The 2014 Sundance Film Festival will boast documentary features about the continuing gay marriage controversy and women’s issues, profiles of eccentric but well-regarded filmmakers and music artists, as well as other nonfiction and dramatic films with big-name actors.
On Wednesday the festival announced the slate of 32 films that will play in its dramatic competition sections and 24 others that will play in its documentary competitions. Both categories include both United States and World Cinema sections.
Highlights of the dramatic competition include an adaptation of best-selling author Amy Jo Albany’s memoirs (“Low Down”), a musical from Belle & Sebastian front man Stuart Murdock (“God Help the Girl”), and movies that re-team stars from television’s “Mad Men” (“God’s Pocket”) and “Saturday Night Live” (“The Skeleton Twins”).
The latter comedy’s title characters are played by Bill Hader and Kristen Wiig, while John Slattery directs his “Mad Men” co-star Christina Hendricks and Philip Seymour Hoffman in the drama “God’s Pocket.” Stars returning to Sundance with new films include Kristen Stewart (“Camp X-Ray”), Aaron Paul (“Hellion”), Anne Hathaway (“Song One”) and Aubrey Plaza (“Life After Beth”).
Documentary competition features include “The Case Against 8,” which looks at the case to overturn California’s ban on same-sex marriage, “Private Violence,” a look at domestic violence cases involving women, “Mr leos caraX,” a profile of the pseudonymous filmmaker, and the Nick Cave fantasy/concert film “20,000 Days of Earth.”
Sundance 2014 will kick off Jan. 16 in Park City with screenings of the documentaries “Dinosaur 13” and “The Green Prince” and the features films “Lilting” and “Whiplash.”
Sundance’s programming staff selected the full slate of films from more than 12,000 submissions, including 4,000-plus feature-film entries and more than 8,000 shorter-length works. Festival director John Cooper said the process was difficult, as always, adding that those selected, “show that filmmakers are empowered and emboldened by the 30-year legacy of the independent film movement.
“The confidence to play with the medium and to surprise audiences indicates the vital role independent film has come to serve in the cultural landscape,” Cooper concluded.
Competition films are eligible for both Grand Jury and audience-voted awards, in a variety of technical and other categories.
This week, Sundance officials also announced the films that will play in the festival’s out-of-competition, NEXT ósection, in which “digital technology paired with unfettered creativity,” according to festival organizers. NEXT selections for 2014 include “The Foxy Merkins,” a buddy comedy about lesbian prostitutes, an Iranian vampire thriller (“A Girl Walks Alone at Night”) and the star-studded “Ping Pong Summer,” featuring Susan Sarandon, John Hannah, Lea Thompson and Amy Sedaris.
The Sundance Film Festival is the premier U.S. showcase for independently produced features and short films from the United States and around the world. The event runs Jan. 16-26, with screenings in a variety of locations in both Salt Lake City and Park City. Screenings and other events will also take place in Ogden and at the Sundance resort in Provo Canyon.
For more information on the 2014 festival, including full listings of selected feature-length and short films, browse the official Web site, www.sundance.org/festival.