Sundance Channel Salutes the 2009 Sundance Film Festival With '31 Days of Sundance' January 1 - 31, 2009 Featuring a Past Sundance Film Festival Film Every Night at 10:00PM E/P

Sundance Channel Salutes the 2009 Sundance Film Festival With '31 Days of Sundance' January 1 - 31, 2009 Featuring a Past Sundance Film Festival Film Every Night at 10:00PM E/P

Daily "Festival Updates" on Sundance Channel and Sundancechannel.com

Exclusive Online and VOD Offerings -- Viewers Can Explore Festival Whenever, Wherever They Choose

NEW YORK, Dec. 1 /PRNewswire/ -- Sundance Channel and sundancechannel.com will be the premiere destination for independent film fans to celebrate and connect to the Sundance Film Festival for the month of January 2009. Sundance Channel's multiplatform offerings allow film enthusiasts everywhere to experience the excitement of the Sundance Film Festival up close and at their convenience: on-air via daily festival features, updates and a nightly double bill of favorites from past festivals; online courtesy of a dedicated mini-site, www.sundancechannel.com/festival, with original content, including two new web series; and on demand through exclusive VOD offerings. Each platform will offer a look inside this year's festival, held from January 15 -25 in Park City, Utah.

Sundance Channel's coverage of the 2009 Sundance Film Festival offers viewers more opportunities than ever to explore this major cinematic event according to their personal interests and schedules. Thirteen past festival favorites are available via video-on-demand, with a lineup ranging from breakout hits that went on to Oscar(R) nominations (Andrew Jarecki's Sundance Grand Jury Prize winner Capturing the Friedmans, Ryan Fleck's Half Nelson) to films that earned critical acclaim and ardent fans even in the absence of wide release (Goran Dukic's Wristcutters: A Love Story, Jessica Yu's documentary Protagonist -- both U.S. television premieres). Viewers can get a peek at fresh new talent and potential prize winners via a special festival preview hosted by Sundance Film Festival Director Geoffrey Gilmore, also available on-demand. At sundancechannel.com, expanded offerings include daily photo galleries and two new original web series that mine the filmmaking and festival-going experience for comedic fun: "Breakfast," a tale of two independent filmmakers in New York City, and "Cassidy Loves Moby," an only-at-Sundance romance starring recording artist Moby.

Sundance Channel's "31 Days of Sundance" coverage includes:

ON AIR
-- "31 Days of Sundance," presented by Stella Artois, will feature a
double bill of one feature and one short from past Sundance Film
Festivals each night at 10:00 p.m. from January 1 to 31, 2009.
-- "Festival Updates" produced on-site in Park City will air
interstitially during the 10 days of Sundance Film Festival, January
16 - 25, 2009. Five new "Festival Updates" segments will air per day,
which will include:
-- "Meet the Filmmaker" - interviews with festival filmmakers along
with sneak peeks at their films.
-- "Interview" - Pop culture commentator Faith Salie invites
filmmakers, actors and documentary subjects to Sundance Channel's
Main Street studio to talk about their films.
-- "My Premiere" - follows one filmmaker per day to his or her film's
premiere, from pre-screening jitters to red carpet arrivals to the
theater's dimming lights.
-- "Spotlight" - highlights special events and the inner workings of
the 2009 festival. Potential segments include following festival
jurors (last year's jurors included Quentin Tarantino, Marcia Gay
Harden and Diego Luna)
-- Sundance Channel will also produce up to six concluding "Day 10"
segments which will include:
-- Interviews - interviews recapping the fest
-- Awards Wrap-up - a report on the closing night awards ceremony.
-- Critics' Picks/Best of the Fest - Faith asks critics, writers,
directors and actors talk about their favorite films and moments
at this year's fest.

ONLINE AT WWW.SUNDANCECHANNEL.COM/FESTIVAL
-- "Festival Updates" shot in Park City will be posted to the mini-site
throughout the ten days of the 2009 Festival, January 16 - 25. The
segments include "Meet the Filmmaker," "Interview" and "My Premiere."
-- Two new, original web series:
-- "Breakfast" - a ten-part comedic series of short films chronicling
the adventures of two independent filmmakers in New York as they
produce a World War II epic. Breakfast was directed by Bob Fox and
produced by Casey Saffron in association with Animation Block
Party.
-- "Cassidy Loves Moby" - a series of four short films starring Moby
and a curvy plastic Barbie-type doll that falls in love with him
at the Sundance Film Festival. The film was shot on location at
Sundance '08, with music written and performed by Moby.
-- Daily blog posts - original blog posts from a writer or writers to be
announced. Topics will include:
-- Daily roundups of festival news aggregated from top sources
online.
-- The adventures and observations of a writer who takes on the
formidable challenge of seeing all 120 of the films at the
festival in 10 days. Is it even possible?
-- Short films from past Sundance Film Festivals
-- Photos - photo galleries covering premieres, events, and the scene in
Park City. New galleries will be shot and added every day of the
festival.

VOD
-- Exclusive Sundance Channel VOD package, titled "Festival Favorites,"
features 13 Sundance Film Festival titles not available anywhere else
from January 1 to 31. The films are: Andrew Jarecki's Capturing the
Friedmans (SFF 2003, Sundance Channel premiere); Daniel Gordon's
Crossing the Line (SFF 2007, U.S. television premiere); Andrea Staka's
Fraulein (SFF 2007, U.S. television premiere); Dito Montiel's A Guide
to Recognizing Your Saints (SFF 2006); Ryan Fleck's Half Nelson (SFF
2006); Henry Alex Rubin and Dana Adam Shapiro's Murderball (SFF 2005);
Park Chanwook's Oldboy (SFF 2005); Jessica Yu's Protagonist (SFF 2007,
U.S. television premiere); Bobcat Goldthwait's Sleeping Dogs Lie (SFF
2006); Goran Dukic's Wristcutters: A Love Story (SFF 2006, U.S.
television premiere); Sebastian Cordero's Cronicas (SFF 2005); Chris
Gorak's Right at Your Door (SFF 2006); and Stephen Marshall's This
Revolution (SFF 2005).
-- "Sneak Peek" - a preview of the 2009 Festival hosted by Geoffrey
Gilmore, Director of the Sundance Film Festival. "Sneak Peek" offers
viewers an inside tour of the festival, exploring its history, prior
films and filmmakers, as well as the buzz surrounding the upcoming
event.

"Festival Updates" are executive produced by Lynne Kirby, Laura Michalchyshyn and Ann Rose. The acquisition film deals were negotiated by Christian Vesper, SVP, Acquisitions IFC TV and Sundance Channel, and Ian Bricke, Sr. Director, Acquisitions IFC TV and Sundance Channel.

Feature film highlights of "31 Days of Sundance" include:

Thursday, January 1
10:00p.m.

The American Astronaut (U.S. Television Premiere) - Directed by Cory McAbee. A hybrid of science fiction, spaghetti western and rock musical, this cult treat follows the Homeric odyssey of interplanetary trader Samuel Curtis (McAbee). As he travels through the galaxy, visiting the all-male Jupiter and the all-female Venus, Samuel is pursued by a shadowy figure from his past, the enigmatic Professor Hess. Appeared at the 2001 Sundance Film Festival.

Friday, January 2
10:00p.m.

Blame It on Fidel (U.S. Television Premiere) - Directed by Julie Gavras. Set in Paris circa 1970, this sly, insightful comedy unfolds from the perspective of precocious 9-year-old Anna (Nina Kervel), who has to make some serious adjustments when her parents plunge full-time into leftist activism. Appeared at the 2007 Sundance Film Festival.

Sunday, January 4
10:00p.m.

Sweet Mud (U.S. Television Premiere) - Directed by Dror Shaul. Rising Israeli filmmaker Shaul draws from his own upbringing for this drama set on an Israeli kibbutz in 1974-75. 12-year-old Dvir (Tomer Steinhof) must balance preparations for his bar mitzvah with concerns about his widowed mother, Miri (Ronit Yudkevitch), an emotionally fragile woman who is increasingly shunned by her fellow kibbutzniks. Appeared at the 2007 Sundance Film Festival.

Monday, January 5
10:00 p.m.

Comrades in Dreams(U.S. Television Premiere) - Directed by Uli Gaulki. A celebration of movie-love, this documentary visits alternative and independent cinemas and their patrons in some of the most unlikely places on the planet. Gaulki, the founder of Balasz Cinema in Germany, captures the thrill of the shared viewing experience in settings ranging from an Indian tent cinema to a Wyoming movie club. Appeared at the 2007 Sundance Film Festival

Thursday, January 8
10:00p.m.

Good Morning Heartache (U.S. Television Premiere) - Directed by Anna Negri. In this deft Italian comedy, a documentary team sets out to explore the life of a working actor, including the impact of his profession's financial instability. But as the actor and his beautiful girlfriend head for a messy break-up, the filmmakers find themselves getting involved - and getting in over their heads. Appeared at the 2008 Sundance Film Festival.

Saturday, January 10
10:00p.m.

Crazy Love (U.S. Television Premiere) - Directed by Dan Klores. This aptly titled documentary chronicles the headline-making relationship of two larger-than-life New York characters, Burt Pugach and the former Linda Riis. Candid interviews with Burt and Linda allow them to tell the complex human story behind the tabloid reports. Appeared at the 2007 Sundance Film Festival.

Monday, January 12
10:00p.m.

Secrecy (U.S. Television Premiere) - Directed by Peter Galison and Robb Moss. This documentary goes inside the murky world of government classified secrets, a realm that has grown significantly since 9/11. As the filmmakers interview CIA analysts, lawyers and ordinary citizens, they examine the implications of national security policy, both for government and individuals. Appeared at the 2008 Sundance Film Festival.

Friday, January 16
10:00 p.m.

The King of Ping Pong (U.S. Television Premiere) - Directed by Jens Jonsson. A seriocomic coming-of-age tale about Rille (Jerry Johansson), a plump Swedish teenager who is scorned at school and overshadowed at home, but who rules the roost at the local youth club, where he is the undisputed king of ping-pong. The accidental disclosure of family secrets unsettles the balance of Rille's life, forcing him to re-evaluate his situation. Cinematography Award and Grand Jury Prize/World Cinema - Dramatic, 2008 Sundance Film Festival.

Saturday, January 17
10:00 p.m.

Starting Out in the Evening (U.S. Television Premiere) - Directed by Andrew Wagner. Frank Langella (Frost/Nixon) stars as a onetime literary lion who is facing mortality and obscurity when he is approached by an ambitious graduate student (Lauren Ambrose, "Six Feet Under") writing her master's thesis about his work. A complex relationship develops as the young woman prods the reserved novelist to examine his life and his art, even as her own motivations remain opaque. Appeared at the 2007 Sundance Film Festival.

Sunday, January 18
10:00pm

War/Dance (U.S. Television Premiere) - Directed by Sean Fine, Andrea Nix Fine. For over twenty years, northern Uganda has been at war with the rebel Lord's Resistance Army, which has systematically kidnapped children to use as soldiers and sex slaves. War/Dance follows the historic journey of three of these children - Dominic, Rose and Nancy - and their classmates at the Patongo refugee camp, the first school from the northern war zone to make it into the finals of Uganda's national music and dance competition. 2007 Sundance Film Festival Directing Award/Documentary; 2008 Academy Award(R) nomination Best Documentary

Wednesday, January 21
10:00 p.m.

Ghosts (U.S. Television Premiere) - Directed by Nick Broomfield. In his first foray into drama, veteran documentarian Broomfield (Aileen: Life and Death of a Serial Killer) delivers a powerful look at the plight of Chinese illegal immigrants working for pennies a day in London. At the center of the film is a young mother, played real-life immigrant Ai Qin Lin, who has paid $25,000 to be smuggled to the U.K. in order to support her family back home. Appeared at the 2007 Sundance Film Festival

Saturday, January 24
10:00 p.m.

Savage Grace (U.S. Television Premiere) - Directed by Tom Kalin. This juicy, fact-based drama stars Oscar(R) nominee Julianne Moore as Barbara Daly Baekeland, a would-be actress who vaulted into the upper class when she married plastics magnate Brooks Baekeland (Stephan Dillane). Spanning 40 years, Savage Grace captures a world of wealth, decadence and simmering discontent as it chronicles the Baekelands' disintegrating marriage and Barbara's intense relationship with their only child, Tony (Eddie Redmayne). Appeared at the 2007 Sundance Film Festival

Sunday, January 25
10:00 p.m.

Manda Bala (Send a Bullet) (U.S. Television Premiere) - Directed by Jason Kohn. Connecting seemingly unrelated elements - a frog farm, plastic surgery, bulletproof luxury cars - this documentary explores how the rich and the poor brazenly steal from one another in contemporary Brazil. Grand Jury Prize/Documentary, 2007 Sundance Film Festival.

Monday, January 26
10:00 p.m.

Joe Strummer: The Future is Unwritten (U.S. Television Premiere) - Directed by Julien Temple. Temple, one of the first documentarians of England's punk scene, draws on his shared cultural history and close friendship with the late Clash co-founder Joe Strummer for this acclaimed documentary. Loaded with rare archival footage and interviews with family, friends and admirers, the film celebrates the complicated man behind the legend. Appeared at the 2007 Sundance Film Festival

ABOUT SUNDANCE CHANNEL

Under the creative direction of Robert Redford, Sundance Channel is the television destination for independent-minded viewers seeking something different. Bold, uncompromising and irreverent, Sundance Channel offers audiences a diverse and engaging selection of films, documentaries, and original programs, all unedited and commercial free. Launched in 1996, Sundance Channel is subsidiary of Rainbow Media Holdings LLC. Sundance Channel operates independently of the non-profit Sundance Institute and the Sundance Film Festival, but shares the overall Sundance mission of encouraging artistic freedom of expression. Sundance Channel's website address is www.sundancechannel.com.

RAINBOW MEDIA HOLDINGS LLC

Rainbow Media Holdings LLC is a subsidiary of Cablevision Systems Corporation (NYSE:CVC). Rainbow Media is a leading producer of targeted, multi-platform content for global distribution, creating and managing some of the world's most compelling and dynamic entertainment brands, including AMC, IFC, WE tv, Sundance Channel and VOOM HD Networks. Through IFC Entertainment, Rainbow Media also owns and manages the following: IFC Films, a leading distribution company for independent film; IFC Productions, a feature film production company that provides financing for select independent film projects; and IFC Center, a three screen, state-of-the-art cinema in the heart of New York's Greenwich Village. Rainbow Media also operates Rainbow Advertising Sales Corporation, its advertising sales company; Rainbow Network Communications, its full service network programming origination and distribution company; and 11 Penn TV, a company that manages Rainbow Media's NYC studios and post-production facilities.

Source: Sundance Channel

CONTACT: Sarah Eaton, Senior Vice President, Public Relations,
+1-212-708-8043, sarah.eaton@sundancechannel.com, or Katie Lanegran, Senior
Director, Public Relations, +1-212-708-8044,
katie.lanegran@sundancechannel.com, both of Sundance Channel

Web Site: http://www.sundancechannel.com/
http://www.sundancechannel.com/festival

-------
Profile: intent