Imports give film festival a global flair

PARK CITY — Ever seen foreign flicks from the likes of Nicaragua, Ecuador, Poland, Zimbabwe or Angola?

They're now playing on festival — and computer — screens near you.

Though Sundance Film Festival's reputation comes from being the premier stage for American-made independent movies, not all of its films come with a "Made in the U.S.A." tag. Like Wal-Mart and McDonald's, Robert Redford's backyard-little-festival-that-could has gone global.

Practice up on your Danish, your Chinese, your Hebrew and your United Kingdomish — 30 countries and 23 languages are represented in this year's repertoire. This festival isn't just Village Inn — its menu resembles the International House of Pancakes. Of the 202 movies, 73 of the entries are imports.

Though international movies are not exactly, well, a foreign thing for Sundance, they certainly have a more prominent presence than ever before. Festival organizers created two new competition categories — World Documentary and World Dramatic — to give immigrating indies a bigger stage and increased exposure.

"We've always been a festival that had quite a bit of international work," said John Cooper, Sundance's director of programming. "But even if they were absolutely great, they had a tough time getting attention in a festival known for American films."

As part of their foreign aid, most "world premieres" will take place in the heart of the festival at the Egyptian Theatre on Main Street. Putting them in the most prestigious and picturesque of the screening locations, Cooper said, was Sundance's way of giving their foreign friends "respect."

"It's a very dignified first entrance to Sundance," he said. "We're trying to be good hosts."

That doesn't mean an anti-American movement is afoot. Rather, Sundance took a less-is-more attitude with the international films. They received 1,228 feature and 1,097 short film entries from outside of the United States but actually admitted fewer foreign movies than in 2004. That's partly because Sundance trimmed down the overall number of movies it's featuring — 202 in '05 compared to a festival all-time high of 255 last year. But it's also to allow the globe's creamiest productions to rise to the top.

The theory, Cooper says, is that the tighter the selection process, the more competitive the films will be.

Sundance also traveled the world more, seeking the best out there and talking with foreign film council entities like the British Council and UniFrance to encourage participation.