Short films from RichardLinklater, actress Illeana Douglas and Lord Of The Rings star Sean Astin are among the 90 shorts programmedat next year's Sundance Film Festival, which kicks off Jan 16 in ParkCity, Utah.

Culled from a record 3,345submissions, the narrative and documentary titles will screen before featuresand as part of a six-part Short Film Program and the Frontier Section, NativeForum and a new addition, Animation Spotlight. Short films under 30 minuteswill compete for the Jury Prize in Short Filmmaking Award.

Other titles that wereannounced today (Dec 9) include The Nazi, a 14-minute short by Rod Lurie, whose feature directing creditsinclude The Last Castle and TheContender, and The Tortoise AndThe Hare by special effects veteranRay Harryhausen. Sundance programmer Trevor Groth said the 40% increase insubmissions this year was matched by high quality across the board.

SUNDANCE 2003 SHORT FILMPROGRAM

Films from the US unlessnationality is marked

72 VIRGINS (Israel) Dir: UriBar-On

ABOVE & BENEATH Dir:Rene Alberta

AQUI IBA EL HIMNO (HERE WASTHE ANTHEM) (Mexico) Dir: Sergio Umansky

ASYLUM Dir: Sandy Mcleod& Gini Reticker

AT THE QUINTE HOTEL (Canada)Dir: Douglas Bensadoun

AUTOBANK Dir: Matthew Ehlers

BRANSON: MUSICLAND USA Dir:Peter Sillen

BUFFALO COMMON Dir: BillBrown

CLIMBING MISS SOPHIE(Israel) Dir: Liat Dahan

THE CLINIC Dir: JesseTerrero

COME NIGHTFALL Dir: AbigailSeverance

THE CUTMAN Dir: Yon Motskin

D.E.B.S. Dir: AngelaRobinson

DEVIL TALK Dir: IlleanaDouglas

DOWNPOUR RESURFACING Dir:Frances Nkara

EARTHQUAKE (UK) Dir: JamesBrett

FAKE CLOUDS Dir: AndreaCampbell

FAMILY TREE Dir: VickyJenson

FIREPUSSY Dir: LaurelAlmerinda

FITS & STARTS Dir: VinceDiMeglio

FIVE DEEP BREATHS Dir: SeithMann

GERTRUDIS BLUES (Mexico)Dir: Patricia Carrillo Carrera

GOOD NIGHT VALENTINO Dir:Edoardo Ballerini

GRAVEL Dir: Steven Bognar

JER-Z KNIGHTS Dir: Dale May

THE KING AND DICK Dir: ScottCalonico

KISS AND TELL Dir: MichalineBabich

LIFE, LIBERTY & THEPURSUIT OF HAPPINESS Dir: Tiffany Shlain

LITTLE FAILURES Dir: JohnDilley

LIVE FROM SHIVAiSDANCEFLOOR Dir: Richard Linklater

THE LONG AND SHORT OF ITDir: Sean Astin

LUCY & RICKY Dir: JesusM Rodriguez

MOST Dir: Bobby Garabedian

THE NAZI Dir: Rod Lurie

NEO-NOIR Dir: Chase Palmer

NIGHT LIGHT Dir: EricEscobar

A NINJA PAYS HALF MY RENTDir: Steven K Tsuchida

O BEAUTIFUL Dir: Alan Brown

OCULARIS Dir: Vance Malone

OLIVIA'S PUZZLE(Canada) Dir: Jason DaSilva

OPENMINDS Dir: JoeSedelmaier

PAN WITH US Dir: David Russo

THE PLANETS Dir: FrancescaTalenti

QUEST TO REF Dir: BenWatkins & Guy Guillet

REQUEST Dir: Jinoh Park

ROSSO FANGO (MUD RED)(Italy) Dir: Paolo Ameli

STRUGGLE Dir: Ryan Fleck

THE SUPPORT GROUP Dir:Daniel Milder, John Viener & Josh Weinstein

SWALLOW Dir: Frank E Flowers

TERMINAL BAR Dir: StefanNadelman

THIS IS JOHN Dir: JayDuplass

TIM TOM (France) Dir: RomainSegaud & Christel Pougeoise

TOY Dir: Abraham Lincoln Lim

TROMBA D'ORO (GOLDENTRUMPET) (Mexico) Dir: Patricio Serna

TWIN TOWERS Dir: BillGuttentag & Robert Port

THE VELVET TIGRESS Dir: JenSachs

WHATEVER WE DO Dir: KevinConnolly

WHISPERS Dir: Desha Dauchan

WHY CAN'T WE BE AFAMILY AGAIN' Dir: Roger Weisberg & Murray Nossel

WILFRED (Australia) Dir:Tony Rogers

ZAGATI Dir: Edu Felistoque& Nereu Cerdeira

ANIMATION SPOTLIGHT

ATOMIC LOVE Dir: MichaelDante DiMartino

BLUE AND ORANGE Dir: MariInukai

DOG (England) Dir: SuzieTempleton

DREAMSCAPES Dir: SeanMcBride

THE ERLKING Dir: BenZelkowicz

THE FREAK Dir: AristomenisTsirbas

FROM THE 104TH FLOOR Dir:Serguei Bassine

HISTORIA DEL DESIERTO(DESERT STORY) (UK) Dir: Celia Galan Julve

JON'S DAY Dir: PeterKo

PA (Australia) Dir: NeilGoodridge

PARKING Dir: Bill Plympton

SET SET SPIKE Dir: EmilyHubley

THE TORTOISE AND THE HAREDir: Ray Harryhausen

FRONTIER

THE_FUTURE_OF_HUMAN_CONTAINMENTDir: Michaela Schwentner

GOING TO THE OCEAN Dir: MattMcCormick

IN ORDER NOT TO BE HERE Dir:Deborah Stratman

MARK SET BURN Dir: ChristineKhalafian

THE PERPETUAL LIFE OF JIMALBERS Dir: Matt Goldman

REBEL Dir: Lisa Barnstone

SKELEHELLAVISION Dir: MarthaColburn

TOOBA Dir: Shirin Neshat

NATIVE FORUM

ADMIRATIONAL Dir: Shane LeeEagle Hannigan

BUNDLE IN GOOD STANDING Dir:Gabriel Whiteturkey

MOCASSIN FLATS Dir: RandyRedroad

SAILING THE MASTER HOME Dir:Gilbert Salas

SHIT SKIN Dir: NicholasBoseley

RANGIMARIE Dir: Puka Moeau

WITHDRAWL Dir: Dax Thomas