T minus two days till Sundance 2013 and the anticipation is mounting high. Everyone I know in the business is on their last leg of prep – a frenzy of party invites (and those asking where the parties are and how they can get in), an equal or higher frenzy of film premiere invites, a last minute flurry of requests for places to stay from those who got around to dealing with it too late, and everyone talking about how cold it is out there this year. I grew up in warm Mediterranean climate and no matter how long I’ve lived in the East Coast, I’ll never get used to the cold…So for me the biggest frenzy right now is making sure I have the warmest socks and long johns possible, hats, scarves, gloves, boots..
Another thing to think about – since flu is such a big subject this year, and many, myself included, are staying in large condos with many others, and much of what we’re all going to do is trudge through the snow, stand in long lines, sit in crowded movie theaters and hang out at even crowder parties, flu is something (new for me) to think about…so guess what? I am bringing a hand sanitizer!
But frankly what I’m thinking about the most, really, are the movies. There is something so singular about seeing films in Sundance. Sitting there in a dark theater, among industry peers, the first in the world to see a new movie unfold in front of our eyes – it could be the one which will be nominated for an Oscar the following year (like Beasts of the Southern Wild last year), or the one everyone will buzz about once it hit the theaters, or the one that will break all the norms, creating new approaches to filmmaking… all of this has happened plenty of times before and will surely happen again. I remember, years ago, coming out of the Eccles after seeing the premiere of Memento. OMG. All of Sundance could not stop talking about it, myself included. Or the time I saw Precious at a P&I (press & industry) screening and a colleague warned me that it would be too violent for me, so I sat in the back by the aisle so as to be able to make a quick getaway, only to be absolutely glued to the screen for the whole run time, amazed by the depth, boldness, tenderness and raw emotion of it… Or the time I saw the premiere of Napoleon Dynamite at the Library and everyone, all those tough industry folks, were on the floor, in tears, laughing… or when I was at the Library (again, but different year), and Al Gore came out after the premiere of An Inconvenient Truth, and after the standing ovation was over someone from the audience raised his hand and said: “Mr. President”, and the room erupted again with applause…Or the year when Little Miss Sunshine premiered and we all knew that heavy duty wheelings and dealings were going on behind closed doors and throughout the night, immediately following the premiere, only to find out the following morning that it sold to a record dollar amount, and my friend and the film’s producer, Peter Saraf, ventured out into Main Street, eyes bleary yet bright…Sundance is filled with magical moments like these, and that, truly, is the heart and what makes it so special and remarkable and why thousands make that annual pilgrimage from near and far to be there, in that freezing cold. Myself included. So Sundance, here we come, ready to discover the new gems you have in store for all of us.
So looking forward to your writing !
Its the next best thing to being there.
So excited to read about your adventures Meira! Have a blast. Bring back lots of stories and magic for us.
I’m catching up …reading your vibrant, descriptive blogs! Thank you for the vicarious trip to Sundance, Meira!