Cockeyed, Moccasin Flats writers from B.C. head to Sundance

Two British Columbia writers Ryan Knighton, author of Cockeyed, and Darrell Dennis, creator of the TV show Moccasin Flats have been awarded a place in the Sundance screenwriters' workshop.

The workshop gives writers five days to work on a screenplay under the tutelage of established writers such as Naomi Foner Gyllenhaal andl Paul Attanasio, screenwriter of Donnie Brasco and The Good German.

Knighton will be working on a screenplay of Cockeyed, his darkly funny autobiography about his descent into blindness.

Knighton was diagnosed at age 18 with retinitis pigmentosa, a congenital disease marked by night blindness, tunnel vision, and eventually total blindness, and his memoir marks his dealings with identity and love as he loses his sight.

Cockeyed, the Vancouver writer's third book, was shortlisted for the Stephen Leacock medal for humour.

Dennis was nominated for a Dora Award for theatre for his one-man show Tales of an Urban Indian, which he will adapt for the screen.

It follows the trials of a young First Nations man from the reservation as he moves to the big city.

Dennis is from the Secwepemc Shuswap Nation in theInterior of British Columbia and his short film Moccasin Flats screened at the 2003 Sundance Film Festival. It was later adapted for a Showcase TV series, which he also wrote.

The two Canadians are among 13 young screenwriters from the U.S., U.K., Israel, Brazil and China selected for the annual January Screenwriters Lab and announced by the Sundance Festival on Friday.

The lab is to be held Jan. 11-16, 2008, at the Sundance Resort in Utah, a week ahead of the Sundance Film Festival, the U.S.'s largest festival of independent film.