Short Film News (SFN)- Sundance Institute announced the films selected for the U.S. and World Cinema Dramatic and Documentary Competitions of the 2012 Sundance Film Festival.

The Sundance Film Festival will take place January 19 through 29 in Park City, Salt Lake City, Ogden and Sundance, Utah.

Robert Redford, Founder and President of Sundance Institute remarked, “We are, and always have been, a festival about the filmmakers. So what are they doing? What are they saying? They are making statements about the changing world we are living in. Some are straight-forward, some novel and some offbeat but always interesting. One can never predict. We know only at the end, and I love that.”

John Cooper, Director of the Sundance Film Festival, said, “In these challenging economic times, filmmakers have had to be more resourceful and truly independent in their approaches to filmmaking. Looking at this year’s submissions, the result is more fully realized visions and stronger stories; we are proud to see the Festival emerging as a key indicator of the health and creativity of our filmmaking community. The overall quality of the films in the 2012 Competition section will make for an exciting Festival and a remarkable year ahead for independent film audiences everywhere.”

For the 2012 Sundance Film Festival, 112 feature-length films were selected, representing 29 countries and 44 first-time filmmakers, including 24 in competition. These films were selected from 4,042 feature-length film submissions composed of 2,059 U.S. and 1,983 international feature-length films. 89 films at the Festival will be world premieres.

In addition to the four Competition categories, the Festival presents feature-length films in six out-of-competition sections. Films in the Spotlight, Park City at Midnight, NEXT  and New Frontier sections will be announced on December 1. Films in the Premieres and Documentary Premieres sections will be announced on December 5.

On Day One, the Festival will screen one narrative film and one documentary from both the U.S. and World Cinema competitions, as well as one shorts program.

Keri Putnam, Executive Director of Sundance Institute, said, “The enthusiasm and optimism of John Cooper and his programming team this year is infectious; we are all excited to unveil and experience their selections for the 2012 Sundance Film Festival. On behalf of my colleagues at the Sundance Institute we are pleased to introduce new storytellers to our audience, welcome new and returning filmmakers to the Festival and kick off a lively cultural dialogue for 2012.”

The complete list of films is available at www.sundance.org/festival.