BY CYNDI GREENING, PARK CITY, UTAH (CINEMA MINIMA) — Documentaries are selling well at Sundance 2008.
<p>ESPN announced that it has acquired Sundance soccer documentary <strong>KICKING IT</strong>, the story of seven soccer players from six countries as they participate in the 4th annual Homeless World Cup. The film was directed by Susan Koch and produced by Ted Leonsis (who executive produced last year’s <strong>NANKING</strong>). ESPN will retain exclusive television rights worldwide, and execute the film’s digital distribution while working with the filmmakers to secure theatrical, DVD and other distribution.</p>
<p><img alt="polanski.jpg" src="http://lightandpower.net/wp-content/plugins/wp-o-matic/cache/8627e_polanski.jpg" width="150" height="112" align="left" hspace="10" vspace="5" /><strong>ROMAN POLANSKI: WANTED AND DESIRED</strong> has been acquired internationally by The Weinstein Company, the company announced Saturday morning. The international deal excludes all U.S. and Canadian rights, as well as U.K. television rights. The film was directed by Marina Zenovich.</p>
<p>Other documentaries rumored to be close to selling or in negotiations include <strong>RECRUIT</strong> (formerly AN AMERICAN SOLDIER), director Edet Belzberg’s story of Louisiana Sergeant, First Class Clay Usie, one of the most successful recruiters in the history of the U.S. Army; director Nanette Burstein’s <strong>AMERICAN TEEN</strong>, <img alt="topsecret.jpg" src="http://lightandpower.net/wp-content/plugins/wp-o-matic/cache/8627e_topsecret.jpg" width="150" height="86" align="right" hspace="10" vspace="5" />which is really about a group of Indiana teens, and <strong>SECRECY</strong>, the Peter Galison and Robb Moss documentary about the U.S. government’s penchant for keeping things hidden from the public.</p>
<p>It was reported earlier that <strong>THE BLACK LIST: VOLUME ONE</strong> was acquired early by HBO Documentary Films and international competition doc <strong>UP THE YANGTZE</strong> was acquired by Zeitgeist Films.</p>
<p>In the realm of dramatic film, all international rights outside the U.S. for Lance Hammer’s <strong>BALLAST</strong> have been acquired by Paris-based Celluloid Dreams. </p>
<p>Fortissimo Films has announced a deal for worldwide sales rights to the closing night film, <strong>CSNY DEJA VU</strong>. A look at Crosby, Stills, Nash & Young’s 2007 “Freedom of Speech Tour,” the film was directed by Neil Young.</p>
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Austin Burbridge
Austin Burbridge is Editor-in-Chief of Cinema Minima. After successful careers in manufacturing and in technology, he founded Cinema Minima, Sustainable Cinema, and Far From Hollywood. A native of Texas, he learned cinéma vérité technique at Rice Media Center. At Brown he concentrated in Semiotics and in Art; he studied Art History at the University of Chicago. He lives in Los Angeles.Suddhasatya Ghosh
Suddhasatya Ghosh is based in Kolkata, West Bengal, India
Chris WinsomeChristopher Winsome is the Publisher of Cinema Minima for Movie Makers
Ogova OndegoNairobi-based full time worshipper at the shrine of arts and culture; writer specialising in issues related to children, youth, media, culture and development, with a bias towards african and children's cinemaKietryn Zychal
Kietryn Zychal is a Correspondent for the New York Bureau of Cinema Minima. She has worked as a journalist in the American state of Pennsylvania. Prior to working as a journalist, Zychal was an actress. She toured several American states performing a one-woman show “Merely the Ravings of a Maniac,” that she wrote and produced. Her screenplay, “What Comes Next,” is a dark comedy about the difficulty of being married to a professional golfer. Zychal is writing a TV pilot called “Eco-Hookers.” She was educated at Lehigh University and studied abroad in England and Switzerland.
