Beasts of the Southern Wild

Shot in Louisiana with a New Orleans based cast and crew, supposedly all the rage in Sundance. I've heard it compared to everything from live-action Miyazaki to Malick. It was purchased by Fox Searchlight after a bidding war.

The plot:

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The Bathtub, an almost primordial wilderness cut off from the rest of Louisiana by a long wall of levees. Here, an unapologetically uncivilized crowd of humans live alongside the animals that sustain them, blissfully disconnected from their resource-burning neighbors to the north. When judgment comes in the form of rising tides and vengeful beasts, however, this mystical realm independent of government and law will be the first to feel the consequences.

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Here are a few reviews. The director, Benh Zeitlin, is originally from New York but visited New Orleans 6 years ago and liked it so much he never left.