2006 Sundance Film Festival Announces Films in Premieres Section

2006 Sundance Film Festival Announces Films in Premieres Section

Nicole Holofcener's Drama FRIENDS WITH MONEY to Open Festival in Park City With ALPHA DOG by Nick Cassavetes as Closing Film

SALT LAKE CITY, Dec. 1 /PRNewswire/ -- In the third of four program announcements, Sundance Institute today announced the line-up of films screening in the out-of-competition Premieres Section of the 2006 Sundance Film Festival, taking place January 19-29, 2006, in Park City, Utah. This follows prior announcements of Independent Feature Film and World Cinema Competitions, and the Spectrum, Frontier and Park City at Midnight categories. The Festival will screen a total of 120 feature films including 84 World Premieres, 18 North American Premieres, and 15 U.S. Premieres with 48 first time feature filmmakers. 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. Full descriptions of films are available at www.sundance.org.

For the 2006 Sundance Film Festival, 3,148 features were submitted for consideration including 1,764 U.S. feature films and 1,384 international feature films. These numbers represent an increase from 2005 when 1,385 U.S. feature films and 1,228 international films were considered. This year's Festival includes films from 29 countries including Mexico, France, Denmark, South Korea, New Zealand, China, Bosnia, South Africa, Iran and Brazil.

The Festival opens on January 19, 2006 in Park City with the World Premiere of FRIENDS WITH MONEY, written and directed by Nicole Holofcener and starring an ensemble cast that includes Jennifer Aniston, Scott Caan, Joan Cusack, Catherine Keener and Frances McDormand.

"Nicole Holofcener is one of the finest independent filmmakers and this film is perhaps her most accomplished and appealing work to date," said Geoffrey Gilmore, Director of the Sundance Film Festival. "With a magnificent ensemble cast, FRIENDS WITH MONEY addresses both contemporary social issues and personal lives, a characteristic of many great movies and a perfect film to open this year's Festival."

The Closing Film on Friday, January 27, 2006 in Park City will be the World Premiere of ALPHA DOG, written and directed by Nick Cassavetes and starring Emile Hirsch, Justin Timberlake, Ben Foster, Anton Yelchin, Bruce Willis and Sharon Stone. ALPHA DOG is inspired by true events and the life of Jesse James Hollywood, a suburban drug dealer who became one of the youngest men ever to be on the FBI's most wanted list.

Other Festival highlights include the Opening Night Gala in Salt Lake City on Friday, January 20, 2006 featuring the U.S. Premiere of KINKY BOOTS, the directorial debut of Julian Jarrold, starring Joel Edgerton, Chiwetel Ejiofor, Nick Frost and Sarah-Jane Potts. KINKY BOOTS is a superb romantic comedy about a small town shoe factory finding new ways to manufacture their product to survive and the ways the factory workers must adapt.

Festival films screen in nine sections: Documentary Competition, Dramatic Competition, World Cinema Documentary Competition, World Cinema Dramatic Competition, Spectrum, Frontier, Park City at Midnight, Sundance Collection and Premieres. The Short Film program will be announced on Monday, December 5, 2005. A complete list of films and other information is available at www.sundance.org.

The Sundance Film Festival is a core program of Sundance Institute, a nonprofit organization dedicated year-round to the discovery and development of independent film and theatre artists and audiences. 2006 marks the 22nd year of the Festival and the Institute's 25th anniversary. Anniversary- related activities will take place throughout 2006 and will be announced at the Festival.

PREMIERES

To showcase the diversity of contemporary cinema, the Sundance Film Festival offers 17 selections of the latest work from established directors and World Premieres of highly anticipated films.

The films screening in Premieres are:
A LITTLE TRIP TO HEAVEN / Iceland/U.S.A. (Director and Screenwriter:
Baltasar Kormakur) U.S. Premiere.
ALPHA DOG / U.S.A. (Director and Screenwriter: Nick Cassavetes) World
Premiere.
ART SCHOOL CONFIDENTIAL / U.S.A. (Director: Terry Zwigof; Screenwriter:
Daniel Clowes) World Premiere.
CARGO / Spain/UK (Director: Clive Gordon; Screenwriter: Paul Laverty)
World Premiere.
THE DARWIN AWARDS / U.S.A. (Director and Screenwriter: Finn Taylor) World
Premiere.
DON'T COME KNOCKING / Germany/U.S.A (Director: Wim Wenders; Screenwriter:
Sam Shephard) North American Premiere.
FRIENDS WITH MONEY / U.S.A. (Director and Screenwriter: Nicole Holofcener)
World Premiere.
KINKY BOOTS / U.K. (Director: Julian Jarrold; Screenwriter: Geoff Dean/Tim
Firth) North American Premiere.
LITTLE MISS SUNSHINE / U.S.A. (Directors: Johnathan Dayton, Valerie Faris;
Screenwriter: Michael Arndt) World Premiere.
LUCKY NUMBER SLEVIN / U.S.A. (Director: Paul McGuigan; Screenwriter: Jason
Smilovic) World Premiere.
NEIL YOUNG HEART OF GOLD / U.S.A. (Director: Johnathan Demme) World
Premiere.
THE ILLUSIONIST / U.S.A. (Director and Screenwriter: Neil Burger) World
Premiere.
THE NIGHT LISTENER / U.S.A. (Director: Patrick Stettner; Screenwriter:
Armistead Maupin/ Terry Anderson/Patrick Stettner) World Premiere.
THE SCIENCE OF SLEEP / France/U.S.A. (Director and Screenwriter: Michel
Gondry)- World Premiere.
THE SECRET LIFE OF WORDS / Spain (Director and Screenwriter: Isabel
Coixet) North American Premiere.
THANK YOU FOR SMOKING / U.S.A. (Director and Screenwriter: Jason Reitman)
U.S. Premiere.
THIS FILM IS NOT YET RATED / U.S.A. (Director: Kirby Dick ) World
Premiere.

Festival Sponsors

The 2006 Sundance Film Festival sponsors help sustain Sundance Institute's year-round programs to support independent artists, inspire risk-taking and encourage diversity in the arts. This year's Festival community includes: Presenting -- Hewlett-Packard Company, Entertainment Weekly, Volkswagen of America, Inc., and Adobe Systems Incorporated; Leadership Sponsors -- American Express, Delta Air Lines, DirecTV, Intel Corporation and Sprint; Sustaining Sponsors -- Aquafina, Blockbuster Inc., CESAR Food For Small Dogs, L'Oreal Paris, Moviefone, The New York Times, Sony Electronics Inc., Starbucks Coffee Company, Stella Artois(R), Turning Leaf Vineyards, and the Utah Film Commission.

Source: Sundance Institute

CONTACT: Jody Arlington, or Irene Cho, both of Sundance Institute,
+1-801-328-3456

Web site: http://www.sundance.org/

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