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It’s a case of art imitating life and vice versa. This month, a legal thriller about the abuse of an African-American kid in the foster system from producer Peter Samuelson (Arlington Road) is in post-production and readying for festivals. But just last week, the screenwriter for the film Foster Boy won a $45M judgment against a social services agency — the largest award in the history of the state of Illinois in a case involving the death of a toddler in the foster system.

It was a case the producer/screenwriter/lawyer Jay Paul Deratany handled himself.

But a year before Deratany even knew about the the death of 2-year-old Lavandis Hudson in the foster system, the attorney was writing a screenplay about an African-American boy who is abused by a private social services company. Deratany has been practicing law for about 30 years — 16 of them handling cases involving foster care negligence and child neglect.

2014 Sundance Film Festival Coverage: El: Eric Lavallee. Nb: Nicholas Bell. Cc: Caitlin Coder. Js: Jordan M. Smith

Special Screening (1)

Nympho Vol. I – (El: ✮✮✮✮)

U.S. Dramatic Competition (16)

Camp X-Ray – (Nb: ✮✮✮)

Cold in July – (Nb: ✮✮✮ 1/2)

Dear White People – (Nb: ✮✮✮)

Fishing Without Nets – (El: ✮✮✮) + (Js: ✮✮✮) + (Nb: ✮✮✮)

God’s Pocket – (Cc: ✮✮ 1/2)

Happy Christmas – (Cc: ✮✮✮ 1/2) + (Js: ✮✮✮ 1/2) + (Nb: ✮✮ 1/2)

Hellion – (El: ✮✮) + (Jm: ✮✮✮1/2)

Infinitely Polar Bear – (El: ✮✮✮)

Jamie Marks Is Dead – (El: ✮✮✮) + (Js: ✮1/2) + (Nb: ✮✮ 1/2)

Kumiko, the Treasure Hunter – (Js: ✮✮✮ 1/2)

Life After Beth – (El: ✮ 1/2) + (Nb: ✮ )

Low Down – (Cc: ✮✮✮) + (Js: ✮✮✮)

The Skeleton Twins - (Nb: ✮✮✮1/2) + (El: ✮✮✮1/2) + (Cc: ✮✮✮1/2) (Review)

The Sleepwalker – (El: ✮✮✮ 1/2) + (Js: ✮✮✮1/2) + (Cc: ✮✮✮✮) + (Nb: ✮✮✮)

Song One – (El: ✮✮) + (Js: ✮✮1/2)

Wish I Was Here – (Cc: ✮✮)

U.S. Docu Competition (16)

Alive Inside: A Story of Music & Memory (Js: ✮✮✮)

All the Beautiful Things

Captivated The Trials of Pamela Smart: (El: ✮✮✮)

The Case Against 8

Cesar’s Last Fast

Dinosaur 13 – (El: ✮✮) + (Js: ✮✮) (Review)

E-team (Js: ✮✮✮)

Fed Up

The Internet’s Own Boy:...

I honestly had very little to go one when I added A.J. Edwards’ The Better Angels to my predictions list and the fact that it has been included among the New Frontier offerings means that we’re in for something out of the ordinary, as the section has often challenged conventional form. Produced by Terrence Malick, and filmed in B&W, it features Jason Clarke, Diane Kruger, Brit Marling, Wes Bentley and a newbie actor taking on the role of a young Lincoln. Here is the entire listing of five (plus installation projects), which will include Joseph Gordon-Levitt’s on-going Hit Record project.

The Better Angels / U.S.A. (Director and screenwriter: A.J. Edwards) — Set in the harsh wilderness of Indiana, this is the story of Abraham Lincoln’s youth. It tells of the hardships that shaped him, the tragedy that marked him forever, and the two women who guided him to immortality.

When Sundance announced the films in competition for the 2014 festival yesterday, its organizers noted that they were impressed by the caliber of cinematic artistry — mostly due to technology — that freed up filmmakers to experiment with different genres. No category of the festival is more rooted in genre than Park City at Midnight, the late-night section that specializes in horror and the supernatural, and this year’s slate has several potential breakouts. “The Midnight lineup came together in a way that is about the strongest group we’ve ever had, top to bottom,” says Trevor Groth, Sundance’s director of programming.

Sundance Institute executives announced on December 5 that the festival will feature new work from artist Doug Aitken as well as Klip Collective’s external projections on the Egyptian Theatre.

An expanded New Frontier will showcase installations, performance, transmedia and panel discussion section. Most of the installations will be housed at a new, 5,000-square-foot location at the Gateway in Park City adjacent to Main Street.

Doug Aitken’s The Source (Evolving) will occur at a nearby location along Main Street.

“As human and machine, biological and media experiences blur and hybridise, the distinctions between them are also becoming irrelevant,” said curator of the exhibition and Sundance Film Festival senior programmer Shari Frilot.

“The digital and the organic integrally constitute a new primordial pool. What does creativity and storytelling look like if we revel in this new way of being?”

“This year’s expanded New Frontier allows artists to continue pushing the boundaries in telling their stories,” said Sundance...

Here are the five films playing in the New Frontier sidebar. The Better Angels / U.S.A. (Director and screenwriter: A.J. Edwards) — Set in the harsh wilderness of Indiana, this is the story of Abraham Lincoln’s youth. It tells of the hardships that shaped him, the tragedy that marked him forever, and the two women who guided him to immortality. Cast: Jason Clarke, Diane Kruger, Brit Marling, Wes Bentley. World Premiere The Girl from Nagasaki / Germany, U.S.A., Japan, Italy (Director: Michel Comte, Screenwriters: Anne-Marie Mackay, Ayako Yoshida, Michel Comte) — This 3D feature film production of the classic Puccini opera Madame Butterfly is directed by world-renowned photographer Michel Comte. It's a modern-day tale that starts with the young madame emerging from the ashes of the atomic bomb in Nagasaki. Cast: Christopher Lee, Sasha Alexander, Michael Wincott, Michael Nyqvist, Robert Evans, Polina Semionova. International Premiere Hit Record On TV / U.