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Travel
Even an avalanche couldn't keep Washingtonians from turning out for this year's Sundance Film Festival in Park City, Utah. PBS President Pat Mitchell was joined by a host of other D.C.-based documentary filmmakers, directors, writers, industry leaders, producers and stars for the annual film fete. Long known as a celebration of the new and the unexpected, the festival promotes the best in independent film from the U.S. and from around the world. It draws 30,000 people from 27 countries for a ten-day program of more than 200 films. Discovery channel president Billy Campbell showed up to see the Discovery financed documentary “Grizzly Man,” win the Alfred P. Sloan Prize. “Grizzly Man,” made by film master Werner Herzog, follows the devastating and heart wrenching adventures of Timothy Treadwell (author of “Among the Grizzlies”) and Amie Huguenard, two naturalists who dedicated their lives to studying and living with the bears in the wilds of Alaska, and who ultimately met their fate at the hands of one of the majestic creatures they so loved.
Former Clinton White House Chief of Staff and Center for American Progress founder John Podesta was on hand at the festival to anchor a riveting panel on “the culture wars,” an in-depth look at the power of culture to represent values, shape identity, disseminate ideas, and how it has become the battleground for competing visions of America. Chris Mathews brought “Hardball” to the Festival for an exclusive interview with Sundance founder Robert Redford and fellow MSNBC talking head Lawrence O'Donnell was spotted dining with Creative Coalition Executive Director, Robin Bronk, at the pre-premiere cast dinner for “Loverboy,” produced by Michael Mailer and Danny Bigel and helmed by first time director Kevin Bacon, who also starred in the film along with his wife, Kyra Sedgwick. The film's ensemble cast also included Bacon's son and daughter, Marisa Tomei, Matt Dillon, and Sandra Bullock. D.C. businessmen Michael Saylor, Mark Ein and John Mason were spotted on the slopes and taking in the evening festivities sponsored by the top movie houses and talent agencies. Documentary filmmaker Alexandra Kerry, Senator John Kerry's eldest daughter, was on hand for the premiere of her short film “The Last Full Measure” and was spotted at the United Talent Artists party, one of the hottest tickets in town. Former Clinton Administration insider Wendy Smith, now in Hollywood running CAA's communications shop, noted that she wasn't surprised to see so many friends from "Pollywood" given that D.C. had become documentary central -- aka "Docuwood"' – and is thriving as the nation's third-largest film production market. Former AOL executive Tom Hardart was at the festival looking at potential projects with his brother Paul for their new company, Adirondack Pictures.
Most films, documentaries and shorts in the festival, regardless of who won, were interesting and well worth the time spent in the theaters. After each film, the audience had the chance to meet and ask questions of the director and cast. This year, the American Dramatic Competition jury, which included Killer Films producer Christine Vachon and actor John C Reilly, gave their Grand Jury Prize to “Forty Shades of Blue” by director Ira Sachs. The film stars Rip Torn and Dina Korzun who gives a riveting performance as a Russian woman living in Memphis who gets caught in a love triangle with her older music producer boyfriend (Rip Torn), and his son (Darren Burrows). (The Grand Jury prizes for both drama and documentary are traditionally the most prestigious. Previous recent winners include “Welcome to the Dollhouse,” “Dogtown and Z-Boys” and “American Splendor”.) However, the hard-to-see documentaries really stole the show this year with the American Documentary Competition Grand Jury Prize going to “Why We Fight” by director Eugene Jarecki and produced Susannah Shipman, sister of ABC News correspondent Claire Shipman. The film explores America's military-industrial complex misadventures over the last half century and features the likes of Vanity Fair editor Graydon Carter, John S.D. Eisenhower, Chalmers Johnson, William Kristol, John McCain, Richard Perle and Gore Vidal. (Jarecki is the brother of Andrew Jarecki, whose “Capturing the Friedmans” won the Sundance documentary prize in 2003.)
The American Documentary Audience Award was presented to “Murderball,” a film directed by Henry-Alex Rubin and Dana Adam Shapiro. The film's editors Geoffrey Richman and Connor O' Neill also received a Special Jury Prize for Editing. On the international side, The World Cinema Documentary Grand Jury Prize was given to “Shape of the Moon” (The Netherlands), directed by Leonard Retel Helmrich and written by Leonard Retel Helmrich and Hetty Naaijkens-Retel Helmrich. The World Cinema Documentary Audience Award was presented to “Shake Hands with the Devil: The Journey of Romeo Dallaire” (Canada ), directed by Peter Raymont. The American Excellence in Cinematography Award honored an exceptional and beautifully shot film by Gary Griffin titled “The Education of Shelby Knox,” which also premiered in the American Documentary Competition. The World Cinema Documentary Jury presented Special Jury Prizes to “The Liberace of Baghdad” (United Kingdom), directed by Sean McAllister, and to “Wall” (France/Israel), directed by Simone Bitton. A Special Jury Prize was also awarded to “After Innocence,” directed by Jessica Sanders which together with “Shakespeare Behind Bars” focused on the stories of death row inmates proved innocent by DNA evidence due to the tireless work of The Innocence Project and the transformative affect on inmates who enrolled in a program to perform The Tempest by William Shakespeare's, a must see for public policy makers. Outside the documentary competitions the most prestigious award went to “Hustle & Flow,” a moving drama about an aging pimp who decides to become a rapper. The film written and directed by Craig Brewer and filmed by Amelia Vincent won both the American Dramatic Audience Award and the American Excellence in Cinematography Award. Producer John Singleton must have also been pleased as he inked the biggest distribution deal, signing with Paramount for $9 million.
Other non-documentary awards went to Lou Pucci (“Thumbsucker”) and Amy Adams (“Junebug”) for acting and Jeff Feuerzeig (“The Devil and Daniel Johnston”) and Noah Baumbach (“The Squid and the Whale”) for directing. The film and director were also the recipients of the American Dramatic Jury Prize and the American Dramatic Jury's Waldo Salt Screenwriting Award. The World Cinema Dramatic Jury Prize was presented to “The Hero” (Angola/Portugal/France), directed by Zézé Gamboa and written by Carla Baptista. The World Cinema Dramatic Audience Award was presented to”Brothers” (Denmark), directed by Susanne Bier. For a complete list of winners, visit www.sundance.org Photos of Keri Russell and Chris Heinz by Patrick McMullan.
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