Spring Semester has officially started. It’s hard to believe that my Sudance ‘09 experience has happened and is already over. These last two weeks are one of the best escapades of my nineteen years. There is no way that this final blog will be an accurate representation how much I enjoyed Sundance. 

It’s hard to believe that anyone couldn’t love Sundance, but I guess it has to do with what you put into it, and depends on your view of films. I wanted to do as much as possible with an open mind. I could have done more, but I wouldn’t take anything back. I saw some amazing films, some of which won awards, others were bought, and many I can’t wait to see again. There were a few that disappointed me, but only one that I did not like. There were five films I would have liked to see but did not get to; I hope that they will in some way be distributed. 

Not only did I get to see some incredible films, but the atmosphere in which I saw them made the experience that much better. For the majority of the films there was a Q&A afterwards done by the director, writer, producer, and/or the actors. This made the films considerably more personal; I was able to understanding and hear the creators point of view. The Q&A for Brief Interviews with Hideous Men helped me understand some of the choices the writer and director made, making me appreciate the film on a different level.

Park City was so welcoming; waking up to mountains every morning, bundling up in winter clothes, walking up hills, climbing stairs, catching shuttles, it will all be missed. The flocks of people going in and out of theaters and stores was a wonderful sight to see. I never enjoying standing in line until Sundance. And how could I not enjoy it? I met so many people waiting in line and taking the shuttle. All of the people attending Sundance suddenly has this common ground making it easy to talk to one another. Almost as if the people of Sundance 09 came together to create a two week long family. 

The other family that came to be was by the Eckerd students. Yes, it might be situational, but I enjoyed the time we had together. It was an unpredictable group with a variety of personalities. For a good amount of time I ventured out on my own and made a bond with Park City, but it was nice going home to the same people and discussing the wonders we had seen every day. For me, it will not be possible to remember Sundance without remembering the sixteen students and professor I went with. 

Below is a list of the films I was able to see:

Short Program V is a collective group of shorts ranging from space aliens to self imagine problems. 

The Maid is a comical and dramatic representation of a stereotypical Chilean family from the maid’s point of view. 

500 Days of Summer is a typical romance story but isn’t revealed in the typical way, and it makes you fall in love with the characters.

Mystery Team is about three high schoolers trying to prove that they aren’t jokes. 

An Education is a beautiful coming of age story about a sixteen year old girl, living in the UK in the early 50s. 

Brief Interviews with Hideous Men, based off of the David Foster Wallace novel, is numerous interviews about the male psyche. 

Adventureland is a hilarious portrayal of growing up in the 80s and finding out who you are. 

Rosencrantz & Guildenstern are Undead puts a comedic and literary spin on Hamlet and mixes it with vampires. 

Arlen Faber shows how easy it is to judge someone when you don’t know the whole story. The film is about three characters finding themselves with the others help.

The Vicious Kind is about a dysfunctional family, and an alluring representation of a man obsessing over his brothers girlfriend. 

Adam shows what relationships, work, and life is like for someone with Aspergers. 

The Anarchist’s Wife opens your eyes to what living in Spain was like during the time of Franco and Hitler. 

The Greatest is a depressing, yet beautiful story about a family grieving over their dead son and coping with his pregnant girlfriend. 

Paper Heart is a hilarious mocumentary about Charlyne Yi, who travels around to figure out if love is real. 

Unmade Beds is a group of teenagers living in a collective house, showing their interactions with each other, and their problems in the outside world. 

The Informers, based on the Bret Easton Ellis novel, shows Los Angeles in the 80s; with the sex, drugs, and violence drive. 

Dada’s Dance is a chinese film about a young women trying to find her biological mother and her relationship with a man. 

Lunch Break/Exit is a repetitive, slow moving film, down a hall, in a factory.

Mary and Max is the first animated premiere at Sundance about an unexpected friendship. 

The best way to sum up my trip is with a quote. A friend of mine was complaining about how he had to wake up early for class. I told him that I woke up at the same time, and he responded with, “no one complains about getting up at 7:30 when they’re going to the cedar point of film festivals.”

Tags: Aprille Brooker, Eckerd, sundance

This entry was posted on Tuesday, January 27th, 2009 at 4:45 pm and is filed under Fun, Reviews. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. Responses are currently closed, but you can trackback from your own site.