It's a strong year for independent films – and for indie movies from the Pacific Northwest. Four feature films that were shot in the Seattle area have been selected to screen at the Sundance Film Festival in January.
"The Details" is a dark comedy shot in Kirkland with a cast including star actors Laura Linney, Elizabeth Banks and Tobey McGuire. It's in the line-up for the high-profile "Premieres" series.
The Seattle Times reports that the three other Seattle films are lower-budget affairs that were helped by the local film community pulling together and getting high-quality work done at surprisingly low cost.
They are "The Off Hours," by Seattleite Megan Griffiths, "The Catechism Cataclysm" by Todd Rohal and "The Oregonian" by Renton-native Calvin-Lee Reeder.
The festival announced its line up this week and says for the first time it had more than 10-thousand entries. Only about 60 films make it into the official competition. Dozens more get exposure in special screenings.
In addition to the Seattle offerings, two documentaries from Oregon also are in competition: "How to Die in Oregon" looks into the physician-assisted suicide law there, and "If a Tree Falls: A Story of the Earth Liberation Front" is about that group's fight against Northwest timber companies.
