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# A local’s big break
- URL: https://www.smdp.com/a-locals-big-break/
- Published: 2007-11-29T16:00:00.000Z
- Updated: 2026-10-24T04:09:29.000Z
- Author: Guest Author
- Tags: Entertainment, Santa Monica, #archive-import

*By MICHAEL TITTINGER Daily Press Staff Writer*

LOS ANGELES A longtime Santa Monica resident’s first foray into filmmaking has earned him an exclusive berth in the competition for top honors at the Sundance Film Festival.

Matthew Stanton, who wrote, produced, directed and starred in the drama “North Starr,” filmed his tale of haunted pasts and racial intolerance on location in Western Texas in the summer of 2006\. The independent film’s inclusion in the festival’s Dramatic Competition will pit Stanton and company against Hollywood heavyweights such as Winona Ryder, Nick Nolte, Anjelica Huston and Paul Giamatti.

The lineup announced Wednesday for Sundance — the main U.S. showcase for independent film — also included documentaries on writer Hunter S. Thompson, musician Patti Smith and filmmakers Roman Polanski and Derek Jarman.

Taking place Jan. 17-27 in Park City, Utah, Sundance has chosen 16 films in its dramatic competition for American fictional films, also including director Geoff Haley’s “The Last Word,”starring Ryder,Wes Bentley and Ray Romano in a romance about a reclusive writer who crafts suicide notes for other people.

“North Starr” follows its protagonist Demetrius, who after witnessing the brutal murder of his best friend, flees the badlands of Houston and finds himself in Trublin, a backward, racially intolerant town where he meets an unlikely kindred spirit who takes him under his wing.

Ad prices exclude government fees and taxes, any finance charges, any dealer document preparation charge and any emission testing charge. Ends 11/30/07 close of business. “Just don’t call me a ‘rookie,’” said Stanton, who has spent the better part of five years getting his “North Starr”project off the ground. The Loyola Marymount alum cast numerous locals from small towns such as Putnam and Baird, Texas, as well as taking advantage of the region’s rugged landscapes.

“A number of people, including some that even worked on my film, advised me not to hold out for Sundance,” Stanton said Wednesday, explaining that he was prodded to enter his film in smaller, less competitive film festivals.“But here we are in the final 16.

“I said from the start that we were going for Sundance.”

Also competing in a dramatic competition lineup heavy on tales of families at odds are: Rawson Thurber’s “The Mysteries of Pittsburgh” with Nolte, Sienna Miller, Peter Sarsgaard and Jon Foster in the story of a young man with a gangster father who embarks on a soul-searching summer after college; Clark Gregg’s “Choke” with Huston and Sam Rockwell in a mother-and-son tale; and Paul Schneider’s “Pretty Bird” with Giamatti and Billy Crudup in a dark comic narrative of entrepreneurs trying to invent a rocket belt.

Another entry in the U.S. dramatic competition: Christine Jeffs’ “Sunshine Cleaning,” the story of an enterprising mother and her reluctant sister who try their hand at the crime-scene cleanup business. It stars Amy Adams, Emily Blunt, Alan Arkin and Amy Redford, daughter of Sundance Institute founder Robert Redford.

Films were selected from a record number of submissions for the U.S. and World Cinema Dramatic and Documentary Competitions. (The complete list of films is available at www.sundance.org/festival).

“The broad range of cinematic expression in this year’s festival is found not simply in terms of the volume of submissions or its demographics, but in the variety of types of filmmakers and the issues they explore,” said Geoffrey Gilmore, director of the Sundance Film Festival.“This year, we are seeing a convergence of storytelling and art that truly illustrates the spectrum of what is possible in film.”

For the 2008 festival, 121 feature-length films were selected, including 87 world premieres, 14 North American premieres, and 12 U.S. premieres representing 25 countries with 55 first-time filmmakers, including 32 in competition. These films were selected from 3,624 feature film submissions comprised of 2,021 U.S. and 1,603 international feature-length films.

The numbers represent an increase from last year, when 1,852 U.S. and 1,435 international feature-length films were considered.

“The creativity, urgency and passion of this year’s filmmakers are palpable, proving that independent filmmaking is alive and well, not only in the U.S., but throughout the world,” said John Cooper, director of pro-gramming for Sundance. “The competition program is funny, spirited, human, and at times uncharacteristically optimistic about the world we live in.”

The 16 documentaries in the U.S. competition feature Alex Gibney’s “Gonzo: The Life and Work of Dr.Hunter S.Thompson,”a portrait of the iconoclastic writer known for a bottomless narcotics appetite; “Roman Polanski: Wanted and Desired,” Marina Zenovich’s examination of the Academy Award-winning director of “The Pianist” and “Chinatown” who fled the United States in 1978 over child-sex charges; and “Patti Smith: Dream of Life,” Steven Sebring’s study of the music icon who rose to fame in the 1970s.

The world-documentary competition for films from outside the United States includes Isaac Julien’s “Derek Jarman,” a look at the work of the British experimental filmmaker.

Other Sundance documentaries include Edet Belzberg’s “An American Soldier,” which examines U.S. Army recruitment tactics; Patrick Creadon’s “I.O.U.S.A.,” an exploration of America’s fiscal straits; and Jackie Reem Salloum’s “Slingshot Hip Hop,” a chronicle of Palestinians using protest rap in the struggle with Israel.

The Associated Press also contributed to this article.

![](https://storage.ghost.io/c/55/9f/559f9abc-8372-4a2e-8c2d-27386da4e363/content/images/2026/10/112907-02_01.jpg)

CUT: Filmmaker Matthew Stanton takes a break from scouting locations in West Texas for his feature film 'North Starr' in this 2004 photo. (Photo: Photo courtesy)

![](https://storage.ghost.io/c/55/9f/559f9abc-8372-4a2e-8c2d-27386da4e363/content/images/2026/10/112907-02_04.jpg)

DREAM FULFILLED: Longtime Santa Monica resident Matthew Stanton (left) meets with residents in Putnam, Texas, in 2004 to outline his goal of filming 'North Starr' in the region. (Photo: Photo courtesy)

*Originally published in the Santa Monica Daily Press print edition on November 29, 2007.* [Read the original PDF.](https://s3.us-east-1.amazonaws.com/smdp%5Fbackissues/112907.pdf?ref=smdp.com)