AceShowbiz -

Sundance Film Festival organizers revealed on Wednesday, December 3 the films that will take part in the competitive categories as well as those in the festival's noncompetitive Next section next year. The fest director John Cooper promised that viewers are "going to have a very wild ride of emotional extremes."

The 2015 line-up features a total of 118 independent films with 103 of them having their world premieres at the fest. Australian film "Strangerland", starring Nicole Kidman, will be playing at the festival's opening day on January 22. Among other hidden gems in the fest's U.S. dramatic line-up are "I Smile Back" (starring Sarah Silverman), "Z for Zachariah" (starring Chris Pine), and "Slow West" (starring Michael Fassbender).

Other films starred Jack Black, Saoirse Ronan, Kristen Wiig, Cobie Smulders, Cynthia Nixon and Alexander Skarsgard. "There are probably more comedies in the dramatic competition than ever before," director of programming Trevor Groth said.

The documentaries include subjects about daredevil Evel Knievel, political satirist Barry Crimmins, the shooting of unarmed black teenager Jordan Russell Davis and endangered animals among others. Cooper said, "There's a real intensity that is permeating independent filmmaking these days. Whether it's the pure entertainment, the comedies and romances being so engaging; whether it's documentaries that will enrage you and sometimes call to action. Even in the deep dramatic films, we've found there's a real concerted effort to look at empathy for dark subjects and the characters in them."

The 2015 Sundance Film Festival will run January 22-31. The line-up can be seen at the festival's official site. Titles that are in Spotlight, Park City at Midnight and New Frontier will be announced on Thursday, while Premieres and Documentary Premieres titles will be unveiled on Monday.