The cream of independent film-makers is gathering in Utah, in the United States for the Sundance Film Festival.

The festival, established by veteran actor Robert Redford, has become known as a launch pad for new film talent.

Director Ed Solomon with star Holly Hunter

It has been responsible for launching the careers of Quentin Tarantino, Steven Soderbergh, Todd Field and Kevin Smith, who all had films screened in competition.

Click here to see the dramatic films in competition

As well as promoting and supporting world cinema, American cinema, short films and online films, the focus of the festival remains its competition for best dramatic and documentary films.

It kicked off on Thursday night with a screening of Ed Solomon's drama Levity, starring Holly Hunter and Morgan Freeman.

It annually attracts 20,000 people to Park City, Utah, who come to watch and promote about 210 short and feature films from around the world, chosen from about 3,000 submissions.

"Sundance is about creating opportunity," Redford said.

Millions of dollars often change hands as Hollywood's big names compete to pick up the best independent films at the festival.

The Technical Writer stars Tatum O'Neal as a bored housewife

The festival will also feature the premi�re of the film The Singing Detective, based on the BBC drama and starring Robert Downey Jr, as well as director Neil La Bute's The Shape of Things.

In the dramatic competition are films such as Die Mommie Die, based on a cult play, Thirteen, the story of a mother and teenaged daughter's relationship and The United States of Leland, a film produced by Kevin Spacey about a young offender and his prison teacher.

Not all of the films are small, low-budget movies featuring unknowns.

Tatum O'Neal stars in The Technical Writer while William H Macy and Alec Baldwin star in The Cooler.

The directorial debuts of actors Matt Dillon and Salma Hayek are also included in the line-up.

Dillon has directed the film City Ghosts, about a con man who travels to Cambodia to collect on a scam.

Hayek's The Maldonado Miracle is about the residents of a small Mexican town who have their faith put to the test after a statue of Jesus begins to drip blood.

Last year Personal Velocity, the story of three women coping with change, took the grand jury trophy for best feature film.

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All the Real Girls - directed by David Gordon Green
American Splendor - directed by Shari Springer and Robert Pulcini
Camp - directed by Todd Graff
The Cooler - directed by Wayne Kramer
Die Mommie Die - directed by Mark Rucker
Dopamine - directed by Mark Decena
The Mudge Boy - directed by Michael Burke
Party Monster - directed by Fenton Bailey and Randy Barbato
Pieces of April - directed by Peter Hedges
Quattro Noza - directed by Joey Curtis
Rhythm of the Saints - directed by Sarah Rogacki
The Station Agent - directed by Tom McCarthy
The Technical Writer - directed by Scott Saunders
Thirteen - directed by Catherine Hardwicke
The United States of Leland - directed by Matthew Ryan Hoge
What Alice Found - directed by A Dean Bell