WHO needs to schlep around Utah in snowy January to see the hottest new indie movies? Sundance is bringing its best flicks – and much more – to the Brooklyn Academy of Music.
The third annual Sundance Institute at BAM satellite program begins its 11-day run tomorrow night with the New York premiere of “American Teen.” Hometown gal Nanette Burstein won this year’s documentary directing award at the Sundance festival for this probing look at five seniors at an Indiana high school.
“We are excited to return to BAM with one of the most talked-about films of our 2008 festival,” says John Cooper, Sundance director of programming. “The absorbing true stories in ‘American Teen’ rival the most inventive narrative plots.”
Among the fictional features making Big Apple bows is Clark Gregg’s “Choke,” a darkly comic adaptation of Chuck Palahniuk’s novel about sexual compulsion. The film, starring Sam Rockwell and Anjelica Huston, took a special jury prize for its ensemble cast.
Also premiering here is one of my favorites from this year’s fest: Marianna Palka’s deadpan comedy “Good Dick,” in which she plays a depressed Los Angeles woman who is relentlessly wooed by a video store clerk (Jason Ritter).
Nick Cannon stars as a GI on Thanksgiving break in Neil Abramson’s Iraq war-themed “American Son.” And from Jordan comes the delightful “Captain Abu Raed,” centering on a janitor mistaken by kids for an airline pilot.
“Adopt Me, Michael Jordan,” a documentary about a 12-year-old from Ethiopia who travels to the US, will be shown as a work-in-progress, followed by an in-depth discussion with filmmakers Melanie Judd and Susan Motamed.
In addition to 22 features and programs of 36 short films, the festival also includes concerts – three of them free – a screenplay reading, theater performances and an art installation.
More details and ticket info can be found at bam.org.