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Issue Date: January 14, 2007
MOVIES
Sundance at 25
The fast track to film success
By Nancy Mills
The Oscars may be Hollywood's biggest party, but Sundance is the event that reveals the film industry's players of the future.
Without the annual 10-day festival, which begins Thursday in Park City, Utah, we might have missed "Napoleon Dynamite" or the films of Quentin Tarantino and Steven Soderbergh.
Sundance helped make actor Ryan Gosling a star.
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"Sundance encourages discovery," says Kenneth Brecher, executive director of the Sundance Institute, founded by Robert Redford to showcase emerging filmmakers. "Festivalgoers choose to see films because they're intrigued by them. If a film delivers, then they want to help it succeed." Brecher notes that "Little Miss Sunshine," which won distribution via its success at Sundance, became last year's surprise hit.
The 2007 festival will feature about 200 films that were selected from more than 7,500 submissions. According to Brecher, writer-directors Andrea Arnold, Sterlin Harjo and Taika Waititi are the names to watch.
As Sundance marks its 25th anniversary, we toast a few of the rising stars among its graduates:
Actor Ryan Gosling, "The Believer" (2001), now in "Fracture," also starring Anthony Hopkins.
Actress America Ferrera, "Real Women Have Curves" (2002), now star of ABC's "Ugly Betty."
Actress Amy Adams, "Junebug" (2005), now in "Charlie Wilson's War," also starring Tom Hanks.
Director Kimberly Peirce, "Boys Don't Cry" (1999), now doing "Stop-Loss" with Ryan Phillippe.
Director Paul Thomas Anderson, "Hard Eight" (1996), now doing "There Will Be Blood" with Daniel Day-Lewis.
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