Dallas Filmmakers Make Sundance Line-Up

Yesterday, The Sundance Institute announced their 2013 line-up of US and World Cinema Competition films as well as films in their NEXT program line-up. As several of us from the Go, See, Talk team are Dallasites, we were delighted to see some familiar Dallas names associated with films that made the list. Among these films were David Lowery’s western drama, Ain’t Them Bodies Saints, Austinite Yen Tan’s Pit Stop, and Dallas native Shane Carruth’s (Primer) Upstream Color.

Ain’t them Bodies Saints, “The tale of an outlaw who escapes from prison and sets out across the Texas hills to reunite with his wife and the daughter he has never met,” and Upstream Color, about a man and woman entangled in the life cycle of an ageless organism, will appear in the US Dramatic Competition, while Yen Tan’s Pit Stop has been selected to screen in the NEXT program for innovative and forward-thinking films.

David Lowery also co-scripted Pit Stop, and one of Lowery’s producing partner’s, James M. Johnston, was a producer on both films. Partner of the Texas Theatre, local actor and filmmaker, Eric Steele, received a producer credit for Pit Stop as well, and has an acting role in Lowery’s Ain’t Them Bodies Saints.

Dallas area actor and filmmaker Frank Mosley (Wuss) appears in both Ain’t Them Bodies Saints and Carruth’s Upstream Color.  Carruth held casting in Dallas, and several other Dallas area actors made the cut, including Upstream Color lead Andrew Sensenig (I Love You Phillip Morris).

Other Dallas filmmakers involved with these projects include Pit Stop’s Director of Photography, Hutch, producer Toby Halbrooks, the third member of the production team trio with David Lowery and James Johnston, and several other actors and crew members of Ain’t Them Bodies Saints.

Looks like Dallas will be well represented at the Sundance Film Festival with these talented filmmakers in attendance. Congratulations to them all, and a big cheers for helping put Dallas on the map. We couldn’t be more proud.

Check out the Sundance website for the full list of World, U.S. and NEXT Program selections. Sundance will announce premieres on Monday, December 3, and the short film line-up on Tuesday, December 4. The festival runs January 17-27 in Park City, Salt Lake City, Ogden and Sundance, Utah.