After a decidedly
slow start, this year's Sundance Film Festival finally caught fire with several
high profile announcements of acquisitions. Miramax Films grabbed actor Todd
Fields' debut feature In
The Bedroom starring Sissy Spacek and Tom Wilkinson. The film, which
chronicles the breakdown of a long marriage has been praised by festival-goers
for its superb acting and the dexterity of Fields' direction.



IFC Films, the new distribution division of pay cable channel The Independent
Film Channel, snapped the dramatic films Jump, Tomorrow and the
audience pleasing documentary Go Tigers. At the same time US distributor
Arrow Entertainment was closing in on the Canadian feature Maelstrom.




According to inside sources, Artisan Entertainment had made a substantial offer
for Billy Corben's controversial documentary, Raw
Deal: A Question of Consent. The film gained national attention this
week through a front-page story in the New York Post featuring interviews with
the filmmakers and the film's female subject, Lisa Gier, a woman who is forcibly
raped as part of a college fraternity initiation. Apparently, the video footage
is so strong that the film may face an NC-17 rating.