High-profile Sundance premieres seek distribution deals

Bachelorette, set to debut at Sundance Film Festival, stars (from left) Isla Fisher, Kirsten Dunst and Lizzy Caplan. (Jacob Hutchings/Sundance Film Festival)

Hollywood stars such as Kirsten Dunst, Bruce Willis, Susan Sarandon and Richard Gere are slated to appear at the Sundance Film Festival in January, seeking to woo major movie distributors to pick up their films.

Festival director John Cooper announced on Monday a fresh set of movies that will debut at the Park City, Utah festival of independent film. For the first time, none of the titles in the premieres lineup will arrive with U.S. distribution deals.

The fact that most of the premieres have been produced completely independently further underscores the resourcefulness and tenacity of filmmakers in this climate, Cooper said. Sundance prides itself on promoting independent film.

That drive and entrepreneurial spirit has pushed narrative and documentary filmmakers alike to create rich stories which will entertain and inspire audiences at the festival and in the year to come.

Among the feature premieres on the slate:

• Bachelorette, directed by Leslye Headland, is a wedding romp starring Dunst.
• Lay the Favorite, directed by Stephen Frears, sees Willis and Catherine Zeta-Jones involved in a Las Vegas bookie caper.
• Arbitrage, directed by Nicholas Jarecki, is a Wall Street drama starring Gere and Sarandon.
• Red Lights, directed by Rodrigo Cortes, is a paranormal thriller starring Sigourney Weaver and Robert De Niro.
• 2 Days in New York, directed by Julie Delpy, is a relationship dramedy starring Chris Rock.

In Red Hook Summer, director Spike Lee returns to Brooklyn. The film features (from left) Toni Lysaith, Clarke Peters and Jules Brown. David Lee/Sundance Film FestivalSpike Lee, one of the most influential U.S. directors, returns to the Brooklyn he depicted in Do the Right Thing in his latest work Red Hook Summer, which will also have its world premiere at Sundance. The drama follows an Atlanta-born boy spending a summer in Brooklyn with his grandfather.

"It's very back to his roots, very much in his old style. He's even playing his old character, Mookie," Cooper said. "This is the same neighbourhood."

Former X-Files co-stars David Duchovny and Gillian Anderson both have premieres slated for Sundance.

Duchovny stars opposite Vera Farmiga in Goats, about a teen reconnecting with his father. Anderson is featured alongside Clive Owen and Andrea Riseborough in British director James Marsh's film Shadow Dancer, about an Irish mother who makes tough choices to protect her son against a terrorism charge.

In addition, actor Joseph Gordon-Levitt will showcase projects by the hitRECord production company, which invites online musical collaborations.

The Sundance Film festival is scheduled for Jan. 19 to 29.

With files from The Associated Press