Swaggots at Sundance



The "buzzy" Blacksnake Moan, to be screened at Sundance.

As the Sundancers prepare to descend upon Park City for their swag "booty," some news is already coming out. Content from the Festival will be available in clip form on YouTube (pretty cool). And, from BloggingSundance:

"I've noticed that the big splashy film festivals, like Sundance or Cannes, always have an eclectic mix of members on their award juries. For example, the feature film jury at Cannes in 2006 included Samuel L. Jackson, Wong Kar-Wai and Helena Bonham Carter (wouldn't you love to see those three involved in a film together?). This year's Sundance juries, which have just been announced, are no exception. Jurors for the dramatic competition include actor/musician Mos Def, actress Sarah Polley (whose feature directorial debut Away from Her is the festival's Gala opener), director Catherine Hardwicke (The Nativity Story and Thirteen), editor Pamela Martin (Little Miss Sunshine and Slums of Beverly Hills) and Dawn Hudson, executive director of Film Independent/LAFF. I'm pleased to see the high percentage of women on this jury, too."

And, on Indiewire, an interview with Rory Kennedy -- Yes, of those Kennedy's -- on her film "The Ghosts of Abu Graib":

"IndieWire: What were some of the biggest challenges you faced in making the movie?

"Rory kennedy: The greatest risk in making "Ghosts of Abu Ghraib" was not one that I took personally, but taken by the people I interviewed, particularly the Iraqi detainees who were wrongfully imprisoned at Abu Ghraib. As the situation on the ground was too dangerous, the six prisoners interviewed could not be filmed in Iraq. Their stories, however, were too important to go unheard and they seemed to know this. As an alternative, we arranged for them to fly to Jordan, but they were stopped at the Baghdad Airport and turned back. Still, unwilling to give up, we next arranged for them to fly to Turkey and, after overcoming a number of diplomatic obstacles, were able to get them into the country. Given all that already had been done to these men, months of imprisonment and torture, I felt they were incredibly brave to speak out on camera. Mostly, they feared an American retaliation if their identities were revealed; arguably, they were risking their lives. And yet, despite all this, they were willing to trust me, an American filmmaker."

It's only just begun ...