The 2008 Sundance Film Festival premieres 32 docs in two categories of competition: 16 are made by American filmmakers, 16 are from eight foreign countries. Subjects include current events, political analysis, environmental issues, cultural trends and portraits of iconic artists. The American films were selected from a record-breaking 953 submissions. There were 620 international submissions. Look for these films in theatres, on TV or DVD in about a year, or at other festivals in the interim.
An American Soldier (USA)
Directed and written by Edet Belzberg, this documentary explores army recruitment in the U.S. through the eyes of Sargeant First Class Clay Usie, one of the most successful recruiters in the history of the U.S. Army. World Premiere.American Teen (USA)
Filmmaker Nanette Burstein follows four Indiana high school seniors to give us a surprisingly irreverent cinema vérité look at Midwestern life. World Premiere.Bigger, Stronger, Faster (USA)
Director Christopher Bell, who also co-wrote this film with Alexander Buono and Tamsin Rawady, examines America’s win-at-all-cost syndrome by exposing two brothers' steroids use...and his own. World Premiere.Fields of Fuel (USA)
Director Josh Tickell and Writer Johnny O'Hara suggest that it's time for an intervention to deal with America's addiction to oil. Tickell comes on strong as a man with a plan and a Veggie Van, who challenges oil companies, government, and soy producers to find solutions in places where few people have searched for them. World Premiere.Flow: For Love of Water (USA)
Filmmaker Irena Salina uses the lens to reveal that our most crucial resource, fresh water--which is the very essence of life-—is dwindling with scocking rapidity, and greed just may be the cause. World premiere.Gonzo: The Life and Work of Dr. Hunter S. Thompson (USA)
Filmmaker Alex Gibney creates an intimate and revealing portrait of writer Hunter S. Thompson. Focusing on the decade from 1965 to 1975 and using never-before-seen clips of Thompson's home movies, newly found audio tapes and passages from unpublished manuscripts, the film shows the Wild Turkey and drug-fueled Thompson as an iconoclastic Quixote tilting at sacred cows with impunity, hilarity, and a steel-eyed conviction for writing wrongs. World premiere.The Greatest Silence: Rape in the Congo (USA)
Filmmaker Lisa F. Jackson interviews women who've survived rape in war-ravaged remote villages of the Congo, giving us an intimate glimpse at the hardships that rule their lives. World premiere.I.O.U.S.A.
Filmmaker Patrick Creadon expores America's dire fiscal condition and ways that the country might avoid nationwide economic disaster.Nerakhoon (The Betrayal)(USA)
Filmmaker Ellen Kuras, teaming with Thavisouk Phrasavath, presents an epic story of a Laotian family forced to flee their homeland to escape the chaos left in the wake of the secret air war waged by the U.S. during the Vietnam War. Kuras has followed this family's journey for the past 23 years. The film is a deeply personal, poetic, and emotional work. World Premiere.The Order of Myths (USA)
Director Margaret Brown takes us behind the scenes of the 2007 celebration of Mardi Gras in Mobile, Alabama, contrasting surprising social and political realities with the pageantry. World premiere.
