R&R Partners: Moving Minds

One of the best things about living in the 21st century is that, even at my advanced age, there are still an infinite number of new experiences available. Things I want to do that I haven’t yet done. Over the last weekend in January, I was able to cross another one off the list when I spent three days at the 2010 Sundance Film Festival.

What I’m not going to do here is review the films I saw. I did reviews in my last entry. No need for more of that. Instead, I’m going to share some observations from my first trip to what has become America’s largest and most influential film festival.

A Trip to Sundance Doesn’t Need to Cost an Arm and a Leg

I suppose you can spend a ton at Sundance, but you don’t have to. Tickets to the screenings are $15 each. And if you stay in Salt Lake City, which is only a 35-minute drive on I-80 from Park City, there are a bunch of affordable hotels and restaurants. Leave the high-end resorts and pricey Park City restaurants to the folks from Paramount and Universal with the big expense accounts.

Given Its Size and Scope, Sundance is Really Well Organized

The festival lasts 11 days. It screens more than 500 different films in 15 different theaters in four different cities. Screenings begin at 8:30 each morning and go past midnight every day. And it all runs like clockwork. The shuttle buses are there to take you where you need to go when you need to get there. The screenings start on time. The quality of the sound and picture in every venue – many of which are not movie theaters – is impeccable. There are volunteers everywhere to get you in and out of screenings, answer questions, fix problems and deal with complaints. I’m guessing they probably started working on the logistics for the 2011 festival the day after the 2010 version ended. The preparation shows. Sundance has become a well-oiled machine.

The Audience Is Surprisingly Diverse

Full disclosure. I went to Sundance fully expecting to be immersed in a world of insufferable hipsters, pretentious film snobs and obnoxious Hollywood types. Granted, I ran into all three, but the bulk of the crowds were, for the most part, normal people. Young people, seniors, parents and kids, gay, straight, Muslims, Mormons, Asians, African-Americans and Caucasians. And because they receive a discount on tickets, the screenings attract lots of locals. The one thing everyone shared was a love of film and a desire to see things that probably aren’t going to show up at the local multiplex.

Finally, there was one more thing about the Sundance audiences that I found surprisingly refreshing, leading to my next observation:

Sundance Audiences Are Unfailingly Polite

They queue up and wait patiently until it’s time for their screening to be seated. They show up on time. They don’t cut in line. They carry on intelligent conversations about film with others while waiting in line. They turn off their cell phones during the films. Let me repeat that: They turn off their cell phones during the films. They don’t carry on personal conversations while others are trying to hear the movie. They applaud for every film. They stay engaged and ask intelligent questions at screenings that feature Q & A (and most do). In other words, while the audiences may look a lot like those you’re likely to see on a regular Saturday at your favorite 16-screener, they certainly don’t act like them. Did I mention they turn off their cell phones during the films?

The Festival Is a Corporate Marketing Extravaganza

Honda, Hewlett-Packard and Entertainment Weekly were the primary corporate sponsors. Their logos, cars, magazines and materials were everywhere. Everyone was walking around with water bottles compliments of Brita. Every volunteer wore a jacket or vest emblazoned with a huge Kenneth Cole logo that stretched from shoulder to shoulder. Even the areas containing the serpentine lines we all had to stand in while waiting to get in to screenings were sponsored – appropriately – by Southwest Airlines. I suppose one could be up in arms that an event that began as a small, iconoclastic festival celebrating the rebellious spirit of independent filmmakers has become a “marketing platform” for companies like Honda and hp. But I’m not. What isn’t sponsored these days? Concert tours, college bowl games and fireworks displays all have corporate sponsorship attached. Why not the country’s biggest film festival? If the marketing support helps them make the event bigger, better and available to more people, where’s the harm? In America, that’s how we roll.

A Word About the Films

I saw seven features and five shorts in two and a half days. I would have seen eight, but the airline sponsor of the festival – Southwest – was 90 minutes late out of Las Vegas, denying me the opportunity to stand in their “sponsored” line to get into my first screening. But I digress.

Here’s the thing. Just because a film has been chosen to screen at Sundance does not mean it’s a masterpiece. Of the features I saw, three were very good, three were pretty good and one was ponderous, pretentious, political and – for all I know – still running. I bailed out after two hours when it was showing no signs of ending.

I don’t know for sure, but I’m guessing that ratio pretty much held true for the whole festival. Some great, most pretty good and a few just difficult to get through. That’s OK. That’s the joy of film, especially independent and off-the-beaten-track film. Things get tried, experiments are conducted, and first-time directors gain the experience of making their first films. Not everything works for everyone. But everything probably works for someone. The joy of a festival like Sundance is that of discovery. I walked into each screening without any clue or preconception of what to expect. The point is, you never know. Chances are good you’ll see a film that will never show up at any theater or on any cable channel. Then again, you just might get a year’s head start on something great. Case in point: One of this year’s Oscar nominees for Best Film – Precious – premiered at the 2009 Sundance Festival. More than 20 years ago, a young unknown director named Quentin Tarantino brought a film called Reservoir Dogs to Park City. Stories like that abound. Think how cool it would have been to be at one of those screenings.

Overall, Sundance exceeded almost every one of my expectations. I had a great time. I wouldn’t want to do it every weekend, but it is great to immerse myself in film with thousands of others who share the same passion. I would suggest to anyone who enjoys the medium to get to a festival of some sort. It doesn’t have to be Sundance or Cannes. There are hundreds of smaller festivals throughout the year. Find one and enjoy it. We used to have one here in Las Vegas call CineVegas. It was great fun. Unfortunately, it was also a victim of the economic downturn. It is now “on hiatus.” No one knows if it will ever return. Which is a shame, because Las Vegas, with its theaters, its resorts, its nightlife and its energy, is the perfect place for a world-class fest. Anyone can dare to dream. In the meantime, I’m already making plans for my next visit to Park City.