SUNDANCE 2006: a look back

Wow has the festival changed over the last 7 years since I was there in 1999. The movies are harder to get into, the parties are more exclusive and it is just overall more Hollywood. All of these things were frustrating. There were some movies that you just couldn’t get into unless you had a ticket, a connection or were famous. These movies included ALPHA DOG, THE SCIENCE OF SLEEP, THE NIGHT LISTENER, THE ILLUSIONIST, THE DARWIN AWARDS and more…

Sundance is more than that though. It is more than the Starbucks and the celebrities and the parties. Sundance is about the film and a celebration of filmmaking. Regardless of all the bells and whistles, it is still what it should be at its core… one of the best film festivals around. Park City is a beautiful place for anything and there is a magic to it in January. Snow covers everything, it is cold, but not bitter and even the celebrities look a little more normal.

The movies…

There are still some great discoveries every year. I think that this will show to be one of the weaker years of the festival in terms of quality, but there were a hand full of films that caught me off guard. Documentaries of note were THE WORLD ACCORDING TO SESAME STREET (my favorite), WHO KILLED THE ELECTRIC CAR? and THIS FILM IS NOT YET RATED. Others that I didn’t get a chance to see but got a great deal of praise… GOD GREW TIRED OF US, WORDPLAY, and AWSOME: I FUCKING SHOT THAT.

There were several of the dramatic films in competition that I really responded to. I saw 11 of the 16 films competing for the awards. The one that stands above all the rest was Dito Montiel’s A GUIDE TO RECOGNIZING YOUR SAINTS. This is the film that jumped out at me, and days after it stay with me. This is a special film and one I hope people respond to the way that I did. Other really good films were… STEPHANIE DALEY, HALF NELSON, RIGHT AT YOUR DOOR, and COME EARLY MORNING.

I had an amazing time at the festival this year and I am so glad that I went. If you love movies and ever have the chance, I would encourage you to check out the festival. If you can look past all of the bullshit, there is a great time to be had.