Fran''s Sundance double(It''s about Simon''s new film)

From:The Age
Date:December 5, 2003
By Peter Mitchell


Picture: Reuters

Perhaps Robert Redford should rename next month's Sundance Film Festival the Frances O'Connor Festival.

The Australian actress will be highly visible at what has become one of the most important dates on the calendar for independent filmmakers to showcase their work.

It has also become a must visit for Hollywood studios looking to buy Oscar-worthy or box office potential films.

O'Connor, 34, is the star of two films at the 10-day festival in Utah - Book of Love and Iron Jawed Angels.

"Sundance is the premier independent film festival, so it's great for Frances to have one film there," O'Connor's Beverly Hills-based manager Rob Marsala told AAP.

"But to have two is fantastic."

ompetition among filmmakers to win a spot at Sundance is intense.

Sundance organisers had 688 entries for the 16 spots open in the festival's prized dramatic category.

O'Connor's Book of Love, set in New York and co-starring another Australian actor, Simon Baker, was one of the 16 features selected.


Iron Jawed Angels, co-starring O'Connor, Hilary Swank and Anjelica Huston, will have its world premiere at Sundance. The film is entered in the premieres section of the festival.

In Iron Jawed Angels, O'Connor and Swank play young activists who risk their lives in the early 1900s to push for women to have the right to vote in America.

"It's a fantastic story about two women who got the vote for women in America," O'Connor, who is now based in London but grew up in Perth, told AAP.

"They went to prison, went on hunger strikes. It's an amazing story."

Also carrying the Australian flag at Sundance are Naomi Watts and director John Curran. Their film, We Don't Live Here Anymore, was selected in the dramatic competition.

Redford established the Sundance Institute for aspiring filmmakers in 1980 and its annual film festival has become one of the world's most influential.

Appearances at Sundance by Geoffrey Rush's Shine and Sissy Spacek's In the Bedroom in past years helped launch their Oscar campaigns.

This year's festival takes place from January 15 to 25 at Park City, Utah.