We look at some of this year’s films through the lens of the books that served as their source material. The lineup features a who’s-who of the video platform’s biggest stars, including Lilly Singh’s documentary A Trip to Unicorn Island, PewDiePie’s new series Scare PewDiePie, and a feature film entitled Lazer Team courtesy of popular channel Rooster Teeth. Stylized and full of footage on-screen and backstage from Lear’s shows like All In The Family, The Jefferson and Maude, tonight’s film also featured appearances by Amy Poehler, George Clooney, Disney’s Alan Horn, Rob Reiner, Lena Dunham, Jon Stewart among many more.
Advertisement
Both a showcase and marketplace for independent film, the Sundance Film Festival draws emerging and established artists from around the world seeking a wider audience for their work, and distributors hungry for fresh content. HBO and Netflix have already acquired films making their world premieres in Park City this week. It took three days of begging the press office to get a press badge (we’d only been up and running for 7 months at that point), but I luckily had tickets to see films. Besides Lee, Radcliffe, Dano and Dunham (also a Sundance judge this year), Danny DeVito, Don Cheadle, Viggo Mortensen, Greta Gerwig, Chelsea Handler, John Krasinski, Gabrielle Union, and Kevin Smith will all be in town. I remember my very first year at Sundance I met and interviewed the man behind of one of my favorite movies – Luc Besson, director of The Fifth Element (you can still read that interview).
Independent film maker Tim Sutton, wrote and directed “Dark Night”, a drama inspired by the Aurora movie theater massacre in 2012. (As well as the aforementioned Luc Besson and star Rie Rasmussen of Angel-A.) It’s exciting to talk to them at this moment in their career, in the middle of the fest. Actually, maybe that’s not true.
Redford deflected the question with the words: “I’m not into Oscars – not into that”.
“He brought humanity, edge, humor and vulnerability into the mainstream and we owe him a great debt for that”, said the Oscar winning director to loud applause from the Eccles stage Thursday. Because we’re in support of the artist, we say: ‘Well, what are they going to come up with? As it has done for the past four years, YouTube will be the presenting sponsor of the Sundance Film Festival Shorts Program and will host the opening reception for directors of the Festival Shorts selections.
Advertisement
The person I was at Sundance in 2007 is not the same person I am now at Sundance 2016. Check out the infographic below for more interesting information about the festival. I will confess that this festival changes me every year. “To me, it’s about the work, and whatever reward comes from that, that’s great”. These films, these stories, these people, these characters, these scenes, these emotions leave a lasting impression.
