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Docs Rock at Sundance '08 by Hayley Skousen
I've attended the Sundance Film Festival (in Park City, Utah) three times now, so when I learned that my school, the University of San Diego, offers three units of upper division credit for screening films at the festival, I couldn't wait to register. Gaining a better appreciation for independent film, bonding with other students, speaking to filmmakers in Q&A sessions, and, yes, snowboarding on the greatest snow on earth — sign me up!
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Hayley Skousen will be graduating from the University of San Diego in May. She spent last year working for USDtv, the University's local television station, as the on-camera movie critic.
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Planning ahead is essential to enjoying the Sundance experience; the most anticipated films are sold out within minutes of tickets going on sale in October. To ensure access to the sold-out films, my fellow students and I bought the $400 Adrenaline Pass, which guarantees admission to all films starting before 10 a.m. and after 10 p.m.. Now, I'll admit that I love to attend opening-night midnight showings of the biggest Hollywood blockbusters. In fact, on the festival's opening night, I ditched celebrity-stalking in Park City in order to see the 11:59 p.m. premiere of "Cloverfield" (the monster-eats-New-York-City horror flick filmed on victims' camera phones a la "Blair Witch Project"). But how was I going to handle a full week of back-to-back late night and early morning showtimes? I guess that's why they call it the Adrenaline Pass: the rush from seeing high-quality, unconventional, even life-changing films fueled my ability to stay awake.
Over the first two days we attended ten hours of class lecture and read from Emmanuel Levy's textbook, "Cinema of Outsiders: The Rise of American Independent Films" (1999, 650 pages). "Indies," of course, are films made without big studio money and big studio control, giving directors the freedom to make artistic breakthroughs but also giving them the disadvantage of having to beg for money. Robert Redford's vision of a festival where these non-studio films could be showcased and attract potential distributors has given indies enough capital to return filmmaking to the art it once was.
In addition, before arriving in Park City our professors required us to screen past Sundance entries from four categories — recent features, older features, women directors, and documentaries — to help us see what sets Sundance films apart. I chose to screen "Once" (2007, a musical love story between two buskers, set in Dublin); "Pi" (1998, a black and white Kafkaesque film about a math recluse who believes numbers can explain everything); "Whale Rider" (2002, a powerful film about a Maori girl who deals with tradition, rejection, and destiny); and "Murderball" (2005, a documentary about paraplegics who play wheelchair rugby).
Of the four, "Murderball" was my favorite, reflecting my preference for documentaries. The documentaries I saw were consistently better than films from any other category at Sundance.
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Planning ahead is essential; the most anticipated films are sold out within minutes of going on sale in October.
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My first '08 film was "In Bruges," an action comedy about two hit men who interact with bizarre locals while hiding out in Bruges, Belgium. The best aspect of the Sundance Film Festival is the opportunity to hear from the film makers themselves during the Q&A sessions before and after the screenings. Even at 9:15 a.m., co-stars Colin Farrell and Brendan Gleeson showed up to talk about the film before it started. (My classmates who met Farrell on Main St. the day before pointed out that the actor showed up in the same clothes he was wearing when they met him. I doubt that any of the celebrities get much sleep on opening night at Sundance.) That first day I also attended the world premiere of "Sunshine Cleaning," a dark comedy about a woman who starts a biohazard waste disposal company to fund her son's private-school tuition; the film starred fresh-faced actresses Amy Adams ("Enchanted") and Emily Blunt.
It didn't take long for me to split up from my classmates, however, and discover the appeal of seeing movies on my own. In line I chatted with the editor-in-chief of Advocate, and I sat next to a film lawyer from New York. Whoever meets film lawyers? Some of the best moments I experienced at Sundance took place when I met strangers on the bus, in line, at screenings, or in the hotel, and we advised each other on what films were the best and what local restaurants were delicious.
As I've said, docs rocked Sundance '08 — with stories that were funny, tragic, eye opening, and purely entertaining. One of the best was "Young @ Heart," a documentary that follows the riotous gigs of a senior citizens' chorus called by the same name. It's hilarious to see these white-haired oldsters performing the music of rock bands from The Clash to Coldplay. To my surprise, the film also provided one of the tender moments of the festival; I noticed that nearly every audience member was sniffling by the end of the film. What a treat it was to meet three members of the Young @ Heart chorus in the post-screening interviews. After watching their remarkable journey, meeting them was like visiting my own grandparents.
"Stranded: I Have Come From a Plane that Crashed in the Mountains," a film about the Uruguayan rugby team that crashed in the Andes in the 1970s, was another powerful documentary. When I told my brother that I planned to see this film, he sarcastically replied, "I don't know if you know this, but it already came out. It's called 'Alive' and it stars Ethan Hawke." He was, of course, referring to the 1993 fictionalized film directed by Frank Marshall. But the documentary is far more poignant than any Hollywood movie based on the tragedy could be. "Stranded" director Gonzalo Arijon, who grew up with some of the survivors, brought them back to the site of the plane crash, where they reminisced about the 72 days during which they were stranded. These exclusive interviews, still raw after more than 30 years, yielded exciting, touching, and virtually unbelievable tales of triumph in the face of adversity, surpassing any sensationalized, exaggerated version created by previous filmmakers.
Another documentary that caught my interest was "Up the Yangtze," about the government-sanctioned dam on the Yangtze River that is gradually flooding out riverside communities in China, leaving hundreds of thousands homeless. Two years ago I spent three days cruising up the Yangtze through the famous Three Gorges, where I saw these villages and their residents firsthand. I went through the locks at the dam and viewed the magnificent scenery. Imagine my delight when I discovered that the documentary was filmed on the same ship I'd been on, the Queen Victoria, and featured the same hilarious cruise director.
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It's hilarious to see a senior citizens' chorus performing the music of rock bands from The Clash to Coldplay.
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Three other documentaries I enjoyed were "American Teen," a sometimes hilarious, sometimes poignant look at students attending a Midwestern high school; "Man on Wire," about aerialist Philippe Petit's daring 1974 tightrope walk between the Twin Towers; and "Anvil! The Story of Anvil" (think about Christopher Guest's rockumentary "This is Spinal Tap," except that this story, about a Canadian metal band, is true).
As a group, documentaries may have been the most engaging films at Sundance this year, but my favorite single film came from the World Dramatic Competition category. "The Wave," a riveting story about German high-schoolers who become alarmingly enthusiastic about fascism, is based on a true story, a detail that haunts the audience throughout the film. As the film built to a dramatic climax, it was creepy to see how quickly and easily students could become desperately controlling and militant. This stunning film, with its focus on violence in the classroom, brought back memories of horrific events that took place at Columbine and Virginia Tech. Watch for it in art houses.
Of course, life can't always be lived in the highbrow lane. My last day in Utah was also the opening day of "Rambo," Sylvester Stallone's bloody return to Southeast Asia to rescue missionaries from Burmese terrorists, and my brothers dragged me to see the midnight opening that night. As I dozed on and off during the plotless bloodbath, I reflected on the 20 films I'd seen at Sundance. The difference between them and the one I was trying not to watch was startlingly clear. Those independent films boasted artistic value, thought-provoking storytelling, and sensational acting. The audiences at Sundance responded to them like no other audiences in regular movie theaters, laughing out loud at each joke and shedding a tear at each tender moment.
When I woke up during the credits of "Rambo," I realized that my taste for film had changed. No, I have not become too snooty to anticipate the midnight showing of the next "Batman" installment, nor will I miss the next Will Ferrell comedy. But I eagerly anticipate seeing as many independent films as I can when they come to my local theaters, especially the ones I regretfully missed at Sundance '08.
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