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June 15

HOUSE OF BOATENG Premieres on June 22nd

Don’t miss the Thursday, June 22nd premiere of our exciting new original documentary series, HOUSE OF BOATENG, a behind-the-scenes look at renowned British designer Ozwald Boateng’s attempt to bring his unique high-end style to America.
 
Entirely self-taught, Boateng has transformed classic British tailoring into cutting edge high fashion. His bold style blends the classical art of tailoring with his distinctive use of color, his love of texture and his attention to cut, form and detail. Is America ready?
 
Starting June 22, tune into Sundance Channel every Thursday at 9PM starting to watch Ozwald make his move across the pond.
 
Visit http://www.sundancechannel.com/boateng to enter the "Toast to Style" Sweepstakes for your chance to win an all expense paid VIP getaway to London - along with more video clips and photo galleries.
 
Cheers.
 
May 19

Let Your Voice Be Heard in our New Discussion Boards!

 
Visit http://www.sundancechannel.com/discuss to sound off on your favorite Sundance Channel films, Original Series, the Sundance Film Festival or SundanceChannel.com. Come see what your fellow independent films fans are talking about and be sure to check back often as we'll be adding new discussion features and boards. You can also throw suggestions our way in our feedback area and let us know what you'd like to see from us in the future and how we can improve. Now talk amongst yourselves.

 

 

May 05

Isabella Rossellini film MY DAD IS 100 YEARS OLD premieres on May 8th

On Monday, May 8th, Sundance Channel salutes master Italian filmmaker Roberto Rossellini on what would have been his 100th birthday. At 7PM we'll be screening MY DAD IS 100 YEARS OLD, a new short film written by and starring his daughter, Isabella, which made its U.S. premiere at this year's Tribeca Film Festival. Directed by Guy Maddin, MY DAD IS 100 YEARS OLD is a stylized, witty meditation on Roberto Rossellini's cinematic aesthetic and his belief in cinema as a moral art. Following the screening of MY DAD IS 100 YEARS OLD at 7:15PM will be Roberto Rossellini's own classic 1945 masterpiece, OPEN CITY, a depiction of Italian life under German occupation.
 
 
Also visit http://www.sundancechannel.com/spotlight for online-exclusive interviews with actor and screenwriter Isabella Rossellini and director Guy Maddin as they discuss their new short film MY DAD IS 100 YEARS OLD.
March 31

Bring 'Em Home Now Concert

On March 20th we attended the Bring 'Em Home Now Concert here in NYC. The event was a benefit the for the Iraq Veterans Against the War and Veterans for Peace and featured performances by Michael Stipe, Fischerspooner, Rufus Wainwright, Moby, Steve Earle, Bright Eyes, Devandra Banhart and Peaches as well as interesting and informative speeches from Cindy Sheehan and U.S. Army Veteran Geoffrey Millard. Guest hosts for the evening also included Chuck D., Susan Sarandon and Alec Baldwin. It was an exciting event and we've added some photos we took that night below.
 
In other Sundance Channel and Michael Stipe news - we will be airing the short film documentary "In the Sun: Michael Stipe and Special Guests" on Monday April 3rd at 9pm e/p. For more info - see the blog entry below. You can also watch the full version of the documentary plus a bonus 41 minute version now at :
 
March 19

"In the Sun: Michael Stipe and Special Guests" to premeire on Sundance Channel on April 3rd

On February 5th, 2006, R.E.M. front-man Michael Stipe released an EP featuring 6 versions of the Joseph Arthur song "In the Sun," including a duet with Coldplay's Chris Martin, to benefit those still in need in the aftermath Hurricane Katrina. Justin Timberlake, will.i.am from the Black Eyed Peas and James Iha of Smashing Pumpkins fame also helped out on production and remixes of the tracks.
 
Th recording of this EP was filmed and serves as the basis for the documentary short film "In the Sun: Michael Stipe and Special Guests" which will premiere on Sundance Channel on April 3rd at 9pm e/p. Directed by Grammy®-nominated video director Danny Clinch, the film chronicles the collaboration between Michael Stipe and singer/songwriter Joseph Arthur and features interviews with Michael, Chris Martin, historian Douglas Brinkley and Hurricane Katrina survivors and volunteers. The film also includes original footage of the Gulf region shot in the aftermath of Hurricane Katrina. "In the Sun: Michael Stipe and Special Guests" will air on Sundance Channel throughout April. 
 
If you can't wait till April 3rd to check out the documentary - we've got video clips from the documentary and audio clips of the “In the Sun” track online at:
 
http://www.sundancechannel.com/inthesun/
 
For more information on how you can help or to donate - visit :
 
or
February 19

Festival Video Highlights

We have pulled together our best video highlight clips from our "Festival Dailies"  show and posted them online at http://www.sundancechannel.com . We've got The Edge of U2 talking about his involvement with the documentary  "Leonard Cohen: I'm Your Man", Ex VP and current film producer Al Gore on  his new film "An Inconvenient Truth" and more video clips featuring Robert Redford, Jennifer Aniston, John Waters, Robert Downey Jr. and Stewart Copeland of The Police.
February 17

We're Back!

Sorry we’ve been out of touch. We have finally recovered from the 2006 Sundance Film Festival and are ready to write again.  We reported on the latest film sales on our “Film Deals” blog from 1.27.06 (see below) and now quite a few other films have secured distribution deals.  Al Gore’s film “An Inconvenient Truth” recently sold to Paramount for an undisclosed amount and is slated to be in theaters in May. Other films acquired were “Factotum” starring Matt Dillon, “Man Push Cart”, “Stephanie Daley”, Wristcutters: A Love Story” and “Half Nelson” starring Ryan Gosling.

“Quinceanera”, the Grand Jury Prize and Audience Award winner for dramatic film, has yet to secure a US distribution deal and neither has Grand Jury Prize and Audience Award winner for the documentary category “God Grew Tired of Us”. We'll keep you posted on any new updates.

January 29

Heading Home

It's been a great 10 days in Park City, but it's time to head home. Even though the Festival is over check back for more news.

 

January 28

Check Out the Winners!

The winners of the Sundance Film Festival awards have been announced and are listed below.

 

Grand Jury Prize Documentary
GOD GREW TIRED OF US
Director: Christopher Quinn

Grand Jury Prize Dramatic
QUINCEANERA
Writer/Director: Wash Westmoreland & Richard Glatzer

Jury Prize for World Cinema Documentary
IN THE PIT
Writer/Director: Juan Carlos Rulfo

Jury Prize for World Cinema Dramatic
13 TZAMETI
Writer/Director: Gela Babluani

Audience Award American Documentary
GOD GREW TIRED OF US
Directed by Christopher Quinn

Audience Award American Dramatic
QUINCEANERA
Writers/Directors: Wash Westmoreland & Richard Glatzer

Audience Award World Cinema: Documentary
DE NADIE
Directed by Tin Dirdamal

Audience Award World Cinema: Dramatic
NO. 2
Writer/Director: Toa Fraser

Directing Award Documentary
JAMES LONGLEY
IRAQ IN FRAGMENTS

Directing Award Dramatic
DITO MONTIEL
A GUIDE TO RECOGNIZING YOUR SAINTS

 

Check out http://www.sundancechannel.com/festival/ to see the complete list of award winners!

We've Got Photos

Check out our Photo Gallery above. Be sure to click on the toolbar at the top to see all the pics. We've got behind the scenes photos of Robert Redford, Paul Giamatti, Ashley Judd, Sting, Rufus Wainwright, Amber Tamblyn, Robert Downey, Jr., John Waters and many more. You won't find these photos anywhere else! We'll be adding in more too - so check back.

Winding Down

Things are starting to wind down here in Park City. Last night on Main Street wasn't nearly as crazy as the previous weekend. Liz Phair and Ben Folds played at Harry O's, but things just seemed a little quieter. After 10 days everyone seems a little tired. The new Nick Cassavetes film, "Alpha Dog", starring Bruce Willis, Sharon Stone and Justin Timberlake was the Festival's closing night film and the awards show is tonight at 9pm MST.

We're starting to pack our bags and get ready for the journey home on Sunday. Stay tuned to the blog even after the Festival is over. We'll be keeping you up to date on the films that sell after the Festival, the latest on independent film and what's coming up in '06 on Sundance Channel.

January 27

Festival Awards To Be Announced Tomorrow

It's hard to believe, but the Festival is almost over and the awards ceremony begins tomorrow night (SAT.) at 9pm MST.  We will be posting the award winners here in the blog and at http://www.sundancechannel.com.  Check back tomorrow to find out who wins!

Film Deals

We know a lot of you reading our blog weren't able to make it to Park City.  We've done some digging and understand the following films were acquired over the past few days.  This means they will be headed for a wider release and may be in theaters near you within the next year or so.  Here's what we know so far:
 
*  "Little Miss Sunshine" sold for $10 million (we reported this earlier in the week)
*  "Right At Your Door", the dirty bomb thriller we wrote about earlier by first-time director Chris Gorak, sold for $2 million
*  "Wordplay", the doc on New York Times crossword puzzles, sold for $1 million
*  "The Science of Sleep", Michel Gondry's film starring Gael Garcia Bernal, sold for $6 million
*  "Stay" (film about impulsive sexual encounter we wrote about earlier), "The Night Listener" (co-written by "Tales of the City" writer Armistead Maupin and Terry Anderson; starring Robin Williams) and "The Darwin Awards" (Winona Ryder and the late Chris Penn) sold for undisclosed amounts
*  In play are "Half Nelson" (Ryan Gosling), "The Hawk is Dying" and "Small Town Gay Bar" 
 
January 26

Celebrity Sightings Around Town

Park City is much smaller than you may think. Just walking around Main Street we've seen some interesting people. The other day we caught Rufus Wainwright crossing the street with The Edge (from U2) and director Lian Lunson of the film "Leonard Cohen:  I'm Your Man". Also seen around town was Morgan Spurlock ("Super Size Me") chatting on his cell and Matt Dillon heading to the Creative Coalition event where he recieved the "Visionary Award". In addition the elevators here can yield a number of celebrity encounters like last year's Sundance darling Terrence Howard ("Hustle & Flow") and Leslie Bibb, who is in this year's film "Wristcutters:  A Love Story". Crusing up main street we caught Justin Long ("Herbie: Fully Loaded") so full of swag he could barely walk. Also on Main Street were the Beasties heading into the Yahoo! Cafe to make their celebrity playlist. We saw Maggie Gyllenhaal ("Sherrybaby") in a supermarket parking lot asking around for the nearest Starbucks (seems everyone needs some caffeine in this sleep deprived town) and former veep Al Gore swung by as we were checking our email in an internet lounge (he's here pushing his Sundance film on global warming "An Inconvenient Truth"). You never know who you'll find in Park City.

"Thin"

There's a lot of buzz around "Thin", an intense and powerful documentary by acclaimed documentary photographer Lauren Greenfield. Her directorial debut, "Thin" captures the lives of four women battling eating disorders as they try to survive recovery at the Renfrew Center in Florida. The audience was crying and gasping during our screening. The film let's you see the horrible effects of this private and emotional disease. At our recent screening three of the four women featured in the film were there to answer questions along with the director and producer.

January 25

Sundance Channel Party

We had our party on Tuesday afternoon at a restaurant on Main Street. Free drinks and food made sure a good time was had by all. It's also the Channel's 10th Anniversary so we all got together for a group photo and cut some cake (see pix below).  Robert Redford was there as well as Bob (Bobcat) Goldthwait, whose film "Stay" is screening at the Festival and Lian Lunson, director of the documentary  "Leonard Cohen: I'm Your Man".

 

photo credit: Starpix


More Film Buzz

Word on the street (Main Street that is) is that "Half Nelson" starring Ryan Gosling is the front runner for the Grand Jury Prize in the Dramatic Competition. Gosling logs in an amazing performance as an inner-city jr. high school teacher with a drug habit that forms an unlikely friendship with one of his students after she discovers his secret. There is already talk of Gosling being nominated for an Oscar for his role in the film. Directed by first time feature filmmaker Ryan Fleck, "Half Nelson" is a full length version of Fleck's Jury Prize winning short, "Gowanus, Brooklyn" from the 2004 Sundance Film Festival. Shareeka Epps, who plays Drey, the student who finds out Gosling's secret, also puts in a star performance we hear.

Another film gaining some buzz is "13 Tzameti", a French black and white neo-noir thriller by director/screenwriter Gela Babluani. The main character, Sebastian, stumbles into a dark underworld where there is no turning back. The film's budget may be small but the payoff is big. We're not going to spoil it for you here - you'll have to see it to find out more. This film could be a strong contender for the Grand Jury Prize in the World Dramatic Competition.

Beastie Boys: Film & Concert

We hit the Beastie Boys show on Monday night promoting their film "Awesome! I Fuckin' Shot That!". As a nice change from the Main Street chaos, the show took place at the Legacy Lodge at the base of Park City Mountain Resort. Oh, I guess I should mention it's also the CAFETERIA! Yeah, that's right. We entered through the salad bar, got a few cocktails at the pizza station and watched the show from the cash registers. I know it sounds bizarre, but it was a great show. Playing all sorts of hits like "No Sleep Till Brooklyn" & "Sure Shot" the crowd was going crazy. Speaking of the crowd, there were a few celebs in attendance. I know what you're thinking, or who you might be thinking of, but the ultimate sighting was Corey Feldman, sunglasses and all hanging behind the DJ booth. Along with Corey we also spotted other superstars (wink,wink) like Ethan Suplee from "My Name Is Earl", Danny Masterson from "That 70's Show" and a Selma Hayek lookalike shaking her goods on the cashier's stand. The Beasties ended the show with "So What'cha Want" and we headed down to pick up our coats from the coat check. The line was literally hundreds of people long so we left without them. No need to worry folks - we found them in the morning in a trash bag at the coffee shop! Good times!

January 24

Documentary Thoughts: Iraq War and Gay Bars

The Festival has always been the home for amazing documentaries. We've been asking around and hear people talking about "The Ground Truth:  After the Killing Ends". The doc follows soldiers from boot camp training, where they are taught to kill, to the Iraq war and back home. We hear it's a powerful and fascinating look at how war and killing impacts soldiers and the military’s inability to deal with these veterans once they return home. At a recent screening there were 4 Iraq/Afghanistan war veterans and they talked about the film and the war before the screening. Paul Reickhoff, one of the vets in attendance, has started the political action group “Iraq and Afghanistan Veterans of America” to deal with the issues brought out in the film. For more information on the IAVA visit their website at: http://www.iava.org//index.php

Another moving documentary we heard about, "Small Town Gay Bar", illustrates the role gay bars play in the Bible Belt of rural Mississippi. Part extended family, safe place and social release, these bars serve as the focal point for gay life in towns where hostile opposition is commonplace (one town featured has a population of 1,600 people to give you a sense of "small"). The Q&A session included a lesbian couple featured in the doc who reopened a gay bar in their town to rebuild a sense of community.

So Much Swag, So Little Time

We know you probably have been reading a lot about the deluge of free stuff (aka "swag") at the Festival this year. It's nothing new. Companies have always been interested in getting their products in front of movers and shakers. Although it appears that every major brand in the world has somehow managed to infiltrate this little town, there are still the 'haves' and 'have nots' when it comes to swag. 
 
This is how it works: big time celebs and filmmakers swing by lounges sponsored by major brands, peruse the merchandise and walk out with everything from free phones, clothes, electronics and the latest cool stuff. Some of the lounges are right on Main St. (there seem to be more than last year) while some are tucked away in private homes. For those not so lucky to be invited into the major lounges there is still some free stuff but let's just say it's not the latest home entertainment center. It may be a t-shirt, some breath mints or a fridge magnet. 
 
Regardless of where you fall, it seems everyone likes something for free. 
January 23

Calming Down (a bit)

We're starting to lose track of the days now. We found ourselves calling the office yesterday but realized when no one picked up it was Sunday. Delirium is setting in and it's only day five of ten.  

It seems like the crowds are thinning a bit. Last night Main St. was a lot quieter. Less screaming, drunken careening and loud music than over the weekend. Maybe we'll be able to find a parking space for lunch. 

We swung by the Main Box Office last night and were surprised to still find people camping out for tix. Each night there seem to be at least 10 die-hards in sleeping bags with ear plugs on the floor. The best part: there are parties in the Gateway Center most nights so these poor souls have to contend with drunk revelers and loud music until 1am before they get some solitude. There seemed to be quite a few tix available per the list, so these overnight urban campers hopefully walked away with some decent tickets. 


Under the Radar Films

With so much noise around the Hollywood jet set we decided to turn our attention to films we hear are getting lost in the buzz machine: "Somebodies" and "Old Joy". "Somebodies" features triple threat writer/director/actor Hadjii from Athens, GA. A comedy that takes a look at what it's like to be young, carefree and reckless from the point of view of a 22-year-old African American college student, "Somebodies" was a crowd pleaser at the screening we attended. 
 
"Old Joy" could be one of this year's overlooked gems. It was executive produced by Todd Haynes ("Velvet Goldmine", "Far From Heaven") and was directed by fellow Oregon filmmaker, Kelly Reichardt. It's a beautiful look at friendship and how things change as the years go by. The film stars Will Oldham who gives an amazing performance - and isn't scared of a little full frontal either! 
 
Like Todd Haynes, Gus Van Sant is also executive producing a film at the Festival this year. It's Cam Archer's film "Wild Tigers I Have Known", a coming of age story about a 13 year old boy who learns to cope with his newfound sexuality and his unrelenting love for the cool kid at school. 
January 22

Robert Downey, Jr. & Shia La Boeuf in the Studio

Robert Downey, Jr., Shia La Boeuf and director Dito Montiel stopped by our studio the other day to talk about their new film "A Guide to Recognizing Your Saints" which is getting a lot of buzz around town. The movie is a coming-of-age drama about a boy growing up in Astoria, New York in the late 80s. As his friends end up in prison, on drugs or dead - he comes to believe he has been saved from their fate by various so-called saints. The film is based on the director/screenwriter Dito Montiel's book of the same name. Check out the behind the scenes photos below.

Gus Van Sant Panel

Sundance is more than films. You already know about the parties and the crowds, but there are also quite a few panels with filmmakers and actors around town worth exploring.  We attended a panel with Gus Van Sant ("Drugstore Cowboy", "My Own Private Idaho", "Elephant" among others) at the Queer Lounge yesterday. He showed two short films and a clip from his first feature, "Mala Noche" (1985), that was originally rejected by Sundance that is screening at this year's Festival. He discussed the influence of the American northwest on the subject matter of his films and the current political climate. One interesting tidbit. He was sent the script to "Brokeback Mountain" five years ago and began a search to cast the male leads. Apparently he reached out to a few well-known Hollywood actors but interest was low. The project stalled and he moved on to other things.
January 21

Insider Info on "Little Miss Sunshine"

Our "Insider" reports that Fox Searchlight has acquired worldwide distribution rights for the big buzz film "Little Miss Sunshine" for a reported $10 million dollars. Wow! $10 million on day two of the Festival.
 
"Little Miss Sunshine" follows a dysfunctional family on their cross country trip to get their young daughter into the "Little Miss Sunshine" beauty pageant. It stars Greg Kinnear, Steve Carell, Toni Collette and Alan Arkin. The comedy is the first feature by directorial team of Jonathan Dayton and Valerie Faris.
 
See link to left for an overview of the bidding war (in our "More Links" section).