Sundance to include film by Y. graduate

Coming-of-age stories, dark comedies, relationship dramas — and a bevy of stars, ranging from Kevin Bacon to Naomi Watts to Billy Bob Thornton to the heavy metal band Metallica — highlight the feature films that will compete for honors during the 2004 Sundance Film Festival next month.

And one of the films is by a Brigham Young University graduate.

The festival announced on Monday its slate of films for the Dramatic Competition, Documentary Competition, American Spectrum and American Showcase events.

Included are the dramas "The Woodsman," which stars Bacon as a convicted child molester trying to find redemption, and "Chrystal," with Billy Bob Thornton playing a man whose actions may have led to his child's disappearance. Both films are in the festival's Dramatic Competition category, as is "We Don't Live Here Anymore," an ensemble drama about adultery with Mark Ruffalo, Laura Dern and Naomi Watts, and "Napoleon Dynamite," a rural fantasy from Jared Hess, a BYU graduate now living in Idaho.

The Documentary Competition will feature "Word Wars," about Scrabble enthusiasts; "Imelda," about former Philippine First Lady Imelda Marcos; and "Persons of Interest," which tells stories of some Americans arrested and questioned during the war on terrorism.

Among the American Spectrum and American Showcase selections is director Joe Berlinger's "Metallica: Some Kind of Monster," a feature-length documentary about the heavy metal band's fight against music piracy. (The films in these categories are differentiated by budget and cast; Spectrum selections feature bigger budgets and better-known performers, while Showcase movies have lower budgets and less-recognizable actors.)

As usual, the 2004 Sundance festival is expected to be celebrity-filled, with many of the stars from these films in attendance, along with many others. The festival runs Jan. 15-25 in a variety of locations in Park City, Salt Lake City, Ogden and at the Sundance resort in Provo Canyon.

Along with the competition films, the festival also includes screenings in such other categories as World Cinema, Native Forum and Park City at Midnight. There also will be workshops, panel discussions and special screenings.

Today, the festival will announce Premiere films, which are usually more high-profile pictures, often with big stars, and will include the Opening Night Premiere that will be shown Jan. 15 in Park City.

For a complete list of films (after they are announced) or information on ticket packages, visit www.sundance.org.

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E-MAIL: jeff@desnews.com