The Sundance Institute has announced the 12'signature' projects, a third of them originated from outside theUS, which will participate in the upcoming Screenwriters Lab, which takes placein Utah next month.

The Lab gives participating writers the opportunity to developtheir screenplays through workshop sessions with a stellar cast of leadinginternational screenwriters that involve them in creative brainstorming andindividual dialogue.

'This year's selection has grown to become moreglobal in scope. Four international projects representing writer/directors fromSouth Africa, the Middle East and Iran will join the eight American projects atthe Lab,' commented Michelle Satter, director of the Sundance InstituteFeature Film Programme.

The 2003 Sundance Film Festival, which runs immediately after the Lab, will feature screenings of five films developed at previous Labs, including the premieres of All The Real Girls, written and directed by David GordonGreen; Dopamine,co-written by Mark Decena and Tim Breitbach and directed by Mark Decena; and TheMudge Boy, written anddirected by Michael Burke. Also screening in American Showcase are LisaCholodenko's second feature Laurel Canyon and Peter Sollett's feature directorial debut RaisingVictor Vargas.

Over the years Sundance Labs have supported work by a number ofprominent film-makers, including Darren Aronofsky's Requiem For A Dream, Quentin Tarantino's ReservoirDogs, WalterSalles' Central Station and Paul Thomas Anderson's Hard Eight.

The screenwriter advisors include Stephen Gaghan (Traffic), Frank Pierson (Dog Day Afternoon), Chris McQuarrie (The Usual Suspects), Susan Shilliday (thirtysomething), Alice Arlen (Silkwood) and artistic director Scott Frank (OutOf Sight).

The screenwriting projects that will participate in 2003 Lab are:

ALL OF CREATION
Matthew Friedman (writer)
The story centres on a brilliant young mathematician on the verge of suicidewho gives himself one year to discover the meaning of life.

AN AWFULLY GOOD ALIBI
Keith Fulton (writer)
A mean-spirited old man suffering the onset of Alzheimer's disease findshimself the target of the conflicting agendas of his estranged daughter and ashiftless stranger.

BODEGA DREAMS
Ernesto QuiÒonez (writer)
A promising young man finds himself drawn into the dangerous world of theidealist local crime lord Willie Bodega, who dreams of taking over SpanishHarlem and reclaiming a lost love.

BURY ME STANDING
Caran Hartsfield (writer/director)
After the sudden death of a family member, four bereaved relatives strugglewith the effort to remember the dead young man and are forced to confront theirgreatest fears.

IN BETWEEN TWO DAYS
Hany Abu-Assad (writer/director)
The story follows 24 hours in the lives of two Palestinian friends as theybecome inexorably entwined in the violence that permeates their world.

ME AND YOU AND EVERYONE WE KNOW
Miranda July (writer/director)
Focuses on children and adults touching and not touching each other in an erawhen 'real' is just an aesthetic choice.

SCAR
Teboho Mahlatsi (co-writer/director)
Sporro, a gifted but impoverished boy on the cusp of fame, reinvents himself inthe hardcore image of his friend and protector Paradise, who in turn fights toreclaim his identity.

SWEET MUD
Dror Shaul (writer/director)
A satirical look at life on a kibbutz as a 13-year-old boy attempts to rescuehis mentally unstable mother from the men who use her ñ until he finallygives in and helps her die.

THE FIRST X-RATED KISS
Rebecca Dreyfus and Aaron Harnick (co-writers/co-directors)
A struggling documentary filmmaker and a struggling actor team up to make thefirst good porno film.

TRUE LOVE
Henry Barrial (writer/director)
The story explores love's many pitfalls and virtues as seen through theexperiences of three modern couples.

UP
Elisabeth Subrin (co-writer/director) and Evan Carlson (co-writer)
An opportunity to join the freeform, fast-paced world of a Boston dotcom hasunforeseen repercussions for a young woman when it triggers a spectacularmanic-depressive cycle, causing her to break down just as the company collapsesin the tech market crash.

WOMEN WITHOUT MEN
Shirin Neshat (writer/director)
Based on five short stories by the Iranian author Shahrnoush Parsipour thatparallel the experiences and lives of different women living in distinctsocio-political and cultural settings.

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