So are films with such stars as Naomi Watts, Keanu Reeves, Laura Linney, Liv Tyler and James Woods.

Sundance organizers on Monday announced the 64 competition entries - dramatic films and documentaries, and new juried contests for world cinema and international documentaries - for the 2005 festival, which runs Jan. 20-30 in Park City, and in venues in Salt Lake City, Ogden and the Sundance Village.

Festival director Geoffrey Gilmore said he is "as excited about this year's competition as I have been in 15 years. I just think there's a quality, there's an importance to it."

While Gilmore avoids picking favorites or divining a central theme amid the films, he did point to a strong showing of regional films in the dramatic competition - including four from the South and two from the Northwest.

Anyone looking for a dumbed-down stereotype of red states vs. blue states, though, will be surprised.

"Do they represent a kind of discourse on American values that would flow from those red states? The answer is yes and no," Gilmore said. The films are "an opening up to looking at characters that are different. But we're not looking at them pejoratively. We're looking at them very much in a sense of wonderment, a kind of a sense of embrace."

Politics are also apparent, but not blatant, in the documentary competition.

"I don't think there's a partisanship in these films, but I think that one could argue there's very much a politic in them," Gilmore said. "It's much more subtextual, much more part of the characters of the piece, than it is a positioned argument."

One example is "Mardi Gras: Made in China," about the low-paid Chinese factory workers stringing Mardi Gras beads that "girls flash their breasts for in New Orleans," Gilmore said. "You get a sense of the global economy, and you get a sense of the inequities of it all."

The rest of the Sundance slate - including the opening-night premiere - will be announced today.

movies@sltrib.com

2005 Sundance Film Festival entries

Here are the 64 competition entries that will play at the 2005 Sundance Film Festival, announced Monday:

Dramatic competition

"Between" (directed by David Oca as, written by Robert Nelms), about a lawyer ("Without a Trace's" Poppy Montgomery) caught in intrigue when looking for her missing sister in Tijuana.

"Brick" (written and directed by Rian Johnson) stars Joseph Gordon-Levitt ("3rd Rock from the Sun") as a teen infiltrating a high-school crime ring to find out why his ex-girlfriend disappeared.

"Dying Gaul" (written and directed by Craig Lucas), about a screenwriter (Peter Saarsgard) who ends up in an odd relationship with a film executive (Campbell Scott) and the man's wife (Patricia Clarkson).

"Ellie Parker" (written and directed by Scott Coffey) stars Naomi Watts as an aspiring actress trying to maintain her integrity in work and love.

"Forty Shades of Blue" (directed by Ira Sachs, written by Michael Rohatyn & Ira Sachs), about a Russian woman (Dina Korzun) whose life changes when the son of her husband, a rock legend (Rip Torn), returns.

"How the Garcia Girls Spent Their Summer" (written and directed by Georgina Garcia Riedel), about sexual awakening among three generations of a Mexican-American family.

"Hustle & Flow" (written and directed by Craig Brewer) stars Terrence Dashon Howard as a pimp trying to go straight as a rap artist.

"Junebug" (directed by Phil Morrison, written by Angus MacLachlan) follows a Chicago art dealer to North Carolina to meet the in-laws.

"Loggerheads" (written and directed by Tim Kirkman) tells overlapping stories about estranged families in North Carolina. Bonnie Hunt and Kip Pardue ("Remember the Titans") star.

"Lonesome Jim" (directed by Steve Buscemi, written by James C. Strouse) follows a 27-year-old failure (Casey Affleck) moving back in with his parents.

"Me and You and Everyone We Know" (written and directed by Miranda July) chronicles the relationship between a shoe salesman and an eccentric artist.

"Police Beat" (directed by Robinson Devor, written by Robinson Devor & Charles Mudede) follows an African-born bike cop on the beat in Seattle.

"Pretty Persuasion" (directed by Marcos Siega, written by Skander Halim) stars Evan Rachel Wood ("thirteen") as a 15-year-old whose accusations of sexual harassment against her drama teacher bring about a media circus.

"The Squid and the Whale" (written and directed by Noah Baumbach), about an '80s Brooklyn family in the throes of divorce. Jeff Daniels, Laura Linney and Anna Paquin star for writer-director Baumbach (who co-wrote the upcoming "The Life Aquatic").

"Thumbsucker" (written and directed by Mike Mills), about a boy trying to overcome his digit addiction. Tilda Swinton and Vincent D'Onofrio play his parents, Keanu Reeves his orthodontist and Vince Vaughn his debate coach.

"Who Killed Cock Robin?" (written and directed by Travis Wilkerson), a surreal drama set among the young men of Butte, Mont.

Documentary competition

"After Innocence" (directed by Jessica Sanders), profiling how ex-inmates, after being cleared by DNA evidence, adjust to life outside prison.

"The Aristocrats" (directed by Paul Provenza), in which 100 well-known comics tell the same dirty joke.

"The Devil and Daniel Johnson" (directed by Jeff Feuerzeig), about a singer-songwriter-artist's battle against manic-depression.

"The Education of Shelby Knox" (directed by Marion Lipschutz and Rose Rosenblatt), which shows a 15-year-old girl in Lubbock, Texas, raised by conservative Southern Baptists but becoming a liberal Christian and feminist.

"Enron: Rise and Fall" (directed by Alex Gibney), an examination of the energy company's double dealings.

"The Fall of Fujimori" (directed by Ellen Perry), about the career slide of Peru's president, Alberto Fujimori.

"Frozen Angels" (directed by Eric Black and Frauke Sandig), about the future of human reproductive technology.

"Mardi Gras: Made in China" (directed by David Redmon), which follows Mardi Gras beads from a factory in China to New Orleans' Mardi Gras, as a case study in globalization.

"Murderball" (directed by Henry-Alex Rubin and Dana Adam Shapiro), about quadriplegics who play full-contact rugby in "Road Warrior"-style wheelchairs.

"New York Doll" (directed by Greg Whiteley), a portrait of Arthur "Killer" White, member of the seminal glam-punk band The New York Dolls, now a recovering alcoholic and converted Mormon.

"Ring of Fire: The Emile Griffith Story" (directed by Dan Klores and Ron Berger), about the tumultuous life of the six-time world welterweight champ.

"Romantico" (directed by Mark Becker), about a San Francisco troubadour returning home to Mexico.

"Shakespeare Behind Bars" (directed by Hank Roberson), about an unusual theater troupe, made up of inmates in a Kentucky prison farm.

"Trudell" (directed by Heather Rae), a profile of Native American poet/activist John Trudell.

"Twist of Faith" (directed by Kirby Dick), about how a man's confrontation of his past - as a victim of a Catholic priest's sexual abuse - tears at his relationships with his family and faith.

"Why We Fight" (directed by Eugene Jarecki), a pointed examination of American militarism, providing a context for the Iraq war.

World cinema

"Brothers" (Denmark; directed by Susanne Bier, written by Anders Thomas Jensen), about two brothers whose lives change when one is sent to Afghanistan.

"Cronicas" (Ecuador/Mexico; written and directed by Sebastian Cordero), a thriller about a Miami reporter pursuing a serial killer in Ecuador.

"The Forest for the Trees" (Germany; written and directed by Maren Ade), in which an idealistic teacher gets a rude awakening on her first job.

"Green Chair" (South Korea; written and directed by Park Chul-su), about a housewife convicted of seducing a minor.

"The Hero" (Angola/Portugal/France; directed by Zeze Gamboa, written by Carla Baptista), about a veteran of the Angolan civil war trying to assimilate to civilian life.

"Kekexili: Mountain Patrol" (China; written and directed by Lu Chuan), a tale of volunteers protecting Tibetan antelope from poachers.

"Lila Says" (France/Italy/U.K.; directed by Ziad Doueiri, written by Ziad Doueiri and Joelle Touma), about teen-agers whose flirtation turns obsessive.

"Live-In Maid" (Spain/Argentina; written and directed by Jorge Gaggero), about the relationship between a rich Buenos Aires woman and her housekeeper, which changes during economic strife.

"Monsterthursday" (Norway; directed by Arild ¯stin Ommundsen, written by Arild ¯stin Ommundsen and Gro Elin Hjelle), a romantic drama set in the weather extremes of coastal Norway.

"On a Clear Day" (U.K.; directed by Gaby Dellal, written by Alex Rose), in which a man decides to swim the English Channel.

"Palermo Hollywood" (Argentina; directed by Eduardo Pinto, written by Brian Maya and Federico Finkielstain), about two petty crooks who get caught up in a kidnapping-gone-bad.

"Stranger" (Poland; written and directed by Malgosia Szumowska), about a pregnant 22-year-old overcoming her dreary life to learn to love her unborn child.

"This Charming Girl" (South Korea; written and directed by Lee Yoon-Ki), centered on a young postal worker's emotional life.

"Tony Takitani" (Japan; written and directed by Jun Ichikawa), about the tragic consequences when an illustrator asks his wife to forsake designer clothes.

"Unconscious" (Spain/Portugal/Italy/Germany; directed by Joaqu'n Oristrell, written by Joaqu'n Oristrell, Teresa de Peligr' and Dominic Harari), a mystery in Barcelona, 1913, that turns Freudian.

"Wolf Creek" (Australia; written and directed by Greg McLean), a fact-based thriller about road-trippers who seek help from a local - with chilling results.

World cinema documentary

"The 3 Rooms of Melancholia" (Finland; directed by Pirjo Honkasalo), examining the Chechen conflict through a children's refugee camp, a war-torn town and a Russian military academy.

"Dhakiyarr vs. The King" (Australia; directed by Tom Murray and Allan Collins), which shows the descendants of an aboriginal, who disappeared mysteriously after a sensational murder trial, seeking to restore his honor.

"Grizzly Man" (U.S./Canada; directed by Werner Herzog), about two grizzly activists killed by the bears they were trying to protect.

"I Am Cuba, the Siberian Mammoth" (Brazil; directed by Vicente Ferraz), which traces the creation of the Soviet/Cuban propaganda film "I Am Cuba."

"El Immortal" (Nicaragua/Spain/Mexico; directed by Mercedes Moncada), about a family torn apart by the conflict in Nicaragua.

"The Liberace of Baghdad" (U.K.; directed by Sean McAllister), about a pianist cooling his heels in a Baghdad hotel waiting for his visa to America to clear.

"Odessa Odessa" (Israel/France; directed by Michale Boganim), chronicling the vanishing Odessa Jewish community, from the Ukraine to New York to Israel.

"Shake Hands With the Devil: The Journey of Roméo Dallaire" (Canada; directed by Peter Raymont), profiling the Canadian general who commanded the U.N.'s mission in Rwanda, during the 1994 genocide.

"Shape of the Moon" (The Netherlands; directed by Leonard Retel Helmrich) follows three generations in predominantly Muslim Indonesia.

"Unknown White Male" (U.K.; directed by Rupert Murray), about a man who woke up in Coney Island with no memory of any part of his life.

"Wall" (France/Israel; directed by Simone Bitton), which looks at the fence being built to separate Palestinians from Israelis.

"Yang Ban Zi: The 8 Modelworks" (The Netherlands; directed by Yan Ting Yuen), about the propaganda spectacles created in China during the Cultural Revolution, as a replacement to traditional opera.