In 1978, Robert Redford began what would become the largest independent film festival in North America, as well as the most prestigious film festival in the world. 39 years later, Redford’s dream is still alive. After the Sundance Institute committee pored over thousands of entries, they came to agreements on 113 independent films that they would showcase during the 2017 Sundance Film Festival.
After an uneventful morning of traveling, the 2017 Ouachita Sundance group arrived in Salt Lake City, Utah. The first thing we noticed was that there was snow, lots of snow. Accompanied by a slight decrease in temperature, I toyed with the notion that my shorts wouldn’t be enough for the busy and cold week ahead.
The road from Salt Lake City to Park City is roughly 45 minutes. As we ventured further into the mountains, the snow began to accumulate faster and faster. After a short stint picking up tickets, the crucial component of our week at Sundance, the group rendezvoused at the condo we were renting for the week. Everyone made their way to dinner spots and prepared for our first night of film.
Our Sundance experience began with a collection of short films. An interesting aspect of Sundance is sometimes the directors, crew and actors will attend the screenings of their films. The directors of each short film we saw opted to stay and answer questions the audience had. Surprisingly, one of the directors was Kristin Stewart, an exciting beginning and one of the first celebrities that our group would see during our week at Sundance.
Sundance operates smoothly, thanks to over one thousand volunteers. Nearly every theatre, bus stop and locale is filled with volunteers that point you to wherever you need to go. The city provides over ten busses that run until 2 a.m., getting tourists and festivalgoers to their destinations quickly and efficiently. Getting to know the stops is tricky at first, but toward the middle of the week, our group seemed pretty proficient at getting around Park City.
The first thing you need for a film festival is locales to play the films. During Sundance, Park City transforms into a theatre conglomerate. Films are shown at various locations around town, ranging from a library, a temple and even a building filled with tennis courts. Living in Park City requires residents to be flexible for one week a year when Sundance literally takes over the city. Once the group had the busses down, we quickly adapted to the theatres and the fastest route to each of them.
Day two of Sundance was one of the most relaxed days of the week. Our group split up a bit, and we all did some exploring. Park City’s main attraction is skiing, but we weren’t there to ‘hit the slopes’. Some of us made our way to Main Street. The perks of Main Street include many restaurants and gift shops for tourists. YouTube, Chase Sapphire, Internet Movie DataBase and Netflix all brought booths to Sundance and set up shop on Main Street. If you were brave enough to stand in line, some of these locales were open to the public, and once inside we had the option to snag some free gear. When you’re not looking to spend all you’re money at Sundance, these free gifts are a very welcome sight. Beanies, water bottles and even socks were among the free gifts. While standing in line you might even catch a glimpse of a celebrity making their way to a film screening. Did I just see Jack Black wearing a ‘Make America Rage Again’ hat? Better do a double take.
Part of the Sundance experience for OBU students is attending the WindRider Forum. WindRider has various panels and speakers that open discussion and give insight into the integration of film and faith. Pretty interesting stuff, but when you’ve just had a night of movies, it’s pretty tricky getting up in the morning. With the occasional single-digit temperatures, most of our group hit snooze on their alarms and tried to stay in bed as long as they could.
Day three of Sundance welcomed a more flexible schedule, and it followed that bearing for the rest of the trip. The group all had tickets to ten films, but we didn’t all have the same tickets. This required a good amount of responsibility getting where we needed to be on time, feeding ourselves and most of all getting a decent night’s sleep. Sometimes OBU students had 3-4 films a day, which was tricky to balance when the films were back to back. Although we ended up being cold and exhausted most of the time, I think getting thrown into the whirlwind that is Sundance was an incredible experience that everyone should undergo whether a fan of film or not.
There’s a very fine line that divides film and independent film. Some people are casual moviegoers and seek entertainment through movies where they don’t have to pay close attention to follow the overarching story. The vast majority of films shown at Sundance tend to fight this common tactic used in the movie industry. Sundance films often approach real issues and problems within society and within everyday human lives. A film that really impacted me was “To The Bone,” a drama and comedy combo that starred Lily Collins and Keanu Reeves. The film focused on eating disorders and how they tear people and relationships apart. This isn’t a new idea that has seen a film adaptation, but the performances by Collins and Reeves breathe life into the movie. It seeks to connect with its audience but separates itself from sympathetic feelings with elements of betrayal and mistrust. This film stood out among many that I saw while at Sundance, but I feel that it connected with its audience in a world of movies that are often plagued with misdirection or petty monetary tactics. “To The Bone” was purchased by Netflix and will see its debut on the platform someone this year.
The group saw famous faces, attended the world premiere’s of films that would go on to win various Sundance Institute awards and overall formed stronger bonds in the magical town that is Park City, Utah. I took away a strong inspiration to volunteer, so that I might provide someone with the experience of a lifetime, in effort to repay those who gave me the experience of a lifetime. Thank you Sundance Film Festival for being everything I expected and more.
By: Will Blase, staff writer
