Canada will be well represented at next year’s Sundance Film Festival, boasting eight official feature film selections at the indie fete. It marks a noticeable shift from the past two years, both of which had only one Canuck feature.

This year’s contingent includes Sarah Polley’s drama Away from Her, which will have its U.S. premiere as the Salt Lake City gala opening night attraction (Park City, UT being the main festival hub), and director Ian Iqbal Rashid’s dance drama How She Move, which will unspool in the dramatic competition along with the France/Canada copro Rêves de poussière from director Laurent Salgues.

‘We definitely had our hopes on Sundance,’ says How She Move producer Julia Sereny of Toronto’s Sienna Films. ‘It’s a wonderful opportunity for the film.’

Sereny adds that she is hoping to acquire U.S. and international distributors for the film. Rashid’s 2004 comedy A Touch of Pink sold to Sony Classics after heated bidding at Sundance three years ago. It was also a Sienna production.

Meanwhile, Jennifer Baichwal’s award-winning Manufactured Landscapes will screen in the World Cinema documentary competition, as will the Canada/Norway copro On a Tightrope, from director Petr Lom, and the Canada/Israel copro Hot House, directed by Shimon Dotan. S. Wyeth Clarkson’s drama Sk8 Life and Andrew Currie’s zombie comedy Fido were selected for the Park City at Midnight program.

Toronto producer Daniel Iron, who is attached to Away from Her, Manufactured Landscapes and Fido, says Sundance ‘certainly helps’ kick-start the publicity campaign, since all three films will be released in the U.S. shortly after. But he notes the pics wouldn’t have been worse off had they not been selected for the indie fest.

‘I don’t think it would have necessarily affected the level of push that the distributors put behind them,’ says Iron, who will be attending the fest for the first time. Lionsgate distributes both Fido and Away from Her, while Zeitgeist Films handles Landscapes.

The fest also unveiled its slate of short films, which includes two Canuck pics in the dramatic category: Ask the Insects, from director Steve Reinke, and The Tragic Story of Nling, helmed by Jeffrey St. Jules.

The 13th annual Sundance Film Festival unspools Jan. 18-28 and opens with director Brett Morgen’s Chicago 10.

Meanwhile, over at the Slamdance Film Festival, running Jan. 18-27 in Park City, director Allan Moyle’s screwball comedy Weirdsville, from Toronto’s Darius Films, will be the opening-night film.

www.sundance.org