Featuring the skill-set of pair of folks named in our American New Wave 25 in Elgin James and Cinematographer Reed Morano (Frozen River), I've been looking forward to the pic since we first heard of it being workshopped in the Sundance labs. Expanding from his short, James taps into some autobiographical elements and formulates it from a female perspective. The potential for raw perfs from the ensemble cast appears feasiable and I'm expecting Juno Temple to deliver a more complex character than the more recent road-trip small town deserter found in Dirty Girl. The festival is calling it a brutally honest and beautifully rendered, and a stunning portrait of innocence lost - this might be the fest's break-out debut.
Having participated at both the Directors and Screenwriters Labs, helmer Elgin James has been building his nest at Sundance for a while now. His directorial feature debut Little Birds is a shoe-in title for the festival and should grab a slot in the U.S. Dramatic Competition section.