Lahti Film To Open Sundance Festival

LOS ANGELES (AP) â€” This month's Sundance Film Festival will be doubly kind to actress Christine Lahti. <br><br>Her directorial debut, ``My First Mister,'' will be the opening-night film for

Friday, January 12th 2001, 12:00 am

By: News On 6

LOS ANGELES (AP) â€” This month's Sundance Film Festival will be doubly kind to actress Christine Lahti.

Her directorial debut, ``My First Mister,'' will be the opening-night film for the Utah festival on Jan. 18. Two days later, Lahti, 50, will be honored by the group Women In Film for her contributions to independent cinema.

The group also will honor director Kasi Lemmons, whose film ``The Caveman's Valentine'' is playing at Sundance, and producer Gale Anne Hurd, whose credits include ``Aliens,'' ``Armageddon'' and ``The Terminator.''

``My First Mister'' stars Albert Brooks and Leelee Sobieski in a dark comedy about a teen-age store clerk's unusual relationship with her uptight, middle-aged boss.

``The Caveman's Valentine'' stars Samuel L. Jackson as a paranoid Manhattan streetperson trying to solve the riddle of a frozen corpse he stumbles on.

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On the Net:

Sundance Film Festival Web site: http://www.sundance.org/reg/index.html