Eye For Film >> Festivals >> Sundance >> 2006 >> Independent Feature Film Competition: Dramatic

Featuring 16 films from US independent filmmakers, vying for the Grand Jury Prize. This year it was won by Quinceanera - later released in the UK under the name Echo Park, L.A. - which also picked up the Audience Award. The Waldo Salt Screenwriting Award went to Hilary Brougher for Stephanie Daley. The Excellence In Cinematography Award went to Tom Richmond for Right At Your Door, while the Dramatic Directing Award went to Dito Montiel for A Guide To Recognizing Your Saints.

View other Sundance Film Festival Films by strand: Frontier, Independent Feature Film Competition: Documentary, Park City At Midnight, Premieres, Spectrum, Sundance Collection, World Cinema Competition: Documentary, World Cinema Competition: Dramatic

Wristcutters: A Love Story and In Between Days

Come Early Morning (Country: US; Year: 2006; Director: Joey Lauren Adams; Writer: Joey Lauren Adams; Stars: Ashley Judd, Jason T Davis, Richard Lee Crow, Laura Prepon, Christine Renee Ward, Candyce Hinkle, Scott Wilson, Tim Blake Nelson, Pat Corley, Diane Ladd, Wally Welch)

A writer recounts his teenage experiences in tough 1980s Astoria, New York - where all his friends ended up dead, as junkies, or in prison - exploring how he managed to emerge unscathed.

World Premiere

Echo Park, L.A. (Quinceañera) (Country: US; Year: 2006; Director: Richard Glatzer, Wash Westmoreland; Writer: Richard Glatzer, Wash Westmoreland; Stars: Jesus Castanos, Araceli Guzman-Rico, Emily Rios, J.R. Cruz, Listette Avila, Alicia Sixtos, Hector Quevedo, Germán Campos, Carlos Linares, Johnny Chavez, Carmen Aguirre)

Rites of passage for Mexican- American teenagers in Los Angeles.

Full Review

Shown at Sundance under the title Quinceanera. World Premiere

Flannel Pajamas (Country: US; Year: 2006; Director: Jeff Lipsky; Writer: Jeff Lipsky; Stars: Justin Kirk, Julianne Nicholson, Rebecca Schull, Jamie Harrold, Chelsea Altman, Michelle Federer, Tom Bower, Stephanie Roth Haberle, George Riddle, Lauren Bittner, Stephanie March)

A magical evening in a local diner sparks an intense courtship and an emotionally mercurial marriage that challenges two New Yorkers to the core.

World Premiere

Forgiven (Country: US; Year: 2006; Director: Paul Fitzgerald; Writer: Paul Fitzgerald; Stars: Cooper Agar, Don Henderson Baker, Al Butler, Doug Chancey, Traci Dinwiddie, Thomas Elliot, Thomas Elliott, Bradley Evans, Libby Fitzgerald, Paul Fitzgerald, Susan Floyd)

On the eve of his campaign launch for a seat in the US Senate, a small town District Attorney receives word that the governor has exonerated a death row inmate whom he had prosecuted five years earlier.

World Premiere

A Guide To Recognizing Your Saints (Country: US; Year: 2006; Director: Dito Montiel; Writer: Dito Montiel; Stars: Robert Downey Jr, Shia LaBeouf, Chazz Palminteri, Dianne Wiest, Channing Tatum, Melonie Diaz, Martin Compston, Eric Roberts, Rosario Dawson, Peter Tambakis, Anthony DeSando, Julia Garro, Eleonore Hendricks)

A man haunted by a summer from his past, returns to his old stamping ground to confront old ghosts.

Full Review See: Martin Compston Q&A about A Guide To Recognizing Your Saints

World Premiere

A Guide To Recognizing Your Saints and Echo Park, L.A.

The Hawk Is Dying (Country: US; Year: 2006; Director: Julian Goldberger; Writer: Harry Crews, Julian Goldberger; Stars: Paul Giamatti, Michelle Williams, Michael Pitt, Rusty Schwimmer, Robert Wisdom, Ann Wedgeworth, Mark Campbell, Ayana Rhoden, Taylor Simpson, John Hostetter, Steve DuMouchel)

A Gainesville, Florida auto upholsterer attempts to subvert his mundane life by training a wild, red-tailed hawk.

World Premiere

Half Nelson (Country: US; Year: 2006; Director: Ryan Fleck; Writer: Anna Boden, Ryan Fleck; Stars: Ryan Gosling, Shareeka Epps, Anthony Mackie, Monique Curnen, Karen Chilton, Tina Holmes, Collins Pennie, Deborah Rush, Jay O. Sanders, Bryce Silver, Sebastian Sozzi)

A drug-addicted teacher is befriended by a student.

Full Review

World Premiere

In Between Days (Country: US; Year: 2006; Director: So Yong Kim; Writer: Bradley Rust Grey, So Yong Kim; Stars: Kate Clancey, Jamie Hebert, Taegu Andy Kang, Ivy Khan, Bokja Kim)

Love story about a migrant teen who falls for her best friend.

Full Review

World Premiere

Ordinary Boys (Chicos normales) (Country: Spain; Year: 2008; Director: Daniel Hernandez; Writer: Daniel Hernández, Gabi Martínez ; Stars: Rabia Bouchfira, El-Khader Aoulasse, Youseff Belefki )

Distinctive and timely study of a trio of young people in the region of Morocco where five of the terrorists responsible for Spain's 11th March 2004 bombings were born and bred.

Puccini For Beginners (Country: US; Year: 2006; Director: Maria Maggenti; Writer: Maria Maggenti; Stars: Elizabeth Reaser, Gretchen Mol, Justin Kirk, Julianne Nicholson, Tina Benko, Jennifer Dundas, Kate Simses, Brian Letscher, Will Bozarth, Ken Barnett, Becca Anderson)

On the rebound from her latest lesbian relationship, a New York writer finds herself in two surprising and complicated love affairs in this only-in-New-York screwball comedy.

World Premiere

Sherrybaby and Right At Your Door

Right At Your Door (Country: US; Year: 2006; Director: Chris Gorak; Writer: Chris Gorak; Stars: Mary McCormack, Rory Cochrane, Tony Perez, Scotty Noyd jr, Max Kasch, Jon Huertas)

Trapped indoors after chemical bombs explode in downtown Los Angeles.

Full Review

World Premiere

Sherrybaby (Country: US; Year: 2005; Director: Laurie Collyer; Writer: Laurie Collyer; Stars: Maggie Gyllenhaal, Brad William Henke, Giancarlo Esposito, Sam Bottoms, Ryan Simpkins, Kate Burton, Bridget Barkan, Danny Trejo)

An optimistic ex-convict tries to rebuild her life.

Full Review

World Premiere

Sleeping Dogs (Sleeping Dogs Lie, Stay) (Country: US; Year: 2006; Director: Bobcat Goldthwait; Writer: Bobcat Goldthwait; Stars: Melinda Page Hamilton, Bryce Johnson, Geoffrey Pierson, Colby French, Jack Plotnick, Brian Posehn)

An offbeat indie comedy about love, lies and your pets.

Full Review See: Bobcat Goldthwait interview about Sleeping Dogs and his plans for World's Greatest Dad

Shown at Sundance under the title Stay. World Premiere

Somebodies (Country: US; Year: 2006; Director: Hadjii; Writer: Hadjii; Stars: Tyler Craig, Patt Brown, Nard Holston, Nick Lewis, Iron E Singleton, Amber Chaney, Roland Williams Jr., Anthony K. Hyatt, Corey Redding, Quante Strickland, Eric Register)

Surrounded by eccentric relatives, prankster classmates, and more-or-less rehabilitated ex-cons, a black college student stumbles along the path to responsible adulthood.

See: Sundance Film Festival 2006: Day 7
, Sundance Film Festival 2006: Day 3

World Premiere

Stephanie Daley (Country: US; Year: 2006; Director: Hilary Brougher; Writer: Hilary Brougher; Stars: Tilda Swinton, Amber Tamblyn, Timothy Hutton, Denis O'Hare, Melissa Leo, Jim Gaffigan, Halley Feiffer, Kel O'Neill, Deirdre O'Connell, Neal Huff, John Ellison Conlee)

When a teenager is accused of killing her baby, a forensic psychologist tries to uncover the truth.

Full Review

World Premiere

Sleeping Dogs and Half Nelson

Wristcutters: A Love Story (Country: USA; Year: 2006; Director: Goran Dukic; Writer: Goran Dukic, Etgar Keret; Stars: Patrick Fugit, Shannyn Sossamon, Shea Whigham, Tom Waits, Will Arnett, Cameron Bowen, John Hawkes, Leslie Bibb, Abraham Benrubi, Mikal P. Lazarev, Mary Pat Gleason), Official Site, Trailer

A young man kills himself and awakens in a land where everything is "just a little bit worse".

Full Review

World Premiere