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Sundance 2001-An Ex-Local's Perspective
By Kathleen Gasperini
More than a thousand films audition each year for a chance to showcase their work at Sundance Film Festival in Park City, Utah, in categories including documentaries, short films, feature premieres, dramatic, world cinema, and American spectrum. But while the intention of the festival is to showcase independent filmmakers and actors, Sundance has also turned into a glorified Hollywood festival in the mountains. Only 107 feature films made it this year-and of those, many started out as Hollywood mainstream, only to have something go wrong, and suddenly, re-classified as an "art flick." Sundance also has the reputation for reviving played-out actors' careers through an "indie" promotion. Let's admit it. Few can successfully cross back and forth between commercial and indie like Lili Taylor and Dougray Scott. But what's bothersome is those who try so hard to be "indie" and so obviously will never be, i.e. Courtney Love ("Julie Johnson") and Kate Winslet ("Enigma"). I mean, who are they kidding? But try they did; neither of their films faired well; and "Julie Johnson" left many people wondering if the film was broken because it so obviously missed a "third act."
Park City, itself, puts up with a fair dose of oversaturation on many levels during the 10-day festival. Home to some 7,000 locals, PC suddenly has to feed, sleep, park, and deal with an additional 20,000 for 10 days. PIB's (people in black) from H-wood get pissed at all the snow regardless of the fact that they are 7,000 feet above sea level in January, and even more pissed that their cell phones don't always work for the same reasons listed above. Not only that, but Sundance breeds wannabes: This is the only time that many directors and distributors are in the same location. So, people ride the "dance" with their own, including, Slamdance, No Dance, Lapdance, Slam Dunk, and Van Dance (my personal favorite for it's ingenuity and agility: short-short films screened in the back of a van for up to 8 people. Van-dance promoters escape the wrath of Sundance security by simply driving away). Unfortunately, Slam Dance, which is gaining popularity, got the boot to a new location even further up a narrow canyon at an old spooky silver mine. I don't know anyone who bothered to make the trek. In it's old locations, were Tromadance and X-dance. That's a lot of dancing without even mentioning the evening parties. Bars were packed nightly with two-hour waits for the big ones at Harry O's and the streets were filled with people wearing completely inappropriate footwear.
I don't live there anymore, but I came back anyway. Regardless of what I just said, there is a vibe and energy about Sundance that I love and there are the unexpected golden eggs of filmmaking ingenuity ("Dogtown and the Z Boys"). When I lived there, I didn't want to miss the circus when it came to town. I just figured out how to do the dance. Here's what I know:
Local's Guide to Sundance:
1) While yes, most of the tickets will be sold out by the time you get there because Hollywood bigwigs get them first, do not be discouraged. Often not all tickets are accounted for and you can get into the movie of your choice (except if it's a premiere screening at the Egyptian Theatre) by lining up an hour ahead of time at the venue, or checking into the main box office at 7:30 in the morning.
2) If you're not into that, there will be many movies that have tickets available. They just won't be the hyped screenings. And while yes, they are probably documentaries, subtitled, filmed with no-name actors, often on digi, this is what the festival was intended to be: true indie art flicks.
3) Getting into parties is do-able if you're not above taking the server route. I got into the biggest/baddest party at Harry O's featuring P.O.D. and Paul Oakenfold simply by going 'round back and assisting bartenders as they carried in bags of ice from a van on the street into the back of the venue. Easy.
4) Avoid Main Street for eating out and try places like Nacho Mamma's or better yet, the Snake Creek Grille in Heber City for the best food in Utah. If you MUST check out Redford's place, Zoom, then go there for lunch. You'll get better service then anyway.
5) As for recommended screening venues, the bigger the place the better your chance of getting in, such as Prospector Square, the Eccles Theatre, and the films that have the unfortunate location of Salt Lake City at Trolly Square.
6) Parking: There's a place called "China bridge" which is basically a cement structure accessible either by driving up Swede Alley, or taking one street back from Swede and parking on top. It's free, walking distance from main street, and often available.
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