SUNDANCE 2010: SPOTLIGHT (NARRATIVE)

Sylvie Testud in Lourdes

Film info from the Sundance press release.

Bran Nue Dae / Australia (Director: Rachel Perkins; Screenwriters: Reg Cribb, Rachel Perkins, and Jimmy Chi) — In the summer of 1965, a young man is filled with the life of the idyllic old pearling port Broome — fishing, hanging out with his mates and his girl. Cast: Rocky McKenzie, Jessica Mauboy, Geoffrey Rush, Ernie Dingo. U.S. Premiere

Daddy Longlegs / USA (Directors and Screenwriters: Benny Safdie and Josh Safdie) — A swan song to excuses and responsibilities, to fatherhood and self-created experiences, and to what it's like to be truly torn between being a child and being an adult. Cast: Ronald Bronstein, Sage Ranaldo, Frey Ranaldo. North American Premiere

Enter the Void / France (Director and Screenwriter: Gaspar Noé) — A drug-dealing teen is killed in Japan, after which he reappears as a ghost to watch over his sister. Cast: Nathaniel Brown, Paz de la Huerta, Cyril Roy, Emily Alyn Lind, Jesse Kuhn. U.S. Premiere

I Am Love (Io Sono L'amore) / Italy (Director and Screenwriter: Luca Guadagnino) — A tragic love story set at the turn of the millennium in Milan. Cast: Tilda Swinton, Edoardo Gabbriellini, Pippo Delbono, Alba Rohrwacher, Marisa Berenson. U.S. Premiere

Louis C.K.: Hilarious / USA (Director: Louis C.K.) — Sharp-tongued comedian Louis C.K. pulls no punches in this visceral concert experience. World Premiere

Lourdes / Austria, France, Germany (Director and Screenwriter: Jessica Hausner) — A woman in a wheelchair travels to Lourdes in an attempt to escape her isolation. Cast: Sylvie Testud, Léa Seydoux, Bruno Todeschini, Gilette Barbier, Gerhard Liebmann, Irma Wagner. U.S. Premiere

Mother & Child / USA (Director and Screenwriter: Rodrigo García) — The lives of three women — a physical therapist, the daughter she gave up at birth three decades ago, and an African American woman seeking to adopt a child of her own — intersect in surprising ways. Cast: Naomi Watts, Annette Bening, Kerry Washington, Jimmy Smits, Samuel L. Jackson.  U.S. Premiere

New African Cinema / A collection of short films from multiple countries

• Pumzi / South Africa (Director and Screenwriter: Wanuri Kahiu) — A Sci-Fi film about futuristic Africa, 35 years after World War III, "The Water War." Cast: Kudzani Moswela. North American Premiere

• Saint Louis Blues (Un Transport En Commun) / France, Senegal (Director and Screenwriter: Dyana Gaye) — Along the journey from Dakar to Saint Louis, seven passengers of a taxi meet each other and tell their lives through songs. Cast: Umban Gomez de Kset, Bigué Ndoye, Adja Fall, Yakhoub Ba, Abdoulaye Diakhaté. U.S. Premiere

• The Tunnel / South Africa (Director and Screenwriter: Jenna Bass) — When her father vanishes in 1980s Zimbabwe, young Elizabeth believes he has dug a tunnel to the city. Only by facing reality will she discover the truth behind his disappearance. Cast: Sibulele Mlumbi, Finch Moyo, Patricia Matongo, Anthony Watterson, Pakamisa Zwedala, Vuyisile Pandle. World Premiere

A Prophet (Un Prophète) / France (Director: Jacques Audiard; Screenwriters: Thomas Bidegain and Jacques Audiard) — An engaging examination of a seedy, gangster-driven underworld set in a French prison. Cast: Tahar Rahim, Niels Arestrup, Adel Bencherif, Hichem Yacoubi, Reda Kateb. 

Women Without Men (Zanan-e bedun-e mardan) / Germany, Austria, France (Directors and Screenwriters: Shirin Neshat and Shoja Azari) — A dissection of Iranian society at the time of the 1953 CIA-backed coup that overturned the nationalist government of Mohammed Mossadegh and installed the shah in power. Cast: Pegah Ferydoni, Arita Shahrzad, Shabnam Tolouei, Orsi Tóth. U.S. Premiere