It's pretty crazy to think about this but....it's time to start turning the page to 2014. We may be neck deep in the thick of awards season in little over a month it'll be time to pack up the snow gear, grab a case of 5 Hour Energy and hit Park City, Utah for the
Sundance Film Festival. Today the slate of films competing in the Dramatic, Documentary, World Cinema Dramatic, World Cinema Documentary, and NEXT categories has been revealed and it's enough to get this guy salivating. If you've been following this site for awhile you know this is my favorite time of year and I will be there again for the full 10 days, so take a look at the movies we'll hopefully be bringing you coverage of. The rest of the line-up from the Spotlight, Park City at Midnight, New Frontier, and Premieres categories will be announced shortly. Fingers crossed for
The Raid 2, ya'll.
First up is the
U.S. Dramatic slate, which consists of world premieres from the United States...
“Camp X-Ray” — Directed and written by Peter Sattler. A young female guard at Guantanamo Bay forms an unlikely friendship with one of the detainees. Cast: Kristen Stewart, Payman Maadi, Lane Garrison, J.J. Soria, John Carroll Lynch.
“Cold in July” — Directed by Jim Mickle, written by Nick Damici. A small-town Texas man kills a home intruder, only to see his life violently unravel in Mickle’s follow-up to “We Are What We Are.” Cast: Michael C. Hall, Don Johnson, Sam Shepard, Vinessa Shaw, Nick Damici, Wyatt Russell.
“Dear White People” — Directed and written by Justin Simien. A tongue-in-cheek look at racial identity at an Ivy League university, where a riot breaks out over an “African-American-themed” party thrown by white students. Cast: Tyler Williams, Tessa Thompson, Teyonah Parris, Brandon Bell.
“Fishing Without Nets” (U.S.-Somalia-Kenya) — Directed by Cutter Hodierne, written by Hodierne, John Hibey and David Burkman. This story of pirates in Somalia is told from the perspective of a struggling young local fisherman. Cast: Abdikani Muktar, Abdi Siad, Abduwwhali Faarah, Abdikhadir Hassan, Reda Kateb, Idil Ibrahim.
“God’s Pocket” — Directed John Slattery, written by Slattery, Alex Metcalf. The story of a man trying to conceal the truth about the construction “accident” that killed his stepson. Cast: Philip Seymour Hoffman, Richard Jenkins, Christina Hendricks, John Turturro.
“Happy Christmas” — Directed and written by Joe Swanberg. A young woman breaks up with her boyfriend and then moves in with her older brother, his wife, and their 2-year-old son. Cast: Anna Kendrick, Melanie Lynskey, Mark Webber, Lena Dunham, Swanberg.
“Hellion” — Directed and written by Kat Candler. A 13-year-old delinquent must get his act together, along with his emotionally absent dad, in order to bring back his little brother, who’s been taken away by child protective services. Cast: Aaron Paul, Juliette Lewis, Josh Wiggins, Deke Garner, Jonny Mars, Walt Roberts.
“Infinitely Polar Bear” — Directed and written by Maya Forbes. A manic-depressive father tries to win back his wife by taking full responsibility of their two young daughters. Cast: Mark Ruffalo, Zoe Saldana, Imogene Wolodarsky, Ashley Aufderheide.
“Jamie Marks Is Dead” — Directed and written by Carter Smith. A ghost visits his former classmate, hoping to find the love and friendship he never experienced in life. Cast: Cameron Monaghan, Noah Silver, Morgan Saylor, Judy Greer, Madisen Beaty, Liv Tyler.
“Kumiko, the Treasure Hunter” — Directed by David Zellner, written by David and Nathan Zellner. A lonely Japanese woman abandons her structured life in Tokyo to seek a satchel of money rumoredly hidden in the Minnesota wilderness. Cast: Rinko Kikuchi.
“Life After Beth” — Directed and written by Jeff Baena. A man is devastated by his girlfriend’s unexpected death, but receives a second chance at love when she mysteriously returns. Cast: Aubrey Plaza, Dave DeHaan, John C. Reilly, Molly Shannon, Cheryl Hines, Paul Reiser.
“Low Down” — Directed by Jeff Preiss, written by Amy Albany and Topper Lilien. This adaptation of Albany’s memoir explores her journey to adulthood while being raised by her troubled father, bebop pianist Joe Albany. Cast: John Hawkes, Elle Fanning, Glenn Close, Lena Headey, Peter Dinklage, Flea.
“The Skeleton Twins” — Directed by Craig Johnson, written by Johnson and Mark Heyman. An estranged brother and sister coincidentally cheat death on the same day, prompting a reunion. Cast: Bill Hader, Kristen Wiig, Luke Wilson, Ty Burrell, Boyd Holbrook, Joanna Gleason.
“The Sleepwalker” (U.S.-Norway) — Directed by Mona Fastvold, written by Fastvold, Brady Corbet. A young couple see their lives violently interrupted when unexpected guests arrive at their secluded estate. Cast: Gitte Witt, Christopher Abbott, Corbet, Stephanie Ellis.
“Song One” — Directed and written by Kate Barker-Froyland. When an accident leaves her brother comatose, a woman sets out to retrace his life as an aspiring musician, leading to an unexpected relationship against the backdrop of Brooklyn’s music scene. Cast: Anne Hathaway, Johnny Flynn, Mary Steenburgen, Ben Rosenfield.
“Whiplash” — Directed and written by Damien Chazelle. A talented young drummer pursues perfection at any cost in Chazelle’s follow-up to “Guy and Madeline on a Park Bench.” Cast: Miles Teller, J.K. Simmons.
U.S. Documentary Competition “Alive Inside: A Story of Music & Memory” — Directed by Michael Rossato-Bennett. A man discovers that songs embedded deep in memory can ease the pain of Alzheimer’s disease and dementia.
“All the Beautiful Things” — Directed by John Harkrider. An account of a close friendship between two men, tested by betrayal when one of them is falsely accused of rape.
“Captivated — The Trials of Pamela Smart” (U.S.-U.K.) — Directed by Jeremiah Zagar. An examination of the media’s impact on Smart’s 1991 murder trial, which became one of the highest-profile criminal cases of all time.
“The Case Against 8″ — Directed by Ben Cotner, Ryan White. A behind-the-scenes look at the unlikely team that took the first federal marriage equality lawsuit to the U.S. Supreme Court.
“Cesar’s Last Fast” — Directed by Richard Ray Perez, Lorena Parlee. A portrait of Cesar Chavez’s devotion and personal sacrifice in fighting for economic justice on behalf of America’s poorest workers.
“Dinosaur 13″ — Directed by Todd Miller. An up-close look at one of the greatest discoveries in history.
“E-Team” — Directed by Katy Chevigny, Ross Kauffman. A look at the high-stakes investigative work undertaken by four intrepid human-rights workers.
“Fed Up” — Directed by Stephanie Soechtig. An expose of the food industry’s 30-year campaign to mislead the American public, resulting in one of the worst health epidemics in history.
“The Internet’s Own Boy: The Story of Aaron Swartz” — Directed by Brian Knappenberger. Documents the life and accomplishments of programming prodigy and information activist Swartz before he took his life at the age of 26.
“Ivory Tower” — Directed by Andrew Rossi. An inquiry into whether college is worth it in an era of soaring tuition costs.
“Marmato” — Directed by Mark Grieco. A historic Colombian mining town becomes the center of a modern gold rush when a Canadian company seeks to excavate the $20 billion in gold beneath residents’ homes.
“No No: A Dockumentary” — Directed by Jeffrey Radice. A portrait of former baseball player Dock Ellis, who once pitched a no-hitter on LSD and subsequently spent decades counseling drug abusers.
“The Overnighters” — Directed by Jesse Moss. The story of a pastor seeking to help the desperate men who work in the North Dakota oil fields.
“Private Violence” — Directed by Cynthia Hill. An intimate portrait of domestic violence against women as told through two personal stories.
“Rich Hill” — Directed by Andrew Droz Palermo and Tracy Droz Tragos. An examination of challenges, hopes and dreams of the young residents of a rural American town.
“Watchers of the Sky” — Directed by Edet Belzberg. This documentary interweaves five stories of courage by humanitarians working to end genocide around the world.World Cinema Dramatic
“52 Tuesdays” (Australia) — Directed by Sophie Hyde, written by Matthew Cormack. An emotionally charged drama about a 16-year-old girl whose mother reveals her plans for gender transition. Cast: Tilda Cobham-Hervey, Del Herbert-Jane, Imogen Archer, Mario Spate, Beau Williams, Sam Althuizen. International premiere.
“Blind” (Norway-Netherlands) — Directed and written by Eskil Vogt. A woman who has recently lost her sight retreats into the safety and isolation of her apartment, alone with her husband and her thoughts. Cast: Ellen Dorrit Petersen, Henrik Rafaelsen, Vera Vitali, Marius Kolbenstvedt.
“Difret” (Ethiopia) — Directed and written by Zeresenay Berhane Mehari. A young lawyer operates under the government’s radar helping women and children, until one girl’s case blows her cover. Cast: Meron Getnet, Tizita Hagere.
“The Disobedient” (Serbia) — Directed and written by Mina Djukic. Two childhood friends reunite in their hometown, then take a bicycle trip around their old haunts. Cast: Hana Selimovic, Mladen Sovilj, Minja Subota, Danijel Sike, Ivan Djordjevic.
“God Help the Girl” (U.K.) — Directed and written by Stuart Murdoch. A musical about some messed-up boys and girls and the music they made. Cast: Emily Browning, Olly Alexander, Hannah Murray, Cora Bissett, Pierre Boulanger.
“Liar’s Dice” (India) — Directed and written by Geetu Mohandas. The story of a young woman who leaves her native land with her daughter to search for her missing husband, encountering a free-spirited army deserter along the way. Cast: Nawazuddin Siddiqui, Geetanjali Thapa, Manya Gupta. International premiere.
“Lilting” (U.K.) — Directed and written by Hong Khaou. An intimate drama about a Chinese mother mourning her son’s untimely death and the sudden appearance of a stranger who doesn’t speak her language. Cast: Ben Whishaw, Pei-Pei Cheng, Andrew Leung, Peter Bowles, Naomi Christie, Morven Christie. “Lock Charmer” (El cerrajero) (Argentina) — Directed and written by Natalia Smirnoff. A 33-year-old locksmith begins to have strange visions about his clients and decides to put this strange talent to use. Cast: Esteban Lamothe, Erica Rivas, Yosiria Huaripata.
“To Kill a Man” (Chile-France) — Directed and written by Alejandro Fernandez Almendras. A hard-working family man gets mugged by a neighborhood delinquent, setting off a chain of violence and retribution. Cast: Daniel Candia, Daniel Antivilo, Alejandro Yanez, Ariel Mateluna.
“Viktoria” (Bulgaria-Romania) — Directed and written by Maya Vitkova. In communist Bulgaria, a woman gives birth to a daughter who, despite being born with no umbilical cord, is hailed as the baby of the decade. Cast: Irmena Chichikova, Daria Vitkova, Kalina Vitkova, Mariana Krumova, Dimo Dimov, Georgi Spassov.
“Wetlands” (Germany) — Directed by David Wnendt, written by Claus Falkenberg and Wnendt. A graphic adaptation of Charlotte Roche’s bestselling novel about an 18-year-old girl obsessed with her own bodily secretions. Cast: Carla Juri, Christoph Letkowski, Meret Becker, Axel Milberg, Marlen Kruse, Edgar Selge. North American premiere.
“White Shadow” (Italy-Germany-Tanzania) — Directed by Noaz Deshe, written by Desh and James Masson. A survival drama about a young albino boy who goes on the run after witnessing his father’s murder. Cast: Hamisi Bazili, James Gayo, Glory Mbayuwayu, Salum Abdallah. International premiere.
World Cinema Documentary “20,000 Days on Earth” (U.K.) — Directed by Iain Forsyth and Jane Pollard. A docu-drama hybrid and examination of the artistic process that imagines 24 hours in the life of Nick Cave.
“Concerning Violence” (Sweden-U.S.-Denmark-Finland) — Directed by Goran Hugo Olsson. A synthesis of newly discovered archival material documenting Third World struggles, accompanied by text from Frantz Fanon’s “The Wretched of the Earth.”
“The Green Prince” (Germany-Israel-U.K.) — Directed by Nadav Schirman. An account of one of Israel’s prized intelligence sources, who was recruited to spy on his own people for more than a decade.
“Happiness” (France-Finland) — Directed by Thomas Balmes. A portrait of social change as seen through the eyes of an 8-year-old Bhutanese monk whose village is about to be connected to electricity. North American premiere.
“Love Child” (South Korea-U.S.) — Directed by Valerie Veatch. Covers the 2010 trial of a young South Korean couple accused of neglect when their addiction to an online fantasy game resulted in the death of their infant daughter.
“Mr. Leos Carax” (France) — Directed by Tessa Louise-Salome. A portrait of the maverick director behind such films as “Holy Motors,” “The Lovers on the Bridge” and “Pola X.”
“My Prairie Home” (Canada) — Directed by Chelsea McMullan. A musical documentary portrait of Canadian transgender singer Rae Spoon, featuring visual interpretations of the artist’s songs. International premiere.
“The Notorious Mr. Bout” (U.S.-Russia) — Directed by Tony Gerber and Maxim Pozdorovkin. A profile of war profiteer, entrepreneur, aviation tycoon, arms dealer and documentary filmmaker Viktor Bout.
“The Return to Homs” (Syria-Germany) — Directed by Talal Derki. A portrait of young revolutionaries fighting for justice in the titular Syrian city. North American premiere.
“Sepideh — Reaching for the Stars” (Denmark) — Directed by Berit Madsen. A young Iranian woman challenges traditions and expectations with her dream of becoming an astronaut. North American premiere.
“We Come as Friends” (France-Austria) — Directed by Hubert Sauper. A look at colonization a human phenomenon from the director of “Darwin’s Nightmare.”
“Web Junkie” (Israel) — Directed by Shosh Shlam and Hilla Medalia. A look at a Beijing rehab center where Internet-addicted Chinese teenagers are deprogrammed.
NEXT “Appropriate Behavior” (U.S.-U.K.) — Directed and written by Desiree Akhavan. The story of the identity struggles facing a young Persian-American bisexual woman in Brooklyn. Cast: Desiree Akhavan, Rebecca Henderson, Halley Feiffer, Scott Adsit, Anh Duong, Arian Moayed.
“Drunktown’s Finest” — Directed and written by Sydney Freeland. A coming-of-age story about three very different young Native Americans living on a reservation. Cast: Jeremiah Bitsui, Carmen Moore, Morningstar Angeline, Kiowa Gordon, Shauna Baker, Elizabeth Francis. “The Foxy Merkins” — Directed by Madeleine Olnek, written by Lisa Haas, Jackie Monahan and Olnek. A prostitute buddy comedy about two lesbian hookers working the streets of New York. Cast: Lisa Haas, Jackie Monahan, Alex Karpovsky, Susan Ziegler, Sally Sockwell, Deb Margolin.
“A Girl Walks Home Alone at Night” — Directed by Ana Lily Amirpour. Residents of the Iranian ghost town Bad City are stalked by a lonesome vampire. Cast: Sheila Vand, Arash Marandi, Dominic Rains, Marshall Manesh, Mozhan Marnó, Milad Eghbali.
“Imperial Dreams” — Directed by Malik Vitthal, written by Vitthal and Ismet Prcic. A 21-year-old reformed gangster is released from prison and returns to his old stomping grounds in Watts, Los Angeles. Cast: John Boyega, Rotimi Akinosho, Glenn Plummer, Keke Palmer, De’aundre Bonds.
“Land Ho!” (U.S.-Iceland) — Directed and written by Martha Stephens and Aaron Katz. A bawdy throwback to 1980s road movies, about two former brothers-in-law who head to Iceland in an attempt to reclaim their youth. Cast: Paul Eenhoorn, Earl Nelson, Alice Olivia Clarke, Karrie Krouse, Elizabeth McKee, Emmsje Gauti.
“Listen Up Philip” — Directed and written by Alex Ross Perry. A writer faces various mistakes and miseries affecting those around him, including his girlfriend, many ex-girlfriends and enemies. Cast: Jason Schwartzman, Elisabeth Moss, Jonathan Pryce, Krysten Ritter, Josephine de La Baume.
“Memphis” — Directed and written by Tim Sutton. The story of a strange singer’s doomed journey through the mythic city of Memphis. Cast: Willis Earl Beal, Lopaka Thomas, Constance Brantley, Devonte Hull, John Gary Williams, Larry Dodson.
“Obvious Child” — Directed and written by Gillian Robespierre. A Brooklyn comedian is dumped and fired, then learns she’s pregnant — all in time for Valentine’s Day. Cast: Jenny Slate, Jake Lacy, Gaby Hoffmann, David Cross, Gabe Liedman, Richard Kind.
“Ping Pong Summer” — Directed and written by Michael Tully. A youthful snapshot of the summer of 1985, set in Ocean City, Md. Cast: Susan Sarandon, John Hannah, Lea Thompson, Amy Sedaris, Robert Longstreet, Marcello Conte.
“War Story” — Directed by Mark Jackson, written by Kristin Gore and Jackson. A war photographer retreats to a small town in Sicily after being held captive in Libya. Cast: Catherine Keener, Hafsia Herzi, Vincenzo Amato, Donatella Finocchiaro, Ben Kingsley.
The film begins ominously enough with video of 9/11 and the smoldering World Trade Center, establishing that the old ways of American security will never be the same again. A Muslim man carrying a bag full of cell phones stops to pray in his run-down apartment and is greeted with a bag over his head, whisked away through quick montages to the infamous prison. Fast-forward eight years and we're thrust into Gitmo and introduced to Amy (Stewart), a newbie guard with a quiet demeanor and furious temper that draws unwanted attention from detainees and colleagues alike. On her first day she gets into a scrap with an inmate and, catching an elbow to the face, smiles at the physical altercation. Is this going to be a lean, mean, unsparing look at the people who have made Guantanamo such a black mark on American foreign policy? 
Unfortunately no; as the dark tone takes a different shape when Amy is assigned to hand out books to detainees. It's then that she meets Ali (Peyman Moaadi), a chatty, probing detainee who begins to pester her over the books she has to offer. He's read six of the Harry Potter books and has been waiting impatiently for the seventh so he can find out of Snape is truly good or evil. The conversation is odd, playful but also with an undertone of danger. Like Snape, we don't know if Ali has the best of intentions or if he's plotting something sinister. Amy tries to keep him at arm's length, trying to heed the advice of her brash superior: "Don't let them get inside your head". 
Capturing the boring repetition and minutiae of military life, so accurately depicted in Jarhead some years ago, Sattler shows that Gitmo is a prison that has ensnared far more than the detainees. At first Amy tries to fit in, swallowing her objections against the casual mistreatment of Ali and others. Despite being targeted for a disgusting "shit cocktail" hurled by Ali himself, Amy lets her guard down around him and finds they have far more in common than not. Conversely, she's punished and ostracized from the other soldiers after rejecting her superior's romantic advances, and faces further discipline after reporting him for a rules violation. 
Exploring the tenuous position of females in the male-dominated military hierarchy could have taken the film to promising new areas, but Sattler instead focuses on the unlikely friendship between Amy and Ali. Yet still the lengthy conversations they have about all manner of topics amounts to absolutely nothing, and never come close to examining Ali's potential guilt. While there's an inherent loneliness that drives them together initially, Ali is never defined well enough to convincingly explain her deepening interest. This becomes especially problematic during an undercooked final exchange where their rival philosophies on justice are laid on the table. "What have you learned?" Ali repeatedly asks her, in an attempt to discover what it is that has drawn her to him. No answer is forthcoming, and Sattler seems unsure what truly binds these characters other than proximity and pity. 
At the same time, Sattler has constructed a competently made film about people and empathy rather than Gitmo's real-life scandals. While terribly under-developed, flashes of poignancy occasionally illuminate Ali and Amy's growing friendship, aided by strong performances by the two leads. Dressed down in a way we've never seen her before, Stewart's riveting, tough and vulnerable performance may be the finest of her career. Moaadi, who some may recall from Oscar-winning foreign film A Separation, is a whirlwind of rage, humor, and despair as the possibly-innocent Ali, who is faced with an uncertain future.
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