Thursday, January 24
Designates films with no queer-content, but the filmmaker(s) identify as LGBT
8:30 AM
Be Like Others
Director/Screenwriter: Tanaz Eshaghian
(Canada, 2008, 74 min., color, Sony HD Cam)
In a country where homosexuality remains an offense punishable by death, this documentary asserts that many young gay men and women in Iran are opting to undergo gender reassignment surgery, which is their only legal option under their country's interpretation of Islamic law. This film explores a culture in which shame and fear have led many to take extreme measures in an attempt to find acceptance.
Holiday Village Cinema II, Park City
9:15 AM
Phoebe In Wonderland
Director/Screenwriter: Daniel Barnz
Cast: Felicity Huffman, Patricia Clarkson, Elle Fanning
(USA, 2007, 96 min., color, 35mm)
The different psychological realities of children and adults are explored in writer/director Daniel Barnzs' tale of a frustrated academic struggling to raise her daughter, Phoebe, a gifted child prone to escapist fantasies, who wants to take part in a school production of Alice in Wonderland.
Egyptian Theatre, Park City
Noon
A Raisin in the Sun (Premieres)
Director: Kenny Leon
Screenwriter: Paris Qualles
Cast: Sanaa Lathan, Audra McDonald, Phylicia Rashad, Sean Combs, John Stamos
(USA, 2007, 131 min., color, Sony HD Cam)
From the powerhouse gay producing team of Neil Meron and Craig Zadan comes this latest take on the classic play by Lorraine Hansberry, featuring several Tony Award-winning performers from its acclaimed Broadway revival. Set in 1950s Chicago, the story focuses on the Younger family as they wait to receive an insurance check that may change all their lives.
Eccles Theatre, Park City
2:30 PM
Xanadu
Director: Robert Boyd
(USA, 2007, Installation)
As part of the free exhibitions at the New Frontier space on Main Street, Robert Boyd's installation Xanadu will be shown every day in a single channel presentation. In rapid fire, music style montages, Boyd throws a disco track over images of doomsday cults, political figures, and fundamentalist rage against feminism and gay rights.
Screening with The Linguists
New Frontier, Park City
3:15 PM
The Mysteries of Pittsburgh (Dramatic Competition)
Director/Screenwriter: Rawson Marshall Thurber
Cast: Jon Foster, Peter Sarsgaard, Sienna Miller, Mena Suvari, Nick Nolte
(USA, 2007, 95 min., color, 35 mm)
This adaptation of Michael Chabon's celebrated novel follows aimless mobster's son Art Bechstein in the summer that he meets Jane and Cleveland, a couple with whom he soon finds himself in a bisexual love triangle and increasingly risky situations.
Eccles Theatre, Park City
5:30 PM
Birds of America
Director: Craig Lucas
Screenwriter: Elyse Friedman
Cast: Matthew Perry, Hillary Swank, Ginnifer Goodwin, Ben Foster, Lauren Graham
(USA, 2007, 89 min., color, Sony HD Cam)
The latest film from director Craig Lucas (Longtime Companion, The Dying Gaul) follows three siblings who were forced to cope with their parents' death while still children, and who must now force themselves to grow up and get along when they suddenly find themselves reunited. One of the film's supporting characters is struggling with their own identity issues.
Prospector Square Theatre, Park City
5:30 PM
Lloyd Neck
Director: Benedict Campbell
(USA, 2007, 16 min., color, Sony HD Cam)
A young girl with a crush on her brother's best friend notices that Jesse's feelings for her brother may be more than platonic. In one of the last days of summer, the three spend the day taking pictures in a Long Island state park before college inevitably separates the boys.
Shown as part of Shorts Program V
Holiday Village Cinema IV, Park City
Sunlit Shadows
Director: Benjamin M. Piety
(USA, 2007, 14 min., color, Sony HD Cam)
A "visual mix-tape" that combines music with beautifully lit cinematography to evoke the conflicting emotions in letting go of a lost love.
Shown as part of Shorts Program V
Holiday Village Cinema IV, Park City
9:00 PM
Pretty Bird (Dramatic Competition)
Director/Screenwriter: Paul Schneider
Cast: Billy Crudup, Paul Giamatti, Kristen Wiig, Denis O'Hare
(USA, 2008, 120 min., color, 35mm)
The spirit of invention is alive and well in Curtis Prentiss, a driven man intent on creating a rocket-powered belt, who finds unexpected success when he teams with an out of work aerospace engineer and a friend with the funds to underwrite the project. At least one of the film's characters will come out of the closet by the film's end as well.
Sundance Resort Screening Room, Park City
9:30 PM
A Raisin in the Sun (Premieres)
Director: Kenny Leon
Screenwriter: Paris Qualles
Cast: Sanaa Lathan, Audra McDonald, Phylicia Rashad, Sean Combs, John Stamos
(USA, 2007, 131 min., color, Sony HD Cam)
From the powerhouse gay producing team of Neil Meron and Craig Zadan comes this latest take on the classic play by Lorraine Hansberry, featuring several Tony Award-winning performers from its acclaimed Broadway revival. Set in 1950s Chicago, the story focuses on the Younger family as they wait to receive an insurance check that may change all their lives.
Rose Wagner Performing Arts Center, Park City
Towelhead
Director/Screenwriter: Alan Ball
Cast: Aaron Eckhart, Maria Bello, Toni Collette, Summer Bishil
(USA, 2007, 115 min., color, 35mm)
From the creator of Six Feet Under, Alan Ball's adaptation of Alicia Erian's novel follows the sexual awakening of a 13-year-old Arab American girl named Jasira who becomes involved with an army reservist living in her neighborhood.
Eccles Theatre, Park City
11:30 PM
Sunshine Cleaning
Director: Christine Jeffs
Screenwriter: Megan Holley
Cast: Emily Blunt, Amy Adams, Mary Lynn Rajskub, Steve Zahn, Alan Arkin
(USA, 2007, 102 min., color, Sony HD Cam)
In an effort to turn their lives around, two sisters start a crime scene cleaning business and quickly learn that the job requires more than just elbow grease. Things get even more complicated when sister Norah becomes sexually obsessed with a blood bank technician named Lynn.
Racquet Club, Park City
Slamdance Screenings
11:00 AM
Softly
Director: Bryan Jackson
(USA, 7 min.)
Using plastic dolls in place of actors, this short tells a tale of a gay man's "love and longing" set inside carefully crafted, miniaturized sets.
Screening with Shorts Block 5
Treasure Mountain Inn, Park City