Sundance Film Fest

The Annual Sundance Film Festival kicked off its 26th year yesterday in Park City, Utah. The festival, founded by Robert Redford in 1981, runs from January 18th-28th. It is known as one of the most important film festivals in the world, especially for American independent filmmakers who come to Park City in the hopes that their film will be "discovered", i.e. find a distributor.

Films like "Little Miss Sunshine" (2006) and "Napolean Dynamite" (2004) owe a huge chunk of their box-office success to the fact that they were well-received at Sundance.

There are also prizes to be won: the Grand Jury Prize and the Audience Award for documentary and dramatic films, both international and domestic. Past winners include "Hustle and Flow" (Audience Award Dramatic, 2005), "Whale Rider" (Audience Award World Cinema, 2003), and "Girlfight" (Grand Jury Prize Dramatic, 2000).

Sundance is also famous for its celebrity draw, as big name stars flock to the tiny mountain town to promote their films, support their movie-star friends' films, or simply soak up the rampant party atmosphere and do some skiing (cue Paris Hilton).

This year's films include "Chapter 27", starring Jared Leto; "Hounddog", Dakota Fanning's first indie picture; and "Grace is Gone", with John Cusack.

I can't wait to get the scoop on which films to watch, which films to miss, and which stars partied harder than all the rest!