Indie Feature Project picks pix for Euro Mart

AIM sidebar to debut 'Drylongso,' 'Jerome,' others

By MONICA ROMAN

NEW YORK -- The Independent Feature Project has selected 10 American indies for its third annual sidebar at the European Film Market, which runs concurrently with the Berlin Intl. Film Festival Feb. 10 to 21.

Four of the films in the "AIM: American Independents at the Market" sidebar are debut features:

Cauleen Smith's "Drylongso," the story of a girl who documents the existence of young black men because she is convinced they are an endangered species;

Thomas Johnston, David Elton and Eric Tignini's "Jerome," the tale of a man who leaves his job and family in search of a place he once saw on a postcard;

Tamara Hernandez's "Men Cry Bullets," which chronicles an abusive relationship between a young man and a sadistic older woman; and

Jesse Feigelman's "Snapped," which follows three teenaged slackers who hole up in a resort town off-season.

Two documentaries will unspool in the AIM sidebar -- Roko Belic's "Genghis Blues" and Doug Block's "Home Page." Both docs were featured in the 1999 Sundance Film Festival.

Also coming to Berlin via Sundance is Andrew Shea's black comedy "The Corndog Man," about a salesman who recalls a forgotten chapter in his life after being harassed by telephone.

Rounding out the IFP's program at the Berlin market are Antonio Tibaldi's cross-cultural romance "Claudine's Return," Bradley Battersby's life-and-death meditation "The Joyriders" and "Windhorse," the dramatic debut of Academy Award-winning documentary filmmaker Paul Wagner. Pic follows an aspiring Tibetan pop singer who faces a crisis of conscience.