JoJo Whilden James Franco as Allen Ginsberg in film scene from “Howl.”

The Sundance Film Festival , under new leadership, announced a schedule of competition films on Wednesday which, at least in their programmers’ view, reflects no particular current in independent cinema except one: risk.

So what constitutes risk? John Cooper, the festival’s new director, pointed to pictures selected for the January festival like “Blue Valentine,” a raw portrait of an unhappy marriage from a relatively unknown director, Derek Cianfrance. “Howl,” a look at the young Allen Ginsberg’s creation of his groundbreaking poem, is another selection that “risks against commerciality,” Mr. Cooper said.