From correspondents in California, United States, 08:01 AM IST

Independent movie festival Sundance 2010 announced the line up of movies that will compete for its jury prizes in the 10-day competition scheduled for late January in Park City, Utah in the US.

Festival director John Cooper said that despite the funding crisis that has hit the film world in the aftermath of the global recession, Sundance still received 9,816 submissions and selected 113 feature length films for the competition.

In total, selections from 38 countries will feature in the festival's various categories.

Kristin Stewart of Twilight fame is one of the hottest stars to feature in the competition. She will play a teenage stripper helped by a pair of older strangers in Welcome to the Rileys.

James Franco will star as beat poet Alan Ginsburg in Howl, which co-stars Mad Men's Jon Hamm, Mary-Louise Parker and Jeff Daniels.

Jesse Eisenberg will play a Hassidic Jew who becomes a kingpin of the worldwide ecstasy trade in High Rollers. Orlando Bloom plays paralysed DJ who turns to faith healers in Sympathy for the Delicious, while Natalie Portman stars in Hesher, about a family dealing with a tragedy.

(Staff Writer, © IANS)