Geoff Gilmore Speaking at the Festival

I also attended the opening night ceremonies, and I did so with specific reason. I regretted going last year, but now that I think about it in retrospect I am glad I did. I tend to avoid the star-studded glamor personalities who show up for press and “indie-cred,” all in plentiful supply last year. I would even say it was somewhat so this time around. Luckily, I also avoided most of this by going to the second screening. Robert Redford went off to his party and there was little to no press at the second showing. Instead, I received a heartfelt speech given by the mayor of Park City, in which he not only applauded the festival, but also gave what he said was a rare political plug for the upcoming festivities on Tuesday morning, calling Barack Obama “the greatest president of my lifetime.” While he may have jumped the gun a bit on that one, they are having a jumbo-screen presentation of the inauguration right on main street. In addition to having a low key introduction, the movie was also not the usual opening movie.

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After opening last year with In Bruges, a film packed with star power and scheduled to open in theaters the following weekend, Sundance has chosen this year to open edgy and unpredictable.  It is not just that Mary and Max is an independent claymation flick from Australia, with a darkly comic theme about a lonely and misunderstood 8-year-old girl who strikes up an unlikely and disturbing correspondence and friendship with a 48-year-old overweight depressive male diagnosed with Asperger’s syndrome.  What was truly unexpected was the moving power of its simple message, achieved without resorting to sentimentalism or cliché.   (more…)