The Circuit

There is “An American Soldier,” “American Teen,” “American Son,” and “Anywhere, U.S.A”  Again, Sundance's fascination with the uniquely American way of introspection shows in its program. While it’s no surprise that what still occupies American filmmakers at this point in history is youth and war, Geoff Gilmore told Todd McCarthy that it’s harder to pigeonhole a particular theme about the 2008 edition:

Fest director Geoffrey Gilmore noted that, surprisingly, the films on view this year “are not as political or social issue-oriented as last year. There’s more personal expression about the daily aspects of lives, about people’s state of mind. The fact is that the world around us is a very troubled place, but the response of the filmmakers isn’t always dark, but is about people finding a way though it and about perservering, not succumbing. You sense the need for an escape from the exhausting pressures of reality.”

On the doc end, immediate highlights look to be Marina Zenovich’s long-in-the-works doc on the scandal and exile of Roman Polanski, Alex Gibney’s portrait of Hunter S. Thompson, and Christopher Bell’s exploration of his own steroid use, "Bigger Faster Stronger*".  Also interesting is Margaret Brown’s new doc on Alabama’s own complicated Mardi Gras, "The Order of Myths."  Previously, Brown's "Be Here to Love Me" had finally given the proper frame to songwriter Townes Van Sant's complex life.

The dramatic competition side sees Clark Gregg’s adaptation of (Fight Club) Chuck Palahniuk’s novel “Choke." This was rumored to be a Midnight movie, so its jump into the competition section could be notable.  There's Geoff Haley’s story of a writer who makes a living composing suicide notes, "The Last Word."  Haley was the one who shot the floating bag sequence in "American Beauty."   The “Half Nelson” duo are back with “Sugar.”  And there's “Sleep Dealer,” the highly anticipated feature from digital media artist Alex Rivera (pictured as he’s tackled by police during a NYC protest, from his great website). 

Fittingly, his film is set “in a near-future, militarized world marked by closed borders.”

Check out Todd's article and the full lineup here.