices and to try to connect with him through the power of music.
World Premiere. Salt Lake City Gala Film
My Idiot Brother
(Country: US; Year: 2011; Director: Jesse Peretz; Writer: Evgenia Peretz, David Schisgall; Stars: Paul Rudd, Elizabeth Banks, Zooey Deschanel, Emily Mortimer)
After serving time for selling pot, Ned successively moves in with each of his three sisters as he tries to get back on his feet. His best intentions quickly bring the family to the cusp of chaos and ultimately the brink of clarity.
World Premiere
Perfect Sense
(Country: UK; Year: 2010; Director: David Mackenzie; Writer: Kim Fupz Aakeson; Stars: Ewan McGregor, Eva Green, Connie Nielsen, Ewen Bremner, Stephen Dillane, Denis Lawson, Alastair Mackenzie, James Watson, Caroline Paterson, Shabana Akhtar Bakhsh, Liz Strange, Richard Mack, Malcolm Shields, Adam Smith)
A chef and an epidemiologist fall in love, just as the world is falling apart.
World Premiere
Red State and Win Win
Red State
(Country: US; Year: 2011; Director: Kevin Smith; Writer: Kevin Smith; Stars: Michael Parks, Michael Angarano, Kyle Gallner, John Goodman, Melissa Leo),
Official Site
A group of teens encounter extreme fundamentalism in Middle America.
World Premiere
Salvation Boulevard
(Country: US; Year: 2011; Director: George Ratliff; Writer: Douglas Stone, George Ratliff, based on the novel by Larry Beinhart; Stars: Marisa Tomei, Jennifer Connelly, Ed Harris, Pierce Brosnan, Isabelle Fuhrman, Greg Kinnear, Howard Hesseman, Jim Gaffigan, Yul Vazquez, Ele Bardha, Steven Hauptman, Cindy Chu, Pamela Shaw, Randy Ryan, Christine Kelly)
An evangelical preacher who has captivated a city with his charm frames an ex-hippie for a crime.
World Premiere
The Son Of No One
(Country: US; Year: 2011; Director: Dito Montiel; Writer: Dito Montiel; Stars: Channing Tatum, Al Pacino, Juliette Binoche, Ray Liotta, Katie Holmes, Brian Gilbert, Jake Cherry, Sean Cregan, Simone Joy Jones, Tracy Morgan, James Ransone, Roger Guenveur Smith, Ursula Parker, Craig Walker, Lemon)
Two men in post-9/11 New York are forced to relive two murders they committed as young boys. Their lives start to unravel due to the threat of the revelation.
World Premiere. Closing Night Film
Win Win
(Country: US; Year: 2011; Director: Thomas McCarthy; Writer: Thomas McCarthy, based on a story by Thomas McCarthy and Joe Tiboni; Stars: Paul Giamatti, Alex Shaffer, Jeffrey Tambor, Amy Ryan, Melanie Lynskey, Bobby Cannavale, Burt Young,),
Official Site
A small-town solicitor finds a way to make ends meet by becoming the guardian of an Alzheimer's sufferer, but trouble brews when his grandson arrives...
World Premiere