Thanks to cousin Terry Camarata and her husband Dave I got to take in this year’s Sundance Festival. I set new records which will be hard to beat. In all, I viewed 25 films in 8 days, and finished it all off with a great Super Bowl Party which would only have been better had the Patriots been in it! Great to see KC win the big one though. It’s been a long time in between.
Of the 25 films, 6 were documentaries. Sundance accepted over 14,000 films and of those 242 were selected! That’s less than 2%! Not all are feature films as the competition includes short film entries as well. In the U.S. Documentary category there were 1800 submitted with 16 getting the nod. The bottom line is that this is a very competitive event and those that get through tend to be quite compelling and beautifully made.
Robert Redford became a key member of the leadership of the festival and has watched it grow beyond belief. It started very small in about 1986 and by 1999 there were about 3000 submissions with 185 being screened for 20,000 attendees. Fast forward to this year with attendance exceeding 122,000!
If you are a movie lover I strongly urge you to put this on your bucket list. You’ll be glad you did.
I was lucky enough to catch a few of the films that garnered major awards as well as several that I believe will get notice, get bought, and eventually make it into major distribution.
Here’s my favorite of the bunch that I saw!
“Uncle Frank”
This absolute gem of a film was written and directed by Alan Ball. He wrote the screenplay for Best Picture Oscar winner “American Beauty” and created the wildly successful TV series “Six Feet Under” and “True Blood”.
Britain’s Paul Bettany plays “Uncle Frank” Bledsoe, a highly regarded English professor at NYU. His roots are in rural South Carolina and due to his guidance and direction his niece Beth is accepted and enrolls there. She quickly discovers that Uncle Frank is gay and that apparently no one at home knows it. Set in the early 70’s Ball beautifully captures the time and the attitudes that prevailed. Beth is brilliantly played by Brooklyn born Sophia Lillis. At the urging of her stepfather she started acting classes at the Lee Strasberg Theatre and Film Institute. This was great advice as she was wonderful throughout the film.
Rounding out the cast are veterans Margo Martindale as Frank’s mom, Stephen Root, his Dad, and Steve Zahn as his brother Mike. Special mention goes to Beirut, Lebanon born Peter Macdissi who delivers a memorable performance as Frank’s longtime partner. He lights up the screen and steals more than a few scenes along the way.
The story centers around Frank and Beth’s road trip back to South Carolina for his father’s funeral. Frank’s teenage memories come back to haunt him and his troubled relationship with his overpowering father send him into a tailspin.
This is an emotional, beautiful film that reminds us of where we have been and where we are today. Major strides have been made to be sure and this film may help to push us ahead a little more.
