Sundance Film Festival

In Wednesday's announcement of the Sundance Film Festival USA program — which will bring the fun and films of Park City to eight American cities on Thursday, Jan. 28 — there was another bit of buried news: We now know the title of one movie playing the festival.

That movie is "The Shock Doctrine," a documentary by filmmakers Michael Winterbottom and Mat Whitecross ("The Road to Guantanamo") based on Naomi Klein's book of the same name. The movie makes Klein's case that corporations engage in "disaster capitalism," pushing economic change to their own benefit while people are reeling from shock in their societies — whether it be war, natural disaster or terrorist attack.

A work-in-progress cut of "The Shock Doctrine" played at the Berlin Film Festival in February. The Sundance screening will be the film's North American premiere. The screening will be followed by a discussion featuring Klein, Winterbottom, Whitecross and Sundance Institute founder Robert Redford.

Can't get to the 2010 Sundance Film Festival in Park City?

Sundance will bring the festival to you — if you live in eight American cities.

Sundance organizers today announced "Sundance Film Festival USA," bringing festival films and special events to eight cities on Thursday, Jan. 28, 2010 — during the festival's run in Park City.

The program aims, according to Sundance Institute founder Robert Redford, "to ignite dialogue as people across the country engage in a collective film experience. It is an extension, really, of the work we have done for decades: supporting the independent voice, bringing artists to the table and inserting art more and more into the social context of how we live."

Titles for the films to be show in the eight cities has yet to be announced (the festival's slate won't be released until early December). Here are the cities and theaters where the events will take place:

• Ann Arbor, Mich. — Michigan Theater
• Brookline, Mass. — Coolidge Corner Theatre
• Brooklyn, N.Y. -- BAM
• Chicago — Music Box Theatre
• Los Angeles — Downtown Independent
• Madison, Wisc. — Sundance Cinemas Madison
• Nashville — The Belcourt Theatre
• San Francisco — Sundance Kabuki Cinemas

Meanwhile that night, in Park City, Sundance will host the North American premiere of the documentary "The Shock Doctrine." Directed by Michael Winterbottom ("Tristram Shandy," "A Mighty Heart") and Mat Whitecross (Winterbottom's collaborator on "The Road to Guantanamo"), and based on Naomi Klein's book, the movie exposes "how shock is used to implement economic policy in vulnerable environments." The screening at the Eccles Theatre will be followed by a conversation with Winterbottom, Whitecross, Klein and Redford.

People attending the 2010 Sundance Film Festival will notice one of Park City's familiar guideposts will be different this year.

Officials for Utah-based Associated Food Stores announced Monday the new name of the state's 34 Albertsons supermarkets the company recently bought: Fresh Market. (This is not to be confused with The Fresh Market, a chain operating in the South, Midwest and Mid-Atlantic states.)

The new name went into effect Monday, though Associated officials said it won't be until January that new Fresh Market signage will be installed at the stores.

The new signs will go up early, though, in Park City — to take advantage of ski season.

The Park City Albertsons, though, a familiar stop for Sundance Film Festival visitors — the most visible place to get groceries and beer. The Albertsons' parking lot is infamous during the festival for its tow trucks waiting to pounce, vulture-like, on drivers who stay too long.

The bus stop outside the Park City Albertsons is also a central transfer point for the festival's shuttle-bus service — a pickup/drop-off spot for the Holiday Village and the Yarrow, and often used for those going to the Eccles, the Racquet Club or the Temple Theatres.

Sundance regulars will have to reorient themselves to find the bus stop without the big "A" to guide them.

The programming staff at the 2010 Sundance Film Festival is in the process of watching the thousands of films — features and shorts — submitted for January's event.

But that doesn't mean one of the programming staff, Bridgette Bates, couldn't take a minute to report on the progress — and humorously answer a few questions for nervous filmmakers.

Yes, every disc does get watched at least once. If a disc arrives broken, the programmers will contact the filmmaker to send another one. (Once, a filmmaker deliberately sent a broken disc, to squeeze a little more editing time after the deadline — but now the Sundance folks are onto that scam.)

So far, Bates wrote, the programmers have noticed a lot of movies about horses. (Last year, boxing was a big recurring theme.)

Bribes are not recommended, though the programmers have received some doozies:

The best item we've received this year was a bag of candy corn, which is kind of sad considering that in the past we've received such zany items as a unicycle, a fondue machine, a giant boot that was spray painted gold, and some amazing sneakers that had the word "Hustler" bedazzled all over them.  We ask that applicants not send anything other than their DVD, but we do miss the copious amounts of candy we used to get every week (hint, hint).

The programming staff finished its work around Thanksgiving, and the slate is usually announced in early December.

As mentioned previously on this blog, it's not a good idea for a filmmaker to speak publicly about one's ambition to get a movie into the Sundance Film Festival. It can be a jinx.

In the case of Cara Perlman's documentary, though, Sundance doesn't seem that unlikely — because of the timing and proximity of her subject matter.

Perlman's film, "FlyGirls," tells the story of six members of the U.S. women's ski-jumping team (including Lindsay Van, pictured), who train in Park City and have fought to be recognized with Olympic status.

Ski jumping is the one winter sport where the International Olympic Committee still hangs the no-girls-allowed sign. In spite of almost-unanimous approval from the International Ski Federation, the IOC still refuses to allow women to ski-jump — and won a recent court ruling to keep the women jumpers out of the 2010 Winter Olympics in Vancouver.

According to USA Today, Perlman is shopping "FlyGirls" to Sundance and other festivals. Sundance would be the optimum venue, since it takes place in Park City — and starts just 22 days before the opening ceremonies in Vancouver.