One of the ways in which a filmmaker can start a good story is to begin the film by either having the key character experience some sort of change in his life, or putting him into some real or perceived peril. Alfred Hitchcock was a master at creating tension in his films from square one, and 13 (Tzameti) writer/director Géla Babluani follows in the traditions of Hitchcock and great film noir by starting his first feature film off with a double whammy. Twenty-two year old Sébastien has been working a job making repairs to a house belonging to Jean-François, an old man with a serious morpine habit.

The man has promised Sébastien the first part of his pay in three days. Sébastien overhears a conversation Jean-François has with another man, talking about an opportunity where he can make a lot of money. He is awaiting the delivery of an envelope with instructions; he seems very nervous about the upcoming job, saying he may not return from it . Mysterious men are watching the house, also awaiting the arrival of the envelope. The envelope arrives, bearing a train ticket and a paid hotel reservation; Jean-François promptly puts it away, and takes a long, hot bath and a morphine overdose. When he later comes back to retrieve his gear, Sébastien unwisely takes the ticket and reservation and decides to go on the trip in Jean-François' place.

Making a film with one child actor can be challenging; imagine making a film set in a boarding kindergarten in post-revolutionary China, with a cast full of four-and-five year olds. That's the task director Zhang Yuan took on in bringing to life his film Little Red Flowers, which is showing in the World Cinema Dramatic competition at Sundance. The film opens with not-quite-four-year-old Quiang being dragged, literally, to a boarding kindergarten, where he is unceremoniously deposited by the man who is delivering him there. Quiang has a hard time adjusting to the strict and regimented routine of the kindergarten. The head teacher, Miss Li, and her assistants, give little red crepe paper flowers to the children who do especially well at conforming to the school's routine by learning to dress and undress themselves, obey their teachers, and poop every morning on demand.

At the heart of the film is the young actor who plays Quiang, who is so adorable and expressive the audience falls in love with him from his first moments on screen. The film has funny moments, but also heartbreaking ones as Quiang struggles (and repeatedy fails) to fit in and earn the coveted flowers. Quiang is a non-conformist in a world where conformity is highly prized, and the militaristic oppression of the kindergarten seems to crush his tiny soul. Everything in the children's lives is strictly regulated, from the precise way in which they must raise a hand to ask for more soup or rice, to the way they are expected to use the bathroom en masse, squatting in a line over a gutter-toilet, to the way their bottoms are washed, one-by-one, every night before bed. When Quiang tries to express his personality, he is called a "freak" by the other children, most of whom refuse to even play with him.