Eye For Film >> Festivals >> Sundance >> 2014 >> US Dramatic Competition
Presenting the world premieres of 16 narrative feature films, the Dramatic Competition offers Festivalgoers a first look at groundbreaking new voices in American independent film.
View other Sundance Film Festival Films by strand: Documentary Premieres, New Frontier, NEXT <=>, Park City At Midnight, Premieres, Spotlight, Sundance Kids, Sundance London - Feature Film Programme, Sundance London - From The Collection, Sundance London - Short Film Programme, Sundance London - Special Events, Sundance London - UK Spotlight, US Documentary Competition, World Cinema Documentary Competition, World Cinema Dramatic Competition
Whiplash and Life After Beth
Camp X-Ray
(Country: US; Year: 2014; Director: Peter Sattler; Writer: Peter Sattler; Stars: Kristen Stewart, Julia Duffy, Lane Garrison, Tara Holt, Yousuf Azami, Peyman Moaadi, Joseph Julian Soria, Ser'Darius Blain, Marco Khan, Anoop Simon, Jian, Nawal Bengholam, Cory Michael Smith, Richard Serio, Robert Tarpinian)
World premiere
A young woman is stationed as a guard in Guantanamo Bay, where she forms an unlikely friendship with one of the detainees.
Cold In July
(Country: US, France; Year: 2014; Director: Jim Mickle; Writer: Nick Damici, Jim Mickle, based on the novel by Joe R Lansdale; Stars: Michael C Hall, Don Johnson, Sam Shepard, Vinessa Shaw, Nick Damici, Wyatt Russell)
After killing a home intruder, a small town Texas man's life unravels into a dark underworld of corruption and violence.
World premiere
Dear White People
(Year: 2014; Director: Justin Simien; Writer: Justin Simien)
World premiere
Four black students attend an Ivy League college where a riot breaks out over an “African American” themed party thrown by white students. With tongue planted firmly in cheek, the film explores racial identity in postracial America while weaving a story about forging one's unique path in the world.
Fishing Without Nets
(Country: US, Kenya, Somalia; Year: 2014; Director: Cutter Hodierne; Writer: David Burkman, John Hibey, Cutter Hodierne; Stars: Abdikani Muktar, Abdi Siad, Abduwhali Faarah, Abdikhadir Hassan, Reda Kateb, Idil Ibrahim)
World premiere
A story of pirates in Somalia told from the perspective of a struggling, young Somali fisherman.
God's Pocket
(Country: US; Year: 2014; Director: John Slattery; Writer: Peter Dexter, Alex Metcalf, John Slattery; Stars: Philip Seymour Hoffman, Christina Hendricks, Richard Jenkins, Caleb Landry Jones, John Turturro, Domenick Lombardozzi, Peter Gerety, John Cenatiempo, Glenn Fleshler, Ivan Cardona, Bill Buell, Chris Cardona, Casey Roberts, Eddie McGee, Joe Mancini)
A man tries to find out how his stepson died against the backdrop of blue-collar Philadelphia.
World premiere
Infinitely Polar Bear and Kumiko, The Treasure Hunter
Happy Christmas
(Country: US; Year: 2014; Director: Joe Swanberg; Writer: Joe Swanberg; Stars: Anna Kendrick, Melanie Lynskey, Lena Dunham, Mark Webber, Joe Swanberg, Crystal Nicole Marcano)
World premiere
After a break-up with her boyfriend, a young woman moves in with her older brother, his wife and their two-year-old son.
Hellion (Retribution)
(Country: US; Year: 2014; Director: Kat Candler; Writer: Kat Candler; Stars: Aaron Paul, Juliette Lewis, Tanner Beard, Jonny Mars, Walt Roberts, Annalee Jefferies, Augustine Frizzell, Brent Smiga, Deke Garner, Josh Wiggins, Jason Newman, Jayna Lacy, Corby Sullivan, Dylan Cole, Camron Owens)
An alcoholic father struggles to keep his adolescent son out of jail and give him a better life.
World premiere
Infinitely Polar Bear
(Country: US; Year: 2014; Director: Maya Forbes; Writer: Maya Forbes; Stars: Mark Ruffalo, Zoe Saldana, Imogene Wolodarsky, Ashley Aufderheide, Beth Dixon, Keir Dullea)
A manic-depressive mess of a father tries to win back his wife by attempting to take full responsibility for their two young daughters.
World premiere
Jamie Marks Is Dead
(Country: US; Year: 2013; Director: Carter Smith; Writer: Christopher Barzak, Carter Smith; Stars: Liv Tyler, Judy Greer, Morgan Saylor, Cameron Monaghan, Madisen Beaty, Erin Wilhelmi, Lizzy DeClement, Noah Silver, Nadia Alexander, Maryann Urbano, Ronen Rubinstein, Fred Tolliver Jr, Connor Antico, Andrew Polk, Ryan Munzert)
World premiere
No one seemed to care about Jamie Marks until after his death. Hoping to find the love and friendship he never had in life, Jamie’s ghost visits former classmate Adam McCormick, drawing him into the bleak world between the living and the dead.
Kumiko, The Treasure Hunter (Kumiko The Treasure Hunter)
(Country: US; Year: 2014; Director: David Zellner; Writer: David Zellner, Nathan Zellner; Stars: Rinko Kikuchi, Nobuyuki Katsube, Shirley Venard, David Zellner, Nathan Zellner, Kanako Higashi, Ichi Kyokaku, Ayaka Ohnishi, Mayuko Kawakita, Takao Kinoshita, Yumiko Hioki, Natsuki Kanno, Brad Prather, Earl Milton, Madde Gibba)
A young Japanese woman obsessed with Fargo heads to Minnesota in search of lost treasure.
World premiere
The Skeleton Twins and Hellion
Life After Beth
(Country: US; Year: 2014; Director: Jeff Baena; Writer: Jeff Baena; Stars: Anna Kendrick, Aubrey Plaza, Alia Shawkat, Matthew Gray Gubler, Dane DeHaan, John C Reilly, Cheryl Hines, Molly Shannon, Thomas McDonell, Paul Reiser, Paul Weitz, Eva La Dare, Zoë Worth, Jenna Nye, Bechir Sylvain)
Beth dying makes life hard. Beth coming back makes it harder.
World premiere
Low Down
(Country: US; Year: 2014; Director: Jeff Preiss; Writer: Amy Albany, Topper Lilien, Amy Albany, Amy Albany, Amy Albany, Topper Lilien; Stars: Lena Headey, Taryn Manning, Elle Fanning, Peter Dinklage, Burn Gorman, Glenn Close, John Hawkes, Caleb Landry Jones, Tim Daly, Flea, Eddie Rouse, Ronnie Rodriguez, Mark Casimir Dyniewicz, Linda Wang, Juliet Tondowski)
World premiere
Based on Amy Jo Albany's memoir, Low Down explores her heart-wrenching journey to adulthood while being raised by her father, bebop pianist Joe Albany, as he teeters between incarceration and addiction in the urban decay and waning bohemia of Hollywood in the 1970s.
The Skeleton Twins
(Country: US; Year: 2014; Director: Craig Johnson; Writer: Mark Heyman, Craig Johnson; Stars: Kristen Wiig, Ty Burrell, Bill Hader, Luke Wilson, Boyd Holbrook, Kathleen Rose Perkins, Ian Hyland, Jennifer Lafleur, Eddie Schweighardt, Genevieve Adams, Sydney Lucas, Truck Hudson, Cliff Moylan, Paul Castro Jr., David Garelik)
A restless young woman reconnects with her brother while he is recovering from a suicide attempt.
World premiere
The Sleepwalker
(Country: US, Norway; Year: 2014; Director: Mona Fastvold; Writer: Brady Corbet, Mona Fastvold; Stars: Gitte Witt, Christopher Abbott, Stephanie Ellis, Brady Corbet)
World premiere
A young couple, Kaia and Andrew, are renovating Kaia´s secluded family estate. Their lives are violently interrupted when unexpected guests arrive. The Sleepwalker chronicles the unravelling of the lives of four disparate characters.
Song One
(Country: US; Year: 2014; Director: Kate Barker-Froyland; Writer: Kate Barker-Froyland; Stars: Anne Hathaway, Mary Steenburgen, Ben Rosenfield, Stefano Villabona, Li Jun Li, Johnny Flynn, Al Thompson, Crystal Lonneberg, Steve Antonucci, Gideon Glick, Shawn Parsons, Walter DeForest, Crystal Nicole Marcano, Justin Arnold, Monna Sabouri)
World premiere
Estranged from her family, Franny returns home when an accident leaves her brother comatose. Retracing his life as an aspiring musician, she tracks down his favourite musician, James Forester. Against the backdrop of Brooklyn’s music scene, Franny and James develop an unexpected relationship and face the realities of their lives.
Cold In July and God's Pocket
Whiplash
(Country: US; Year: 2014; Director: Damien Chazelle; Writer: Damien Chazelle; Stars: Miles Teller, Melissa Benoist, JK Simmons, Austin Stowell, Kavita Patil, Michael D Cohen, Tian Wang, Kofi Siriboe, Tarik Lowe, Marcus Henderson, CJ Vana, Calvin C Winbush, Rogelio Douglas Jr., Adrian Burks, Charlie Ian)
Under the direction of a ruthless instructor, a talented young drummer begins to pursue perfection at any cost, even his humanity.
World premiere. Day One film
59th New York Film Festival early bird highlights Futura, Jane By Charlotte, James Baldwin: From Another Place and The Velvet Underground
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