(indieWIRE: 12.12.03) -- The Special Screenings Lineup for the 2004 Sundance Film Festival: Citizen King (world premiere)
Framed by the I Have a Dream speech and his assassination in Memphis, this film weaves together archival footage, personal recollections, and eyewitness accounts to evoke a powerful sense of the time and key moments in Dr. Martin Luther King's personal and political transformation as he struggled to dedicate himself beyond the civil rights movement and embrace a larger quest for equity and social justice in American society. This film will screen on the Martin Luther King Holiday, which this year celebrates his 75th birthday.
DIRECTORS: Orlando Bagwell and Noland Walker Dogville
This intriguing story of a young woman in search of refuge was filmed using a rare technique that can only be expected from award-winning director Lars von Trier. He unabashedly transports the film-going audience to a theatrical venue, brilliantly manipulating the viewer's imagination and stretching the capacity of typical filmmaking. (Denmark)
DIRECTOR: Lars von Trier The Five Obstructions (U.S. Premiere) Using Leth's 1967-era The Perfect Human—a 12-minute avant-garde exercise in irony and absurdity—the filmmaker remakes the short five times, with five obstacles imposed by von Trier. Undaunted by the task at hand, Leth produces a work that is nothing short of brilliant artistry. (Denmark)
DIRECTOR: Jørgen Leth and Lars von Trier Home (world premiere)
Over 11,000 people lost their lives to political violence in the province of KwaZulu in the decade preceding the demise of apartheid in South Africa. Countless more were displaced from their homes and communities. Home is the personal journey of first-time director Omelga Mthiyane as she documents her aunt's return to the home she was forced to abandon. (South Africa)
DIRECTOR: Omelga Mthiyane The Hunting of the President
This incendiary documentary, based on the best-selling book by Gene Lyons and Joe Conason, offers a glimpse at the genesis of certain partisan vendettas and explores the myths and truths behind the nearly ten-year campaign to systematically destroy the political legacy of the Clintons.
DIRECTORS: Harry Thomason and Nick Perry In The Company of Women (world premiere)
From classic coming- of- age stories (Dog Fight, Thirteen) to explosive sexuality (Secretary, Go Fish), this film explores women's views, values, sensibilities, and concerns behind the scenes and on screen.
DIRECTORS: Lesli Klainberg and Gini Reticker Los Angeles Plays Itself (U.S. premiere)
This wickedly observant documentary about how the city of Los Angeles is represented in the movies seems to purposefully hypnotize viewers in order to sharpen our awareness of film elements normally taken for granted.
DIRECTOR: Thom Andersen The Meaning of the Buffalo World Premiere
The arid village of Lekgopung, South Africa, is home to the Balete—the People of the Buffalo. Karin Slater is a wildlife filmmaker who is an outsider to the village. This poetic documentary is her attempt to understand how the Balete people came to take the buffalo as a totem. (South Africa)
DIRECTOR: Karin Slater Proteus
The animated documentary Proteus explores the nineteenth century's engagement with the undersea world through science, technology, painting, poetry and myth. The central figure of the film is biologist and artist Ernst Haeckel, who found in the depths of the sea an ecstatic and almost mystical fusion of science and art.
DIRECTOR: David Lebrun TRIGGERSTREET.COM
The TriggerStreet.com Project highlights shorts from directors whose work has been selected by a web based community of over one hundred thousand filmmakers, screenwriters, and film enthusiasts. Founded by Dana Brunetti and actor Kevin Spacey, the project gives undiscovered auteurs an interactive platform where they can showcase talent and receive feedback from their peers.
PRODUCERS: Kevin Spacey, Dana Brunetti, and Ross Partridge Until the Violence Stops (world premiere)
In 2002, eight hundred cities participated in a movement to end violence against women and girls called V-Day. This documentary follows the extraordinary grassroots impact of V-Day in six international communities while exposing the pervasive and cultural forms of violence that women experience all over the world.
DIRECTOR: Abby Epstein The Yes Men
In this fearless documentary, a group of American activists/pranksters pose as representatives of the World Trade Organization and accept speaking engagements on its behalf.
DIRECTOR: Chris Smith, Dan Ollman and Sarah Price Repo Man (Sundance Collection)
This 1984 cult classic features Otto, a punk rocker-turned repossession expert who centers on his search for a mysterious Malibu carrying an odd cargo.
DIRECTOR: Alex Cox Sweet Sweetback's Baadasssss Song (Sundance Collection) Van Peebles 1971 film is a racially charged statement that focuses on the problem of police brutality and the undermining of the African American people, but does not overlook the high value of entertainment.
DIRECTOR: Melvin Van Peebles

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