2010 Sundance Film Festival

HOMEWRECKER Mike is a locksmith. He’s also a prisoner on work release, but you wouldn’t know it. He’s just trying to focus on his house calls and reconcile with his ex-girlfriend—until Margo hijacks his day. A live-wire kook, who’s certain her boyfriend is cheating on her, Margo bulldozes Mike into spying on the alleged cad. The result: an all-day adventure with a (seemingly) stolen vehicle, a visit to an unlikely drug dealer, and a low blood-sugar attack. Potential trouble follows these two around—but maybe something good will come of it? Codirectors (and brothers) Todd and Brad Barnes infuse screwball sensibility into their version of the romantic comedy. The chemistry between the leads is crucial: Ana Reeder revels in her free-spirited, no-boundaries role and keeps Margo likeable; Anslem Richardson is perfect as her straight man. Full of jaunty dialogue and subtle charm, Homewrecker is an irresistible and impressive debut feature.

As the first woman to lead an Islamic nation, former Pakistani Prime Minister Benazir Bhutto's life story unfolds like a tale of Shakespearean dimensions. Educated at Harvard and Oxford, Bhutto evolved from pampered princess to polarizing politician battling tradition and terrorism in the most dangerous country on Earth. Her father, the first democratically elected president of Pakistan, chose Benazir over his eldest son to carry his political mantle. Accused of rampant corruption, imprisoned, then exiled abroad, Bhutto was called back in 2007 as her country’s only hope for democracy. When she was struck down by an assassin, her untimely death sent shock waves throughout the world, transforming Bhutto from political messiah to a martyr in the eyes of the common people. With exclusive interviews from the Bhutto family and never-before-seen footage, filmmakers Jessica Hernandez and Johnny O'Hara have crafted a sweeping epic of a transcendent, yet polarizing, figure whose legacy will be debated for years to come. Film Contact Glenn Aveni, Icon Television Music, Inc. Email: ga@icontvmusic.com

Bilal is an upright black Muslim teen who works at his family’s taxi stand in Detroit. “The Stand,” as they affectionately call it, has been the family’s social and financial hub for the past 60 years, and Bilal is in line to carry the torch. But Bilal, who burns the midnight oil to keep up both the family business and his grades, develops a secret life designed to enable him to attend a top university. When his two lives collide, Bilal is forced to decide between keeping The Stand alive—and living the only life he has ever known—or taking a shot at social mobility. Based on a true story, Bilal’s Stand radiates warmth, humor, and originality. Sultan Sharrief’s debut feature is a freshly crafted film filled with heart and authenticity that transports audiences to a world rarely seen on-screen and heralds the arrival of its filmmaker as a new voice in American independent cinema. Film Contact Micah Bartelme Email: contact@ptra.biz

Sara loves her wife, Katarina. For her fortieth birthday, Sara wants to surprise her wife, unaware that Katarina also has a surprise for this memorable day. Film Contact Thom Palmen, Botnia Film Phone: +46 70 6393388 Email: botniafilm@filmfest.se

Blue Valentine is an intimate, shattering portrait of a disintegrating marriage. On the far side of a once-passionate romance, Cindy (Michelle Williams) and Dean (Ryan Gosling) are married with a young daughter. Hoping to save their marriage, they steal away to a theme hotel. We then encounter them years earlier, when they met and fell in love—full of life and hope. Moving fluidly between these two time periods, Blue Valentine unfolds like a cinematic duet whose refrain asks, where did their love go? Framing the film as a mystery whose answer lies scattered in time (and in character), filmmaker Derek Cianfrance constructs an elegant set of dualities: past and present, youth and adulthood, vitality and entropy. The rigor of his process is visible throughout the film. Eliminating artificial devices, he has only the truth of the characters to work with. Because Gosling and Williams bring amazing intensity and emotional honesty to their roles, the experience of connecting to these two souls becomes truly moving. Film Contact Graham Taylor Phone: (310) 246-3126 Email: gtaylor@wmeentertainment.com

Tracey Snelling’s exquisitely crafted miniature sculptures of buildings and landscapes conjure up a visceral sense of time and place and manifest the life that comes from within. Incorporating architecture, photography, collage, film, and audio, Snelling presents a carnivalesque tableau of the Mexican/American border that tells the story of a sweeping locale and the individual inhabitants who reside in its buildings, streets, and alleyways. The cinematic image stands in for real life and, as it unspools behind windowpanes, creates a sublime sense of wonder, nostalgia, and the relevance of the cinematic image in our terrestrial lives. Film Contact Tracey Snelling Email: tracey@traceysnelling.com

Arsenic-laced water has poisoned a 15-year-old boy from a small, rural village in Cambodia, who fashions dreams for karaoke stardom in spite of his illness. Film Contact Cynthia Wade Phone: (718) 768-2310 Email: cwade@cynthiawade.com

It’s 1984, and Michael Jackson is king—even in Waihau Bay, New Zealand. Here we meet Boy, an 11-year-old who lives on a farm with his gran, a goat, and his younger brother, Rocky (who thinks he has magic powers). Shortly after Gran leaves for a week, Boy’s father, Alamein, appears out of the blue. Having imagined a heroic version of his father during his absence, Boy comes face to face with the real version—an incompetent hoodlum who has returned to find a bag of money he buried years before. This is where the goat enters. Inspired by his Oscar-nominated short, Two Cars, One Night, Taika Waititi offers a charming, funny, and earnest coming-of-age story where everybody has some coming of age to do—particularly Alamein (affably played by Waititi himself). Never short on humor, Waititi’s story is ultimately about three boys (one grown) reconciling fantasy with reality. Film Contact James Thompson, New Zealand Film Commission Phone: +64 4 382 7682 Email: sales@nzfilm.co.nz