Sundance Film Festival Podcasts

"NERAKHOON (The Betrayal)" is the personal story of a Lao family who survives the ordeals of the Lao secret air war. This ordeal starts with the father joining the CIA, the forced exile of the family to America, continuing after the split of the family. It is an epic immigrant drama, full of humanity,wit and tragedy, poetry and ancient philosophy. Its form is unique, merging the documentary and narrative in a poetic memoir with the viseral edge of cinema verite that unfolds over 23 years.

An aspiring rap artist and her streetwise husband, armed with a video camera, show what survival is all about when they are trapped in New Orleans by deadly floodwaters, and then seize a chance for a new beginning.

Set in New York in the sweltering summer of 1994, "The Wackness" tells the story of a troubled teenage drug dealer, who trades pot for therapy sessions with a drug-addled psychiatrist. Things get more complicated when the kid falls for one of his classmates, who just happens to be the doctor's daughter. Set against the backdrop of the greatest year in hip hop history, "The Wackness" is a coming-of-age story about sex, drugs, music--and what it takes to be a man.

"Good Dick" is a love story set in Los Angeles about a lonely girl who is drawn from her strange hermitic life by a persistent video store clerk who is determined to make her fall in love with him.

Amy Redford's film depicts the transformation of a woman after she is diagnosed with a terminal disease, fired from her thankless job and abandoned by her boyfriend. Given two months to live, she throws caution to the wind to pursue her dreams, which include romance, good chinese food and learning to play the electric guitar.

Water is the very essence of life. It sustains every living being on this planet and without it, there would be nothing. Literally. In "FLOW: For Love Of Water," filmed in twelve countries and with amazing interviews, Irena Salina reveals the uncomfortable reality that water is a resource we have grown dangerously accustomed to taking for granted. The film is a compelling catalyst for people everywhere to realize the time has come to turn the tide. The time is now.

This exhilarating documentary from the emerging Palestinian Hip Hop scene is heartbreaking, humorous, and unlike anything else you`ve seen on contemporary life in Israel and Palestine. Saturated with the style and sound of Palestine`s first rappers, the film brings us close to its young protagonists as they make history armed with only their voices.

"Patti Smith: Dream of Life" is a plunge into the philosophy and artistry of cult rocker Patti Smith. This portrait of the legendary singer, artist and poet explores themes of spirituality, history, and the human condition. Known as the godmother of punk, She emerged in the 1970's, galvanizing the music scene with her unique style of poetic rage, music, and trademark swagger.

A murder witness on the run from the inner-city must stand his ground in a tiny Texas behindhand town in order to keep his dreams alive.

A recent college graduate runs afoul of his gangster father when he falls into a dangerous relationship with a free-spirited couple during the last summer of his youth.

Part love story, part gritty road movie, "Reversion" is the allegorical tale of Eva, a woman desperately trying to avoid a future in which she kills the man she loves. It is a world in which the past, present, and future unfold simultaneously; a world in which a genetic mutation has left a swath of humanity devoid of morality. Shot across the landscape of Los Angeles, the film chronicles Eva's journey from East Hollywood to the Pacific Ocean as she searches for a way to escape her destiny.

"January 2008 marks the 30th anniversary of Roman Polanski`s flight from the United States. Polanski fled after pleading guilty to unlawful sexual intercourse with an underage girl and serving time in jail. Marina Zenovich`s new documentary reopens this complex and controversial case and challenges many of the myths which have built up around it."

Born in Kisumu, Kenya, Christopher Zalla spent much of his youth overseas and worked for nine summers as a commercial salmon fisherman in Alaska's Bering Sea. Zalla received his MFA with honors in directing from Columbia University's graduate film program, where he served as a teaching assistant and the faculty awarded him a full research assistant fellowship for merit as a top student. Prior to Padre Nuestro, he wrote "Marching Powder" for Brad Pitt's Plan B Entertainment. Zalla is fluent in Spanish and lives in New York City.

Virginia native Adam Bhala Lough's recent work includes the feature Bomb the System (2003), music videos for MF Doom and Joe Strummer, and Farmhouse (2005), an experimental short for Jim Jarmusch. Current projects include the documentary Upsetter: The Music and Genius of Lee Scratch Perry and Mother and Child, a multichannel video installation. Bhala Lough lives and works in Brooklyn, New York.

On July 17, 2007 participants in the Sundance Institute Theatre Lab (an annual three-week workshop for new plays held in Sundance, Utah) were given a platform to speak their mind about new play development during an event called LABthink. Led by Philip Himberg, Producing Artistic Director of the Sundance Institute Theatre Program, three topics were discussed: Technology, Future Audiences and the Actor's Role.