The Sundance Film Festival has always been recognised as the spiritual home of independent cinema, and 2008 was the year that the British joined the party. In stark contrast to previous years when the British presence was minimal, 23 British films (divided between features, documentaries and shorts) were chosen to premiere at Park City, Utah betwen 17-27 January. The phenomenon led Sundance Film Festival director Geoff Gilmore to note that "we have never had anything like the range, quality and full spectrum of films from the UK this year".

In a year when American indie pics failed to inspire bidding wars - despite buyers being desperate to fill their slates due to uncertainty caused by the ongoing writers' strike - the spotlight was definitely on British films. James Marsh's Man On Wire fared best, receiving rave reviews and walking away with two prizes. And although no British films forced Harvey Weinstein and Co to open their chequebooks, the biggest commercial success at the festival was the Steve Coogan comedy Hamlet 2, which sold for $10 million to Focus Features. Scroll on to see what happened at this year's festival...

VIDEO: Sundance Film Festival Postcard Never been to Sundance? We take you there with our video postcard from Park City.

With British films so strongly represented in 2008, Film Network went to Park City and met up with some of the British filmmakers causing a stir on Main Street. Watch interviews with the major players below...

THE FILM: When Stephen Walker's documentary Young @ Heart screened on Channel 4 on 22nd November 2006, it was the beginning of a remarkable journey for the fortysomething filmmaker (his other TV work includes the Cannes Film Festival documentary Waiting For Harvey (1999) and the 2001 porn industry exposé Hardcore).

Young @ Heart is a moving documentary about a troupe of American pensioners singing unlikely yet apt tunes (Should I Stay Or Should I Go and Golden Years, for example). Fox Searchlight bought the film in 2007 and has high hopes for a US theatrical release this year. The film - and various chorus members - bowed at the Broadway Centre Cinema in Salt Lake City on Friday 18th January.

WATCH VIDEO INTERVIEWS:

Director Stephen Walker talks about sharing the same festival nerves as the directors he followed at Cannes making Waiting For Harvey

Stephen Walker on Young @ Heart's amazing transition from TV documentary to US theatrical release

Stephen Walker on how being a Brit helped him make a movie about the American Young @ Heart Chorus

Stephen Walker assesses the pros and cons of the Sundance Film Festival for filmmakers

VIDEO: Young @ Heart Clip Watch a scene from Stephen Walker's documentary and hear I Feel Good as you've never heard it before.

THE FILM: Sean Ellis' follow-up to his debut feature Cashback premiered at the Egyptian Theatre in Park City on Friday 18th January. Variety described the film as "a brooding, atmospheric exercise in upscale psychological horror", with Lena Headey starring as a radiologist whose life is shattered (quite literally) when she thinks she sees herself driving through a London street. Genuinely spooky and unnerving, The Brøken managed to scare the bejeesus out the audience when we saw it in Salt Lake City.

WATCH VIDEO INTERVIEWS:

Writer/director Sean Ellis outlines the plot and introduces a clip from The Broken

Producer Lene Bausager reveals why she wanted to premiere The Broken at Sundance

Writer/director Sean Ellis on why Sundance was the perfect festival to launch The Broken

Producer Lene Bausager discusses dealing with buyers' hype at Sundance

Writer/director Sean Ellis on how the film fared with Sundance audiences

THE FILM: Steven Soderbergh came of age at the 1989 Sundance Film Festival with sex, lies, and videotape, but even he would have to admire the chutzpah of Chris Waitt, whose directorial feature debut premiered at the Holiday Village Cinema in Park City on Saturday 19th January. A commendably honest look at the director's less-than-successful love life, Complete History was probably the Brit buzz films of the festival and looks certain to land a US distributor in the very near future.

WATCH VIDEO INTERVIEWS:

Director Chris Waitt describes his Sundance experience and facing off with Harvey Weinstein

Chris Waitt on having to deal with the public's response to his incredibly personal movie

The Sundance Film Festival doesn't just take place in Park City. Chris Waitt explains how different screenings across Utah attract very different audiences

Chris Waitt on why he hopes no one remakes A Complete History Of My Sexual Failures

VIDEO: A Complete History Of My Sexual Failures Clip Watch a scene from the documentary as Chris Waitt outlines his reasons for making the film.

THE FILM: Marc Evans' documentary In Prison My Whole Life was described by Sundance Film Festival programmer Cara Mertes as "one of the great human rights stories". Evans' film follows young Brit William Francome, born on the same day that Mumia Abu-Jamal was arrested for the murder of a police officer (9th December, 1981), as he tries to uncover the truth about Abu-Jamal's conviction, his life on Death Row, and how state executions are carried out. The documentary received its US premiere at the Holiday Village Cinema in Park City on Sunday 20th January.

WATCH VIDEO INTERVIEWS:

Watch director Marc Evans be announced and then introduce his film at its Sundance premiere

Marc Evans talks about screening a film about America to an American audience

Marc Evans reflects on how Sundance has changed over the past decade

Marc Evans on the uncomfortable process of watching a movie with buyers

THE FILM: Shot on location at Kilmainham Jail in Dublin, Rupert Wyatt's debut feature The Escapist takes great delight in subverting the prison break genre. With an all-star ensemble cast (including Brian Cox, Damian Lewis, Joseph Fiennes, and Dominic Cooper), the UK-Ireland co-production received its world premiere at the Eccles Theatre, Park City, on Monday 21st January.

WATCH VIDEO INTERVIEWS:

Director/co-writer Rupert Wyatt discusses his love of prison break movies

Actors Liam Cunningham and Brian Cox on making The Escapist

Director Rupert Wyatt offers up his take on the Sundance Film Festival

Brian Cox on why Sundance's broadening approach is good news for British cinema

The Escapist producer Adrian Sturges on why he believes there are so many British films at this year's Sundance Film Festival

Actor Damian Lewis on why The Escapist has international appeal

Rupert Wyatt on why a Sundance premiere gives him a unique career opportunity

Actor Dominic Cooper on Rupert Wyatt's qualities as a director

VIDEO: The Escapist Clips Watch two scenes from Rupert Wyatt's prison break drama, starring Brian Cox.

THE FILM: Man On Wire is an extraordinary documentary about "the artistic crime of the century". In 1974 a Frenchman called Philippe Petit balanced on a high wire between the World Trade Centre's Twin Towers; this film recalls his amazing New York story (or is that storey?) using great archival footage and interviews with all of the leading players. Man On Wire was the worthy winner of both the Audience Award and Jury Prize in the World Cinema Documentary section when the Sundance prizes were announced on Saturday 26th January.

The film's director, James Marsh, has been performing his own balancing act in recent years, alternating between documentaries (The Burger And The King, Wisconsin Death Trip, The Team) and features (The King, starring Gael Garcia Bernal). We caught up with him prior to Man On Wire's world premiere at the Holiday Village Cinema in Park City on Tuesday 22nd January.

WATCH VIDEO INTERVIEWS:

Director James Marsh on how he came to direct Man On Wire

Director James Marsh on his collaboration with the 'man on wire', Philippe Petit

James Marsh on creating an "antidote" to 9/11 with Man On Wire

James Marsh on why British directors are drawn to quintessential American subject matter

THE FILM: Of the dozen British shorts on offer at this year's Sundance Film Festival, several were playing in the official shorts selections (such as Simon Ellis' Soft and Tom Harper's Cherries). Others, such as James Lees and Will Bridges' The Apology Line and Leigh Hodkingson's Flighty, played before features.

At many major film festivals the short filmmaker can feel marginalised and unimportant (at Cannes, most strikingly), but Sundance strives to create a supportive atmosphere for all filmmakers. We caught up with James and Will after The Apology Line screened with Fear(s) Of The Dark on 18-20 January to get the long and short of it.

WATCH VIDEO INTERVIEWS:

Co-director James Lees explains the concept behind The Apology Line

Co-directors James Lees and Will Bridges on how Sundance makes short filmmakers feel welcome

Co-director Will Bridges on why Sundance is leading the way for short filmmakers

VIDEO: The Apology Line Clip Watch a couple of apologies from James and Will's short.

Adrian Hennigan | Published 24 January 08

send to a friend 

start a new discussion