Following yesterday's race-to-post announcement of the competition films at Sundance, the festival just announced its Premieres, Spotlight and New Frontier slates.
Among the Premieres, Mark Lewis returns to Sundance after a ten-year hiatus with Cane Toads: The Conquest, in which he revisits the subject of his quirky 1988 film Cane Toads, this time from a 3D perspective. The ever-prolific Michael Winterbottom offers Shock Doctrine, drawn from Naomi Klein's book about economic policy.
The Spotlight section includes returning vets Lucy Walker, whose Waste Land is screening in the World Documentary Cinema Competition and whose Countdown to Zero screens here. Dan Klores, last at Sundance with Crazy Love, screens Winning Time: Reggie Miller vs. The New York Knicks, one of ESPN's 30 for 30 series.
The New Frontier includes Sam Green's Utopia in Four Movements, billed as a "live documentary" featuring Green himself delivering the narration in concert with Dave Cerf's soundtrack "to explore the battered state of the utopian impulse at the dawn of the 21st century."
Here are the lineups:
Premieres--Documentaries:
Cane Toads: The Conquest / USA (Director and screenwriter: Mark Lewis)--In 3D, Mark Lewis explores one of Australia's greatest environmental catastrophes as he follows the unstoppable march of the cane toad across the Australian continent. World Premiere
Shock Doctrine / USA (Directors: Michael Winterbottom and Mat Whitecross)--Closely based on the book by award-winning journalist Naomi Klein, Shock Doctrine exposes how shock is used to implement economic policy in vulnerable environments. North American Premiere
Spotlight--Documentaries:
8: The Mormon Proposition / USA(Director: Reed Cowan)--An examination of the relationship between the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-Day Saints in the promotion and passage of California's Proposition 8 denying marriage rights for Gay and Lesbian couples. World Premiere
Catfish / USA(Directors: Henry Joost and Ariel Schulman)--When a young New York City photographer is contacted on Facebook by an 8-year-old painting prodigy from rural Michigan, he becomes deeply enmeshed in her life, even falling in love with her older sister--that is, until a crack appears in her story. World Premiere
Climate Refugees / USA (Director: Michael Nash)--An over-consuming, crowded world, with depleting resources and a changing climate is giving birth to 25 million climate refugees resulting in a mass global migration and border conflicts. World Premiere
Countdown to Zero / USA (Director: Lucy Walker)--A fascinating and frightening exploration of the dangers of nuclear weapons, exposing a variety of present-day threats and featuring insights from a host of international experts and world leaders who advocate total global disarmament. World Premiere
Life 2.0 / USA(Director: Jason Spingarn-Koff)--More than an examination of new technology, the film is foremost an intimate, character-based drama about people whose lives are dramatically transformed by the virtual world called Second Life. World Premiere
Teenage Paparazzo / USA(Director: Adrian Grenier)--A 13-year-old paparazzi boy snaps a photo of actor Adrian Grenier, leading Grenier to explore the effects of celebrity on culture. World Premiere
To Catch a Dollar: Muhammad Yunus Banks on America / Bangladesh, USA (Director: Gayle Ferraro)--Tapping into the success of Muhammad Yunus after winning the Nobel Peace Prize (2006), Grameen America has opened in Queens, NY, replicating the banking model program Yunus first started in Bangladesh. World Premiere
Winning Time: Reggie Miller vs. The New York Knicks / USA (Director: Dan Klores)--Reggie Miller single-handedly crushed the hearts of Knick fans multiple times. But it was the 1995 Eastern Conference Semifinals that solidified Miller as Public Enemy #1 in New York City. World Premiere
New Frontier--Documentaries:
Utopia in Four Movements / USA (Director: Sam Green)--In this "live documentary," Sam Green's live narration blends with Dave Cerf's soundtrack to explore the battered state of the utopian impulse at the dawn of the 21st century. World Premiere