A slew of new deals emerged from Sundance today [27] as IFC and SPWA partnered on North American rights to Salvation Boulevard after Roadside Attractions moved on US theatrical and DVD rights to James Marsh’s documentary Project Nim.

IFC Films and Sony Pictures Worldwide Acquisitions (SPWA) closed a deal with UTA on behalf of the filmmakers for Mandalay Pictures’ Salvation Boulevard following Monday’s world premiere.

George Ratliff directed Pierce Brosnan, Jennifer Connelly, Ed Harris, Greg Kinnear, Jim Gaffigan and Marisa Tomei in the comedy about a preacher who enlists the help of a hippie when he finds himself in a compromising situation.

Cathy Schulman, Celine Rattray and Peter Fruchtman produced and Arclight Films is handling international sales.

Roadside will release Project Nim, James Marsh’s follow-up to his Sundance 2008 entry and Oscar winning Man On Wire, follows an unnerving series of social experiments on a chimpanzee to ascertain whether the beast can comprehend human language.

HBO took US television rights to Nim prior to the festival. Roadside’s partner and minority owner Lionsgate will release on DVD. Roadside’s Howard Cohen negotiated the deal with Josh Braun of Submarine.

Earlier in the day Dada announced it had acquired US theatrical rights to Bill Haney’s The Last Mountain and will release the film on June 3, while New Video acquired US DVD and digital rights. Bill Haney’s film premiered in the US Documentary Competition category and chronicles the impact of coal mining on the American heartland.

As reported in a separate story, Madman Entertainment took Australian and New Zealand rights from Submarine to Buck and Page One.