The 2008 Sundance Film Festival opened in a Utah ski resort on
Thursday as organizers said the annual gathering of independent
filmmakers from across the world is adapting itself to a changing
world.
The 11-day festival, with public film screenings and parties for
filmmakers in Park City and other venues in the Salt Lake City
area, is organized by Sundance Institute, a non-profit organization
dedicated to the discovery and development of independent film
artists and audiences.
"As from the beginning, the Sundance Film Festival is about
discovery of new talent and of issues that are resonating with
filmmakers," said American director and actor Robert Redford, who
is also president and founder of Sundance Institute.
Founded by Redford in 1981 in the mountains of Sundance, Utah,
the institute has grown into an internationally recognized resource
for thousand of independent film artists by sponsoring the annual
film festival and launching various development programs for the
filmmaking community.
"This year filmmakers are putting personal focus on issues
relating to the world we live in rather than addressing them on a
macro-political level," Redford told a press conference at Park
City's Egyptian Theater.
A total of 125 feature films from 34 countries were selected
from 3,624 submissions this year, along with 83 short films from 17
countries representing dramatic, documentary and animated forms
selected from more than 5,000 submissions, according to festival
organizers.
"We can never predict what will capture the collective
consciousness of filmgoers, however, the range of diverse voices
this year suggests a festival at its very best -- thought
provoking, enticing and expansive," said Geoffrey Gilmore, director
of the Sundance Film Festival.
The festival gets underway Thursday night with the Opening Night
film, the world premiere of "In Bruges," written and directed by
first-time feature filmmaker and Oscar-winning playwright Martin
McDonagh.
With an international cast starring Ralph Fiennes, Colin Farrell
and Brendan Gleeson, the black comedy tells the suspenseful,
twisted tale of two London hit men ordered to take a forced
vacation in Bruges, Belgium, and how their subsequent time in exile
goes awry.
Boasted as the premier showcase for the best new films by
American and international independent filmmakers, the Sundance
Film Festival is expected to provide audiences with abundant
opportunities to discover today's most innovative films.
The festival includes four competition categories: Documentary
Competition, Dramatic Competition, World Documentary Competition
and World Cinema Dramatic Competition, each with 16 contenders
selected from hundreds of submissions. Winners will be announced at
the end of the festival.?
(Xinhua/Agencies January 18, 2008)