Predictions 2010 Sundance Film Festival: Babluani, Fabrega and Jarecki

The Sundance selection committee headed by 1st term Festival Director John Cooper are probably butting heads, making and breaking dreams as I publish this. Official selections are less than 2 weeks away, so I figure, as I do every year, that I’ll have some fun predicting what’ll be watching/covering 2 months from now. If the tradition of nurturing the new generation of filmmakers and bringing back old family members from previous editions continues, most of my predictions (at least half of the 45 I’ll name) should materialize. Instead of one massive document, I’m going to publish this big reveal in 9 easy steps over the next four days with one recap, so bare with me. Below you’ll find: brief intros, a percentile forecast on the chances of seeing the actual title in Salt Lake/Park City and quick links. Let me know what you think of the selections, and what films out of the batch you’d most want to see.

13 – An English language remake of his breakout film 13 Tzameti, Géla Babluani brought his last picture The Legacy to Park City in 2007. 13 is one of Paramount Vantage’s final sales titles, and they’ve been successful in making deals in just about every territory. I’m guessing that the remake is a diversion from the original due to the inclusion of a pair of female players among the large grouping of men (Emmanuelle Chriqui and Natasha Lyonne are included in the wolf pack of Jason Statham, Alexander Skarsgård, Mickey Rourke, Ray Winstone, 50 Cent, Michael Shannon, Ben Gazzara and Control‘s Sam Riley). The thriller follows a naive young man who stumbles across instructions meant to be used by a dead gangster. His curiosity leads him to a clandestine world where men gamble behind closed doors with the lives of other men. Sundance Selection Forecast: 40% Chance. If this is anything close to the original it’ll play in the Park City at Midnight screenings, but it’ll all depend on deals with foreign distribution companies and what’s the best platform for them. (ioncinema.com Preview/IMDB Link)

2012: Time For Change – Seeing that the festival is also a premiere destination for documentary films, and as of late, of the eco-friendly kind, I’m thinking that Joao G. Amorim’s docu tying in Mayan’s doomsday calendar date with ways to “transform our unsustainable society into a regenerative planetary culture” might have a chance at a slot not because of the infusion of animated bits, but because it explores the duel notions alongside Daniel Pinchbeck and several talking heads including celebs Ellen Page, David Lynch and Sting. Sundance Selection Forecast: 10% Chance. Slim, because the docu sections are extremely selective. (IMDB Link/Official Website) 

Adopt Me, Michael Jordan – The sort of perfect combo of doc for the fest: philanthropy and a touching narrative, this is the story of twelve-year-old Weynshet as she travels from an Ethopian orphanage to an adoptive family in the U.S. I’m not sure in what context it was presented as a work-in-progress , but Melanie Judd and Susan Motamed’s film was supported by the festival. Sundance Selection Forecast: 80% Chance. Perhaps a Spectrum section documentary selection. (IMDB Link) 

Agua Fria De Mar – A title that will surely be added to the World Dramatic Comp, Paz Fabrega’s directorial debut is set in Costa Rica and tells the tale of a “young woman who encounters a strange little girl, and with it the unpredictable, vast nature, which make human effort seems small and absurd.” The film was developed with the help of the Sundance Screenwriters Lab and it won the Arte award at the Buenos Aires Lab and was a finalist for Sundance/NHK 2008. Sundance Selection Forecast: 90% Chance. I imagine that this could dip its toes in Park City, Rotterdam and/or Berlin. (ioncinema.com Preview/IMDB Link)

All Good Things – I mention the pic as a probable selection same time last year, but the film wasn’t ready. With the Weinsteins pushing up the release to March of next year, I can’t help but think that programmers will pull out a red carpet for Andrew Jarecki, who was a big winner there in 03′ with Capturing the Friedmans – easily among my decades’ best list. Oddly, like his doc film, this fictional account is filled with family secrets as well. Kirsten Dunst, Ryan Gosling, Frank Langella, Jeffrey Dean Morgan and Kristen Wiig star in this set in the 80’s tale out of NYC. Gosling’s character is “the son of a powerful real estate tycoon marries a beautiful working class student, Katie (Dunst). Together they flee the city for idyllic country life in Vermont – only to be lured back by David’s father. Upon their return, Katie goes back to medical school and begins to make a life for herself. But as Katie becomes increasingly independent, David mysteriously turns more violent and controlling.” Sundance Selection Forecast: 80% Chance. A return visit is in order and a visit in Berlin could help build the buzz for the March domestic release. (ioncinema.com Preview/IMDB Link)

Stay tuned for Part II later today.