This year's Sundance adventure started with more turbulence than most - as we took off from a very soggy LAX, our plane shuddered and groaned, bringing a touch o'the nausea to peeps like myself who normally love flying. But at least our plane took off & arrived in Salt Lake when it was supposed to. Several condo-mates and colleagues of mine were forced to go a much more circuitous route when their flights were either delayed or cancelled due to high winds and rain.
Bumpy flight aside, the journey here was a great start to the festival. It was filled with enthusiastic Sundance-goers, including the filmmaking team from Douchebag (U.S. Dramatic Competition). We met several years ago when I interviewed them at a Gen Art event for the now defunct iklipz.com, and it's great to see them progressing in their creative careeres. It's accidental reunions such as these that are one of my favorite parts of Sundance.
This year, the fest tried something new for Opening Night: they showed one dramatic selection, one doc and one shorts program. I headed over to the screening of Restrepo, Sebastian Junger and Tim Hetherington's intense doc which follows the men of Battle Company while they are stationed in Afghanistan's Korengal Valley. Junger and Hetherington had incredible access, making 10 trips over the course of 15 months. More about the film when I'm awake and thinking clearly.
I'm also going to try something new this year: getting a decent amount of sleep - at least for the first few days. Last year, I had the misfortune to get really sick during Sundance, and it SUCKS. And apparently, I'm not the only one who things so! Over on the Sundance Film Festival blog, Mike Jones has a piece about "Surviving Sundance," complete with tips about how to avoid gettin' ill.
Bumpy flight aside, the journey here was a great start to the festival. It was filled with enthusiastic Sundance-goers, including the filmmaking team from Douchebag (U.S. Dramatic Competition). We met several years ago when I interviewed them at a Gen Art event for the now defunct iklipz.com, and it's great to see them progressing in their creative careeres. It's accidental reunions such as these that are one of my favorite parts of Sundance.
This year, the fest tried something new for Opening Night: they showed one dramatic selection, one doc and one shorts program. I headed over to the screening of Restrepo, Sebastian Junger and Tim Hetherington's intense doc which follows the men of Battle Company while they are stationed in Afghanistan's Korengal Valley. Junger and Hetherington had incredible access, making 10 trips over the course of 15 months. More about the film when I'm awake and thinking clearly.
I'm also going to try something new this year: getting a decent amount of sleep - at least for the first few days. Last year, I had the misfortune to get really sick during Sundance, and it SUCKS. And apparently, I'm not the only one who things so! Over on the Sundance Film Festival blog, Mike Jones has a piece about "Surviving Sundance," complete with tips about how to avoid gettin' ill.