Sundance London 2013: the films

New films from Michael Winterbottom, Barbara Kopple and Lynn Shelton will all have their UK premiere at this year's Sundance London film festival, which runs at the O2 from April 25-28
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26 April 2013

A rare public appearance by a 1970s US supergroup, a dairy cow called Ida and Steve Coogan, as the one-time King of Soho Paul Raymond, are among highlights at this year’s Sundance London Film and Music Festival.

The three-day event will run at the O2 from April 25. It marks the second time that Robert Redford’s prestigious Sundance Film Festival – held every January in the Utah mountains - has shipped a hand-picked programme of movies across the Atlantic.

Sundance director John Cooper is unfazed by suggestions that the sprawling Greenwich venue is better suited to mega concerts than to showcasing indie films. “The O2 is not impersonal,” he insists, “it’s just big. We were really inspired by the response of audiences last year and, in 2013, we’re creating a special space where they can connect with filmmakers.” The O2’s Inc Club will, for the festival’s duration, become the Sundance meeting point.

Sundance has always had a thing about music films and London 2013 is no exception. There’s a documentary about country rock veterans The Eagles, who are participating in an audience Q&A session. And a triple dose of provocative performance artist Peaches, who has written and directed the documentary Peaches Does Herself. She will introduce it, talk about it afterwards, then ‘do herself’ live at the O2.

Social and political issues are also on the agenda. “The trend in American independent film is not to shy away from the bigger issues,” says Cooper, citing Running From Crazy - Barbara Kopple’s film about Mariel Hemingway, her troubled family and her grandfather Ernest; and God Loves Uganda, about the activities of right-wing US evangelists in that country.

Cooper and his programme director Trevor Groth are keen to promote laughter too. Indeed, one of the festival’s panel discussions, Senses of Humor and Humour: US – UK Comedy, considers whether seeing the funny side of the world helps make sense of it. Author and filmmaker Mike Birbiglia (Sleepwalk With Me) and writer-cum-comedy actress Lake Bell (In A World…) will share their views.

THE FEATURE FILMS

A.C.O.D
Which stands for Adult Child of Divorce. Adam Scott is the seemingly well-adjusted guy in question who attempts to negotiate a truce between his embittered parents.

Blackfish
A documentary about the consequences of training intelligent mammals to perform in marine arenas, focusing on Tilikum, a killer whale responsible for the deaths of three people.

Blood Brother
The true story of Rocky Braat, who went to India as a tourist but stayed on to work with a group of HIV-infected children (winner of the Grand Jury Documentary Prize at Sundance US)

Emanuel and the Truth About Fishes
Jessica Biel and Kaya Scoledario (Wuthering Heights) star in this mix of comedy, mystery and surrealism about two neighbours who have very different feelings about motherhood.

God Loves Uganda
America’s Christian Right set out to prove that Muslim fundamentalists aren’t the only religious group determined to remake the world in their own image.

History of the Eagles Part One
Director Alison Ellwood uses home movies, archival footage and new interviews to investigate the band who made one of the best-selling albums of all time, then split in bitter acrimony. The presence of four of the five members still talking to each other is promised, for a Q&A after the screening.

In a World…
American TV and rom-com queen Lake Bell is creating a big buzz with her writing-directing debut of this feelgood movie in which she also stars. It’s about a voiceover artist with a knack for accents.

The Inevitable Defeat of Mister and Pete
African-American writer, producer and director George Tillman Jr (Notorious) tells the story of two boys left to fend for themselves over one long, hot summer in the Brooklyn projects.

In Fear
A young couple heading for a weekend away get lost in a maze of country roads and are terrorised by an unseen menace — who turns out to be inside the car. Part of the Sundance London Spotlight on British talent.

The Kings of Summer
A classic coming-of-age comedy about three teens building a house in the woods to escape their parents and coming face-to-face with the limits of friendship.

The Look of Love
Steve Coogan leads a very British cast, as colourful Soho character and controversial club owner and publisher Paul Raymond, with Matt Lucas, Imogen Poots, Anna Friel, Stephen Fry, Tamsin Egerton, David Walliams and Chris Addison dressed up to the nines in groovy gear. Directed by Michael Winterbottom.

Metro Manila
Seeking a brighter future in megacity Manila, Oscar Ramirez and his family flee their impoverished life in the rice fields of the northern Philippines.

The Moo Man
A documentary about Sussex farmer Steve Hook, who decides to take a stand against the supermarkets, and the resulting move towards bigger and bigger dairy farms. Part of Sundance London Spotlight.

Mud
Take Shelter director Jeff Nichols returns with a Mississippi-set fable about two young boys who help a fugitive (Matthew McConaughey) elude the authorities.

Muscle Shoals
A documentary about the legendary Alabama recording studio which over the years has played host to everyone from Aretha Franklin and the Rolling Stones to U2 and Alicia Keys.

Peaches Does Herself
A self-made rock opera charting the rise of the Canadian-born, Berlin-based electronic musician and performance artist. As well as unveiling the film in which she features, Peaches will perform live at Indigo2.

Running From Crazy
Oscar-winning documentary-maker Barbara Kopple examines the problems of being a member of the Hemingway family, which counts seven suicides and “terrible mental illness” in its immediate history. Kopple focuses on Mariel, who recounts how grandfather Ernest shot himself in 1961, four months before she was born, and how on the eve of the 35th anniversary of his death, her older sister Margaux took her own life, aged 41. She also makes the astonishing claim that both her sisters were molested by their father.

Sleepwalk With Me
A stand-up comedian finds himself struggling with a tendency to sleepwalk — a film whose screening will be followed by a Q&A with director Mike Birbiglia and comedian Jimmy Carr.

The Summit
Twenty-four climbers converged at the last stop before summiting the most dangerous mountain on Earth. Forty-eight hours later, 11 had been killed or vanished. Had one, Ger McDonnell, stuck to the climbers’ code, he might still be alive.

Touchy Feely
A massage therapist is unable to work when she develops a sudden aversion to bodily contact. The new movie from the director of the rule-breaking comedy Humpday.

Upstream Color
An impossible-to-summarise film about a man and a woman “entangled in the lifecycle of an ageless organism”. Not one for action fans, probably.

THE SHORT FILMS

The Apocalypse
Four uninspired friends try to come up with a terrific idea for how to spend their Saturday afternoon.

Black Metal
After a career spent mining his music from the shadows, one fan creates a chain reaction for the lead singer of a black metal band.

The Date
Tino’s manhood is put to the test in front of two women when he has to host a date for Diablo, the family’s stud cat.

Irish Folk Furniture
In Ireland, old hand-painted furniture is often associated with hard times, with poverty, and with a time many would rather forget. In this animated documentary, 16 pieces of traditional folk furniture are repaired and returned home.

Jonah
When two young men photograph a gigantic fish leaping from the sea, their small town becomes a tourist attraction in this story about the old and the new.

Reindeer
A lyrical and haunting portrait of reindeer herding in the twilight expanses of the Lapland wilderness.

Until the Quiet Comes
Shot in the Nickerson Gardens housing projects in Watts, Los Angeles, this film deals with themes of violence, camaraderie and spirituality through the lens of magical realism.

Whiplash
An aspiring drummer enters an elite conservatory’s top jazz orchestra.

The Whistle
Marcin, a lowest-leagues football referee who lives in a small town near Krakow, dreams of better times. At his mother’s urging, he decides to change his life and find himself a girlfriend and a better job.

THE MUSIC

Live music acts will perform at IndigO2 and Sundance London’s Festival Hub throughout the festival. Click here to see our highlights of Sundance London's music programme.

For the full programme visit sundance-london.com. All festival events are at the O2, SE10 at Cineworld or IndigoO2, April 25-28.

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