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By Terence Johnson

Managing Editor

Hellion, the new drama from Kat Candler, is one angry and emotional film. From the opening moments till the credits rolled, this movie channels adolescent rage, loss, and the struggles of life into one intense experience that will play with your emotions.

Hellion tells the story of the Wilson clan. Jacob (Josh Wiggins) is a 13 year old motocrossed-obsessed teenager with a wild streak that ends up with him on the path to juvie. He’s idolized by his younger brother Wes and struggles in his relationship with his father (Aaron Paul), who is still reeling from his wife’s death and hasn’t done the best at caring for the boys. One day, Child Protective Services arrives and removes Wes, taking her to live with Aunt Pam (Juliette Lewis), and both Jacob and his father try and deal with their issues in order to bring him back.

Cinematographer Brett Pawlak told us about filming Kat Candler's "Hellion," in U.S. Dramatic Competition at 2014 Sundance. "Hellion" is a Texas-set drama about a teenage troublemaker and his relationship with his father (played by Aaron Paul), who has been absent following the death of the kid's mother. Pawlak's previous shooting credits include "H+ Digital Series," "Short Term 12" and "I am not a Hipster."  What camera and lens did you use? We shot with the Arri Alexa, on Kowa Anamorphic lenses. What was the most difficult shot in your movie, and how did you pull it off? There was no one specific shot in "Hellion" that was difficult. The production as a whole was difficult, given the shorter amount of shooting time we got with mainly our young cast, which led to a breakneck schedule. The director, Kat Candler and I spent a lot of time discussing and designing...

In director Kat Candler's Hellion – a feature-length expansion of her 2012 Sundance selected-short of the same name – Aaron Paul sheds the tormented Jesse Pinkman to play the similarly distraught Hollis, a man who recently lost his wife and is left to care for two young boys. The heavy metal-listening, motorcross-obsessed kids (played by impressive newcomer Josh Wiggins and the adorable Deke Garner) race around their small Texas town trespassing, vandalizing and generally getting into trouble. Eventually, Child Protective Services becomes involved, and Hollis is forced to contend with his situation.

Title: Hellion Director: Kat Candler Starring: Aaron Paul, Juliette Lewis, Josh Wiggins, Deke Garner, Jonny Mars, Walt Roberts There are all different kinds of troublesome kids. There are those bright young people that won’t apply themselves because their schoolwork is not challenging, and others who don’t focus well in a classroom setting and therefore seem less intelligent than they actually are. And then there are those who fit the term juvenile delinquent, constantly doing illegal things and showing no signs or remorse or a foreseeable change in behavior. Jacob (Josh Wiggins) is that child exactly, and his story of lawbreaking and a quest for motocross greatness makes for one immensely [ Read More ]

The post Hellion Movie Review appeared first on Shockya.com.

Few actors nail the inner torment of blue-collar fuck-ups quite like Aaron Paul. His eyes do much of the work in his new Sundance drama, Hellion, from writer-director Kat Chandler, as he plays Hollis, a recent widower in small-town Southeast Texas too overwhelmed to care for his two delinquent sons, ages 13 and 10. Expanded from Chandler’s 2012 Sundance-selected short, Hellion is told from the perspective of 13-year-old Jacob (astoundingly good newcomer Josh Wiggins), who turns to arson and unsupervised Motocross racing, dragging his little brother into his hooliganism, as their father disappears, emotionally and physically. Social services steps in and both of the elder members of the all-male family have to wake up to the possibility that they might lose 10-year-old Wes (sweet newcomer Deke Garner). “There’s a desperate intensity in Paul’s eyes as Hollis scrambles, without any kind of a plan, to set aside his wounds and keep...

Aaron Paul is not Jesse Pinkman. Thanks to five trailblazing seasons on "Breaking Bad," it's damn near impossible not to think of Paul as anyone else. But as he stressed to Indiewire in Park City, the deeply troubled Pinkman is his "opposite." The same goes for the alcoholic father he plays in Kat Candler's scorching directorial debut, "Hellion," which premiered in competition here at the 2014 Sundance Film Festival late last week. The film marks Paul's second to play at Sundance, following James Ponsoldt's "Smashed," which premiered two years ago at the fest. "Hellion," based on Candler short of the same name, centers on motorcross-obsessed 13-year-old (stunning newcomer Josh Wiggins) and his tenuous relationship to his deeply troubled father (Paul). For those not in Park City, you can next catch Paul heading Dreamworks' blockbuster adaptation of the popular video game, "Need for Speed" (out wide March 14). Indiewire sat down...

Sundance has always been an interesting blend of new and old; domestic and international; star power and new faces. In the last 24 hours, the two movies that struck the loudest chord with me come from young filmmakers, and that couldn’t make me happier.

Kat Candler’s “Hellion” and Jeremy Saulnier’s “Blue Ruin” are spectacular films, movies that you’ll be talking about for months to come — the best of the fest so far. At the same time, a Sundance fave took a stumble last night with the premiere of Lynn Shelton’s “Laggies” while the Netflix-debuting doc “Mitt” disappoints and competition film “Fishing without Nets” strains under the weight of its melodrama. And then there’s “The Guest.” Well, we’ll get there. Strap in.

Let’s start with the best of the fest to date. Kat Candler’s raw, honest “Hellion”, a film about a father and...

Despite all of its wandering, loosely tied together stories and uneven pacing, there’s an odd sweetness to Kat Candler’s Hellion. Rather than broken characters focused solely on self-help and improving their own station, it’s an attempt to salvage a family even though that family may be too damaged to repair. Characters who do bad things but are good deep down is undoubtedly saccharine, but it works thanks to Candler’s sincere direction and earnest performances from lead actors Aaron Paul and Josh Wiggins. Hellion may be all over the place, but it’s charming enough to make us follow. Jacob Wilson (Wiggins) is a 13-year-old delinquent who is one step away from juvenile hall. He and his friends spend their free time causing trouble around town, and Jacob is trying to rope his younger brother Wes (Deke Garner) into the gang. The two have little supervision after the death of their mother,...

A fragile expansion of writer-director Kat Candler’s 2012 short film of the same name, Hellion benefits from Aaron Paul’s wrung-out performance as a widowed blue-collar father who has given up on life, all but abandoning his sons to fend for themselves. And the work of young newcomer Josh Wiggins will turn heads as the most volatile of those two kids, spinning out of control. The actors’ raw honesty and the unvarnished authenticity of the Southeast Texas environment lend weight to this slow-burn drama about responsibility, even if its storytelling is unrelentingly downbeat and lacks muscularity. Video:

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The 30th Sundance Film Festival is well underway, with plenty of familiar faces from Texas. My first day in Park City was relatively low-key, as I settled into my lodging and re-acquainted myself with the free public transportation and picked up the essentials -- credentials, groceries and booze. I opted out of opening-night parties to plan my activities for Day Two, knowing I would have a full day of interviews, premieres, receptions and screenings. My "sleep is the enemy" fest mantra has been replaced with the "it's a marathon, not a sprint" mentality.

Friday marked the premiere of the Austin feature film Hellion. I briefly saw producer Kelly Williams as he was entering the theater -- pictured at top with Alamo Drafthouse and Drafthouse Films founder Tim League. League and I spoke about what films we had seen so far and especially those we enjoyed -- quite a common interaction between festivalgoers here at Sundance.

Park City - Slugs and snails and puppy dog tails: that is no longer what little boys are made of, if the angsty strain of coming-of-age narratives in recent American indies is to be believed. Films such as "Mud," "The Kings of Summer" and "Hide Your Smiling Faces" have presented adolescent male protagonists with decidedly adult moral and domestic quandaries, wrestled out largely without supervision; at a time when the man-child stands tall in commercial cinema, other filmmakers are keen to present the child itself as an endangered species. "Hellion," the third feature from Austin-based filmmaker Kat Candler, follows solemnly in this...

When we first meet 13-year-old Jacob in Kat Candler’s Hellion, he’s hopping on his motorbike and furiously speeding away. In the next scene, he’s demolishing a vehicle in the parking lot of a high school football game as heavy-metal guitars scream. He bashes in the windshield with a bat as his friends decorate the doors with red spray paint. Jacob even seems to get one last shot in after he realizes that a few angry adults have spotted them.

These are deeply angry young men, but Jacob is more nuanced than a rage monster thanks to the...

Breaking Bad star Aaron Paul plays a widowed father in the Sundance feature Hellion. Based on a short film by director Kat Candler, the film follows the story of Paul’s character and his son, played by newcomer Josh Wiggins. Candler found Wiggins through his YouTube videos, and the breakout young star, who is just 15, talks about his Internet notoriety with EW’s Anthony Breznican along with Paul and Candler, below.

Austin, TX-based filmmaker Kat Candler is no stranger to the Sundance Film Festival. In fact, this is her third straight year with a film at the festival. But unlike ‘12 and ’13 (during which she brought the acclaimed shorts Hellion and Black Metal, respectively), Candler will premiere her first feature since 2006, an expansion of her previous Hellion short. The story of 13-year-old Jacob (newcomer Josh Wiggins), a young man torn between an absent father (Aaron Paul) and the Aunt (Juliette Lewis) who has taken him in, Hellion premieres today in Us Dramatic Competition. Filmmaker: The Hellion short was built […]...

Austin, TX-based filmmaker Kat Candler is no stranger to the Sundance Film Festival. In fact, this is her third straight year with a film at the festival. But unlike ‘12 and ’13 (during which she brought the acclaimed shorts Hellion and Black Metal, respectively), Candler will premiere her first feature since 2006, an expansion of her previous Hellion short. The story of 13-year-old Jacob (newcomer Josh Wiggins), a young man torn between an absent father (Aaron Paul) and the Aunt (Juliette Lewis) who has taken him in, Hellion premieres today in Us Dramatic Competition. Filmmaker: The Hellion short was built […]...

It’s that time again. The biggest American film festival is upon us, and this year the Ioncinema crew will be descending on Park City with eight feet on the ground and eight eyes on Park City’s various and plentiful screens. Eric Lavallee, Nicholas Bell, Caitlin Coder and I will be covering just about every inch of this year’s festival here at Ioncinema.com, as well as on that ever increasingly vibrant instanews network – Twitter. Be sure to follow @ioncinema and, as stated above, my personal handle @Rectangular_Eye, as we’ll be tweeting throughout the festival with breaking news, reviews, and sightings, all the while trying to keep up with the massive amount of content sure to be coming from this year’s Sundance filmmakers themselves, most of which have their own Twitter accounts and are listed at length below (minus the world & short programs). Whether you...

Like his “Hellion” co-star Aaron Paul, 15 year-old actor Josh Wiggins has signed with UTA and Leverage Management for representation. The film, which is part of Sundance’s U.S. Dramatic Competition lineup, debuts Friday, Jan. 17 at 2:30 at the Library Theatre in Park City. Wiggins is a native Texan who had never acted professionally before starring in “Hellion.” Writer-director Kat Candler discovered Wiggins via self-made YouTube videos he had shot with his friends. Wiggins then went through a casting call process including an audition with Paul before landing the role. Also Read: Sundance: 10 Buzzed-About Filmmakers at This Year’s Fest “Josh had never acted.

Eric Lavallee: Name me three of your favorite “2013 discoveries”…

Mynette Louie: 1. The Killing (AMC TV series) 2. “The Good, Racist People” (NY Times Op‐Ed). 3. Jee Young Lee’s “Stage of Mind” art/photography exhibit.

Lavallee: With Land Ho! you’ve become one of the early adopters for what appears to be an artistic collab between U.S indie sphere and Scandi productions…best exemplified by your executive producer Dgg is just fresh off just this with Prince Avalanche. Is there some tax breaks I’m not aware of, and what are the challenges of working outside the box sorta speak?

Louie: Yes, there’s actually a 20% Icelandic tax credit as well as a Vat (value‐added tax) rebate. But those were just gravy‐‐the decision to shoot in Iceland was purely a creative one. Martha had had Iceland on her mind for a few years, and eventually decided that...

Eric Lavallee: Name me three of your favorite “2013 discoveries”…

Sydney Freeland: Her (Film), The Newsroom (TV), The Legend of Korra (TV)

Lavallee: Could you discuss what kind of visual strategy you had in place what were you looking to achieve with your dp Peter Holland? Freeland: This is interesting. The original influence for the film was Amores Perros and we talked quite a bit about using this as reference for a visual style (handheld, kinetic). That was our basically our game plan going into production, but we found that film wanted to be much quieter and static than that. It’s a testament to Peter’s skill because he was able to recognize that and adapt accordingly.

Lavallee: We all know how Robert Redford is a support system of his own with the festival and institute but here he took an extra, unusual step in becoming an executive producer.

Aaron Paul officially got the last word in on Breaking Bad, punctuating the show’s Golden Globe acceptance speech for Best Television Drama with Jesse’s bad-boy catchphrase, “Yeah, bitch!” For six years, Paul created one of the most indelibly wounded and tragic characters in television and now that the show has run its course, it’s time for the 34-year-old actor to find that next thing.

In fact, he’s got several.

Next month, he revs the engine of Disney’s Need for Speed, a big-budget action movie based on the popular videogame. But before Paul shifts into the Hollywood fast-lane,...

The first in this year’s Guide to the Sundance Twitterverse series is the complete U.S. Dramatic Competition, which just at first glance has an immense amount of tweeting going on. Don’t miss the Hellion crew, headed by Writer/Director Kat Candler (@katcandler), nor the official Dear White People feed, (@DearWhitePeople). There’s more to come throughout the day.

U.S. Dramatic Competition

Camp X-Ray - @CampXRayMovie

Cold in July

Producer René Bastian - @renebastian

Dear White People - @DearWhitePeople

Writer/Director Justin Simien - @JSim07

Producer Lena Waith - @hillmangrad

Producer Julia Lebedev - @thisisresearch

Actor Tyler James Williams - @TylerJamesWill

Actress Teyonah Parris - @TeyonahParris

Fishing Without Nets - @fishing

Writer/Director Cutter Hodierne – @MyNameIsCUTTER

Writer/Producer John Hibey - @somaliproduced

Producer Raphael Swann - @raphaelswann

Producer Brian Glazen - @bglazen

Cinematographer Alex Disenhof – @adisenhof

God’s Pocket

Producer Sam Bisbee - @sambisbee

Composer Nathan Larson...

There are hundreds of talented directors, writers and producers at this year’s Sundance Film Festival but it’s impossible to give everyone their due without seeing the actual movies. With so many choices and such little time, TheWrap asked dozens of Hollywood types which filmmakers are poised for breakout success at this year’s festival. Here are 10 (well, technically 15) who could steal the spotlight this week, listed in alphabetical order. Kat Candler (writer/director, left) and Kelly Williams (producer) Movie: ”Hellion” (U.S. Dramatic Competition) Why They’re Worth Watching: Candler’s six-minute short film of the same name...

Eric Lavallee: Name me three of your favorite “2013 discoveries”…

Chris Ohlson: The Polaroid photography of Bastian Kalous… I’m haunted by it. Matterhorn: A Novel of the Vietnam War… takes my breath away for over 600+ pages. Swimming at Night… great for the head & heart.

Lavallee: Sight unseen, the Coen brothers’ Fargo is part of the narrative structure could you discuss how the Zellners creatively used that film within their own without swallowing a huge chunk of the budget. Ohlson: Well, the movie-within-the-movie is one very small part of a much larger narrative structure. It’s a jumping off point, to a certain degree, but the movie-used-within-the-movie is really just a small plot mechanism. This is so much more about Kumiko, as a young woman on a quest… we loved the idea of a contemporary quest across the globe for a mythical fortune and that’s how our greater narrative structure works.

Eric Lavallee: Name me three of your favorite “2013 discoveries”…

Kelly Williams: Ola Podrida’s album “Ghosts Go Blind”. The Documentary – Deceptive Practice: The Mysteries and Mentors of Ricky Jay. Walt Roberts – Hellion & Parkland actor / World-Class Fiddle Player.

Lavallee: I believe that this is your third time producing a Kat Candler film (Hellion follows Hellion the short, and Black Metal). How did that professional relationship begin and could you discuss the creative dynamic between the two of you.

Williams: Even though we both live in Austin, we actually met through a mutual friend, Zack Phillips, at Sundance in 2001. We became friends over the years. In 2009, I programmed her short film, Love Bug, at the Austin Film Festival where I was a film programmer, but we didn’t actually work together until we made the Hellion short in the summer of 2011. Making that short, it became pretty obvious that we wanted to work together more.

Eric Lavallee: Name me three of your favorite “2013 discoveries”… Katie Stern: One of my favorite movies of the year was Spring Breakers, my favorite book was Kate Bornstein’s A Queer and Pleasant Danger, I finally saw and enjoyed Me at the Zoo, loved the Claes Oldenburg exhibit at MoMA, and felt sadly, underwhelmed by the Depeche Mode album (Delta Machine).

Lavallee: The underrated/under the radar Francine was your first fiction feature as a producer. I’d like to know what lessons carried over from making a miniscule film and how did the project come to you?

Stern: Francine was a true labor of love. I met Brian M. Cassidy and Melanie Shatzky through Washington Square Films (where we represent them as commercial directors) and we instantly became friends. When they told me about the idea for the film, I was immediately intrigued. The world they described (and ultimately,...

Eric Lavallee: Name me three of your favorite “2013 discoveries”…

Zeresenay Berhane Mehari: The Master (P.T. Anderson), Half of a Yellow Sun (Novel, Chimamanda Adichie), Orchestra Baobab (60s Band, Senegal)

Lavallee: They say: write and create from what you know. Why did you decide to tackle this subject matter for your first feature?

Mehari: I chose this story because I was inspired by the act of courage two women took. One was a lawyer who dared to question a centuries-old tradition, the other, a young girl who refused to live by it. The story also made me question the very tradition that I am a part of but failed to see how it affected us all as a country and I found that interesting from a storytelling standpoint. Lastly, what the two women were able to realize is a filmmaker’s dream story to tell.

Lavallee: Despite it being a work...

Eric Lavallee: Name me three of your favorite “2013 discoveries”…

Earl Lynn Nelson: Favorite Recording Group – The Eagles; Favorite song by Van Morris – Brown Eyed Girl; Televisions Series – Longmire is a pretty good new one, but still love my Law and Order: Svu; Bones, NCIS, CSI, Big Bang Theory, “who done it to comedy”. City: I am always been fond of New Orleans since I lived there for many years; Country: Iceland was an adventure which I enjoyed; Favorite Author: James Joyce; Favorite Book: Portrait of an Artist as a Young Man; Science – Chinese Soft Landing on the Moon; Technology – Electronic.

Lavallee: You worked with a dragon with two heads this time out. As Martha’s muse, could you discuss her working style and how she has evolved as a filmmaker over three features….and seeing that backdrops are such important elements in her films, are you surprised you ended up in Iceland?...

Eric Lavallee: Name me three of your favorite “2013 discoveries”…

David Zellner: 1. Seeing Viva Maria! in 35mm. That movie is pure joy. 2. Gerhard Richter’s Cologne Cathedral. 3. The Paperboy. I think about it regularly.

Lavallee: Was wondering if you could detail the visual ideas you had for the look of the film…what were you aiming for? Was it important to detail/distinguish the eccentricities or differences found in Japanese society?

Zellner: While particular with our focus and tone, the two places, Tokyo and Minnesota, were so inherently different we let the distinguishing details unfold naturally rather than force anything. This is why it was crucial that we shot on location.

Lavallee: We’re guessing that there isn’t much written dialogue…. ­how was sound and score written into the film and I’m curious if you work with storyboards or is there a more organic approach during filming?

Zellner:...

Lavallee: Name me 3 of your favorite “2013 discoveries”…

Deke Garner: I discovered Street League Skateboarding, I love to skate and watch the pros skate. Aaron Paul, my new favorite actor yo. Breaking Bad my new favorite show, I know its a bit old for me but I have been acting for almost 4yrs. now and I have never seen acting like that.

Lavallee: In the short version (2012) of Hellion you played Petey, while in the feature you play Wes. What was it like for you to change characters?

Garner: Changing from one brother to the other wasn’t that hard, I was still the little brother. Changing from Petey to Wes though was hard because I had to audition again. After I got so many compliments from the short I thought I had Petey wrapped up if they make a feature. Well when we got a copy of the script...

This Thursday, the Sundance Film Festival celebrates its 30th anniversary and since we’ve covered about 1/3rd of the event and have fond memories of each edition, we figured why not commemorate some of the personalities that will make up this year’s crop. Welcome to our Sundance “Trading Cards” series.

Profiling the misfits, the filmmakers and the supporting players both in front of and behind the camera, we asked each person (curiously vast bunch from grade school aged vets to pension aged newbies) what their “three favorite 2013 discoveries”. These could either be old classics, obscure items from the past, present or 2013 fresh as in favorite album, song, recording artist, painter, sculptor, author, book, narrative or docu film, video game, television series, science, technology, apps, city, country or news headline. And like any given sport cards features, we included their vitals and favorite fest(s).

Enjoy the series and collect the entire set!

Kat Candler fell in love with filmmaking at Florida State while studying creative writing. Upon graduation she moved to Austin and is now a lecturer on film at the University of Texas. Her earlier films have premiered at Los Angeles Film Festival, San Francisco International Film Festival, Slamdance, and on PBS. Her most recent short films "Hellion" and "Black Metal" premiered at Sundance in 2012 and 2013. What it's about: "A thirteen-year-old’s delinquent behavior and his father’s neglect force the courts to place his younger brother with his aunt." What it's really about: "Hellion plays on the idea of responsibility and manhood. It’s a story about a blue-collar, widowed father and his motocross, heavy metal obsessed son learning to take responsibility for their poor choices and bad behavior in the aftermath of the mother’s death." Biggest challenges: "Besides the Texas summer heat and blood-sucking mosquitoes, I would say the biggest challenge was our.

Last week, the Sundance Film Festival announced 43 independent films selected for its 2014 fest, in the Us Documentary and Narrative Competitions and Next section. Among the films selected, five projects have received assistance from Austin Film Society (Afs), including several Afs Grant recipients.

Local filmmaker Kat Candler and producer Kelly Williams received news that their feature Hellion -- based on the short by the same name -- was accepted into the U.S. Dramatic Competition for the fest, which takes place January 16-26 in Park City, Utah. Williams received a fellowship in 2012 to the Sundance Institute's Feature Film Creative Producing Lab for Hellion.

"I am very honored that the Sundance Institute sees the potential in Hellion to get behind it and has the faith in Kat and I to see it through," Williams said about the project in 2012 (source).

"When we got the call from Sundance it was so early, I...

The Sundance Film Festival has unveiled its 2014 Competition lineup, made up of several categories. The 30th edition of the event will take place between January 16th-26th in the new year.

U.S. Dramatic Competition

Camp X-Ray (Peter Sattler)

Cold in July (Jim Mickle)

Dear White People (Justin Simien)

Fishing Without Nets (Cutter Hodierne)

John's Pocket (John Slattery)

Happy Christmas (Joe Swanberg)

Hellion (Kat Candler)

Infinitely Polar Bear (Maya Forbes)

Jamie Marks is Dead (Carter Smith)

Kumiko, the Treasure Hunter (David Zellner)

Life After Beth (Jeff Baena)

Low Down (Joe Preiss)

The Skeleton Twins (Craig Johnson)

The Sleepwalker (Mona Fastvold)

Song One (Kate Barker-Froyland)

Whiplash (Damien Chazelle)

U.S. Documentary Competition

Alive Inside: A Story of Music & Memory (Michael Rossato-Bennett)

All the Beautiful Things (John Harkrider)

Captivated: The Trials of Pamela Smart (Jeremiah Zagar)

The Case Against 8 (Ben Cotner, Ryan White)

Cesar's Last Fast (Richard Ray Perez, Lorena Parlee...

Over the course of the last month or so, it has been interesting to read different opinions about what would (or should) premiere at the 2014 Sundance Film Festival. From those articles, I culled a list of films that I really wanted to see on the Sundance program slate for 2014. Surprisingly, almost all of the films on my personal list will be screening at Sundance, including Joe Swanberg's Happy Christmas, Kat Candler's Hellion, the Zellner Brothers' Kumiko, the Treasure Hunter, Jeffrey Radice's No No: A Dockumentary / U.S.A., Andrew Droz Palermo and Tracy Droz Tragos' Rich Hill, Stuart Murdoch's God Help the Girl, Tessa Louise-Salomé's Mr leos caraX, Madeleine Olnek's The Foxy Merkins, Ana Lily Amirpour's A Girl Walks Home Alone at Night, Martha Stephens and Aaron Katz's Land Ho!, Alex Ross Perry's Listen Up Philip, Michael Tully's Ping Pong Summer,...

The 2014 Sundance Film Festival is right around the corner, and the Sundance Institute has released the full line-up for the competition films that will be premiering!

This year there were 12,218 total submissions, and 117 films were accepted from 37 countries around the world. It looks like there's a lot of good selection of films this year.

The Sundance Film Festival 2014 runs from January 16th to the 26th, and the GeekTyrant team will be there to cover as many movies as we possibly can.

U.S. Dramatic Competition

The 16 films in this section are world premieres and, unless otherwise noted, are from the U.S.

“Camp X-Ray” — Directed and written by Peter Sattler. A young female guard at Guantanamo Bay forms an unlikely friendship with one of the detainees. Cast: Kristen Stewart, Payman Maadi, Lane Garrison, J.J. Soria, John Carroll Lynch.

“Cold in July” — Directed by Jim Mickle, written by Nick Damici.

Sundance Film Festival continues to be one of the most popular, and arguably one of the most important, events on the industry calendar, launching as it does some of the most prominent independent films at the start of each year.

This year will be no different, with Sundance announcing last night the initial line-up of films screening in competition, led by Song One, starring Anne Hathaway; Camp X-Ray, starring Kristen Stewart; Infinitely Polar Bear, with Mark Ruffalo and Zoe Saldana; Joe Swanberg’s Happy Christmas, starring Anna Kendrick, Melanie Lynskey, Mark Webber, Lena Dunham, and Swanberg himself; The Skeleton Twins, with Bill Hader, Kristen Wiig, Luke Wilson, and Ty Burrell; Life After Beth, with Aubrey Plaza, Dane DeHaan, and John C. Reilly; Listen Up Philip, with Jason Schwartzman and Elisabeth Moss; Whiplash, starring Miles Teller and J.K. Simmons; and many, many more.

U.S. Dramatic Competition

Presenting the world premieres of 16 narrative feature films,...

The 2014 Sundance Film Festival is coming up in January and today, the Sundance Institute has named the films that will be in the U.S. and world competitions as well as Next, which is an oddly-named showcase for “Pure, bold works distinguished by an innovative, forward-thinking approach to storytelling.”

There will be 67 films competing across five different competition categories. That may sound like a lot, but that’s only the first half of the film announcements. Later on they will be announcing the remaining lineup of films being shown outside these competitions.

Overall, it’s an impressive batch of entries, with several surprises and a handful of very promising movies. Check out the full list below and let us know what you think in the comments section.

U.S. Dramatic Competition

Camp X-Ray / U.S.A. (Director and screenwriter: Peter Sattler) — A young woman is stationed as a guard in Guantanamo Bay,...

God’S Pocket

Sundance Institute announced today the films selected for the U.S. and World Cinema Dramatic and Documentary Competitions and the out-of-competition section of the 2014 Sundance Film Festival, January 16-26 in Park City, Salt Lake City, Ogden and Sundance, Utah.

Robert Redford, President & Founder of Sundance Institute said, “That the Festival has evolved and grown as it has over the past 30 years is a credit to both our audiences and our artists, who continue to find ways to take risks and open our minds to the power of story. This year’s films and artists promise to do the same.”

For the 2014 Sundance Film Festival, 118 feature-length films were selected, representing 37 countries and 54 first-time filmmakers, including 34 in competition. These films were selected from 12,218 submissions (72 more than for 2013), including 4,057 feature-length films and 8,161 short films. Of the feature film submissions, 2,014 were from the U.S. and 2,043 were international. 97 feature films at...

The 2014 Sundance Film Festival In Competition lineup has been unveiled, and along with it some first-look images and synopses have been released. After the jump, find the images and synopses for the following films that will screen as part of the U.S. Competition category: Hellion – Written and directed by Kat Candler; starring Aaron Paul, Juliette Lewis, Josh Wiggins, Deke Garner, Jonny Mars, and Walt Roberts. Infinitely Polar Bear – Written and directed by Maya Forbes; starring Mark Ruffalo, Zoe Saldana, Imogene Wolodarsky, and Ashley Aufderheide. Jamie Marks Is Dead – Written and directed by Carter Smith; starring Cameron Monaghan, Noah Silver, Morgan Saylor, Judy Greer, Madisen Beaty, and Liv Tyler. Kumiko, the Treasure Hunter – Directed by David Zellner; starring Rinko Kikuchi. Hit the jump to check out the images and synopses. The 2014 Sundance Film Festival runs January 16 – 26th. Hellion / U.S.A. (Director and screenwriter: Kat Candler) — When motocross and heavy metal obsessed,...

As I had predicted here, names such as Cutter Hodierne, Kat Candler, Maya Forbes, Mona Fastvold and Damien Chazelle would be among the invited guests at the ’14 edition of the Sundance Film Festival. It was such a strong year that even some items that I thought would be dark horse/long shots and might be looking at a fest berth from the sidelines are considered definite dramatic comp material, while some that was fully expecting to break the line-up have been passed up.

Horror “labeled” directors Carter Smith (Jamie Marks Is Dead) and Jim Mickle (Cold in July) broke into the line-up that is usually reserved for the newbie type of director and are coming in with perhaps different genre material. We’re glad to see Justin Simien’s Dear White People break into the 16 – it also acts as the long awaited return of Duly Noted producer Effie Brown. Actor...

The U.S. and World Cinema Dramatic and Documentary Competition lineups for the 2014 Sundance Film Festival were announced today and just below I have featured pictures from the 16 films that will be competing in the U.S. Dramatic competition and they feature a lot of names you're going to recognize. The titles begin with Camp X-Ray, which stars Kristen Stewart as a guard in Guantanamo Bay, where she forms an unlikely friendship with one of the detainees. Jim Mickle made an impact earlier this year with We Are What We Are and he returns with Michael C. Hall with Cold in July. Fishing Without Nets looks to tell a story similar to that of Captain Phillips, only this time from the Somali side of things; God's Pocket is "Mad Men" star John Slattery's writing and directorial debut and he's lined up an impressive cast including Philip Seymour Hoffman, Richard Jenkins,...

In a time when some say that print media is dying, Seed&Spark, the crowd-funding and distribution platform for independent filmmakers, has boldly chosen to launch a semi-annual print magazine for independent film audiences.  Called Bright Ideas, the magazine will include profiles, articles, and musings on the creative innovators of independent film. The debut edition which will be released at Sundance 2014, will feature profiles of Ryan Coogler ("Fruitvale Station"), Kat Candler (the forthcoming "Hellion"), and Cary Fukunaga (HBO's "True Detective," "Sin Nombre"). Bright Ideas was originally conceived by James Kaelan, the former Managing Editor of MovieMaker Magazine, at last June's Innovator's Summit. "One of my key takeaways from the Summit was that everyone agreed developing and engaging audiences for independent film was far more important than any technological innovation in content delivery or monetization. If we can't get people to watch and share the...

The elusive “Golden Ticket”. Beginning next Wednesday (December 4th) in a wave of four announcements, is when the official word comes out. Plenty of filmmakers are already in the know, but some will find out over the course of this Thanksgiving weekend. Having covered the festival and fest circuit for some time now, we’re already aware that worthy films that were indeed submitted will be excluded from the ’14 edition. Thousands of filmmakers won’t get the phone call, and while it can bruise dreams, this is not a rejection of quality…but rather, a preference from a programmer/programming team which reflects a larger mandate. John Cooper, Trevor Groth et al. have a difficult job and the way I see it, it’s the equivalent to draft day for a major professional sport – where a team in a given turn doesn’t go for the consensus pick, but instead...

Here's the latest Austin and Texas film news.

IndieWire's "Sundance wishlist" includes Austin-based filmmaker Richard Linklater's long-awaited Boyhood, which chronicles the life of a child from age six to 18 and stars native Texan Ethan Hawke and Patricia Arquette; University of Texas lecturer Kat Candler's feature-length version of Hellion, about a seven-year-old who falls prey to his older brother's mischievous ways in a small Texas refinery town; Kumiko, the Treasure Hunter from Austinites David and Nathan Zellner; and Austin-based Hammer to Nail magazine editor and filmmaker Michael Tully's Ping Pong Summer, starring Susan Sarandon. We'll be keeping our fingers crossed that these movies really do get into Sundance 2014.MovieMaker named the Austin Film Festival as one of the top 25 coolest general film festivals, as voted on by their readers. Austin-based Fantastic Fest was also honored by readers as one of the top five coolest horror/sci-fi film festivals.

I don’t think Drake Doremus will be at Sundance this year. Here’s hoping that Kat Candler makes a “repeat” into a three-peat. Director of highly praised Sundance shorts Hellion (2012) (see pic above) and Black Metal (2013), Candler might belong to an exclusive club of folks. The same year that the short got invited to Park City, her producer Kelly Williams become an invited 2012 Sundance creative producing lab fellow with the feature length project of the same title (see trailer to get an idea of what it might turn out like). Flash forward to 2014, and Hellion might be that feature length Sundance preemed film that has roots as a Sundance accepted short film. In late August the trades spit out the news that Aaron Paul and Juliette Lewis climbed on board the drama – so it’ll be tight to get this before the deadline. Short Term 12 cinematographer Brett Pawlak shot the film.

Here's the latest Austin and Texas film news.

Texas-shot We Gotta Get Out Of This Place (Mike's review) took home an audience award in the American Independents category at this year's AFI Fest, IndieWire reports. The drama, about three Texas teens who unintentionally become involved in an organized crime ring, also screened at Fantastic Fest 2013. The German drama Nothing Bad Can Happen, which has U.S. distribution through Drafthouse Films, took home the New Auteurs critics award.Ut lecturer Kat Candler's upcoming feature Hellion received $70,000 for post-production costs from the San Francisco Film Society, according to IndieWire. The indie drama, starring Breaking Bad's Aaron Paul and Juliette Lewis, stems from Candler's award-winning short film of the same name, about a seven-year-old who falls prey to his older brother's mischievous ways in a small Texas refinery town. Fellow Austinite Jonny Mars, who appeared in the SXSW 2012 short, is returning for the feature,...

The San Francisco Film Society (Sffs) in partnership with the Kenneth Rainin Foundation (Krf) announced nine narrative projects that will receive a total of $425,000 in funding.

The Film Society’s flagship Sffs / Krf Filmmaking Grants are awarded twice annually to filmmakers for narrative feature films that will have significant economic or professional impact on the Bay Area filmmaking community.

The nine film-making teams were granted the funding to help with their next stage of production, from screenwriting to post.

“These will be exceptional films, and we are honored to have a part in bringing them into being,” the jury noted in a statement. “Each of these projects explores a unique and authentic world and presents compelling characters that we want to see on the screen.”

The Film Society has a track record of success with previous recipients of the Sffs / Krf Filmmaking Grants like Ryan Coogler’s Fruitvale Station which won the Grand Jury Prize and Audience...

The 2nd annual South Texas Underground Film Festival, running Oct. 3-6 in Corpus Christi, Texas, is a massive celebration of international alternative cinema, including plenty from Texas filmmakers, of course.

The fest opened on the 3rd with the drop-dead hilarious comedy Pictures of Superheroes by Austin filmmaker Don Swaynos.

But, there’s still plenty more to see throughout the jam-packed weekend wherein films screen from morning until, well, early into the next morning.

The film that’s absolutely not to be missed is the screening on the 6th at 10:30 a.m. of Savage Witches, the amazing celebration of the art of filmmaking by British directors Daniel Fawcett & Clara Pais. A colorful spectacle of multiple filmmaking styles, Savage Witches is a real joy to experience.

Also to be on the lookout for are on the 5th at 11:00 a.m. is the new rockin’ documentary Mondo Fuzz: Twilight of the...

The San Francisco Film Society and Kenneth Rainin Foundation have selected the 14 finallists for the latest round of Sffs / Kenneth Rainin Foundation Filmmaking Grants.

The partners will grant more than $300,000 to one or more narrative feature at any stage of production.

The grants are awarded twice a year to projects “that will have significant economic or professional impact on the Bay Area filmmaking community.”

More than $2m has been awarded since inception of the grant. Recent winners include Sundance hit Fruitvale Station and SXSW favourite Short Term 12. (pictured.)

Winners of the current shortlist will be announced in late October.

The finallists are:

Doctor, dir Musa Syeed;

Escape From Morgantown, dir Peter Nicks;

The Fixer, dir Ian Olds;

G.E.Z.I., dir Aslihan Unaldi;

Hellion, dir Kat Candler;

Kicks, dir Justin Tipping;

Little Accidents, dir Sara Corangelo;

Los Valientes / The Brave Ones, dir Aurora Guerrero;

Love Land, dir Joshua Tate;

Ma, dir [link=nm...

Here's the latest Austin and Texas film news.

Austin Film Festival has been awarded a $25,000 TexTreasures Grant to preserve five years of its audio and video collection, North Dallas Gazette reports. The collection will then be housed at Texas State University in San Marcos. The grant from the Texas State Library and Archives Commission. Among many other awards, the commission also approved a $49,500 grant to the Round Rock Library System for a "makerspace" collaboration to benefit middle-school students with Stem and art projects.Breaking Bad's Aaron Paul is starring alongside Juliette Lewis in Austinite Kat Candler's Hellion, according to Deadline. The indie feature drama, currently in production around Central Texas, stemmed from Candler's award-winning short film of the same name, about a seven-year-old who falls prey to his older brother's mischievous ways in a small Texas refinery town. Fellow Austinite Jonny Mars, who appeared in the SXSW 2012 short,...