Eye For Film >> Festivals >> Sundance >> 2011 >> US Dramatic Competition

Sundance Film Festival 2011

This year’s 16 films were selected from 1,102 submissions. Each is a world premiere.

View other Sundance Film Festival Films by strand: Documentary Premieres, From The Collection, Native Showcase, New Frontier, NEXT (<=>), Park City At Midnight, Premieres, Spotlight, US Documentary Competition, World Cinema Documentary Competition, World Cinema Dramatic Competition

Take Shelter Take Shelter
Take Shelter and Another Earth
Another Earth (Country: US; Year: 2010; Director: Mike Cahill; Writer: Mike Cahill, Brit Marling; Stars: William Mapother, Brit Marling, Jordan Baker, Ana Kayne, Meggan Lennon, Diane Ciesla, Matthew-Lee Erlbach, Niecy Cerise), Official Site, Trailer
On the eve of the discovery of a duplicate Earth, a tragedy irrevocably alters the lives of two strangers.
Full Review
Another Happy Day (Country: US; Year: 2011; Director: Sam Levinson; Stars: Demi Moore, Kate Bosworth, Jeffrey DeMunn, Ellen Barkin, Ellen Burstyn, Thomas Haden Church)
A pair of reckless siblings are dragged into a chaotic family wedding by their overwrought mother.
Benavides Born (Country: US; Year: 2010; Director: Amy Wendel; Writer: Daniel Meisel, Amy Wendel; Stars: Corina Calderon, Jeremy Ray Valdez, Joseph Julian Soria, Julia Vera, Julio Cedillo, Leticia Magaña, Julian Works, Amanda Rivas, Erika Cervantes, Jaime Medeles, Gustavo Gomez, Manuel Garcia, Hector Machado, Gloria Gutierrez, Rudy Treviño), Official Site
A high school senior in a forgotten town has earned admission to the University of Texas at Austin but can't afford to go. Her one shot is a scholarship for winning the State Powerlifting Championship.
Circumstance (Country: US, Iran; Year: 2010; Director: Maryam Keshavarz; Writer: Maryam Keshavarz; Stars: Nikohl Boosheri, Sarah Kazemy, Reza Sixo Safai, Soheil Parsa, Nasrin Pakkho), Official Site
A wealthy Iranian family struggles to contain a teenager's growing sexual rebellion and her brother's dangerous obsession.
Gun Hill Road (Country: US; Year: 2010; Director: Rashaad Ernesto Green; Writer: Rashaad Ernesto Green; Stars: Judy Reyes, Esai Morales, Vincent Laresca, Isiah Whitlock Jr., Franky G, Miriam Colon, Vanessa Aspillaga, Robert Prescott, Robin de Jesus, Gleendilys Inoa, Felix Solis, Flaco Navaja, Jeff Lima, Ephraim Benton, Ty Jones)
After three years in prison, Enrique returns to the Bronx to find his wife estranged and his teenage son stumbling towards a transformation that will put the fragile bonds of their family to the test.
Like Crazy Like Crazy
Like Crazy and Terri
HERE (Country: US; Year: 2011; Director: Braden King; Writer: Braden King, Dani Valent; Stars: Ben Foster, Lubna Azabal, Alla Sahakyan, Narek Nersisyan, Nick Wagner, Ruzanna Shar, Armen Hayrapetyan, Garik Chepchyan, Vahag Stepanyan, Yvette Ghazaryan, Kchachatryan Davit, Aivart Amikyan, Ara Hakobyan, Vahan Hoveyan, Karapet Aleksanyan), Official Site
On assignment to create a new, more accurate satellite survey of Armenia, an American cartographer forms a powerful bond with an Armenian expatriate and art photographer.
Higher Ground (Country: US; Year: 2011; Director: Vera Farmiga; Writer: Carolyn Briggs, Tim Metcalfe; Stars: Donna Murphy, Vera Farmiga, John Hawkes, Bill Irwin, Dagmara Dominczyk, Joshua Leonard, Ebon Moss-Bachrach, Norbert Leo Butz, Michael Chernus, Nina Arianda, Boyd Holbrook, Sean Mahon, Lucy Owen, Natalie Thomas, Booker James Winter)
A frustrated young mother turns to a fundamentalist community for answers, but after years of dogma and loss, she must find the courage to ask the questions that will help her reclaim her life.
Homework (Country: US; Year: 2011; Director: Gavin Wiesen; Writer: Gavin Wiesen; Stars: Freddie Highmore, Emma Roberts, Michael Angarano, Elizabeth Reaser, Sam Robards, Alicia Silverstone, Blair Underwood, Rita Wilson, Jarlath Conroy, Sophie Curtis, Ann Dowd, Marcus Carl Franklin, Ann Harada, Dan Leonard, Maya Ri Sanchez)
Quirky, rebellious George has no ambitions other than to cut his next class. But one day, one girl gives him the perfect reason to figure out who he really is.
The Ledge (Country: US; Year: 2011; Director: Matthew Chapman; Writer: Matthew Chapman; Stars: Charlie Hunnam, Patrick Wilson, Liv Tyler, Terrence Howard, Christopher Gorham, Monica Acosta, Jaqueline Fleming, Jillian Batherson, Mike Pniewski, Mindy Caraccioli, Amber Gaiennie, Dean J. West, Sean Paul Braud, Melody Noel, Thomas C. Daniel)
A police officer looks to talk down a young man lured by his lover's husband to the ledge of a high rise, where he has one hour to contemplate a fateful decision.
See: Sundance Film Festival Diary Day 2: The Ledge and Win Win
Little Birds (Country: US; Year: 2011; Director: Elgin James; Writer: Elgin James; Stars: Kate Bosworth, Kay Panabaker, Leslie Mann, Juno Temple, Kyle Gallner, Neal McDonough, Carlos Pena, David Warshofsky, JR Bourne, Lauren Pennington, Kathleen Gati, Chris Coy, Lydia Blanco, Katie Nehra, Scotty Noyd Jr.)
Amid the stark landscape of the Salton Sea, two 15-year-old girls test the limits of their friendship when one follows the other to Los Angeles, only to discover that the boredom of home may be better than learning to survive in the big city.
Martha Marcy May Marlene Martha Marcy May Marlene
Martha Marcy May Marlene and Pariah
Like Crazy (Country: US; Year: 2011; Director: Drake Doremus; Writer: Drake Doremus, Ben York Jones; Stars: Felicity Jones, Anton Yelchin, Jennifer Lawrence, Chris Messina, Alex Kingston, Finola Hughes, Charlie Bewley, Keeley Hazell, Jamie Thomas King, Oliver Muirhead, Ben York Jones, Katie Wallack, Kayla Barr, Iris Taylor Cameron)
A British student and an American find their love tested by a long-distance relationship.
Full Review
Martha Marcy May Marlene (Country: US; Year: 2011; Director: T Sean Durkin; Writer: T Sean Durkin; Stars: Sarah Paulson, Hugh Dancy, John Hawkes, Brady Corbet, Elizabeth Olsen, Louisa Krause, Maria Dizzia, Julia Garner, Christopher Abbott, Diana Masi, Allen McCullough, Michael Chmiel)
A woman is traumatised after fleeing a cult.
Full Review See: Keeping score: Danny Bensi and Saunder Jurrians talk about Last Days In The Desert, Enemy and Wolfpack
, New York Film Festival: Diary piece - Fassbender, Cronenberg, Durkin, Olsen, Payne talk about clothes and authenticity
, New York Film Festival: Photo Gallery Three
, Sundance 2011: Martha Marcy May Marlene, Codependent Lesbian Space Alien Seeks Same and Restless City
On The Ice (Country: US; Year: 2011; Director: Andrew Okpeaha MacLean; Writer: Andrew Okpeaha MacLean; Stars: Josiah Patkotak, Frank Qutuq Irelan, Teddy Kyle Smith, Adamina Kerr, Sierra Jade Sampson), Official Site
After a fight in which their friend is killed, two Alaskan teenagers try to cover up what happened and keep their mutual secret.
Full Review
Pariah (Country: US; Year: 2011; Director: Dee Rees; Writer: Dee Rees; Stars: Adepero Oduye, Pernell Walker, Aasha Davis, Kim Wayans, Charles Purnell, Sahra Mellesse), Official Site
A teenager juggles conflicting identities and endures heartbreak in a desperate search for sexual expression.
Full Review
Take Shelter (Country: US; Year: 2011; Director: Jeff Nichols; Writer: Jeff Nichols; Stars: Michael Shannon, Katy Mixon, Shea Whigham, Jessica Chastain, Kathy Baker, Ray McKinnon, Lisa Gay Hamilton, Robert Longstreet, Guy Van Swearingen, Bart Flynn, Tova Stewart, Charles Moore, Scott Knisley, Sheila Hullihen, Stutz Bearcat)
After experiencing visions of impending catastrophe, an ordinary man takes extraordinary measures - but can he trust the evidence of his own senses?
Full Review
On The Ice On The Ice
On The Ice and Circumstance
Terri (Country: US; Year: 2011; Director: Azazel Jacobs; Writer: Patrick Dewitt, Azazel Jacobs; Stars: Jacob Wysocki, John C. Reilly, Creed Bratton, Diane Salinger, Olivia Crocicchia, Bridger Zadina, Jenna Gavigan, Tara Karsian, Jessica D. Stone, Melanie Abramoff, Mary Anne McGarry, Jamie Lee Redmon, Justin Prentice, Curtiss Frisle, Lisa Hoover)
An unhappy, overweight boy with a difficult home life finds inspiration in a deputy headteacher who loves to break the rules.
Full Review See: Sundance 2011 diary piece, capsule reviews of Terri, Ticket To Paradise and a chat with Richard Ayoade
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