Utah’s Park City is home to the upcoming Sundance and Slamdance Film Festivals which start towards the end of this week. The annual descent of tons of dealmakers, celebrities, and wannabes turns this ski town into a cinematic apiary producing not honey but hopeful fame and fortune. Even the inflicted presence of Paris Hilton has not dissuaded T-Mobile or Stella Artois from avoiding the town.

The objects behind all this mass attention, the films selected for the 2012 festivals, offer both timely and timeless subjects. There are love triangles and first dates. Activism history is captured in films about the AIDS activists of ACT-UP and the hacktivist group Anonymous. Veteran filmmakers from Jonathan Demme to Andrea Arnold have entries in the festivals.

But not all the drama will occur on Park City movie screens. Opponents of the Internet-killing SOPA/PIPA legislation will be less than thrilled that ASCAP is bringing its annual Music Café to Sundance, given that the performing rights organization proudly supports this industry-favored proposal. The Occupy Sundance film festival will attempt to promote what this writer sees as the naive idea of political democracy overcoming artistic mediocrity or the naturally unequal distribution of artistic talent.

Beyond Chron will be covering the Sundance and Slamdance Film Festivals. Given the number of feature films and short films offered by both festivals, time would prohibit seeing every festival offering. On the other hand, culling and mentioning some of the more intriguing offerings from each festival is doable.

SUNDANCE

Omar Shargawi and Karim El Hakim just wanted to capture a street-level view of the Egyptian Revolution’s beginnings. But as their resulting film “1/2 Revolution” shows, journalistic distance became impossible given that El Hakim’s apartment was close to Tahrir Square and the street violence.

Karin Hayes and Victoria Bruce’s documentary “We’re Not Broke” demonstrates why government spending cuts is a political bait-and-switch aimed at protecting major US corporations’ legalized tax dodging. Giving a human dimension to this subject are interviews with activists for US Uncut.

An intentional drinking game can be made out of Jon Wright’s alien invasion spoof “Grabbers.” It’s the story of an Irish fishing village whose inhabitants’ only defense against besieging tentacled aliens is to get very, very drunk.

“Fish Tank” director Andrea Arnold upends the Emily Bronte classic “Wuthering Heights” with her non-romantic treatment and her casting a black actor as Heathcliff.

Acclaimed director Ira Sachs’ “Keep the Lights On” follows the tumultuous relationship of a risk-taking gay couple over the course of a decade. Legendary musician Arthur Russell’s catalog provides the film’s soundtrack.

David France’s stirring documentary “How To Survive A Plague” recounts how the efforts of the HIV-positive activists of ACT-UP and TAG led to finding new drugs that eventually made AIDS a controllable disease rather than a death sentence

Colin Treverrow’s “Safety Not Guaranteed” is a screwball romantic comedy about a magazine employee investigating a guy seeking a partner for time-traveling.

“An Oversimplification of Her Beauty” is Terence Nance’s tale of romance and maturation told via exquisitely mixing live action and animation.

The “5 Broken Cameras” of Palestinian farmer Emad Burnat chronicle the struggle between his village and the Israeli Army as the latter bulldozes the land around Burnat’s village to make room for more Jewish settlements.

SLAMDANCE

Andrew Edison’s “Bindlestiffs” plays both the teen sex comedy and Virginia Tech-style paranoia for dark humor. A trio of teens tries to lose their virginities to vagrants and crack fiends. In vigilante pursuit is a nutso school security guard who thinks the trio is planning a school shooting.

The “Buffalo Girls” of Todd Kellstein’s documentary are a pair of 8-year-old girl Muay Thai boxers who fight rural bouts to win money for their families.

Remember The Sugarhill Gang and their hip hop classic “Rapper’s Delight?” Roger Paradiso does, and his documentary “I Want My Name Back” follows the efforts of the band’s leaders to reclaim their group’s name and hopefully rebuild their career.

Keith Miller’s “Welcome To Pine Hill” promises to deliver an “American Splendor”-like vibe with this mix of documentary and narrative about a former drug dealer who returns to the Catskill Mountains to make peace with his past and search for personal freedom.

Sure to draw ire from certain 1% members and law and order circles is Brian Knappenberger’s documentary portrait “We Are Legion: The Story of the Hacktivists.” It’s a history of civil disobedience hacking, tracing its roots from the 4chan forum to its current global manifestation in Anonymous.

Kristina Nikolova’s Bulgarian feature film “Faith, Love, and Whiskey” follows a young Bulgarian woman caught in a love triangle between her dream fiancée and a self-destructive friend.

A drive into Toronto becomes much more when the driver is legendary rocker Neil Young and the friend accompanying him is filmmaker Jonathan Demme. “Neil Young Journeys” mixes Young’s personal reminiscences with footage of performances from Young’s album “Le Noise” and other classic Young tunes.

Derek Franson’s bizarre “Comforting Skin” concerns a lonely woman who develops a really intimate relationship with her tattoo when it comes to life.

“No Room For Rockstars” is the life lesson learned by four up-and-coming musicians on the death march of American concert touring, the Vans Warped Tour. Parris Patton’s documentary uses the tour to provide a look at the state of the music industry.

“Made In Iran: 7 Short Premieres” is a package of Iranian short films dealing with subjects ranging from a boy playacting as his mother to a burning armchair.

Dylan Akio Smith and Kris Elgstrand’s “Doppelganger Paul (Or A Film About How Much I Hate Myself)” deals with a near middle-aged man whose meeting with his supposed doppelganger sparks such bizarre events as a miniature railroad trip and a double talk show appearance.

(The Sundance and Slamdance 2012 Film Festivals both take place in Park City, Utah. Sundance runs from January 19-29, 2012. Slamdance runs from January 20-26, 2012. For more information about Sundance, go to www.sundance.org/festival/ . For more information about Slamdance, go to www.slamdance.com .)