Robert Redford’s annual showcase for independent film was hopping in 2003, with one of the strongest slates of films in recent years. Lyn Merrill and Adam Werbach attended the Sundance Film Festival for the Video Project, accompanying Tiffany Shlain’s Life Liberty and the Pursuit of Happiness. The premiere of Life Liberty was sold out, and the audience reaction was raucous. The film screened with the Pill, which will be airing on PBS in February.
Tiffany Shlain
Highlights
The inimitable Oliver Stone premiered Commandante, his feature length documentary interview of Fidel Castro. Stone spent three days with Castro and paints a picture that doesn’t quite square with the American policy towards Cuba. The film was purchased by HBO and will be broadcast later this year. Stone, always controversial, compared Che Guevara to Osama Bin Laden during the question and answer period following the film.
Bukowski: Born Into This, was a well-executed mix of modern interviews and classic Charles Bukowski footage. While this film may have trouble receiving theatrical distribution, it’s definitely worth seeing on video. Same goes for Born Rich, the much-anticipated directorial debut of Jamie Johnson (of Johnson and Johnson’s). Johnson interviews his fellow rich kids about life and money. It turns out that being rich is hard. If you care, you might like this film.
One of the best surprises was a short entitled Terminal Bar, by a young filmmaker from NYC. His father was a bartender at a rough bar near the Port Authority and photographed the patrons going in and out of the bar over a decade. The filmmaker put these 3000 photos together with a narration from the father to create a powerful story of a neighborhood in transition. The film was made with Flash and Final Cut Pro, and had one of the most stunning cinematic looks in the festival.
In the narrative film category, the United States of Leland, one of the first Trigger Street productions (helmed by Kevin Spacey) was clearly bound for mainline cinemas. The story of a disturbed boy (RyanGosling) killing a disabled child was challenging but successful. Don’t miss it if it comes to your neighborhood.
Lyn Merrill at Sundance HQ
The Sea, the follow up film to 101 Reykjavik, was a powerful study of a post-dotcom Icelandic family dealing with harsh realities of a fishing life.
Cry Funny Happy, a film you will probably not have the chance to see in a theatre, is worth looking for. The director gave the actors situations surrounding one of the characters 30th birthday and filmed their interactions. There was no script.
Our congratulations to Tiffany Shlain, Maya Draisin, Xandra Castleton and Planned Parenthood Golden Gate for their tremendous showing at Sundance this year. We’re looking forward to returning to Sundance with Tiffany and our other filmmakers in years to come.