“Dan Rather Reports on Politics” travels to the Sundance Film Festival to look at one of the most potent sources of images and information on topics at the heart of the country’s political debate.

In the midst of this rollicking presidential primary season, filmmakers hope to make their imprint on the public perception of the leading issues and ideas of our time.

Tomorrow’s “Dan Rather Reports on Politics” will examine this junction between movie and message, exploring new film depictions of war, the economy, race, immigration, and the environment—all issues at the top of the political agenda.

For this episode, Rather interviews Sundance founder and film legend Robert Redford; film reviewer/filmmaker Elvis Mitchell; Lionsgate Entertainment's President of Theatrical Films, Tom Ortenberg; and compiles a panel of directors whose films are in currently in competition at Sundance including Neil Abramson (American Son), Courtney Hunt (Frozen River), and Josh Tickell (Fields of Fuel).

In speaking with Rather about the role that film plays in the political life of a nation, Redford says, "Artists are the first responders to what's going on in our society. So, since the war was a huge issue, since we found out it was a lie, that the reasons for going in to the war were a lie, what were going to be the consequences of that? So, filmmakers step in to tell their stories."

“Dan Rather Reports on Politics” will also continue its in-depth coverage of primary season with a discussion of the latest races, the South Carolina Republican primary and the Nevada caucuses with Democrat Donald Fowler and Republican Rob Long.

Donald Fowler has achieved leading roles in both national Democratic politics and the high-tech industry. Over the last fifteen years, he has served as a senior policy advisor in Silicon Valley and worked on five presidential campaigns including those of Bill Clinton, Al Gore and John Kerry. He was also a presidential appointee to the Federal Communications Commission under President Clinton where he dealt with cable and satellite television and broadband Internet issues. He currently runs a Silicon Valley mobile technology firm (Cherry Tree Mobile Media) and a political consulting group in California.

Rob Long is a contributor to The National Review and other publications, as well as a veteran TV writer and producer, who is as well versed on the entertainment industry as he is on politics.

“Dan Rather Reports on Politics: The Hollywood Influence” will premiere on HDNet, Tuesday, January 22 at 8:00 p.m. ET with a re-air 11:00 p.m. ET to accommodate West Coast Prime Time.

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