The 2006 Sundance Film Festival, taking place January 19-29, 2006
Independent Feature Film Competition: Dramatic

American independent cinema yields some of the most exciting and highly anticipated film in the world. These 16 films were selected from 1,004 submissions. From disaffected Latino youth finding family to a southern woman finding love, this section is filled with coming of age comedies and dramas, stories of love and addition with some characters seeking forgiveness for past sins. These films represent the diverse subjects and perspectives that constitute the vision and creativity of American independent filmmakers.



The films screening in Dramatic Competition are:

A GUIDE TO RECOGNIZING YOUR SAINTS (Director and Screenwriter: Dito Montiel)—A writer recounts his teenage experiences in tough 1980s Astoria, New York – where all his friends ended up dead, as junkies, or in prison – exploring how he managed to emerge unscathed. World Premiere.

COME EARLY MORNING (Director and Screenwriter: Joey Lauren Adams)—The story of a southern woman trying to escape her addictions and self-destructive behavior to find true love. World Premiere.

FLANNEL PAJAMAS (Director and Screenwriter: Jeff Lipsky)—A magical evening in a local diner sparks an intense courtship and an emotionally mercurial marriage that challenges two New Yorkers to the core. World Premiere.

FORGIVEN (Director and Screenwriter: Paul Fitzgerald)—On the eve of his campaign launch for a seat in the U.S. Senate, a small town District Attorney receives word that the governor has exonerated a death row inmate whom he’d prosecuted five years earlier. World Premiere.

HALF NELSON (Director: Ryan Fleck; Screenwriters: Anna Boden and Ryan Fleck)—An inner-city junior high school teacher with a drug habit forms an unlikely friendship with one of his students after she discovers his secret. World Premiere.

THE HAWK IS DYING (Director: Julian Goldberger; Screenwriters: Harry Crews (novel) and Julian Goldberger)—A Gainesville, Florida auto upholsterer attempts to subvert his mundane life by training a wild, red-tailed hawk. World Premiere.

IN BETWEEN DAYS (Director: So Yong Kim; Screenwriters: So Yong Kim and Bradley Rust Gray)—When a recent Korean immigrant falls in love with her best and only friend, their misunderstood affection for each other creates a delicate relationship that is challenged by the demands of living in a new country. World Premiere.

PUCCINI FOR BEGINNERS (Director and Screenwriter: Maria Maggenti)—On the rebound from her latest lesbian relationship, a New York writer finds herself in two surprising and complicated love affairs in this only-in-New-York screwball comedy. World Premiere.

QUINCEANERA (Directors and Screenwriters: Richard Glatzer and Wash Westmoreland)—Disaffected Latino teenagers come of age in a gentrifying community in Echo Park district of Los Angeles. World Premiere.

RIGHT AT YOUR DOOR (Director and Screenwriter: Chris Gorak)—Multiple dirty bombs are detonated and spread deadly toxic ash and mass panic throughout Los Angeles. With limited information, time and supplies, and in the midst of city-wide chaos, a married couple struggles to survive. World Premiere.

SHERRYBABY (Director and Screenwriter: Laurie Collyer)—After serving a three-year prison sentence, a young woman quickly discovers that coming back to the world she left behind is far more difficult than she had planned. World Premiere.

SOMEBODIES (Director and Screenwriter: Hadjii)—Surrounded by eccentric relatives, prankster classmates, and more-or-less rehabilitated ex-cons, a Black college student stumbles along the path to responsible adulthood. World Premiere.

STAY (Director and Screenwriter: Bob Goldthwait)—A youthful, impulsive sexual encounter opens the door to a dark comedy about the complexities of honesty. World Premiere.

STEEL CITY (Director and Screenwriter: Brian Jun)—In a small Midwest town, two irresponsible brothers must come to terms with the lives they live after their father is incarcerated for killing a woman. World Premiere.

STEPHANIE DALEY (Director and Screenwriter: Hilary Brougher)—A forensic psychologist, seven months pregnant, is hired to learn the truth behind a teenager’s denial of accusations that she concealed her pregnancy and committed infanticide. World Premiere.

WRISTCUTTERS – A LOVE STORY (Director: Goran Dukic; Screenwriters: Goran Dukic and Etgar Kerett)—An Offbeat Comedy, A Love Story, A Road Movie - But Everybody's Dead! World Premiere.