‘Chuck,’ ‘Girlfight’ line up at Deauville fest

Debut of Lasserre reign shows Sundance slant

PARIS — The Deauville Festival of American Cinema has chosen its sixth annual competition lineup — the first under the stewardship of new fest programmer Jerome Lasserre.

Sundance entries figure prominently in the 10-pic selection, which unspools Sept. 4-8 in the Normandy resort town. Competitors for the Grand Prize and Jury Prize of American Independent Cinema include Rob Schmidt’s “Crime and Punishment in Suburbia,” Ben Younger’s “Boiler Room,” Karyn Kusama’s “Girlfight,” Brad Anderson’s “Happy Accidents,” Adam and Kipp Marcus’ “Let It Snow” (aka “Snow Days”), Maggie Greenwald’s “Songcatcher,” Raymond de Fellita’s “Two Family House” and Miguel Areta’s “Chuck & Buck.”

Two competition pics — Henry Bromell’s “Panic” and Christopher Nolan’s sophomore feature “Memento,” with Guy Pearce and Carrie-Ann Moss — will preem at Deauville.

Long list for shorts jury

The 11-person jury, which will also award two trophies in the third annual short film competition, is comprised of Irish helmer Neil Jordan (president), his fellow helmers Francois Ozon and Arturo Ripstein; thesps Vincent Perez, Marie Trintignant, Samuel Le Bihan, Guillaume Canet, Tcheky Karyo and Clotilde Courau; author Philippe Labro; and vet screenwriter Daniele Thompson.

Deauville, now in its 26th year, has struck a balance between star-fueled glitz, high-profile European preems of Hollywood studio productions and indie pics. Event, jointly funded by the city of Deauville and the Lucien Barriere chain of luxury hotels, bills itself as the only fest outside the U.S. devoted exclusively to American fare. Fest runs Sept. 1-10.