Doc filmmaker Baichwal among Sundance jurors

Documentary filmmakers Jennifer Baichwal and Morgan Spurlock, author Russell Banks and ubiquitous indie film actress Parker Posey will be among the jurors at this month's Sundance Film Festival, organizers announced on Monday.

Sundance officials hailed the jurors as "individuals from the global arts community, each of whom brings unique perspective and range of experience" to the festival's five film categories.

Spurlock, best known for skewering the fast-food industry in his documentary Super Size Me, is among jurors for the U.S. Documentary Competition. He will be joined by award-winning filmmakers Greg Barker, Dayna Goldfine, Ondi Timoner and entertainment journalist Nancy Miller.

Toronto-based Baichwal, acclaimed for her documentaries Manufactured Landscapes and Act of God, is one of three jurors set to judge the World Cinema Documentary Competition. She will be joined by PBS arts correspondent Jeffrey Brown and Japanese film curator Asako Fujioka, who organizes the biannual Yamagata International Documentary Film Festival.

Celebrated author Banks and prolific actress Posey have been tapped to judge the U.S. Dramatic Competition. Their colleagues on that panel will include producer Jason Kliot, director Karyn Kusama and cinematographer Robert Yeoman.

The entries in the World Cinema Dramatic competition will face scrutiny from writer-director Alison Maclean, movie critic Lisa Schwarzbaum and producer Sigurjon (Joni) Sighvatsson.

Jurors for the Shorts category include filmmaker Sterlin Harjo, Wholphin DVD magazine editor Brent Hoff and Killer Films producer and co-head Christine Vachon.

Sundance has steadily increased in prominence over the years as one of the calendar year's first indicators of potential hit films primed for distribution and release.

The 2010 Sundance Film Festival runs Jan. 21-31 in four Utah locations: Park City, Salt Lake City, Ogden and Sundance. The short film winners will be announced at a ceremony on Jan. 26 while the remainder of the awards will be presented Jan. 30.