Political Doc to Open '07 Sundance Film Festival

The Sundance Film Festival announced today that the 2007 event will open with a world premiere of the documentary "Chicago 10," a film that examines the anti-war protests surrounding the 1968 Chicago Democratic Party national convention.

“We are pleased to open the 2007 Sundance Film Festival with Brett Morgen’s 'Chicago 10.' We are particularly excited to be able to present a film that pushes the boundaries of many of the traditional aspects of documentary filmmaking, that speaks to audiences beyond what one might expect and that exemplifies the range of creativity and diversity that we support at the Festival,” said Geoffrey Gilmore, Director, Sundance Film Festival.

Written and directed by Morgen, the doc features a mix of interviews, archival footage and original animated sequences.

“I am thrilled and honored that 'Chicago 10' has been selected to open the 2007 Sundance Film Festival. The Festival’s long-standing generosity and tenacious support of independent filmmakers is exhilarating and humbling,” said Morgen. “It seems fitting to me that a film about the importance of taking a stand should launch the 2007 edition. For the past five years I have labored to bring this story into focus and with each passing day, the film becomes increasingly relevant. I can’t think of a more appropriate time and place to unleash this beast.”

"Chicago 10" is only the second doc to be selected as the festival's opening night film, following Stacy Peralta's big-wave surf celebration "Riding Giants" in 2004. Morgen is also the director of the documentaries "The Kid Stays in the Picture" and the Academy-Award nominated "Against the Ropes," both of which premiered at Sundance.

The 2007 edition of the festival runs January 18-28 in Park City, Salt Lake City, Ogden, and Sundance, Utah. Further programming announcements on next year's lineup will be forthcoming later this month and next.

New Digital Content Initiative Puts Sundance Institute on the Mobile Map

In a move that could provide the catalyst for new independent film distribution and exhibition opportunities, the Sundance Institute announced a pilot program on Nov. 8 to sponsor and deliver content for mobile devices.

The Institute will partner with the GSM Association (GSMA) in creating the Sundance Film Festival: Global Short Film Project. The Festival has recruited six alumni filmmakers to create a series of five 3-5 minute short films exclusively for mobile distribution, including "Little Miss Sunshine" directors Jonathan Dayton and Valerie Faris, "Better Luck Tommorrow"'s Justin Lin and director Cory McAbee ("The American Astronaut").

“Cell phones are fast becoming the ‘fourth screen’ medium, after television, cinema and computers,” said Sundance Institute president and founder Robert Redford. “We feel this experiment embodies fully, our quarter-century dedication to exploring new platforms to support wider distribution of independent voices in filmmaking. We are excited about bringing this opportunity to independent filmmakers and most excited to see what they will do with it,” he added.

The Festival will premiere the films February 12-15, 2007 at the annual 3GSM World Congress in Barcelona and then make them available for mobile device download.

Festival Director of Programming John Cooper will oversee the project, which is co-sponsored by the GSMA, the global trade association that represents 700 GSM mobile phone operators in 215 countries worldwide. In an indication of the potential reach of the new initiative, the Institute indicated that GSMA's members serve more than two billion customers -- 82% of the world's mobile phone users.