FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE For More Information Contact: December 6, 2006 Brian Ries, [email protected] Tatiana Tensen,[email protected] 435.658.3456 2007 SUNDANCE FILM FESTIVAL ANNOUNCES INNOVATIVE, COMPELLING, AND PROGRESSIVE SHORT FILM PROGRAM Free Online Streaming of a Program of Short Films Returns to Sundance Film Festival Website at www.sundance.org Park City, UT – The Sundance Institute today announced the short films selected to screen at the 2007 Sundance Film Festival. This year the Festival has selected 71 short films, representing 19 countries, from 4445 submissions from American and international filmmakers. Fueled by independent artistic expression, these dramatic, documentary, and animated short films include stories that range from fallen cartoon heroes to the tale of a rat in the Manhattan subway; from advice about the uses of Duct tape in biological warfare to a mother’s hunt for her son in hell to female Bolivian wrestlers. The 2007 Sundance Film Festival runs January 18-28 with screenings in Park City, Sundance Resort, Salt Lake City, and Ogden, Utah. The Short Film Program, both at the Festival and online, is presented by Festival sponsor, Adobe Systems. From January 18 to April 18, a selection of short films will be available, free of charge, to film lovers around the world at the Sundance Film Festival website at www.sundance.org. These films will be posted after they have screened at the Festival. These diverse and stimulating short films screen either prior to complementary feature films or are presented as part of one of the six short film programs, which include programs dedicated to animated films, and documentary shorts. A Short Film Jury will award prizes based on outstanding achievement and merit in American and International Short Filmmaking to films under 30 minutes in length. "There is artistry to making a short film, whether cutting-edge drama, animation or just shining examples of this often overlooked genre,” said John Cooper, Director of Programming, Sundance Film Festival. "At Sundance we work hard not only to find the best- made shorts possible, but we continue to explore ways to bring them well-deserved attention and higher profile. We facilitate this visibility through screenings during the 10 days of the Festival in Park City and more broadly through the Festival website, where we stream short films free of charge and are building a world-wide audience for this amazing work.” –more– 2007 SUNDANCE FILM FESTIVAL ANNOUNCES INNOVATIVE, COMPELLING, AND PROGRESSIVE SHORT FILM PROGRAM, 12/06/06, page 2 of 10 As the premier showcase for the best new work of American independent and international filmmakers, the Sundance Film Festival screens films that embody creative risk–taking, diversity, and aesthetic innovation. Short films have always been a part of the Festival program and accessible to all festival–goers. Sundance Film Festival short film alums include such renowned filmmakers as Todd Haynes, Spike Jonze, Paul Thomas Anderson, Wes Anderson, David O. Russell, Todd Field, Gus Van Sant, Lisa Kruger, Peter Sollet, Patricia Cardoso, Alison Maclean, Tamara Jenkins, Trey Parker, and Matt Stone. “Thanks to many factors, including online resources, more and more people are learning the power of the short film as both entertainment and art,” said Trevor Groth, Sundance Film Festival Senior Programmer. “This fact is proven by both the number of submissions and the high quality of films we received. Having expanded our programming team to four people this year we were able to select an incredibly diverse range of styles that represent the full spectrum of gifted filmmakers working in the short form.” The short films selected for the 2007 Sundance Film Festival are: U.S. SHORT FILMS This year’s short films reinforce the genre as one which represents creativity and technological innovation. These films are diverse, eclectic and stray from the norms of creative film production. This year’s U.S. shorts include a collection of films that grapple with such issues as a seemingly perfect mother who is addicted to drugs, the dilemma of what to do with a store- bought box of happiness, and a portrait of a notoriously anti–gay singer from the 1970s. Dramatic Shorts A NICK IN TIME (Director: Be' Garrett)–An old school barber recounts a story from his past to teach a lesson to a troubled young man. AFTERMATH ON MEADOWLARK LANE (Director: David Zellner)–While on their way to a mariachi recital, a devastating car crash forces a mother and her two sons to confront the truth about their past. BITCH (Director: Lilah Vandenburgh)–A tough girl with a predilection for quality vinyl and a hard jab soon finds herself falling for a jerk with poor social skills and bad taste in music. BLACK AND WHITE TRYPPS NUMBER THREE (Director: Ben Russell)–The transformation of a rock audience's collective freak–out into a trance ritual of the highest spiritual order. BOBBY BIRD: THE DEVIL IN DENIM (Director: Carson D. Mell)–Aging rock musician Bobby Bird explains the origins of his many tattoos with the aid of flashbacks. BOMB (Director: Ian Olds)–What starts as an innocent flirtation between teenagers on the edge of an old bombing range turns askew when a trip home reveals a chaotic adult world that seeks to subvert their friendship. –more– 2007 SUNDANCE FILM FESTIVAL ANNOUNCES INNOVATIVE, COMPELLING, AND PROGRESSIVE SHORT FILM PROGRAM, 12/06/06, page 3 of 10 CONVERSION (Director: Nanobah Becker)–Christian missionaries make a catastrophic visit to a Navajo family. THE DAWN CHORUS (Director: Hope Dickson Leach)–Seven years since their plane crashed, Bonnie and Lloyd are still searching the wreckage of the event that marked their parent's demise. DEATH TO THE TINMAN (Director: Ray Tintori)–A dark story of how the OZ Tinwoodsman lost his limbs, his lover, and how he tried to get his life back. DER OSTWIND (Director: Kohl Glass)–In search of a worthy opponent, a German WWI ace pursues a mysterious and invincible American pilot only to discover the true cost of honor. DOORMAN (Director: Etienne Kallos)–A Latino doorman of a New York apartment building begins to unravel emotionally when he is seduced and then dumped by a privileged college kid who lives in the building. FOR A SWIM WITH THE FISH (Director: Tara Autovino)–A child who believes that her mother has relocated (literally) to the Gulf of Mexico, skips school to pay her mother a birthday visit. THE GRASS GROWS GREEN (Director: Jesus Beltran)–A Marine's complicated relationship with life and death, from behind the recruiting office desk. HAPPINESS (Director: Sophie Barthes)–One evening after work, Iwona buys a box of happiness in a strange discount store and has to decide what to do with it. HIGH FALLS (Director: Andrew Zuckerman)–Over a weekend at a country home, a man and his pregnant wife each tell their secrets to their best friend – placing both him in an awkward position and their own relationshiop in jeopardy. INFINITE DELAY (Director: Kadet Kuhne)–A restrained subject surrenders herself to a sublime state of waiting in a mysterious underwater world. INTERVIEW (Director: Charles Burmeister)–After a failed job interview, Mark must face his girlfriend and defend his decision to wear a wrinkled shirt. KING (Director: Caran Hartsfield)–The older woman in apt.# 3B has unusual plans. LIGHT WORK I (Director: Jennifer Reeves)–Found images from 20th century educational films are sewn together with melted down pharmaceuticals affixed directly to the film, forming a concentrated fusion with pulsating electronic sounds, bass clarinet and organ. LITTLE FARM (Director: Calvin Reeder)–A family moves to a small farm for a fresh start, things change for them. –more– 2007 SUNDANCE FILM FESTIVAL ANNOUNCES INNOVATIVE, COMPELLING, AND PROGRESSIVE SHORT FILM PROGRAM, 12/06/06, page 4 of 10 MAGNETIC POLES (Director: Maria Rosenblum)–Realizing her relationship is in trouble a waitress seeks to re–attract her boyfriend by shaking up their normal life with a bizarre trip to a magnetic hill. MOVE ME (Director: Jonathan Pulley)–Over the course of his last evening with his dad, Graham must find a way to say goodbye before his relationship with his father slips away completely. THE OATES' VALOR (Director: Timothy Cahill)–After several attempts to appease his father's militant demands, Boyson Oates finally runs away from home, only to be lured back in hopes of one last chance at reconciliation. POP FOUL (Director: Moon Molson)–A boy sees his father attacked by a local thug on the way home from a Little League game and agrees to help his father hide the incident from his mother. SONGBIRD (Director: John Thompson)–A delicious tale about marriage, revenge, household pets and unusual eating habits. WINDOWBREAKER (Director: Tze Chun)–When a string of break-ins occurs in a mixed-race suburb, residents are abuzz as to who is responsible. ZARIN (Director: Shirin Neshat)–Overcome by her feelings of guilt and shame, Zarin, a young prostitute in Iran, attempts to escape her life in a desperate search for salvation. Documentary Shorts FREEHELD (Director: Cynthia Wade)–In the last weeks of her life, Lieutenant Laurel Hester has one goal – to leave her hard–earned pension to her life partner Stacie. GOD PROVIDES (Directors: Brian Cassidy and Melanie Shatzky)–A look at the varied and unexpected responses to natural disaster. I JUST WANTED TO BE SOMEBODY (Director: Jay Rosenblatt)–Part document and part poem, this film brings us back to the late 1970s and reflects on Anita Bryant's life and the impact she had. MOTHER SUPERIOR (Directors: Alex Mack & Diana Montero)–A mom is supposed to be perfect, but that is often far from the truth in this examination of mothers who are addicted to methamphetamines.