Krinsky at Sundance: Inauguration Joy in Park City

I had been meaning to go to a breakfast viewing party to watch the inauguration. I wanted to celebrate this amazing event amidst a community, to look across the room at faces that reflected my own inner joy and wonder. To be part of a collective whole. To be proud together.  

Unfortunately, the Cold That Will Not Die made staying in my room in my pajamas the only real option. And the fact that every time I tried to put on some eye make up while getting dressed, I’d look at the coverage on the TV screen, start to cry and then have to start all over again.

Despite missing out on a communal viewing experience, small moments of inaugural joy kept popping up throughout the day.

When I boarded the shuttle to go to a screening of We Live in Public, my entire section was abuzz with talk of documentaries. Two guys compared Tyson and Thriller in Manila, and then a third weighed in with his thoughts on Paul Saltzman’s Prom Night in Mississippi, which is about racially integrating the prom at Charleston High School. My shuttle-mates and I all marveled at the fact that we had just seen our first black President take the oath of office, yet just last year – 2008 – was the first time this school had had an integrated prom.

When Sundance programmer Caroline Libresco introduced the screening of We Live in Public, she began by linking the mission of the festival to the events of the morning. She said, “I’m proud to be part of an organization that presents all different points of view. That’s what democracy is.”

Even the Sundance Channel party later that afternoon at 350 Main incorporated the inauguration, with servers in shirts that featured the slogan, “1.20.09 for a change.”

Later that evening at the Kodak party, I ended up talking with a woman who, in the midst of the festival, had flown to DC and back to witness the historic event in person. She told us her stories, showed us her buttons, and made me feel one small step closer to being there.