Robert Redford has encouraged film-makers to "speak their minds" at the opening night of the 2005 Sundance Film Festival in Utah.
The actor and director said the aim of the festival was to give a platform to diverse film-makers and their opinions.
"This is really a festival about different voices in film that really reflect, a little more accurately, the world we live in," he said.
The festival kicked off with the comedy Happy Endings, starring Lisa Kudrow.
Festival director Geoff Gilmore said the film had been chosen because it explored modern American values, which is a theme of many of the festival's 120 other movies.
Dissent
Happy Endings is directed by Don Roos, responsible for The Opposite of Sex, and also stars Tom Arnold and Maggie Gyllenhaal.
It focuses on the lives of three different groups of people whose lives overlap.
Festival founder Redford said he believed that people thought the times were "chaotic" or "on course" depending on their political beliefs.
"I'd like to think of this festival as a festival of dissent, and I'd like to celebrate that," he said.
Showcase
The festival,founded in 1981, has showcased successes such as Reservoir Dogs, The Blair Witch Project and The Full Monty.
Last year's festival provided a platform for hits such as Open Water, Napoleon Dynamite, Garden State and Super-Size Me.
Offerings from this year include feature film The Chumscrubber, an ironic take on life in the American suburbs and documentary Murderball which is about quadriplegic athletes.
The festival is held over eleven days in the mountain resort of Park City, east of Salt Lake City, which sees its population rise from 7,500 to 45,000 during the festival.
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