Arts & Entertainment

Huntington Woods Native Kristen Bell Stars in Sundance Film Festival Selection

"The Lifeguard" is among the movies with Michigan ties that have been chosen for the annual indie showcase in Park City, Utah.

Huntington Woods native Kristen Bell is among the Michiganders whose works are being showcased during this year's Sundance Film Festival.

Bell stars in "The Lifeguard," which is one of 119 full-length films chosen from 12,146 entries for the annual indie showcase that runs from Jan. 17 to Jan. 27 in Park City, Utah, according to Sundance.org.

The drama follows the journey of a stressed-out reporter who quits her job in New York City after a failed love affair and returns to her family home in Connecticut to sort out her life as she approaches her 30th birthday, according to The Hollywood Reporter.

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"With a playbook that essentially consists of rewinding to her high-school years, Leigh (Bell) gets a job as a lifeguard at the pool where she used to work back in the day, reunites with her BFFs – married Mel (Mamie Gummer) and closeted Todd (Martin Starr) – and begins acting like a teenager again," The Hollywood Reporter writes, adding that Leigh's ensuing relationship with a teenage skater serves as the plot's catalyst.

Other Sundance films with Michigan ties include the following, according to the Detroit Free Press.

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  • "Concussion": director Stacie Passon, formerly of West Bloomfield
  • "Toy’s House": director Jordan Vogt-Roberts, formerly of Royal Oak
  • "North of South, East of West": filmed in Detroit

Michigan Film Office Director Margaret O'Riley also was set to represent Michigan at the Sundance Film Festival.

"I'm a very positive person and I'm all about bringing investment into the state of Michigan," O'Riley told the Detroit Free Press. "We want good projects. We want a combination of projects, small, medium and large. That's my goal."

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