It's the best time of the year for indie filmmakers at Robert Redford's "Sundance Film Festival." filmmakers will rub elbows with some of the best show business has. Some say there are more deals made at "Sundance" then anywhere else. Thursday Jan. 17 2013 was opening day and there was excitement everywhere you look.
Park City, Utah turns into ground zero for Hollywood directors, producers and actors. Most distribution companies have a list of films they are interested in purchasing for distribution.
Let's take a look at the goings on at the festival for day one and two.
- The first film that was shown at "Sundance" was a documentary by Gael Garcia Bernal, entitled "Who is Dayani Cristal?" This story of the plight of undocumented aliens is told from the perspective of one corpse of a man found in the Arizona desert. This is obviously a controversial subject, but that is what documentaries are for, teaching and enlightenment.
- Icarus Films, who distributes documentaries, has acquired the North American rights to "The Machine Which Makes Everything Disappear." Directed by Tinatin Gurchiani this film tells the tail of her search for young adults growing up in the Soviet country of Georgia.
Icarus Films President Jonathan Miller revealed:
"I think people will fall in love with the film the way we did."
- Alfred Molina ("Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows Pt. One and Two) and Michael Gambon (new TNT series "Monday Morning") join Ira Sachs' (Keeping the Lights On) for "Love is Strange." The story revolves around a gay couple who have been together for 28 years. After the wedding their lives spin out of control.
- The film arm of the news network also picked up two untitled documentaries. The second will be directed by Michael Tucker and Petra Epperlein and tells the tale of Ground Zero through still photos. This doc will be directed by Andrew Rossi who directed "Page One: Inside the New York Times." The third film tells the story of the higher education systems in the U.S., students, professors and school administrators. "Twenty Feet From Stardom" is yet another documentary that was very well received with several standing ovations. Radius-TWC has purchased the doc and has a tentative release in summer of 2013. This film tells the stories of back-up singers. A&E Records producer Gil Friesen, who died late last year, wanted to tell the story of these talented, but unsung heroes. This doc is directed by Morgan Neville who produced last year's documentary about the Detroit fire department entitled "Burn." Some of the superstars these back-up singers sang with are: Bruce Springsteen, Stevie Wonder, Sting, Joe Cocker and Bette Midler.
- Anchor Bay has purchased Leland Orser's "Morning." Directed by first timer, "Taken" actor, Leland Orser. This film was purchased on Friday. "Morning" made it's debut as a short at "SXSW." It was so popular that Orser made the film feature length.
"Morning" has an excellent cast including:
- Jeanne Tripplehorn
- Laura Linney
- Leland Orser (working double duty)
- Elliot Gould
- Jason Ritter
No word yet on a release date.
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