Seattle Invades Sundance

Elizabeth Banks and Tobey Maguire star in The Details, a 2011 Sundance selection.
Ever since Seattle director Lynn Shelton was dubbed The Sundance Kid for her boundary-pushing bromance Humpday in 2009, our city’s been getting a lot more respect down in Park City. We sent three Seattle-made films that year to Sundance—David Russo’s inspired Immaculate Conception of Little Dizzle also got big applause—and this year, our numbers are going up. Four locally made movies made the cut for the indie film fest (which runs January 20-30)—we reported on three back in December, but here’s the final list:
— Megan Griffiths, a Seattle-based writer/director who’s worked on films like Humpday and Little Dizzle, will debut her second feature film, The Off Hours, about about a truck-stop waitress (Tiny Furniture’s Amy Seimetz) looking for a change. Fun fact: It’s written, produced, and directed entirely by women.
Screening: Jan 22, 23, 26, & 29.
— Calvin Reeder has already made a name for himself at Sundance with his twisted short films; he’ll debut feature-length horror flick The Oregonian. Fun fact: The people over at bloody-disgusting.com are getting really excited about this movie.
Screening: Jan 24, 25, 27-29.
—What kind of hell breaks loose after a priest drops his Bible in a rest-stop toilet? Writer/director Todd Rohal screens Catechism Cataclysm, which was shot around Seattle and central Washington. Fun fact: Megan Griffiths (above) is a co-producer.
Screening: Jan 22, 24, 25, 28 & 29.
—Remember when Tobey Maguire was spotted all over Montlake in 2009? Spider-Man was filming The Details, a dark comedy about life in the ’burbs shot around Seattle, Kirkland, and Redmond, and directed by Jacob Aaron Estes. Fun fact: Lots of Hollywood cache for this film: Elizabeth Banks, Laura Linney, and Ray Liotta also star.
Screening: Jan 24, 25, 29 & 30.
Are you one of the lucky few going to Utah this weekend? We have some tips on where to stay and where to eat, courtesy of film fest buff Carl Spence, artistic director of the Seattle International Film Festival.