Sundance gears up to open with a Howl

The 31st Sundance film festival opens tonight and business is already booming – at the box office, at least. According to festival figures, 185,000 tickets have already been sold for events at Robert Redford's showcase for the best in independent film-making – 5,000 to 10,000 up from the same point last year. Yet even today there was still accommodation available in Park City, Utah, where the festival unfolds – a first for more than a decade. This suggests the makeup of festivalgoers may be changing: gone are the days when studios would mass lease ski lodges for their clients and buyers; in their place are lower-fi buffs and film-makers. Partly it's a result of the recession – the contraction in the movie market over the past 18 months means studios are less willing to take a punt. But it's also intent on the part of the festival's newly-installed programmer, John Cooper, to dim the star wattage, take a needle to the ballooning commercialism, and redirect the spotlight on to low-budget movie-making. A new section, Next, is devoted to films that epitomise "creative risk-taking", while this year's programme title page declares: "This Is Your Guide to Cinematic Rebellion". The festival runs from tonight for 10 days and showcases 113 independent films. Here are 10 to look out for: Howl The opening night film has James Franco as Allen Ginsberg, grappling with writer's block and an obscenity trial. Four Lions Chris Morris's eagerly-awaited "jihadist comedy" has its premiere on Saturday night. Exit Through the Gift Shop Banksy's debut as a film-maker is billed as "the world's first street art disaster movie" and follows a couple of fans who try to befriend the artist, only for him to turn the tables on them, and us. Welcome to the Rileys A New Orleans-set drama with Twilight's Kristen Stewart and James Gandolfini. Holy Rollers Jesse Eisenberg plays an Orthodox Jewish youth who finds himself drawn into a world of ecstasy smuggling, nightclubs and beautiful women. Sympathy for Delicious Mark Ruffalo makes his directing debut with this drama – featuring himself and You Can Count On Me co-star Laura Linney – about a newly paralysed disc jockey. Jack Goes Boating Another actor-turned-director, Philip Seymour Hoffman, makes his debut with a double-couple drama set in New York, adapted by Bob Glaudini from his play. Casino Jack and the United States of Money A study of the disgraced former lobbyist Jack Abramoff by Taxi to the Darkside's Alex Gibney. Bhutto A portrait of the late leader of Pakistan, by Jessica Hernández and Johnny O'Hara. Restrepo Sebastian Junger and Tim Hetherington's documentary about their time in Afghanistan with US soldiers.