Director: Peter Sattler
Stars: Kristen Stewart, Payman Maadi, Lane Garrison, J.J. Soria
The Buzz: Stewart takes on the role of a Gitmo prison guard who strikes up an unlikely relationship with a detainee, a suspected terrorist played by A Separation's Maadi.
Director: Jim Mickle
Stars: Michael C. Hall, Don Johnson, Sam Shepard
The Buzz: A year after his cannibal-themed We Are What We Are caused a stir at Sundance, Mickle is back with this Texas-set thriller about a man, Hall, who kills a home intruder, then finds his life spiraling into violence.
Director: Justin Simien
Stars: Tyler James Williams, Tessa Thompson, Teyonah Parris, Brandon Bell
The Buzz: Its cast might be low-wattage, but it could be explosive as it satirically follows four black students at an Ivy League college where a riot breaks out after white students throw an African-American-themed party.
Director: Alex Gibney
The Buzz: Sundance has spawned such crowd-pleasing music docs as Searching for Sugar Man and 20 Feet From Stardom, and for his latest, Gibney (The Armstrong Lie) hopes to keep that tradition alive with a look at Afrobeat trailblazer Fela Anikulapo Kuti and how he used his music to fight for the rights of oppressed people in Nigeria.
Director: Len Abrahamson
Stars: Michael Fassbender, Domhnall Gleeson, Maggie Gyllenhaal, Scoot McNairy
The Buzz: Fassbender, the much-in-demand leading man, plays an enigmatic and brilliant rock star in this comedy — and spends much of the movie wearing an oversize fake head.
Director: Lynn Shelton
Stars: Keira Knightley Chloe Grace Moretz, Sam Rockwell, Ellie Kemper, Jeff Garlin, Mark Webber
The Buzz: Shelton follows up last year's Touchy Feely with a coming-of-age story about a 28-year-old woman (Knightley), stuck in permanent adolescence.
Director: Steve James
The Buzz: James’ documentary about the late film critic and Sundance mainstay Roger Ebert is expected to sell before it even plays the fest. At press time, IFC, Magnolia, Oscilloscope and The Weinstein Co. all were circling, and CNN Films has picked up broadcast rights.
Director: Jeff Preiss
Stars: John Hawkes, Elle Fanning, Glenn Close, Peter Dinklage, Lena Headey, Flea
The Buzz: With the help of one of the fest's most eclectic casts, Preiss chronicles the life of real-life jazz pianist Joe Albany (Hawkes) from the perspective of his daughter Amy (Fanning) as she watches him deal with drugs amid the backdrop of the decadent '60s and '70s music scene.
Director: Jeffrey Radice
The Buzz: Dock Ellis pitched a no-hitter while on LSD during a 1970 game between his Pittsburgh Pirates and the San Diego Padres. Radice’s film recounts that improbable feat as it captures the career of the proudly black Ellis.
Director: Kate Barker-Froyland
Stars: Anne Hathaway, Johnny Flynn, Mary Steenburgen, Ben Rosenfield
The Buzz: Hathaway plays a woman who returns home to New York when an accident leaves her brother in a coma — and then finds herself a new life amid the Brooklyn music scene.
Director: Nadav Schirman
The Buzz: Part doc, part thriller, the film centers on a Palestinian man who became one of Israel’s prized intelligence assets when he agreed to spy on his own people, a role he played for more than a decade.
Director: Craig Johnson
Stars: Bill Hader, Kristen Wiig, Luke Wilson, Ty Burrell, Boyd Holbrook, Joanna Gleason
The Buzz: With a pair of Saturday Night Live vets like Hader and Wiig toplining, it would be easy to assume this is a laugh-out-loud comedy. But think again. Buzz already is building about Hader's dramatic performance as a gay man in upstate New York who reunites with his estranged sister (Wiig). Wilson provides the comic relief.
Director: Gregg Araki
Stars: Shailene Woodley, Eva Green, Christopher Meloni, Shiloh Fernandez, Gabourey Sidibe, Thomas Jane
The Buzz: Sundance vet Araki directs an adaptation of Laura Kasischke's novel, with Woodley playing a young woman whose life is rocked by the sudden disappearance of her mother.
Director: Brian Knappenberger
The Buzz: Swartz committed suicide at age 26 on Jan. 11, 2013. This film examines the life of the programming prodigy, a onetime co-owner of Reddit, who championed open Web access but found himself facing steep fines and decades in prison for downloading academic journals.