2008 Sundance Film Festival
Encyclopedia
The 2008 Sundance Film Festival ran from January 17, 2008 to January 27 in Park City, Utah
. It was the 24th iteration of the Sundance Film Festival
. The opening night film was In Bruges
and the closing night film was CSNY Déjà Vu
.
For a list of films that were shown at the festival, see List of films at the 2008 Sundance Film Festival.
Park City, Utah
Park City is a town in Summit and Wasatch counties in the U.S. state of Utah. It is considered to be part of the Wasatch Back. The city is southeast of downtown Salt Lake City and from Salt Lake City's east edge of Sugar House along Interstate 80. The population was 7,558 at the 2010 census...
. It was the 24th iteration of the Sundance Film Festival
Sundance Film Festival
The Sundance Film Festival is a film festival that takes place annually in Utah, in the United States. It is the largest independent cinema festival in the United States. Held in January in Park City, Salt Lake City, and Ogden, as well as at the Sundance Resort, the festival is a showcase for new...
. The opening night film was In Bruges
In Bruges
In Bruges is a 2008 black comedy crime film written and directed by Martin McDonagh. The film stars Colin Farrell and Brendan Gleeson as two hitmen in hiding, with Ralph Fiennes as their gangster boss. The film takes place—and was filmed—within the Belgian city of Bruges. In Bruges was...
and the closing night film was CSNY Déjà Vu
CSNY Déjà Vu
CSNY/Déjà Vu is a 2008 film directed by Bernard Shakey, a pseudonym for Neil Young. It focuses on the career of Crosby Stills Nash and Young, its musical connection to its audience and the turbulent times with which its music is associated as the band goes on their 2006 Freedom of Speech tour.It...
.
Films
Out of 2,021 U.S. and 1,603 international feature-length films submitted for consideration, 121 were selected to be shown at the festival.For a list of films that were shown at the festival, see List of films at the 2008 Sundance Film Festival.
Award winners
- Grand Jury Prize: Documentary - Trouble the WaterTrouble the WaterTrouble the Water is a 2008 documentary film produced and directed by Tia Lessin and Carl Deal, producers of Fahrenheit 9/11. Trouble the Water is a redemptive tale of a couple surviving failed levees, bungling bureaucrats, and their own troubled past and a portrait of a community abandoned long...
- Grand Jury Prize: Dramatic - Frozen RiverFrozen RiverFrozen River is a 2008 American drama film written and directed by Courtney Hunt. The screenplay focuses on two working-class women who smuggle illegal immigrants in the trunk of a car from Canada to the United States in order to make ends meet...
- Grand Jury Prize: World Cinema Documentary - Man On WireMan on WireMan on Wire is a 2008 British documentary film directed by James Marsh. The film chronicles Philippe Petit's 1974 high-wire walk between the Twin Towers of New York's World Trade Center. It is based on Philippe Petit's book, To Reach the Clouds, recently released in paperback with the new title...
- Grand Jury Prize: World Cinema Dramatic - King of Ping Pong (Ping Pongkingen)
- Audience Award: Documentary - Fields of Fuel
- Audience Award: Dramatic - The WacknessThe WacknessThe Wackness is a 2008 American coming of age drama film by Jonathan Levine and starring Ben Kingsley, Josh Peck, Famke Janssen, and Olivia Thirlby. The film is distributed by Sony Pictures Classics and was released in the U.S. on July 3, 2008.-Plot:...
- World Cinema Audience Award: Documentary - Man on WireMan on WireMan on Wire is a 2008 British documentary film directed by James Marsh. The film chronicles Philippe Petit's 1974 high-wire walk between the Twin Towers of New York's World Trade Center. It is based on Philippe Petit's book, To Reach the Clouds, recently released in paperback with the new title...
- World Cinema Audience Award: Dramatic - Captain Abu RaedCaptain Abu RaedCaptain Abu Raed is a 2007 Jordanian Film directed and written by Amin Matalqa. It was the first feature film produced in Jordan in more than 50 years. The Royal Film Commission of Jordan endorsed Captain Abu Raed to be submitted to the 81st Academy Awards for Best Foreign Language Film, the...
- Directing Award: Documentary - American TeenAmerican TeenAmerican Teen is a 2008 documentary film directed by Nanette Burstein and produced by 57th & Irving. It competed in the Documentary Competition at the 2008 Sundance Film Festival, where it received the Directing Award: Documentary...
- Directing Award: Dramatic - BallastBallast (film)Ballast is a 2008 film directed by Lance Hammer. It competed in the Dramatic Competition at the 2008 Sundance Film Festival, where it won the awards for Best Director and Best Cinematography...
- World Cinema Directing Award: Documentary - Durakovo: The Village of Fools (Durakovo: Le Village Des Fous)
- World Cinema Directing Award: Dramatic - Mermaid (Rusalka)Mermaid (2007 film)Mermaid is a Russian 2007 comedy-drama film directed and written by Anna Melikyan. It is a loose adaptation of Hans Christian Andersen's "The Little Mermaid"...
- Waldo Salt Screenwriting Award - Sleep DealerSleep DealerSleep Dealer is a 2008 futuristic science fiction film directed by Alex Rivera.-Plot:'Sleep Dealer' is set in a future, militarized world marked by closed borders, virtual labor and a global digital network that joins minds and experiences, where three strangers risk their lives to connect with...
- World Cinema Screenwriting Award - I Always Wanted to Be a Gangster (J'ai Toujours Rêvé d'Être un Gangster)
- Documentary Editing Award - Roman Polanski: Wanted and DesiredRoman Polanski: Wanted and DesiredRoman Polanski: Wanted and Desired is a 2008 documentary film directed by Marina Zenovich. It concerns film director Roman Polanski and his sexual misconduct case...
- World Cinema Documentary Editing Award - The Art Star and the Sudanese Twins
- Excellence in Cinematography Award: Documentary - Patti Smith: Dream of LifePatti Smith: Dream of LifePatti Smith: Dream of Life is a 2008 documentary film about Patti Smith directed by Steven Sebring. It was presented at Berlin International Film Festival. The movie won the "Excellence in Cinematography Award: Documentary" at the 2008 Sundance Film Festival and aired on the PBS series P.O.V...
- Excellence in Cinematography Award: Dramatic - BallastBallast-Objects:* Ballast tank, a device used on ships and submarines and other submersibles to control buoyancy and stability* Ballast weights, metallic plates used to bring auto racing vehicles up to the minimum mandated weight...
- World Cinema Cinematography Award: Documentary - Recycle
- World Cinema Cinematography Award: Dramatic - King of Ping Pong (Ping Pongkingen)
- World Cinema Special Jury Prize: Dramatic - Blue Eyelids (Párpados Azules)
- Special Jury Prize: Documentary - The Greatest Silence: Rape in the CongoThe Greatest Silence: Rape in the CongoThe Greatest Silence: Rape in the Congo is a 2008 documentary film directed by Lisa F. Jackson. The film tells of the treatment of women in the Democratic Republic of Congo, focusing on the systematic use of sexual violence as a tool of war. Lisa F...
- Special Jury Prize: Dramatic, The Spirit of Independence - Anywhere, USAAnywhere, U.S.A.Anywhere, U.S.A. is a 2008 feature film directed by Chusy Haney-Jardine starring mostly non-actors. The film is told in three parts: Penance, Loss, and Ignorance, with each story obliquely related to the next...
- Special Jury Prize: Dramatic, Work by an Ensemble Cast - ChokeChoke (film)Choke is a 2008 American black comedy film directed by Clark Gregg. The film stars Sam Rockwell and Anjelica Huston. Production took place in New Jersey in 2007. It premiered at the 2008 Sundance Film Festival and was purchased by Fox Searchlight Pictures for distribution...
- Jury Prize in Short Filmmaking - My Olympic Summer
- Jury Prize in Short Filmmaking - Sikumi (On the Ice)
- International Jury Prize in International Short Filmmaking - Soft
- Honorable Mention in Short Filmmaking - Aquarium
- Honorable Mention in Short Filmmaking - August 15thAugust 15th (2008 film)August 15th is a 2008 Sundance Film Festival Short Film that has received Honorable Mentions in Short Filmmaking. It is available for download from online sources, including iTunes Store, Netflix, and Xbox Live Marketplace.- Plot summary :...
- Honorable Mention in Short Filmmaking - La Corona (The Crown)
- Honorable Mention in Short Filmmaking - Oiran Lyrics
- Honorable Mention in Short Filmmaking - Spider
- Honorable Mention in Short Filmmaking - SuspensionSuspension (film)Suspension is a 2008 American science fiction film directed by Alec Joler and Ethan Shaftel. It won the 2007 Spirit of the Independent Award for Best Science Fiction Film....
- Honorable Mention in Short Filmmaking - W.W. (film)W. is a 2008 American film based on the life and presidency of George W. Bush. It was produced and directed by Oliver Stone, written by Stanley Weiser, and stars Josh Brolin as Bush, with a cast that includes Ellen Burstyn, Elizabeth Banks, James Cromwell, Thandie Newton, Jeffrey Wright, Scott...
- 2008 Alfred P. Sloan PrizeAlfred P. Sloan PrizeThe Alfred P. Sloan Prize is an award given each year, starting in 2003, to a film at the Sundance Film Festival. The prize is given to a feature film that focuses on science or technology as a theme, or depicts a scientist, engineer, or mathematician as a major character.Each winner is presented...
- Sleep Dealer
Juries
The juries at the Sundance Film Festival are responsible for determining the Jury Prize winners in each category and to award Special Jury Prizes as they see fit.Jury, Independent Film Competition: Dramatic
- Marcia Gay HardenMarcia Gay HardenMarcia Gay Harden is an American film and theatre actress. Harden's breakthrough role was in Miller's Crossing and then The First Wives Club which was followed by several roles which gained her wider fame including the hit comedy Flubber and Meet Joe Black...
, Mary HarronMary HarronMary Harron is a Canadian filmmaker and screenwriter best known for her films I Shot Andy Warhol, American Psycho and The Notorious Bettie Page.-Overview:...
, Diego LunaDiego LunaDiego Luna is a Mexican actor known for his childhood telenovela work, a starring role in the film Y tu mamá también, and supporting roles in American films. He is also known for his roles in Rudo y Cursi and Milk. Luna also had minor roles in Frida and Before Night Falls...
, Sandra OhSandra OhSandra Oh is a Canadian actress. She is best known for the role of Dr. Cristina Yang on ABC's Grey's Anatomy, for which she has won a Golden Globe and Screen Actors Guild award. She also played notable roles in the feature films Under the Tuscan Sun and Sideways, and had a supporting role on the...
and Quentin TarantinoQuentin TarantinoQuentin Jerome Tarantino is an American film director, screenwriter, producer, cinematographer and actor. In the early 1990s, he began his career as an independent filmmaker with films employing nonlinear storylines and the aestheticization of violence...
Jury, Independent Film Competition: Documentary
- Michelle Byrd, Heidi Ewing, Eugene JareckiEugene JareckiEugene Jarecki is an author and a dramatic and documentary filmmaker based in New York.His works include Why We Fight, which won the 2005 Grand Jury Prize at the Sundance Film Festival, The Trials of Henry Kissinger, Reagan, Freakonomics , Quest of the Carib Canoe, and Season of the...
, Steven OkazakiSteven OkazakiSteven Okazaki is an American filmmaker. He is Sansei Japanese American and is based in the San Francisco Bay Area...
and Annie Sundberg
Jury, World Cinema Competition: Dramatic
- Shunji IwaiShunji Iwaiis a Japanese film director/video artist, writer and documentarian.-Life and career:Iwai was born in Sendai, Japan, Miyagi prefecture. He attended Yokohama National University, graduating in 1987....
, Lucrecia MartelLucrecia MartelLucrecia Martel is a film director, screenplay writer, and producer.According to film critic Joel Poblete, who writes for Mabuse, a cinema magazine, Lucrecia Martel is one of the members of the so-called "New Argentina Cinema" which began c...
and Jan Schuette
Alfred P. Sloan Feature Film Prize Jury
- Alan AldaAlan AldaAlphonso Joseph D'Abruzzo , better known as Alan Alda, is an American actor, director, screenwriter, and author. A six-time Emmy Award and Golden Globe Award winner, he is best known for his role as Hawkeye Pierce in the TV series M*A*S*H...
, Michael Polish, Evan SchwartzEvan SchwartzEvan I. Schwartz is an American author who writes about innovation and imagination. He has written The Last Lone Inventor: A Tale of Genius, Deceit, and the Birth of Television, the story of inventor Philo Farnsworth and his epic battle with RCA tycoon David Sarnoff.His screenplay, Televisionaries,...
, Benedict Schwegler and John Underkoffler
Festival Theaters
- Kimball Junction
- Redstone Cinemas - 185 seats
- OgdenOgden, UtahOgden is a city in Weber County, Utah, United States. Ogden serves as the county seat of Weber County. The population was 82,825 according to the 2010 Census. The city served as a major railway hub through much of its history, and still handles a great deal of freight rail traffic which makes it a...
- Peery's Egyptian TheatrePeery's Egyptian TheatrePeery's Egyptian Theater is a movie palace located at 2439 Washington Blvd., in Ogden, Utah in the United States of America. It was added to the National Register of Historic Places in 1978.-History:...
- 800 seats
- Peery's Egyptian Theatre
- Park CityPark City, UtahPark City is a town in Summit and Wasatch counties in the U.S. state of Utah. It is considered to be part of the Wasatch Back. The city is southeast of downtown Salt Lake City and from Salt Lake City's east edge of Sugar House along Interstate 80. The population was 7,558 at the 2010 census...
- Eccles TheatreEllen Eccles TheatreThe Ellen Eccles Theatre was built in 1923 on Logan, Utah's Main Street. Then known as the Capitol Theatre, it was a home originally to vaudeville and opera. As vaudeville died out, it became used primarily for community events, and increasingly, movies...
- 1,270 seats - Egyptian TheatreMary G. Steiner Egyptian TheatreThe Mary G. Steiner Egyptian Theatre is located at 328 Main Street in Park City, Utah in the United States of America. It has also been referred to as the Mary J. Steiner Egyptian Theatre or The Egyptian Theatre in Park City.-History:...
- 266 seats - Holiday Village Cinemas I - 156 seats
- Holiday Village Cinemas II - 156 seats
- Holiday Village Cinemas III - 156 seats
- Holiday Village Cinemas IV - 164 seats
- Library Center Theatre - 448 seats
- Prospector Square Theatre - 332 seats
- Racquet Club Theatre - 602 seats
- Yarrow Hotel Theatre 1 - 250 seats
- Yarrow Hotel Theatre 2 - 80 seats
- Eccles Theatre
- Salt Lake City
- Broadway Centre Cinemas IV - 211 seats
- Broadway Centre Cinemas V - 238 seats
- Broadway Centre Cinemas VI - 274 seats
- Rose Wagner Performing Arts CenterRose Wagner Performing Arts CenterThe Rose Wagner Performing Arts Center is a three-venue arts complex in downtown Salt Lake City, Utah that is home to modern dance companies, the Gina Bachauer International Piano Foundation, Plan-B Theatre Company, and the Sundance Film Festival. It is part of the Salt Lake County Center for the...
- 485 seats - Tower TheatreTower Theatre (Salt Lake City, Utah)The Tower Theatre located in the 9th and 9th neighborhood of Salt Lake City, Utah is a historic film theater operated and maintained by the Salt Lake Film Society....
- 342 seats
- Sundance ResortSundanceSundance Resort is a ski resort located northeast of Provo, Utah, spanning over on the slopes of Mount Timpanogos in Utah's Wasatch Range. Snow skiing began on the site in 1944...
- Sundance Institute Screening Room - 164 seats