Annual Top Films Lists

Top 100 Most Anticipated Films of 2013: #49. Shane Carruth’s Upstream Color

Published on January 14, 2013

Upstream Color

Director/Writer: Shane Carruth
Producer(s): Carruth, Casey Gooden, Ben LeClair
U.S. Distributor: Rights Available
Cast: Andrew Sensenig, Shane Carruth, Brina Palencia, Amy Seimetz, Juli Erickson, Mollie Milligan, Frank Mosley

I like to think that I’m on track with every indie film development there possibly is – especially Sundance alumni. But somehow the filmmaker who gave us Primer wasn’t as dormant as I thought he was. Upstream Color sees Shane Carruth oversee all aspects of his film: write, direct, act, compose the score, edit, and is also the dp and was a camera operator as well. By the looks of the media that has been released on this indie project – it looks glossy in the best kind of manner possible. The most anticipated film title at the fest this year (alongside a certain Linklater film) also stars the hardest working actress in the biz: Amy Seimetz. Expect the buzz to be huge on this one.

Gist: A man (Carruth) and a woman (Amy Seimitz) are drawn together, entangled in the lifecycle of an ageless organism. Identity becomes an illusion as they struggle to assemble the loose fragments of wrecked lives.

Release Date: Before Sundance announced the film as part of the Premiere section, it was made public that this would receive an April 5th theatrical playdate. I’m perplexed as to what kind of release this will have. Who is the distributor? Have the producers chosen some new model for releasing this piece? Further details will come out during the fest.

Eric Lavallée

Eric Lavallée is the founder, CEO, editor-in-chief, film journalist and critic at IONCINEMA.com (founded in 2000). Eric is a regular at Sundance, Cannes and TIFF. He has a BFA in Film Studies at the Mel Hoppenheim School of Cinema. In 2013 he served as a Narrative Competition Jury Member at the SXSW Film Festival. He was an associate producer on Mark Jackson's This Teacher (2018 LA Film Festival, 2018 BFI London). In 2022 he served as a New Flesh Comp for Best First Feature at the 2022 Fantasia Intl. Film Festival. Current top films for 2022 include Tár (Todd Field), All That Breathes (Shaunak Sen), Aftersun (Charlotte Wells).