Actress Vera Farmiga, who was nominated last year for a Best Supporting Actress Oscar for her role as George Clooney's love interest in the zeitgeist comedy UP IN THE AIR, has returned to the Sundance Film Festival with her feature directorial debut HIGHER GROUND, which is competing in the American Independents Narrative section. The film, in which she stars as a woman coping with a crisis of faith. had its initial screenings this weekend and is already one of the standout titles ...

  For American Independent filmmakers (and increasingly, international ones too), the Sundance Film Festival is an opportunity to put one's project on the world stage and, hopefully, end up with a delicious distribution deal. Of course, truth be told, less than 5% of the 250 films on offer here will create any sort of noise after the Festival concludes (well, push that up to 10% if you include the films that will eventually be asked to participate on the international film festival circ...