The surreal whirl that is Sundance

The parties, the poseurs, the iconoclasts, the poultry - the Sundance Film Festival has come of age as a festival where miracles dance cheek-to-cheek with absurdity.

By JESSICA HUNDLEY

© St. Petersburg Times, published February 4, 2001

[AP photo by Douglas C. Pizac ] Passers-by check out the Egyptian Theater in Park City, Utah, where movies in the Sundance Film Festival are playing.

PARK CITY, UTAH -- Every year, thousands visit this tiny silver mining town in the Wasatch Mountains to celebrate the art of filmmaking. Ten days of screenings, speeches and deals result in some films finding their way into your local theater.

From small beginnings 20 years ago, the Sundance Film Festival has evolved into one of the world's most vital movie marketplaces, the Shangri-La of every fledging filmmaker with a script, a video camera and a pocket full of his parents' money.

But aside from the awards handed out, the festivities generate all manner of highlights. Among them:

Best premiere party shindig

Forget about the films, panel discussions and workshops dealing with the future of cinema. The most important aspect of Sundance is, without a doubt, the parties.

Hobnobbing is the foundation of the 10-day event. Along with the stuffed mushrooms and chicken teriyaki, cocktails and dancing, Sundance offers a chance to rub elbows with people who'd otherwise never look at you.

The logic is this: Everyone must be nice to everyone else because the possibility exists that anyone, anywhere, could be someone important.

Industry execs, high-profile producers and ordinary Joes mix at the buffet table. Robert Redford wanders by the dessert spread. Courtney Love knocks over your wine glass. Sundance parties lurch into action from day one, with publicity firms rivaling each other with lavish premieres. A successful fiesta can mean a distribution deal, front page coverage and fame.

Unfortunately, it rarely means fun. Tensions and expectations run high in these surroundings. But this year, the folks behind the documentary Scratch rose above the hype to throw an unforgettable bash for themselves.

Scratch is a wonderfully made film exploring the history and philosophies behind the "scratch" DJ culture. With its contagious energy and passion for its subjects, the film won over audiences and filled a Park City nightclub with a sweating, grinning, bouncing mob 3,000 strong.

With flawless live performances by DJ Q-Bert, Mix Master Mike (of the Beastie Boys) and LA hip hop group Jurassic-5, the evening began at 9 and continued until nearly dawn when the crowd stumbled out into the mountain air.

Most prefestival notoriety

Alfred Spellman's and Billy Corben's documentary Raw Deal: A Question of Consent arrived at the festival on a whirlwind of controversy and left with a distribution deal.

Exploring the case of a wild University of Florida fraternity party that led to rape accusations, Raw Deal included portions of a video made at the party. Protests of that creative strategy by the Gainesville chapter of the National Organization for Women brought more attention to the footage.

So Sundance welcomed the chance to show the film, NOW simmered on the sidelines and two 22-year-old filmmakers -- both students at the University of Miami -- strutted straight into the spotlight.

Reactions were mixed. One audience member snidely referred to it as "the first press screening of the Bush administration." However, the film was purchased for distribution by Artisan Entertainment, whose previous Sundance acquisitions included the enormously successful The Blair Witch Project.

The festival 'It' Kid

In past years, Christina Ricci, Kirsten Dunst and Parker Posey have held that title. In 2001, the "It" crown went to Timothy "Speed" Levitch, a fast-talking, deep-thinking street philosopher from New York City.

Speed's true-life exploits as a tour guide on the streets of Manhattan were the subject of the 1999 documentary The Cruise, where his brilliant eccentricity and endless enthusiasm won him the attentions of several directors. As a result, Levitch appeared in two of this year's feature selections: Richard Linklater's Waking Life and Billy Morrissette's Scotland, PA.

When asked how he enjoyed acting, Levitch gave a typical "Speed" reply: "I love it. To me it's like making out-loud love to the present tense. It's a lewd making out session with now, and now has always been my favorite nightclub."

Best high camp, rock opera feel-good movie

[Photo: New Line Cinema] New Line Cinema latched onto Hedwig and the Angry Inch, an off-Broadway musical turned movie, now scheduled for a fall release.

The off-Broadway play Hedwig and the Angry Inch was given the cinematic treatment by its creators, John Cameron Mitchell and songwriter Stephen Trask.

Fantastic direction, outrageous costumes, innovative sets, sublime acting, rockin' music, countless wig changes and a faux-East German transvestite, Iggy Pop wanna-be lead? What more could one ask for in a movie?

Apparently, not much. Hedwig and the Angry Inch went on to win Sundance's coveted best director (Mitchell) and audience favorite awards. The film has been picked up for distribution by New Line Cinema, with an autumn release planned.

Best subversive acts

The Guerrilla Girls, a New York-based political action group, swooped into Park City, plastering every eye-level space with stickers blasting the film industry's male dominance. Examples: Only 4 percent of major films are directed by women. No woman ever has won an Oscar for directing, cinematography or sound.

Infamous gate-crasher Kid Protocol launched his own kind of crusade, disrupting invite-only gatherings and staking a claim for the proletariat's right to party. His goal: "to undermine all exclusivity in the film community."

Why? The Kid admits he's "in it for the buffet tables and free booze."

Who knew?

Mark Lewis' documentary, The Natural History of the Chicken, explores the life of the everyday barnyard bird with gorgeous photography, lucid narration and a surprising respect for its subject. Who knew chickens could be so beautiful?

Best intentions

Richard Linklater's Waking Life employs a new rotoscope software that layers illustrations on top of video images, resembling the video for A-Ha's old hit Take on Me.

Waking Life is a sometimes painfully pretentious meditation on life, the nature of the universe and the duty of art. Yet when it rises above the Philosophy 101 dialogues, it reaches moments of pure transcendence and beauty. Linklater's fresh approach to animation lends a dreamy quality to the film's monologues, while real-life thinkers wax poetic on the necessity of "waking" to life.

Linklater's film reminds us of what the festival was all about in the first place: a forum for provocative, thoughtful and unconventional cinema, boosting the evolution of this powerful art form.

© St. Petersburg Times. All rights reserved.