Queer Guide to Sundance and Slamdance Films

To help you prepare your choice of films to see at this year’s Sundance and Slamdance film festivals, we have provided a list of gay-themed movies (titles in pink), films featuring out cast members and a few films that arts editor Tony Hobday found interesting enough to recommend.

SUNDANCE FILM FESTIVAL

Adventureland

USA, World Premiere

In 1987, a recent college graduate takes a nowhere job at his local amusement park and discovers the job is perfect preparation for the real world.

Cast: Kristen Stewart, Ryan Reynolds, Bill Hader.

MON. JAN 19 6:15PM – Eccles Theatre
TUE. JAN 20 9:15AM – Eccles Theatre
WED. JAN 21 NOON – Screening Rm, Sundance
THU. JAN 22 6:30PM – Rose Wagner, SLC

Dare

USA, US Narrative Feature

Dare follows three very-different teenagers through the last semester of high school. There are Alexa (Emmy Rossum), the overachieving good girl who longs to break out of her shell; Ben (Ashley Springer), the melancholy outsider confused about his sexuality; and Johnny (Zach Gilford), the rich kid who has everything, including good looks, but hides behind his bad-boy persona. This unlikely trio fall into each other’s lives and each other’s arms, making a last-ditch effort to shake things up before they actually have to start living as adults. Director Adam Salky and writer David Brind takes us into some uncharted territory with fresh eyes and matter-of-fact authority. Sweet and sexy don’t always go together, but they work beautifully in this instance because the sexuality of the film is cleverly woven into the fabric of the story. You can ask why the kids are in such a hurry to experience adult feelings, especially when their parents, comically enough, are afraid to get in the way. All is answered in the nuanced performances of this exceptional cast. They capture perfectly a generation with nothing to rebel against except their self-imposed inhibitions. By being keenly perceptive, director Salky stacks up countless priceless moments in crafting teen romance with a decidedly modern spin. In Dare, the kids do what they need to do to become the adults they should.

Cast: Emmy Rossum, Zach Gilford, Ashley Springer, Ana Gasteyer, Alan Cumming, Sandra Bernhard

MON. Jan 19 5:15PM – Racquet Club
Tue. Jan 20 2:15PM – Racquet Club
Thu. Jan 22 11:30PM – Prospector Square
FRI. Jan 23 12:15PM – Eccles Theatre
SAT. Jan 24 12:30PM – Rose Wagner, SLC

Død Snø (Dead Snow)

Norway, North American Premiere

A group of teenagers had all they needed for a successful ski vacation; cabin, skis, snowmobile, toboggan, copious amounts of beer and a fertile mix of the sexes. Certainly, none of them anticipated not returning home alive! However, the Nazi-zombie battalion haunting the mountains had other plans.

Cast: Vegard Hoel, Stig Frode Henriksen, Charlotte Frogner, Jenny Skavlan, Jeppe Beck Laursen.

SAT. Jan 17 11:59PM – Egyptian Theatre
WED. Jan 21 9:30PM – Redstone Cinemas
FRI. Jan 23 11:59PM – Egyptian Theatre
SAT. Jan 24 10:30PM – Broadway Ctr IV, SLC

Earth Days

USA, Closing Night Documentary Film, WORLD PREMIERE

The history of our environmental undoing through the eyes of nine Americans whose work and actions launched the modern environmental movement.

FRI. Jan 23 9:30PM – Eccles Theatre
SAT. Jan 24 8:30AM – Library Ctr Theatre
SAT. Jan 24 6:30PM – Rose Wagner, SLC
SUN. Jan 25 10:00AM – Screening Rm, Sundance

Everything Strange and New

USA, Spectrum

Wayne has a job, a wife, two kids, and a house. He’s living the American Dream. There’s a fine line, however, between a dream and nightmare, and Wayne finds himself at odds with the life he has and preoccupied by the life he thinks he wants. He floats passively in a swirling sea inhabited by his emotionally unpredictable wife, his out-of-control young children, and his embattled friends, who have demons of their own. As things change for others, Wayne’s life takes emotional turns, which are sometimes subtle and sometimes violent but never enough to shake him off the track he doesn’t remember choosing. Writer/director Frazer Bradshaw returns to Sundance (his short, Every Day Here, played at the 2000 Festival) with an exquisitely rendered, but challengingly bleak, examination of daily life. He focuses the story in unique ways that draw attention more intently to the emotional and psychological interplay of ideas, rather than following a narrative arc. Bradshaw, an established cinematographer, frames the world in beautifully composed shots that emphasize Wayne’s trapped existence. To underline the moral anomie of the disturbingly familiar universe, he utilizes a jarring, dissonant score at times and moments of silence in others.Everything Strange and New is the kind of transcendent filmmaking that develops a cinematic language all its own, and in doing so opens viewers up to themselves.

Cast: Jerry McDaniel, Beth Lisick, Rigo Chacon Jr., Luis Saguar.

MON. Jan 19 11:30AM – Library Center
WED. Jan 21 11:30PM – Library Center
THU. Jan 22 6:00PM – Egyptian Theatre
SAT. Jan 24 3:45PM – Broadway Ctr IV, SLC

Grace

USA, World Premiere

After losing her unborn child, Madeline Matheson insists on carrying the baby to term. Following the delivery, the child miraculously returns to life, but when the baby develops a desperate appetite for human blood, Madeline is faced with a mother’s ultimate decision.

Cast: Jordan Ladd, Samantha Ferris, Gabrielle Rose, Malcom Stewart, Stephen Park, Serge Houde.

FRI. Jan 16 11:59PM – Egyptian Theatre
SAT. Jan 17 6:30PM – Redstone Cinemas
THU. Jan 22 noon – Egyptian Theatre
FRI. Jan 23 7:30PM – Broadway Ctr IV, SLC

 

Hump Day

USA, US Narrative Feature Films

It’s been a decade since Ben and Andrew were the bad boys of their college campus. Ben has settled down and found a job, wife, and home. Andrew took the alternate route as a vagabond artist, skipping the globe from Chiapas to Cambodia. When Andrew shows up, unannounced, on Ben’s doorstep, they easily fall back into their old dynamic of heterosexual one-upmanship. After a night of perfunctory carousing, the two find themselves locked in a mutual dare: to enter an amateur porn contest. But what kind of boundary-breaking porn can two dudes make? After the booze and “big talk” run out, only one idea remains—they will have sex together…on camera. It’s not gay; it’s beyond gay. It’s not porn; it’s an art project. But how will it work? And more importantly, who will tell Anna, Ben’s wife?Judging by writer and director Lynn Shelton, it takes a talented woman to unearth the biggest ironies in the male ego. Humpday is a buddy movie gone wild. Shelton expertly mines this clever construct for every possible comedic and irreverent moment. The three lead actors deliver fine-tuned performances amidst postmodern patter and tight, crisp storytelling. Shelton’s command of her craft shines brightest when our two gentlemen finally get down to the task at hand: creating a classic “wriggle in your seat” moment of truth.

Cast: Mark Duplass, Joshua Leonard, Alycia Delmore, Lynn Shelton, Trina Willard

FRI. Jan 16 12:15pm – Eccles Theatre
SAT. Jan 17 8:30AM – Racquet Club
SAT. Jan 17 9:00pm – Tower Theatre, SLC
MON. Jan 19 3:00pm – Screening rm, Sundance
WED. Jan 21 2:15pm – Racquet Club
FRI. Jan 23 5:15pm – Racquet Club

 

I Love You Philip Morris

USA , World Premiere

With alacrity and style, Glenn Ficarra and John Requa, the codirectors of I Love You Phillip Morris, have fashioned an improbable, but true, tale of a spectacularly charismatic and resourceful con-man’s journey from small-town cop to flamboyant white-collar criminal. Concocted by the absurdist sensibilities and warped minds that were behind the creation of Bad Santa and centered around an eccentrically wonderful performance by Jim Carrey, the film relates a story that is truly stranger than fiction and showcases a love story that will not be denied. When a local Texas policeman, Steve Russell (Carrey), turns to cons and fraud to allow him to change his lifestyle (in more ways than one), his subsequent stay in the state penitentiary results in his meeting the love of his life, a sensitive fellow inmate named Phillip Morris, perfectly portrayed by Ewan McGregor. What ensues can only be described as a relentless quest as Russell attempts escape after escape and executes con after con, all in the name of love. This is the world of the preposterous: it plays like a farce but is vastly entertaining because it turns all that we take for granted about life on its head. As a primer on the irresistible power of a man who is either insane or in love (is there a difference?), I Love You Phillip Morris surely serves to remind us of the resilience of the human spirit.

Cast: Jim Carrey, Ewan McGregor, Leslie Mann, Rodrigo Santoro.

SUN. Jan 18 9:30PM – Eccles Theatre
MON. Jan 19 9:15AM – Eccles Theatre
TUE. Jan 20 9:00PM – Tower Theatre, SLC
SAT. Jan 24 6:00PM – Screening RM, Sundance

 

The Informers

USA , North American Premiere

Sex, drugs, and new wave…Los Angeles in the early 1980s: a time of excess and decadence, and nobody captures it better than Bret Easton Ellis as he coadapts his own acclaimed novel for the screen. Its multistrand narrative deftly balances a vast array of characters, who represent both the top of the heap (a Hollywood dream merchant, a dissolute rock star, an aging newscaster) and the bottom (a voyeuristic doorman and an amoral ex-con). Connecting his intertwining strands are the quintessential Ellis protagonists—a group of beautiful, blonde young men and women who sleep all day and party all night, doing drugs—and one another—with abandon, never realizing that they are dancing on the edge of an abyss.Gregor Jordan returns to Sundance (Two Hands and Buffalo Soldiers played at previous Festivals) with a glamorous and gritty exposé of a culture where too much was never enough. He presents both the seductive and repellent sides of a time when safe sex meant being on the pill. Featuring a truly all-star cast who are at the top of their game, The Informers is a scathing descent into the morally bankrupt core beneath L.A.’s superficial beauty. It is both titillating and horrifying as it captures an era on the verge of an implosion whose effects we are still feeling today.

Cast: Billy Bob Thornton, Kim Basinger, Winona Ryder, Mickey Rourke.

THU. Jan 22 9:30PM – Eccles Theatre
FRI. Jan 23 8:30AM – Library Ctr Theatre
SAT. Jan 24 11:59PM – Tower Theatre, SLC

 

La Mission

USA , Spectrum

Set in the colorful, seedy streets of the San Francisco district that bears its name, La MISSION is a story of redemption imbued with the curative power of Aztec tradition. Feared, yet respected, as the baddest Chicano on the block, Che (Benjamin Bratt), a reformed inmate and recovering alcoholic, resorts to violence and intimidation to get what he wants. A bus driver by day, Che lives for his beloved son, Jesse, his lifelong friends, and his passion for lowrider cars. Che and the “Mission Boyz” salvage junked cars, transforming them into classics.Che’s macho world is crushed when he discovers that Jesse’s been living a secret life. In a violent rage, Che pummels Jesse and throws him out of the house. Lena, an attractive neighbor and a force to be reckoned with, is a woman with a few secrets of her own. Mutual attraction percolates as Lena challenges Che to reconcile the life he thought he had.Sundance veteran Peter Bratt (Follow Me Home) returns with a powerful second feature. Propelled by commanding performances from Jeremy Ray Valdez as Jesse and Erika Alexander as Lena—and featuring an exceptional turn by Benjamin Bratt—La MISSION is a haunting story of healing and transformation: the healing of a broken man, of a father’s relationship with his son, and of a neighborhood struggling to break the chains of violence.

Cast: Benjamin Bratt, Erika Alexander, Jeremy Ray Valdez, Talisa Soto Bratt, Jesse Borrego.

MON. JAN 19, 8:30PM – Prospector Square
WED. JAN 21 2:30PM – Library Ctr Theatre
FRI. JAN 23 noon – Egyptian Theatre
SAT. JAN 24 9:45PM – Broadway Ctr IV, SLC

 

Louise-Michel

FRANCE, International Narrative Feature Films

Though times are tough, the women workers of a provincial toy factory are given new smocks to assure them of their company’s stability. But they show up the next day to find the factory empty, its machinery and management nowhere to be seen. Now “redundant,” they decide to pool their paltry compensation money toward a common goal, suggested by Louise: hire a hit man to kill the company’s owner. Enter Michel, a paranoid security manager at a trailer park, who offers no credentials but has a formidable gun collection. Partners in crime, Louise and Michel work their way up the corporate food chain behind the factory closure. Aptly dedicated to nineteenth-century French anarchist Louise Michel, this quixotic revenge comedy from Gustave de Kervern and Benoît Delépine, makers of the wildly-surreal Avida, tosses decorum aside as it joyfully sifts through the underlying perversion of life. Propelled by rebellious humor, cartoonlike inventiveness, and an indie rock soundtrack, it’s also brutally dark. Michel, a killer who can’t even shoot a dog, much less a person, resorts to using terminally ill patients to do his dirty work. Downtrodden, mildly retarded Louise traps live animals for food and—unable to afford booze—buys lighter fluid. They may set out for revenge against capitalism, but their real oppressor is nature itself, which has cruelly twisted them.

SAT. Jan 17 9:30PM – Peery’s Egyptian, Ogden
SUN. Jan 18 Noon – Egyptian Theatre
MON. Jan 19 9:00PM – Tower Theatre, SLC
WED. Jan 21 9:00PM – Egyptian Theatre
FRI. Jan 23 Midnight – Holiday Village IV

 

Lymelife

USA, Spectrum

Scott Bartlett (Rory Culkin) is a typical 15-year-old boy growing up in late-1970s Long Island. His suburban existence is primarily marked by a nerdy interest in Star Wars, fending off bullies at high school, his longtime crush on neighbor/best friend Adrianna Bragg (Emma Roberts), and navigating the dysfunctional terrain of his parents’ rocky marriage—all against the paranoid backdrop of a Lyme disease outbreak, which has freaked out Scott’s high-strung mother, Brenda (Jill Hennessy), and has already claimed Adrianna’s father, Charlie (Timothy Hutton), as a victim. With Charlie out of work due to his illness, Adrianna’s mother, Melissa (Cynthia Nixon), takes a job working for Scott’s father, Mickey (Alec Baldwin), a successful real-estate developer, and soon embarks on a messy affair. When eldest son Jimmy (Kieran Culkin) returns from army training and confronts his father about Mickey’s less-than-discreet adultery, both families are forever changed by the devastating consequences.Drawing from their own childhoods, director Derick Martini and his brother and cowriter, Steven Martini, bring a palpable sense of place and authenticity to Lymelife. Their alternately funny and emotionally devastating script, brought to life by a talented roster of actors, poignantly reinvents both the suburban drama and the coming-of-age story at the same time.

Cast: Alec Baldwin, Kieran Culkin, Timothy Hutton, Cynthia Nixon, Emma Roberts.

FRI. JAN 16 9:00PM – Screening Rm, Sundance
SAT. JAN 17 11:15AM – Racquet Club
SUN. JAN 18 1:30PM – Broadway Ctr IV, SLC
TUE. JAN 20 5:30PM – Library Ctr Theatre
SAT. JAN 24 11:30PM – Prospector Square

Manure

USA , World Premiere

A comic tale centered on manure salesmen in the early 1960s.

Cast: Téa Leoni, Billy Bob Thornton, Kyle MacLachlan.

TUE. JAN 20 9:30PM – Eccles Theatre
WED. JAN 21 8:30AM – Library Ctr Theatre
THU. JAN 22 9:00PM – Screening Rm, Sundance
SAT. JAN 24 9:00PM – Broadway Ctr IV, SLC

Mary and Max

AUS , Opening Night Animated Film

The tale of two unlikely pen pals: Mary, a lonely 8-year-old girl living in the suburbs of Melbourne, and Max, a 44-year old severely obese man living in New York.

Cast (voices): Philip Seymour Hoffman, Toni Collette, Barry Humphries.

THU. JAN 15 6:00PM – Eccles Theatre
THU. JAN 15 9:30PM – Eccles Theatre
FRI. JAN 16 9:15AM – Eccles Theatre
FRI. JAN 16 6:30PM – PERRY’S EGYPTIAN, OGDEN
SAT. JAN 17 6:30PM – Rose Wagner, SLC
SAT. JAN 24 6:15PM – Eccles Theatre

The Messenger

USA , World Premiere

Two soldiers from different generations form a unique bond as they cope with their assignment with the Army Casualty Notification department.

Cast: Ben Foster, Woody Harrelson, Samantha Morton, Jena Malone, Eamonn Walker.

MON. JAN 19 9:30PM – Eccles Theatre
TUE. JAN 20 8:30AM – Library Ctr Theatre
WED. JAN 21 6:30PM – Rose Wagner, SLC
SAT. JAN 24 3:00PM – PERRY’S EGYPTIAN, OGDEN

Once More with Feeling

USA , Spectrum

A comedy about a psychiatrist who undergoes a midlife crisis and pursues his long-lost ambition of becoming a singer through karaoke.

Cast: Drea de Matteo, Linda Fiorentino, Chazz Palminteri, Susan Miser, Lauren Bittner.

MON. JAN 19 2:30PM – Prospector Square
TUE. JAN 20 8:30PM – HOLIDAY VILLAGE III
FRI. JAN 23 8:30AM – Prospector Square
SAT. JAN 24 7:30PM – Broadway Ctr IV, SLC

 

One Day in a Life

USA, Spectrum

A man, Salvatore, crosses a sand dune heading to the beach. The next instant the beauty of the sea and sky is revealed to him, as if a forecast of the possibilities that lie ahead. Salvatore cuts a striking figure in his bathing suit and becomes an instant lightning rod for others’ curiosity. He exudes a bold presence, although his aloof exterior barely masks a lingering hurt from his past. The sun and sand do their part, helping separate him from the struggles of his everyday life and serving as a surreal backdrop for a peculiar menagerie of characters to enter his life. Writer/director Stefano Tummolini tells a simple, yet beautiful, story that unfolds in a single day. He has assembled a perfect cast, playing characters drawn from every section of modern Italian society—old and young, gay and straight, rich and poor. On the beach, they find the perfect emotional equalizer for them to express themselves. Antonio Merone, as the complicated Salvatore, is excellent in his role. As the sun lowers on the horizon, you realize Tummolini has accomplished something quite special: he has created a study of an ordinary day where an extraordinary thing happens—people are forced to slow down and become aware of the transformative pleasure of human contact.

Cast: Antonio Merone, Lucia Mascino, Francesco Grifoni, Chiara Francini, Tiziana Avarista.

FRI. Jan 16 6:45PM – Broadway Ctr V, SLC
SUN. Jan 18 9:00PM – Egyptian Theatre
WED. Jan 21 9:00AM – Egyptian Theatre
FRI. Jan 23 2:30PM – Holiday Village III

Passing Strange

USA, Spectrum

A musical documentary about the international exploits of a young man from Los Angeles who leaves home to find himself and ‘the real’. A theatrical stage production of the original Tony-Award winning book by Stew.

Cast: De’Adre Aziza, Daniel Breaker, Eisa Davis, Colman Domingo, Stew.

FRI. JAN 16 2:30PM – Library Ctr Theatre
SAT. JAN 17 NOON – Screening Rm, Sundance
SUN. JAN 18 3:00PM – Broadway Ctr IV, SLC
TUE. JAN 20 11:59PM – HOLIDAY VILLAGE IV
SAT. JAN 24 5:15PM – Library Ctr Theatre

 

Push

USA, Spectrum

With sheer audacity and utter authenticity, director Lee Daniels tackles Push: Based on the Novel by Sapphire and creates an unforgettable film that sets a new standard for cinema of its kind. Precious Jones (Gabourey Sidibe) is a high-school girl with nothing working in her favor. She is pregnant with her father’s child—for the second time. She can’t read or write, and her schoolmates tease her for being fat. Her home life is a horror, ruled by a mother (Mo’Nique) who keeps her imprisoned both emotionally and physically. Precious’s instincts tell her one thing: if she’s ever going to break from the chains of ignorance, she will have to dig deeply into her own resources.Don’t be misled—Push is not a film wallowing in the stillness of depression; instead, it vibrates with the kind of energy derived only from anger and hope. The entire cast are amazing; they carry out a firestorm of raw emotion. Daniels has drawn from them inimitable performances that will rivet you to your seat and leave you too shocked to breathe. If you passed Precious on the street, you probably wouldn’t notice her. But when her story is revealed, as Daniels does in this courageous film, you are left with an indelible image of a young woman who—with creativity, humor, and ferocity—finds the strength to turn her life around.

Cast: Gabourey Sidibe, Paula Patton, Mo’Nique, Mariah Carey, Sherri Shepherd, Lenny Kravitz

FRI. Jan 16 8:00PM – Racquet Club
SAT. Jan 17 noon – Broadway Ctr VI, SLC
TUE. Jan 20 3:15PM – Eccles Theatre
WED. Jan 21 11:30PM – Prospector Square
FRI. Jan 23 2:15PM – Racquet Club

Rudo and Cursi (Rudo y Cursi)

MEX, U.S. Premiere

Two siblings rival each other inside the world of professional soccer.

Cast: Diego Luna, Gael García Bernal, Guillermo Francella.

FRI. JAN 16 9:30PM – Eccles Theatre
SAT. JAN 17 8:30AM – Library Ctr Theatre
SUN. JAN 18 3:30PM – PPERRY’S EGYPTIAN, OGDEN
FRI. JAN 23 6:30PM – Rose Wagner, SLC

 

Shouting Fire

MEX, U.S. Premiere

During the 1950s, McCarthy’s red scare closed down avenues of dissent for a decade. Americans were pitted against one another. Political opinions became ammunition. Since 9/11, the First Amendment has again been under attack. Liz Garbus’s Shouting Fire, a riveting exploration of the current state of free speech in America, is crucially relevant.Interweaving historical cases—The New York Times’s fight to publish the Pentagon Papers and the Nazis’ insistence on marching in Skokie, among them—with contemporary free-speech infringements, the film documents the way both the Right and the Left have lashed out in fear. In the stories of a left-wing professor fired for provocative remarks about 9/11, an Arab American principal made to resign after discussing the word “”intifada,”” and Christian schoolkids suspended for wearing Bible-quoting T-shirts, there’s an ironic pattern. When threatened by an outside enemy, perceived or real, we often demonize each other, undermining the very freedom we seek to protect. We think of First Amendment rights as inviolable; in fact, they’re profoundly vulnerable. Mixing vibrant pacing with an elegant journalistic style, Garbus orchestrates this urgent matter like a rallying cry for action. As her father, legendary attorney Martin Garbus, wisely warns, if we don’t fight for our freedoms every day, we will lose them.

MON. Jan 19 9:00PM – Temple Theatre
TUE. Jan 20 2:30PM – Holiday Village III
THU. Jan 22 6:45PM – Broadway Ctr V, SLC
FRI. Jan 23 8:30AM – Holiday Village III
SAT. Jan 24 noon – Temple Theatre

 

Shrink

USA, World Premiere

What happens when the people we count on to hold us together…are barely holding it together themselves? Jonas Pate’s Shrink is a striking, fast-paced exposé of the “other” Hollywood, featuring folks living outside their comfort zone and the people who put them there.Henry Carter (Kevin Spacey) is a psychiatrist with an A-list clientele, including a once-famous actress (Saffron Burrows), an insecure young writer (Mark Webber), and a comically obsessive-compulsive superagent (Dallas Roberts). Henry is not in a good place, however. He has been asked to take his first pro bono case, a troubled teenage girl from a neighborhood far from the Hollywood hills. Considering his present state of mind, is he ready for the real-life troubles of a young woman who loves the world of movies he has become so jaded by? At its core, Shrink is a study of control and our endless need for it, even when it grows increasingly impossible to obtain. Writer Thomas Moffett uses classic archetypes in this modern Hollywood tale, but never pushes them over the edge of credibility. Performed by a well-matched cast at the top of their form, the result is both satisfying and exhilarating. Watching Shrink makes us feel like voyeurs looking through a window into the lives of people who look great, feel worse, and end up behaving badly.

Cast:Kevin Spacey, Keke Palmer, Mark Webber, Dallas Roberts, Saffron Burrows.

WED. Jan 21 6:15PM – Eccles Theatre
THU. Jan 22 9:15AM – Eccles Theatre
FRI. Jan 23 9:00PM – Screening Rm, Sundance
SAT. Jan 24 9:00PM – Tower Theatre, SLC

 

Spread

USA, World Premiere

Los Angeles is often the customary site for mythmaking in the American cultural iconography. It is a place, for instance, where the legend of the sexual exploits of the male gigolo seems perfectly at home in the decadent universe of Hollywood dreams and nightmares. Surely inspired by the classic tradition of American Gigolo and Shampoo, Spread is such a perfectly tuned, contemporary depiction of the trials and tribulations of sleeping your way to wealth and success that, guilty pleasure or not, it’s irresistible. Especially so since it’s driven by the iconic persona of Ashton Kutcher, who plays Nikki and breathes the charged sexuality, fashion and hipness, and sense of entitlement of the sexual grifter as if he were born to it. Stylishly directed by David MacKenzie (Hallam Foe, Young Adam), Spread is a moral tale in a very-modern sense with its characters of a young man and his middle-aged, well-to-do client (played by Anne Heche), his various associates and conquests, and a waitress whom he begins to really care about (unbeknownst to him, she is playing the same game). The world of money, sex, and privilege is an ephemeral one, and the fall can be as sudden as the ascent. Spread is a finely crafted vision of ambition, indulgence, vanity, and self-realization that epitomizes the lifestyle of a fabled Mecca.

Cast: Ashton Kutcher, Anne Heche.

SAT. Jan 17 9:15PM – Eccles Theatre
SUN. Jan 18 9:15AM – Eccles Theatre
THU. Jan 22 9:00PM – Tower Theatre, SLC

Spring Breakdown

USA, World Premiere

Three thirtysomething friends attempt to break the monotony of their uninspired lives by vacationing at a popular spring break getaway for college students.

Cast: Rachel Dratch, Amy Poehler, Parker Posey, Will Arnett, Rachel Hamilton.

FRI. Jan 16 11:59PM – Library Ctr Theatre
SAT. Jan 17 11:59PM – Tower Theatre, SLC
SUN. Jan 18 9:30PM – Redstone Cinemas
THU. Jan 22 3:00PM – Egyptian Theatre
SAT. Jan 24 3:45PM – Holiday Village I

Unmade Beds

USA, World Premiere

With his startlingly visceral and original second feature, Unmade Beds, Alexis Dos Santos manifests an exuberant London where unbridled longing and zeal plunge nubile expats into lusty adventures and momentous encounters. When wide-eyed Spaniard Axl comes to London on a quest for the father who abandoned him, he lands in the middle of a creative hotbed—an underground polyglot squat filled with colorful free spirits. Among them is Vera, a beautiful Belgian girl recently dumped by her boyfriend, who seeks to restore her faith in romantic destiny after meeting a charismatic stranger. As Axl and Vera separately pursue these bittersweet and elusive connections, they circle each other’s orbits—their fates almost inevitably intertwined.Alongside this lush story of youthful awakening, Dos Santos conjures a rhythmic stream-of-consciousness mood collage. Axl and Vera’s world vibrates with visual and sonic energy. The palate of yellows, reds, and greens emits benevolent warmth as if to soften the blow of their tender aches. Surprising sound scapes and an effusive score aptly express the characters’ mercurial interior states. Meanwhile slapstick moments and musical performances by fresh unknowns puncture the melancholy, buoying the film into irreverent whimsy. They may be slightly crumpled works in progress—like the unmade beds where they slumber—but Axl, Vera, and their friends are as vital as a crisp new day.

Cast: Deborah Francois, Fernando Tielve

FRI. Jan 16 6:00PM – Egyptian Theatre
SAT. Jan 17 12:45PM – Broadway Ctr V, SLC
TUE. Jan 20 8:30AM – Holiday Village III
THU. Jan 22 11:30AM – Library Ctr Theatre

White Lightnin’

UK, World Premiere

The outrageous cult story of Jesco White, the dancing outlaw.

Cast: Ed Hogg, Carrie Fisher, Muse Watson, Wallace Merck, Clay Steakley.

MON. JAN 19 11:59PM – Egyptian Theatre
WED. JAN 21 5:30PM – HOLIDAY VILLAGE III
FRI. JAN 23 9:30PM – Redstone Cinemas
SAT. JAN 24 11:59PM – Broadway Ctr IV, SLC

Park City at Midnight

World’s Greatest Dad

USA, Spectrum

A comedy about a high school poetry teacher who learns that the things you want most may not be the things that make you happy.

Cast: Robin Williams, Daryl Sabara, Alexie Gilmore, Tom Kenny, Geoffrey Pierson.

SUN. JAN 18 5:30PM – Library Ctr Theatre
TUE. JAN 20 8:30AM – Prospector Square
TUE. JAN 20 6:00PM – TOWER THEATRE, SLC
SAT. JAN 24 11:30AM – Racquet Club

SUNDANCE SHORTS

 

575 Castro St.

Documentary

An experimental short film shot on the empty set of Gus Van Sant’s Milk, featuring the original archival audio recorded by Harvey Milk on November 18th, 1978 – to be played in the event of his assassination.

MON. Jan 19 9:00PM – Temple Theatre
TUE. Jan 20 2:30PM – Holiday Village III
THU. Jan 22 6:45PM – Broadway Ctr V, SLC
FRI. Jan 23 8:30AM – Holiday Village III
SAT. Jan 24 midnight – Temple Theatre

 

A Mate

Finland

An absurdist comedy about a homophobic man who finds the thought of sex between two men so unimaginable that he asks a friend to join him in the bathroom and figure out what it’s like firsthand. Unfortunately his wife comes home a bit early.

FRI. Jan 16 11:30PM – Prospector Square
SAT. Jan 17 11:30AM – Library Ctr Theatre
SUN. Jan 18 9:00PM – Broadway Ctr VI, SLC
THU. Jan 22 11:59PM – Holiday Village IV
SAT. Jan 24 8:30PM – Prospector Square

Abbie Cancelled

Two couples who have never met find themselves engaged in an awkward dinner after their mutual friends cancel at the last second.

Acting for the Camera

An acting class. Today’s scene: the orgasm from ‘When Harry Met Sally.’

FRI. Jan 16 8:30AM – Holiday Village III
FRI. Jan 16 9:00PM – Broadway Ctr VI, SLC
SUN. Jan 18 8:30PM – Prospector Square
TUE. Jan 20 5:30PM – Holiday Village III
SAT. Jan 24 5:30PM – Prospector Square

Asshole

Vincent Allen goes to the doctor for a diagnosis. The diagnosis: he’s an asshole.

FRI. Jan 16 11:15AM – Racquet Club
SAT. Jan 17 11:30PM – Prospector Square
TUE. Jan 20 12:15PM – Holiday Village IV
WED. Jan 21 6:30PM – Redstone Cinemas
SAT. Jan 24 12:45PM – Holiday Village I

The Dirty Ones

Two Mennonite sisters are traveling throughout Southern states with the body of their dead grandmother lying in the trunk bed.

FRI. JAN 16 11:15AM – Racquet Club
SAT. JAN 17 11:30PM – Prospector Square
TUE. JAN 20 12:15PM – HOLIDAY VILLAGE IV
WED. JAN 21 6:30PM – Redstone Cinemas
SAT. JAN 24 12:45PM – HOLIDAY VILLAGE I

I Am So Proud Of You

Animated Short

Dark family secrets cast a shadow over Bill’s recovery; in this second chapter to Don Hertzfeldt’s ‘Everything will be OK’. (Winner of the 2007 Sundance Film Festival Short Film Grand Jury Prize.)

FRI. Jan 16 9:15AM – Holiday Village IV
SAT. Jan 17 12:30PM – Rose Wagner, SLC
SUN. Jan 18 11:59PM – Egyptian Theatre
THU. Jan 22 9:00PM -Egyptian Theatre
SAT. Jan 24 3:15PM – Eccles Theatre

 

James

Northern Ireland

Young James struggles with his sexuality and his teacher, Mr. Sutherland, is the only person he feels he can connect with. When James finally puts a voice to his feelings, Mr. Sutherland’s response isn’t what James had hoped for.

FRI. Jan 16 2:15PM – Racquet Club
SAT. Jan 17 1:30PM – Broadway Ctr IV, SLC
SAT. Jan 17 11:30PM – Holiday Village III
WED. Jan 21 8:30PM – Holiday Village III
SAT. Jan 24 11:59PM – Egyptian Theatre

A Kinda Sutra

Part insightful documentary and part animated short, Oscar winning filmmaker Jessica Yu has crafted this film about the fanciful childhood misconceptions we have about where babies come from, some of which still prevail today. Some gay perspectives are included as well.

SAT. Jan 17 3:00PM – Temple Theatre
SUN. Jan 18 9:15PM – Holiday Village IV
MON. Jan 19 10:30PM – Broadway Ctr IV, SLC
THU. Jan 22 9:00AM – Temple Theatre
SAT. Jan 24 3:00PM – Temple Theatre

Knife Point

An evangelical family passing through upstate New York gives a ride to an unusual traveling knife salesman.

FRI. Jan 16 11:30PM – Prospector Square
SAT. Jan 17 11:30AM – Library Ctr Theatre
SUN. Jan 18 9:00PM – Broadway Ctr VI, SLC
THU. Jan 22 11:59PM – Holiday Village IV
SAT. Jan 24 8:30PM – Prospector Square

The Nature Between Us

Radical dudes, mega babes and a secret crush stumble into a neon-drenched universal oneness.

MON. Jan 19 3:15PM – Eccles Theatre
TUE. Jan 20 8:30AM – Racquet Club
THU. Jan 22 5:15PM – Racquet Club
FRI. Jan 23 8:30PM – Library Ctr Theatre
SAT. Jan 24 3:30PM – Rose Wagner, SLC

Nobody Knows You, Nobody Gives a Damn

A young mother struggling with post-partum depression inadvertently connects with her infant child through attempts to sort out her sexual relationships.

FRI. Jan 16 11:59PM – Holiday Village IV
SAT. Jan 17 2:30PM – Prospector Square
MON. Jan 19 9:15PM – Holiday Village IV
FRI. Jan 23 11:59PM – Broadway Ctr VI, SLC
SAT. Jan 24 5:30PM – Holiday Village III

 

Predisposed

A conservative son is pulled into the messy mission of helping his manipulative drug addicted mother score. In working together they realize they’re not so different, and that some personal qualities are deeply embedded in our genes.

FRI. Jan 16 11:15AM – Racquet Club
SAT. Jan 17 11:30PM – Prospector Square
TUE. Jan 20 12:15PM – Holiday Village IV
WED. Jan 21 6:30PM – Redstone Cinemas
SAT. Jan 24 12:45PM – Holiday Village I

Sister Wife

Documentary

DoriAnn, a Mormon Fundamentalist, shares a husband with her younger biological sister. During a private bathing ritual, DoriAnn explores the surprisingly universal challenges of her marriage.

FRI. Jan 16 12:15PM – Holiday Village IV
SAT. Jan 17 8:30AM – Prospector Square
SAT. Jan 17 6:00PM – Screening Rm, Sundance
WED. Jan 21 6:00PM – Broadway Ctr VI, SLC
FRI. Jan 23 9:15PM – Holiday Village IV

Small Collection

A love story caught in the corridors of memory. Through fragments of conversations still echoing in now empty places, we piece together the record of a relationship cut short.

MON. Jan 19 12:15PM – Eccles Theatre
TUE. Jan 20 5:15PM – Racquet Club
THU. Jan 22 8:30AM – Prospector Square
FRI. Jan 23 5:30PM – Library Ctr Theatre
SAT. Jan 24 3:00PM – Broadway Ctr VI, SLC

 

The Watch

Argentina

After a stopped watch leads to a chance meeting on the street, Pablo and Javier end up in an impromptu sleepover, where the two wait nervously for something to happen.

FRI. Jan 16 8:30AM – Holiday Village III
FRI. Jan 16 9:00PM – Broadway Ctr VI, SLC
SUN. Jan 18 8:30PM – Prospector Square
TUE. Jan 20 5:30PM – Holiday Village III
SAT. Jan 24 5:30PM – Prospector Square

 

The Young and Evil

A highly intelligent but troubled gay black teenager sets out to seduce an HIV-positive prevention advocate into giving him the virus.

FRI. Jan 16 11:15AM – Racquet Club
SAT. Jan 17 11:30PM – Prospector Square
TUE. Jan 20 12:15PM – Holiday Village IV
WED. Jan 21 6:30PM – Redstone Cinemas
SAT. Jan 24 12:45PM – Holiday Village I

SLAMDANCE FILM FESTIVAL

Rosencrantz & Guildenstern Are Undead

USA, World Premiere

A theatre director takes a job directing a play that uncovers a two thousand year conspiracy involving vampires, Shakespeare, and the holy grail. Cast: Jake Hoffman, Devon Aoki, John Ventimiglia, Jeremy Sisto, Ralph Macchio.

MON. Jan 19 8:30PM – Treasure Mtn Inn
THU. Jan 22 12:30PM – Treasure Mtn Inn

The Slammin’ Salmon

USA, World Premiere

The owner of a Miami restaurant indebted to the mob institutes a contest to see what waiter can earn the most money in one night. Cast: Cobie Smulders, Michael Clarke Duncan, April Bowlby, Sendhil Ramamurthy, Jay Chandrasekhar, Kevin Heffernan, Paul Soter, Steve Lemme, Erik Stolhanske.

SAT. Jan 17 10:45PM – Treasure Mtn Inn
THU. Jan 22 3:00PM – Treasure Mtn Inn

 

Weather Girl

USA, World Premiere

A Seattle weather girl freaks out on-air over her cheating boyfriend, the morning show anchor, and moves in with her little brother. Cast: Tricia O’Kelley, Mark Harmon, Jane Lynch, Kaitlin Olson, Jon Cryer, Patrick J. Adams, Ryan Devlin.

SAT. Jan 17 6:00PM – Treasure Mtn Inn
TUE. Jan 20 12:30PM – Treasure Mtn Inn

Mississippi Damned

USA, FEATURED NARRATIVE / WORLD PREMIERE

Three poor Black kids in rural Mississippi reap the consequences of their family’s cycle of abuse, addiction, and violence.

Cast: DB Woodside, Malcolm David Kelly, Malcolm Goodwin, Tessa Thompson, Michael Hyatt.

FRI. Jan 16 6:00PM – Treasure Mtn Inn
TUE. Jan 20 10:00AM – Treasure Mtn Inn

Graphic Sexual Horror

USA, DOCUMETARY NARRATIVE / WORLD PREMIERE

A look behind the terrifying façade of insex.com, the most notorious of the ‘violent porn’ websites, while exploring the dark mind of its artistic creator and asking hard questions about personal responsibility.

SUN. Jan 18 8:00PM – Treasure Mtn Inn
THU. Jan 22 8:00PM – Treasure Mtn Inn

Drool

USA, WORLD PREMIERE

An abused wife’s plan to escape her husband goes awry when she accidentally kills him, causing her to split on a cross-country drive with her best friend and his corpse in tow.

Cast: Laura Harring, Jill Marie Jones, Oded Fehr.

FRI. Jan 16 3:30PM – Treasure Mtn Inn
THU. Jan 22 3:00PM – Treasure Mtn Inn

 

Dish

USA, WORLD PREMIERE

After hearing his Emo high school buddy boast about sexual escapades, gay lad Isreal decides he needs to experience some of his own. “Entertaining, chatty, and teeming with personality. A pleasurable peek into some of the more or less sordid aspects of youth and gay culture,” Sam Roberts, Director of Film Competitions

FRI. Jan 16 11:00AM – Treasure Mtn Inn
SUN. Jan 18 3:00PM – Treasure Mtn Inn

 

Vapid Lovelies

USA, WORLD PREMIERE

Two Middle-American gay fashionistas set out to create the perfect outfit.

FRI. Jan 16 1:00PM – Treasure Mtn Inn
MON. Jan 19 11:00AM – Treasure Mtn Inn

 

 

 

 

 

Rock Pockets

USA, WORLD PREMEIRE

A sugar rush of sex, politics, and rock ‘n’ roll, as seen through the eyes of a 10-year-old-boy at the fair.

TUE. Jan 20 1:00PM – Treasure Mtn Inn
WED. Jan 21 11:00AM – Treasure Mtn Inn

 

City Rats

UK, FEATURE NARRATIVE / WORLD PREMIERE

A modern day Dickensian tale of eight haunted people who meet and fall apart while searching for redemption in each other.

MON. Jan 19 3:30PM – Treasure Mtn Inn
THU. Jan 22 6:00PM – Treasure Mtn Inn

A full list of films and schedules is available at sundance.org and ­slamdance.com.