2011 Sundance Film Festival: 60 Predictions List Recap

Next week, the Sundance Film Festival will unveil the 100+ features titles for their 27th edition (with the short film announcements made usually get release the week after) and this can only mean one thing: this past week was the official nail-biting, living next to the phone type of deal for several first time filmmakers. Though Redford’s festival is the holy grail of U.S indie festivals, my word of advice to those who’ve received a “nay” type answer…you’ll have other great opportunities to premiere your film. Every year I’ll find some great examples of American indie debut films and then rhetorically ask why this didn’t play in Park City? and this will surely be the case for a good number of the 60 predictions we made over the previous weeks and that are mentioned below (click here to commence the countdown or click on the individual titles below for a summary). For the lucky filmmakers who’ve been selected, please feel free to contact us or have your publicist get in touch for possible coverage. 

More Predictions: I see the IndieWIRE’s writers appreciated my predictions list below, but unlike them, I don’t think Park City is the lieu for the likes of David Gordon Green (Your Highness), Duncan Jones (Source Code) and Greg Mottola (the SXSW-bound Paul) as their latest films completely go against the mandate and spirit of the fest. Instead, check out HtN’s Michael Tully Wish List – his overview includes filmmakers such as Todd Rohal, Benh Zeitlin, and Zack Godshall.

Updates: Since we started naming our predictions, we received word that three items below are still in post-production (* denotes not submitted) and we also learned that Fox Searchlight has moved Miguel Arteta’s Cedar Rapids (another Black List favorite) to a February release date which is an indication of sorts that they might want to use the fest as a launch-pad for this title.

25 to Life – Michael L. Brown
The Beaver – Jodie Foster
Burning Man – Jonathan Teplitzky
Butter – Jim Field Smith
Cagefighter – Derek Cianfrance
Circumstance – Maryam Keshavarz
* Dear Mandela – Dara Kell & Christopher Nizza
Detachment – Tony Kaye
The Details – Jacob Aaron Estes
Fambul Tok – Sara Terry
For Ellen – So Yong Kim
The Future – Miranda July
The Girl Is in Trouble – Julius Onah
Give Up Tomorrow – Michael Collins
The Good Doctor – Lance Daly
Gun Hill Road – Rashaad Ernesto Green
* Habibi Rasak Kharban – Susan Youssef
HERE – Braden King
Higher Ground – Vera Farmiga
Highland Park – Andrew Meieran
Hobo with a Shotgun – Jason Eisener
Homework – Gavin Wiesen
I Melt With You – Mark Pellington
The Innkeepers – Ti West
Jane Eyre – Cary Fukunaga
Jeff Who Lives At Home – Duplass Bros.
The Ledge – Matthew Chapman
The Lie – Joshua Leonard
Like Crazy – Drake Doremus
Little Birds – Elgin James
Live With It – Jonathan Levine
Lullaby For Pi – Benoît Philippon
Magic Valley – Jaffe Zinn
Margaret – Kenneth Lonergan
Margin Call – J.C. Chandor
The Moth Diaries – Mary Harron
The Music Never Stopped – Jim Kohlberg
My Idiot Brother – Jesse Peretz
Northeast – Gregory Kohn
On the Ice – Andrew Okpeaha MacLean
The Oranges – Julian Farino
Our School – Mona Nicoara and Miruna Coca-Cozma
Pariah Dee Rees
The Patron Saints – Brian M. Cassidy & Melanie Shatzky
Perfect Sense – David MacKenzie
Red State – Kevin Smith
Restless City – Andrew Dosunmu
Sahkanaga – John Henry Summerour
Salvation Boulevard – George Ratliff
Sleeping Beauty – Julie Leigh
Stuck Between Stations – Brady Kiernan
Take This Waltz – Sarah Polley
Terri – Azazel Jacobs
Tyrannosaur – Paddy Considine
Una Noche – Lucy Mulloy
* Untitled Branson, Missouri project – AJ Schnack and David Wilson
Jeff Nichols’ Untitled Psychological Drama
The Wait – M. Blash
Win Win – Tom McCarthy
Yelling to the Sky – Victoria Mahoney