Saying you go to "Sundance for the docs" may come off as sincere as "I read Playboy for the articles," what with all the voluptuous scripted indie delights so tantalizingly within reach; but time and again, the non-fiction competition proves to be where the meat of this festival lies. Last year's standouts included The Cove, Afghan Star, and Burma V.J., and this year's lineup looks to be equally promising . Here's a few we have our eyes on.
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Your Movieline crew is preparing to brave the snow, swag and spectacle of the 2010 Sundance Film Festival, which can mean only one thing: Reckless predictions of this year's titles most likely to ignite a distribution bidding war. Granted, Sundance isn't the market it was 10 years ago (or even five years ago); few buyers have any real money to lavish on acquisitions, and a "bidding war" today might mean a producer strings out a few interested parties overnight for a million-dollar (or less) deal. It could mean a couple cable channels scrapping over a documentary. Or, in more traditional style, it could mean buyers fighting to release the one where Kristen Stewart plays a hooker. Anything goes!
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Sundance has announced the members on its five juries, the esteemed tastemakers who'll pick the prize-winners at the Awards Ceremony, hosted this year by David Hyde-Pierce (who'll be there in support of his dinner-party crime caper, The Perfect Host). Author Russell Banks, Jennifer's Body director Karyn Kusama, Sundance Queen Parker Posey, indie producer Jason Kliot and cinematographer Robert Yeoman head up the U.S. Dramatic Competition jury, while doc makers Morgan Spurlock and Ondi Timoner sit among the U.S. Documentary Jury. But do their opinions ultimately matter?
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With Afghan Star, London-based filmmaker Havana Marking has crafted something utterly extraordinary -- a fly-on-the-wall glimpse at a shattered culture beginning to "awaken from a dream," as one Afghan puts it. And it's all thanks to the unlikeliest of things: a televised singing competition that has quickly become a runaway national phenomenon. Even the most impoverished of Kabul slum-dwellers somehow find a way to watch Afghan Star, cheering on their favorites with the same ferocity as the most obsessive Adam Lambert fan. Contestants are of both genders and from every province of that civil war-torn country, standing shoulder-to-shoulder, American Idol-style, as host Daoud Sadiqi affects his best Ryan Seacrest and reveals the week's voting results.
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Legendary producer Robert Evans, whose career includes Chinatown, The Godfather, the new The Kid Stays In The Picture and an upcoming Matthew McConaughey flick shows off his home theater spread.
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