I will never in a million years forget the experience of my first (and hopefully not my last) visit to the Sundance Film Festival. In all honesty, it wasn’t quite what I expected, but it never let me down. Each and every little thing contributed to the experience: the 200+ stairs that MUST be climbed several times a day, the theater loop shuttle that exceeded maximum capacity almost every time, duplicating that sardines-in-a-can feeling. Even paying $20 for a sandwich and a soda (!!!) had its own special influence.

Park City is an iconic mountain town. Surrounded by snowy mountainous terrain, the bitter cold demanded layers upon layers of clothing.

Sundance is what you make it to be, and I don’t know if I could write enough in one blog to convey how much fun I had… I enjoyed most of the films I saw, and I can only hope now that some of these great works are picked up and distributed so one day I can say “I was there for the premiere!”

Spring semester has already started, believe it or not, and our escapades are over. I have no doubt that the friends I made over this trip will last, and that’s a big part of what made this winter term so successful.
It was a whole new world to be surrounded by people who love film and work with film, every corner you turn gives you something new to take in. I remember my first time in the box office, I was trying to decide on the first movie to see, between Big River Man and a Shorts Program. As we argued over which one to see, two men beside us jumped in and said ‘Big River Man! It’s the best!’ We learned they were part of the cast/crew. We went to see it, and it blew me away… It just goes to show that you can never know who you will meet and how it will affect your experience in Park City for those 10 days of blissful adventure.

Unfortunately, I found that at least 4 of my tickets were for venues in Salt Lake City, which I had no way of attending, so I had to trade in or miss those showings. I also had a short bout of sickness, and was forced to miss two films to stay in bed and recover, so that was a bummer.

Here is a list of films that I did see:

Big River Man: An inspirational, unique, and heartwarming story of a typical middle-aged man from Slovenia
who succeeds against all odds by swimming the length of the Amazon River.

The Carter: A unique documentary that follows the crazy success of one of our generation’s biggest pop culture icons: Lil Wayne.

Brief Interviews With Hideous Men: Hilarious and relatable story of a woman working on her discertation by interviewing men about their thoughts on women and relationships.

Bronson: The life and times of Michael Peterson: Britain’s most infamous prisoner. It’s individual style sets it apart from any movie I’ve seen.

Unmade Beds: A simple story of love and relationships with no thickness. I didn’t enjoy it but maybe you would.

The Killing Room: A horrific, jaw-dropping exhibition of a government project that felt fairly ‘hollywood’, but shocked and impressed me nontheless.

The Informers: Star-studded and fast paced, we see the whirlwind adventure of L.A. in the ’80s

Animation Shorts: Most of them were simply charming and wonderful, with few exceptions. My favorites include:

This Way Up: Morbid yet Disney-esque, it follows two funeral workers set to pick up/bury a coffin, but they must conquer several obstacles on the way.

Dear Beautiful: A grotesque 28-days-later kind of story with uninteresting animation and ultimately caused me boredom.

I’m Here: One of the most different stories, a man is hit by a meteor (asteroid?) that causes him to always appear 91 cm. from himself.

Monsieur Cok: A 2D adventure through a military factory complete with unimaginably silly creatures and language, making it one of the better shorts.

Out of Control: I fell asleep during this one I was so bored, but it concerns a farm worker who shoots himself in the hand carelessly and gets on a cart to go get medical help. That’s as far as I got.

Western Spaghetti: A triumph in short film!!! It was deliciously imaginative in its use of household items to simulate cooking.

Hot Dog: A charming and comical story of a dog who strives to become any fireman’s ultimate companion.

I Am So Proud of You: Typical Don Hertzfeldt cartoon, witty and shocking short stories with clever animation.

Now I can look forward to a semester began in a whole different way, with new friends and fresh experiences to help me out… I can’t wait!

Tags: ali mckenna, park city, sundance film festival

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