So… I finally found a moment to breath between movies. The parties, people watching, time to hang out with friends and family, and the films are fun.  There is more though – each year Sundance continues to change my views and understanding of film.  The festival helps me better understand films’ impact on society, their value, and their power as a medium to communicate.  With organizations like the Sundance Institute and Indiegogo.com independent film makers will continue to receive help to tell their story/ies and also help involve others interested in film.

This year started out strong with many movies the first weekend and the beginning week starting with an excellent Indiegogo party (Robert Redford decided to stop by).  In addition  there were many current and past friends from work that made it out to the festival – fun fun (Eric/Slava – get Absolut as a sponsor again next year!).  This year I have been lucky in that all (save one) of the movies I have seen have had their director, producer, and/or major cast members present after the film.  This is one of the best parts of Sundance – a chance for everyone to ask questions about what they just saw, to better understand the motivations and journey of making the film.  It’s fun for those involved with the movie too – a chance to get feedback.  Sure, seeing some hit movies before they are out is unique, but not nearly as exciting as being able to interact with those who made the film.  A good example is World’s Greatest Dad.  After the film I was able to ask Bobcat Goldwaithe about the ending of his film – planned ahead or planned on the fly?  Turns out he planned it from the get go.  Why?  He writes his films backwards.  The other aspect of the Q&A is inspiration – we all have stories to tell and seeing beginners producing great movies shows that it can be done without a big budget and a ton of experience (although it does help ).  Wanna make a movie?

Additional Info:

In total I saw 22 movies which brought forth many emotions and thoughts within me.  Our movie comments and grades for each of the movies can be found on my wiki.   The pictures and videos are posted in my picture gallery – the pics/videos include Robert Redford (who attended a Indiegogo.com party  we were at), Michael Cera (from Arrested Development and Super Bad), and Kevin Spacey.  For a list of movies we saw please click here.