Sundance lineup announced

The 25th Sundance Film Festival announces its lineup:

Despite the war-weary, economically ravaged state of the nation and the industry, the Sundance Institute announced a generally upbeat 2009 competition lineup Wednesday. While the offerings certainly include some somber fare, the roster breathes enough fresh takes on romance, sci-fi and politics to satisfy moviegoers and industry players looking for some warmth during the snowy 11-day event.

At least that's how fest organizers Geoffrey Gilmore, Sundance's longtime director, and John Cooper, its programming director, choose to see it.

"What you might have expected is that the festival would be really reflective right now of a very dark time, and it's not really true," said Gilmore, in his 19th year overseeing the fest. "We haven't seen the numbers drop, we haven't seen productions severely impacted yet by these factors, and we really haven't seen a darkness in terms of content. In fact, if anything, the films are engaging and entertaining."

Some of the more intriguing movies:

"Paper Heart," directed by Nicolas Jasenovec, takes a meta-approach to the relationship between actors Charlyne Yi and Michael Cera. Jay DiPietro's "Peter and Vandy" tells a nonlinear story about New York love, and Shana Feste's "The Greatest" harnesses star power to tell a story of tragedy counterbalanced by unexpected love.

"The Clone Returns" (Kuron Wa Kokyo-Wo Mezasu), from Japanese writer-director Kanji Nakajima, tells the story of a Japanese astronaut who dies, is revived as a clone of himself and travels to his childhood home. The Sony acquisition "Moon," which will screen out of competition in the Premieres section, stars Sam Rockwell and Kevin Spacey in another returned-astronaut tale. And in the drama competition, "Cold Souls," written and directed by Sophie Barthes -- a veteran of the institute's director and screenwriter labs -- imagines a dryly comic world where people, including an overtaxed American actor played by Paul Giamatti, can put their souls in storage.

Louie Psihoyos' "The Cove," Joe Berlinger's "Crude" and Bill Benenson and Gene Rosow's "Dirt the Movie" -- about dolphins, oil and soil, respectively -- unfold as tools for "a call to action," Cooper said. Rupert Murray's "The End of the Line," about overfishing, and John Maringouin's "Big River Man," about a swim down the Amazon, consider similar approaches in the world doc category.

Interesting to note there were 3,661 submissions this year.

Here's the New York Times analysis of theis year's Sundance slate.