After 12 Years, Richard Linklater's 'Boyhood' to Premiere at Sundance

The Sundance Film Festival has announced that Richard Linklater's Boyhood will premiere January 19th at the Eccles Theatre at 9:45 p.m.

The film tells the story of a divorced couple (played by Ethan Hawke and Patricia Arquette, respectively) raising their son (Ellar Coltrane), as the story encompasses the boy's years from 1st to 12th grade.

While the story sounds plain on the surface, you might be surprised to learn this film began shooting way back in 2002 (I remember I was a freshman in high school and first read about this on a site called Cinema Confidential).

You see, Linklater wanted complete authenticity for this project, so he's been filming the actors year-to-year for the past 12 years as they've aged, an approach that frankly, I don't has ever been done before.

How amazing will it be to watch this film as it encompasses how the world has changed over the past dozen years?  From technology, to politics, to society in general.  I certainly hope Linklater touches upon certain events that defined every year since 2002.

Below is the press release from Sundance along with the first two official images from the film (I can not wait for this).

2014 Sundance Film Festival to Host Special Preview Screenings of

Boyhood by Richard Linklater

30th Anniversary of the Sundance Film Festival

Park City, UT — Sundance Institute today announced that the 2014 Sundance Film Festival will host special preview screenings of Boyhood by Richard Linklater, premiering Sunday, January 19, 9:45 p.m. at the Eccles Theatre. The 2014 Festival takes place January 16-26 in Park City, Salt Lake City, Ogden and Sundance, Utah.

With the addition of Boyhood, the 2014 Festival will present 121 feature-length films, representing 37 countries and 54 first-time filmmakers, including 35 in competition. These films were selected from 12,218 submissions (72 more than for 2013), including 4,057 feature-length films and 8,161 short films. Of the feature film submissions, 2,014 were from the U.S. and 2,043 were international. 100 feature films at the Festival will be world premieres.

Boyhood / U.S.A. (Director and screenwriter: Richard Linklater) — Filmed over short periods from 2002 to 2013, Boyhood is a groundbreaking cinematic experience covering 12 years in the life of a family. At the center is Mason, who with his sister Samantha, are taken on an emotional and transcendent journey through the years, from childhood to adulthood. Cast: Patricia Arquette, Ethan Hawke, Ellar Coltrane, Lorelei Linklater.

Source:  Sundance